August 7 – Wollbach
Day 1 focused on basic horsemanship.
Last stop, Wollbach, Germany. We caught up on some well-deserved sleep before we left the camp in Prague. Hannah, one of the translators, showed us around Prague before we hit the road again. The Texas Tech team rented a van to get from one place to the next, so picture a 9-passenger van on the autobahn. Dr. Kris Wilson has been over here quite a few times with camps, clinics and judging, so he is quite a bit more confident on the European road systems. Kevin Burns sat in the front with plenty of maps handy to guide us in the right direction.
Micky Kayser, at the Kayser Training Stables in Wollbach showed us around central Germany on Wednesday before the camp started. Not far from the camp, the fence that once divided east and west Germany stood. Now, sculptures and remnants of the fence are there for all to see. All history aside, we also visited a small amusement park and rode the toboggan track.
Melanie Ruescher and her sorrel mare.
Wednesday night before the camp, all the participants got together for a barbecue, and Texas Tech divided the groups so in the morning they could “hit the ground running.” They were a little bit nervous to do the horsemanship pattern, but by the end of the week they should all be pros. Many of the participants are clients from Micky’s barn, and some have traveled from other parts of Germany just to see their friends from Texas Tech again.
Thursday was the first official day of the camp, where the instructors broke down the basic parts of horsemanship: seat, moving away from pressure, guidance, speed control and so on. I’m guessing many of the campers might be a little bit sore the next day, but everyone was
Pieces of the fence that once divided East and West Germany.
excited about the improvements they have already made after the first day.
