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Letters from Lindenhof: Weeks 1-4
by Lauren Sprieser

Lauren Sprieser is an FEI dressage rider, instructor, and clinician. She is a USDF bronze and silver medalist and a two-time Junior Olympic bronze medalist. Last year, she had the opportunity to bring her horses Bellinger ("Billy") and L'Etoile 6 ("Struppie") to train at Gestuet Lindenhof in Germany for twelve weeks. While there, she wrote weekly mass e-mails to friends and family stateside, which she generously shares with Junior Equestrian.

Week One: October 3, 2004

Greetings from a sketchy Internet Cafe in scenic Warendorf, Germany. Ponies travelled like pros, and even let their mommy get a little sleep on the plane. Our accommodations here are superb - I'm renting a beautiful two-bedroom on a farm that grows corn and ponies, both of which I can see from my porch (I have a porch!). It's harvest time, so I'm watching the fields that surround my place and the barn slowly disappear. In true German fashion, it does a lot of raining here, but when it's not gray and dreary, it's quite amazing.

Billy and Struppie are both very happy, and working marginally well. The feed here is different so it took me a while to get Billy eating something that wouldn't make him crazy, and as a result I had a pretty wild horse on my hands until, roughly, today. I am, however, pleased with how the Powers That Be are pleased with my riding, and I'm happy to report that I haven't made a complete ass out of myself.

However.

I was allowed to keep my stirrups for about 24 hours before Monica took them away. Allow to me to briefly describe the pain: Ouch. Like, really. My position is definitely better, though, and someday maybe I'll even develop enough muscle to both keep my leg on the horses and use it. Other than that, Monica and George (who we all call Chef, German for Boss) are pretty positive about me. They dote on Struppie, which is lovely, and helped by the fact that he's been working just great. I don't get the impression that Moni is too keen on Billy. Chef's been a lot nicer to him. He's just been so wild since the oats incident, and he really hasn't put in a good workout yet. I finally convinced Chef that taking him off oats and putting him on the same "musli" that the older horses get would be a good plan, so hopefully that will make a difference.

There are currently five working students, who are each assigned to 1-3 horses that they ride, but they also are responsible for feeding and mucking all of the horses, and for grooming whichever horses Ike, the farm's Bariter (German FN's highest level of certification), or Monica request. I am not one of these. I fall into a stranger other category - Chef calls us "students who work." Basically, I'm responsible for everything involving my horses except feeding and mucking for them, both of which I do anyway. The other "student who works" is a woman named Akiko. We both arrive around 7:30, help out with the morning chores, and then sit down for breakfast with the rest of the group. The working students' days start at 6, the first horse is in the ring at 6:30.

After breakfast, we get the horses out for riding, which we finish by around 2:00. Lunch is from 2-3:30, when the horses are all taken out for 10-15 minutes of handwalking; technically, I'm done by about 4:30, but in a quest to not come off as a snotty rich American princess, I stay until about 7, feeding, cleaning up, and generally bustling about. I love the atmosphere - what's most striking is how everyone is treated like an equal, whether it's the most beginner working student, or Ike, or Monica, or whoever. It's fantastic!

The most striking differences in the German system versus the Americans' is the focus on the basics, and on position. Every single rider here has a better seat than 75% of the Americans I know, if not more. And they're constantly improving it - there are three of us who don't have stirrups anymore, and Chef regularly makes Ike ride with all of his reins in one hand to make him use his seat and leg aids first. It's incredible. There's also a very interesting dichotomy as far as the emphasis on cleanliness. Everything is incredibly tidy on the farm but stalls are only cleaned once a day, six days a week, and farm laundry is only done once a week, even though polos are often used two or three times a morning.

Other interesting differences - the horses don't have water buckets in their stalls. At first I was alarmed, but there's a fairly legitimate reason for it. Germany is notorious for drought, and water is actually very expensive. Instead of hanging buckets in each stall, which then need to be regularly emptied and cleaned, the horses are offered water three times a day in their stalls alone, as well as outside in the courtyard before and after the horses work, and again in the afternoons during the handwalks. Lunging is huge here, and I'm going to be really confident when I sit down for that USDF Instructor Certification Lunging Exam - I'm getting quite an education over here. Foregirths are also really big, which I do not understand - saddle's not going to fall off forwards, kids. Ah well. Crazy Germans.

My days are filled with riding, caring for my two fellas, and very little else. We are definitely in a rural part of the world, so it's not like my nightlife options are exactly wild, but I'm working so hard during the day that all I really want to do is curl up when I get home. It's very gratifying, though, exhausting my body before my brain. My new best friend is Edward, a 20 year old British fellow. Ed and the other two German working students, Veronica and Steffi, took me out to dinner for my birthday on Thursday, which was very fun.

Sunday is the day off for the horses over here - another weird thing. Aren't horse shows on Sundays, too? - so I went into Warendorf to see the Hengsteparade (Stallion Show) at the Landgestüt (State Stud). It was super super cool, including a wild eight-horse jumping exhibition thing where they basically had all the horses jumping at each other at the same time really, really fast.

I'm out of time, and the place is filling with chain smoking adolescent boys anyway, so I'm off for now. I'll try to write every Sunday.

>> Letters from Lindenhof, Week Two

For more information on Lauren Sprieser and to see what she's currently up to, visit her website: http://lauren.sprieser.com.

