The past two weeks have been a lot of fun! From horse shows to riding to new exciting adventures, in the past two weeks I have experienced many new things and have gained so many life experiences.
During my third week here I spent a lot of time riding and continuing to work on flat work. I also got to help with clients and I learned a lot about the sales part of our industry. Because there are a lot more horses and sales barn here than there are in Canada, I have a lot more opportunities to watch trials. I’ve been able to learn a lot of things that will be helpful in my future career.
A lot things here are very different than at home and there are so many times that I’ve had to consider what’s been said: for instance, they call the barn a ‘yard’, a halter a ‘head collar,’ a blanket a ‘rug’, as just a few examples.
Chuck RS Z, an auction foal out of the sister to Kieley’s ride Clash Heldenlaan Z. (zangersheide.auction photo)
At the end of my third week here I got the opportunity to go to a party held during the Zangersheide auction. The party was definitely a new experience, but the highlight of the night was getting a DM from a friend in Canada. She was following the auction and had sent me a picture of the program telling me how my horse and I were in it. My horse is Clash Heldenlaan Z and his sister’s foal was in the auction; the program had a list of the foals’ relatives, and on this list was “Clash Heldenlaan Z: Level 1.45m: Kieley McQuaker.” It was a total coincidence and she didn’t even know I was in Europe!
The drive to the auction and back was an experience in itself. Europe has a lot of roundabouts and that took a lot of getting used to. But driving the two-horse trailer, which was empty, was a lot easier than I thought it would be. It was actually easier than driving the dually truck back at home.
The fourth week was even more eventful ‒ I made it through a whole week of making my own dinners! Actually, that’s not true, because I cooked two nights and made it last for the whole week. But I did manage to conquer a gas stove top that you have to light with a lighter, which after a call to my mom I figured out how to work. I also got a short visit with my dad, who came to visit for the afternoon to try horses at Milestone and then we went out for dinner. It was nice getting to see my dad again even for a short time, and I look forward to seeing both my parents again soon.
On the Sunday of my 4th week here I went to a hunter show with the barn. Although it was very different than the typical American hunter show, it was a super new experience. I also discovered that I’m much better at braiding tails than I thought and I did a total of four tails for the hunter show. They even had pretty pinwheels!
The hunter show was so cool and they had flowers, gates and a giant fake log. I think most of our horses would be terrified to jump the jumps. The fill was definitely not as ‘filling’ as ours at home and some of the jumps were very empty. The flat phases were also very different, and were more like an equitation flat class than a traditional hunter flat phase. But overall, it was pretty amazing to watch a different take on the American Hunter divisions.
(Photo courtesy Kieley McQuaker)
Completely un-horse related: recently I have noticed how different Dutch construction sites are. It may sound strange, but if you’ve ever been around a Dutch construction site you will know what I mean. The road beside my hotel is closed due to construction. At home this would mean a complete closure with everything being fenced off and not allowing anyone near it. But here the construction site is completely open. You can bike down the sidewalk while the machines are working above your head. And let me tell you, it is terrifying biking underneath a crane moving giant concrete blocks, but apparently, it’s pretty normal here.
The upcoming weeks are going to be very busy; we have a training session planned that will be a lot of fun, where we will go to a horse show and school a pre-set course. I’m also looking forward to trying horses in a few weeks with my parents. Now that I’m done writing this, I’m going to go find the cat at the hotel and feed it treats!
