Pictures of Ann Kathrin's Linsenhoff's estate :)

The arena. :) SO BEAUTIFUL! And very large. This picture can hopefully give you some perspective.


The middle area between our barn and the other barn with the arena.


The barn.


Kassie and I in the arena :) Cool wreath in the middle eh? Very beautiful.


Jive and I on our way to the arena.


Jive checking out the area from his private window.


Just standing outside our barn's entrance.


Our first few steps off of the trailer. Finally there! You can tell how happy I am to be there.


The horse's box getting off the plane. Yep, they're in there!


There they are! This is what the airplane box looks like inside. We were lucky because it was just our two horses, but the boxes are made to fit three.

Slow Internet!

I'm having some trouble loading pics... The internet keeps quitting and is also very slow. :( But I'll be in Frankfurt in a few days, so hopefully the internet will be more reliable, as well as speeder there. Stay tuned! I've got some great pics to post!

Our travels thus far

Kassie and I about the board the plane! :) Very cool.

Jive and I getting ready to leave for Germany!

Kassie and Ray at the quarantine barn the morning of our flight :)

Jive and I at a stop on the way to New York

Jive looking out at a stop on the way to New York.


We set out on our adventure on Monday December 7th early in the morning. My brother came along with me as I drove Jive and I to the New York Airport. This is where Jive and I met up with our traveling partners, Kassandra Barteau and her stallion Ray. I had met Kassie briefly before at NAJYRC, but not formally. Her stallion was such a gentleman. Jive and him were friends right off the bat. It was about midnight when all the paper work was finally in order after arriving at JFK. I was then driven to my hotel for a few hours of sleep before our 8 am flight to Germany.

Kassie and I were picked up bright and early the next morning. Luckily, the breakfast was out super early at our hotel. We snatched some breakfast, and then were off to the airport to get our horses loaded up. We also packed some extra breakfast food because we had no idea how much food there would be on the flight. We later learned this would be unnecessary, there was so much food on the plane, it was amazing!

We got to the airport barn around 6 am, checked on our boys, got them ready to go and then waited for a truck to come pick them up. After they were loaded on the trailer, Kassie and I were off to go through customs and get ourselves loaded on the plane.

We traveled via cargo plane, which was very cool! It was a bit different then usual, but it was awesome. We had an amazing flight. We got some great winds and ended up arriving 45 min earlier then scheduled, even with a late departure. It was amazing! Our pilots were very nice.

When we arrived in Frankfurt, we were taken to the quarantine barn (also known as the "animal lounge"), where our boys stayed the night. Kassie and I were taken to a hotel close to the airport. In the morning, we were planning on shipping out at around 10am, so we got to the animal lounge at around 9 am. We ended up waiting a very long time to get all the paperwork done, as well as granted clearance to leave. Luckily, there was a food place nearby that we grabbed lupper (lunch/supper). When we finally got out of the airport, we were transported right to Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff’s place. It is the most beautiful horse estate I have ever been to. We were blown away by the place (and everyday I am still blown away by the beauty of the place). We are so thankful for their generosity!!!! Incredible people.

Kassie and I were the last young riders to arrive. Hannah Appleton, the New Zealand rep had already been there for 2 weeks! And then Mafalda from Portugal arrived shortly before Jive and Ray.

So we’re all settled in now. Got on Jive again this morning. Wow, was he ever raring to go! After a nice long warm up of walking for about a half of an hour, we did a light workout. My biggest goal for this competition is to do well by having Jive and I be the best pair we can be, and him listening to me fully can only achieve that. Today we just did transition after transition after transition. He was brilliant today. It was such a great feeling! He was really listening. Let’s hope we’ll keep that feeling the entire trip! ☺

Safe Arrival

WE’VE ARRIVED!!!! Hello everyone. ☺ So, Jive and I made it safe and sound to Germany. We arrived the day before yesterday after two very long days of traveling.
Germany is absolutely amazing!!!! Jive and I are incredibly lucky. Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff is hosting us at her private estate in Kronberg. It is an absolutely stunning estate. She is hosting four young riders. Kassandra Barteau and her horse Ray, as well as Hannah Appleton from New Zealand and Mafalda Galiza Mendes from Portugal. The estate is absolutely stunning. I’ll definitely be posting pictures of it.

So, just a quick update today. I’ll be sure to give everyone more details, as I know I some more time to relax and do some writing. Stay tuned! Pictures to come

Thank you!

Jive says "thank you" with a kiss!

Christmas came early!!!

A HUGE, GIGANTIC, MASSIVELY LARGE THANK YOU to everyone at DMD (David Marcus Dressage) who came together to surprise Jive and I by purchasing us the most amazing gifts for Germany. You guys are incredible!!!! They outfitted us with a gorgeous cooler, along with a matching stable blanket. Both blankets are beautifully embroidered with Young Riders World Cup and Amy Jager and Jive. AMAZING! They also picked out, and embroidered a riding vest for me! :) Thank you SO MUCH. As you can see, I've posted some pictures of Jive showing off his new gear. :D

The support that I am receiving from so many different people going into this competition is amazing. Last night, one of my best friends organized a dinner with a bunch of my friends from school as a sort of going away dinner. It was so wonderful. Seeing everyone before I leave in a few days, and to simply hear so many people so excited for me and wishing me the best of luck... It made me so happy! I am so thankful for everyone's support. Honestly, the simplest "good luck" makes such a difference. So thank you!

So, only 4 days till we start our travels!!!! Unbelievable really. And I still have SO much to pack...

Jive was awesome tonight. We have started putting the parts of the tests together a bit more. As my coach put it, we've got the puzzle pieces, now we just have to assemble the puzzle. :)

And finally, THANK YOU for tuning into my blog. :)

A little more than a week till departure

And the whirlwind continues. T- minus 8 days and counting. Incredible!

I am very happy to report that I have most of my travel plans organized. There are just a few details about layovers and crossing the US border that I need to confirm, but overall Jive and I are pretty set. Also, I am very excited because this trip it is going to be a whole different kind of flying. I am the designated “groom” for the flight, which means I will be flying in the back of the plane with Jive! It’s going to be crazy, but so cool! Tight quarters for those few hours for sure, but Jive and I, we’re in this adventure together.

Jive has been great the last few rides. He definitely knows that he is in training camp. I can tell that he is super determined. The more we prepare, the more focused he gets. I am sure he feels how determined David (Marcus, my coach) and I are, and he feeds off of it. He is the only horse that I know, that when I take him over a jump a few times it is fun at first. But then he starts knocking the poles down on purpose because I think he gets annoyed that there is an “obstacle” in his “dancing pathway”. He is so funny that way. I love it. I love how much he loves his work. I am sure that we can all agree what a wonderful feeling it is to be “one with your animal”. Whether it be your horse, or any pet really. Animals are incredible.