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The Site Our purpose The Site Submission Info Contact Affiliates	Home \| FAQ \| Forums \| Subscribe \| Contact Letters from Lindenhof: Weeks 1-4 by Lauren Sprieser Lauren Sprieser is an FEI dressage rider, instructor, and clinician. She is a USDF bronze and silver medalist and a two-time Junior Olympic bronze medalist. Last year, she had the opportunity to bring her horses Bellinger ("Billy") and L'Etoile 6 ("Struppie") to train at Gestuet Lindenhof in Germany for twelve weeks. While there, she wrote weekly mass e-mails to friends and family stateside, which she generously shares with Junior Equestrian. Week One: October 3, 2004 Greetings from a sketchy Internet Cafe in scenic Warendorf, Germany. Ponies travelled like pros, and even let their mommy get a little sleep on the plane. Our accommodations here are superb - I'm renting a beautiful two-bedroom on a farm that grows corn and ponies, both of which I can see from my porch (I have a porch!). It's harvest time, so I'm watching the fields that surround my place and the barn slowly disappear. In true German fashion, it does a lot of raining here, but when it's not gray and dreary, it's quite amazing. Billy and Struppie are both very happy, and working marginally well. The feed here is different so it took me a while to get Billy eating something that wouldn't make him crazy, and as a result I had a pretty wild horse on my hands until, roughly, today. I am, however, pleased with how the Powers That Be are pleased with my riding, and I'm happy to report that I haven't made a complete ass out of myself. However. I was allowed to keep my stirrups for about 24 hours before Monica took them away. Allow to me to briefly describe the pain: Ouch. Like, really. My position is definitely better, though, and someday maybe I'll even develop enough muscle to both keep my leg on the horses and use it. Other than that, Monica and George (who we all call Chef, German for Boss) are pretty positive about me. They dote on Struppie, which is lovely, and helped by the fact that he's been working just great. I don't get the impression that Moni is too keen on Billy. Chef's been a lot nicer to him. He's just been so wild since the oats incident, and he really hasn't put in a good workout yet. I finally convinced Chef that taking him off oats and putting him on the same "musli" that the older horses get would be a good plan, so hopefully that will make a difference. There are currently five working students, who are each assigned to 1-3 horses that they ride, but they also are responsible for feeding and mucking all of the horses, and for grooming whichever horses Ike, the farm's Bariter (German FN's highest level of certification), or Monica request. I am not one of these. I fall into a stranger other category - Chef calls us "students who work." Basically, I'm responsible for everything involving my horses except feeding and mucking for them, both of which I do anyway. The other "student who works" is a woman named Akiko. We both arrive around 7:30, help out with the morning chores, and then sit down for breakfast with the rest of the group. The working students' days start at 6, the first horse is in the ring at 6:30. After breakfast, we get the horses out for riding, which we finish by around 2:00. Lunch is from 2-3:30, when the horses are all taken out for 10-15 minutes of handwalking; technically, I'm done by about 4:30, but in a quest to not come off as a snotty rich American princess, I stay until about 7, feeding, cleaning up, and generally bustling about. I love the atmosphere - what's most striking is how everyone is treated like an equal, whether it's the most beginner working student, or Ike, or Monica, or whoever. It's fantastic! The most striking differences in the German system versus the Americans' is the focus on the basics, and on position. Every single rider here has a better seat than 75% of the Americans I know, if not more. And they're constantly improving it - there are three of us who don't have stirrups anymore, and Chef regularly makes Ike ride with all of his reins in one hand to make him use his seat and leg aids first. It's incredible. There's also a very interesting dichotomy as far as the emphasis on cleanliness. Everything is incredibly tidy on the farm but stalls are only cleaned once a day, six days a week, and farm laundry is only done once a week, even though polos are often used two or three times a morning. Other interesting differences - the horses don't have water buckets in their stalls. At first I was alarmed, but there's a fairly legitimate reason for it. Germany is notorious for drought, and water is actually very expensive. Instead of hanging buckets in each stall, which then need to be regularly emptied and cleaned, the horses are offered water three times a day in their stalls alone, as well as outside in the courtyard before and after the horses work, and again in the afternoons during the handwalks. Lunging is huge here, and I'm going to be really confident when I sit down for that USDF Instructor Certification Lunging Exam - I'm getting quite an education over here. Foregirths are also really big, which I do not understand - saddle's not going to fall off forwards, kids. Ah well. Crazy Germans. My days are filled with riding, caring for my two fellas, and very little else. We are definitely in a rural part of the world, so it's not like my nightlife options are exactly wild, but I'm working so hard during the day that all I really want to do is curl up when I get home. It's very gratifying, though, exhausting my body before my brain. My new best friend is Edward, a 20 year old British fellow. Ed and the other two German working students, Veronica and Steffi, took me out to dinner for my birthday on Thursday, which was very fun. Sunday is the day off for the horses over here - another weird thing. Aren't horse shows on Sundays, too? - so I went into Warendorf to see the Hengsteparade (Stallion Show) at the Landgestüt (State Stud). It was super super cool, including a wild eight-horse jumping exhibition thing where they basically had all the horses jumping at each other at the same time really, really fast. I'm out of time, and the place is filling with chain smoking adolescent boys anyway, so I'm off for now. I'll try to write every Sunday. >> Letters from Lindenhof, Week Two For more information on Lauren Sprieser and to see what she's currently up to, visit her website: http://lauren.sprieser.com.
Topics Hunter/Jumper Eventing Dressage Education Riding in College Industry Training Health
Columns Fun Stuff Ringside Critique Q&A: Life & Horses Life in the USPC Riding in the IHSA The Equine Life