Hello Everyone,
This is my first time blogging but I thought it might be a great way to keep all of you posted on our adventures in Germany. Currently, we are gearing up to go. I have two weeks left of teaching here in Leavenworth. As much as I have complained about being here, I will really miss all of the wonderful people I have had the opportunity to work with. The midwest has been such a friendly place and considering that the riding is somewhat limited out here, riders stay remarkably positive about it. I have made some amazing friends that I know I will stay in touch with for a lifetime and I will really miss them.
As most of you know, I recently sold my horse "Revy" to one of my former students in Maryland. It was an extremely hard decision. I had already committed myself to taking him to Europe with me and was really excited. We had a great spring together in Florida and Aiken and I fell in love with him even more. He is the best horse I have ever owned. He is so easy with such a great mind and amazing athletic talent. I know that there are other horses out there that may be better than him but finding the combination of a good brain and talent, AND easy to ride, was going to be hard. Harper and I talked over this decision extensively and decided that despite all of the difficulties in logistics in getting him there, that we could give it a try.
About three weeks ago, my former student Beth, got in touch with me and expressed her interest in Revy. She had ridden him before and really got along well with him. She is a good friend and I knew he would be well taken care of. I spent alot of time of the phone with Beth, my good friend Lei, who was taking care of Revy in South Carolina for me, and Sarah, my first riding instructor from Connecticut who has lots experience and is very wise in these matters. Sarah convinced me to separate my heart and emotions from the reality of the situation. As a professional, she felt the experience of buying a horse in Germany would be a great addition to my resume, and that the risk and expense of shipping Revy to Europe when a good friend was willing to buy him and take excellent care of him was not worth it. After many tears, I decided Sarah was right and I sold my little wonder horse. I miss him so much but also feel a sense of relief. The stress of dealing with quarantine procedures, putting a horse on a plane to an unfamiliar country and just dealing with the logistics of moving a household, 2 dogs and a horse was going to be too much.
With the horse sold, our move became MUCH easier. We were able to move up our dates and we can travel together which is going to be very nice. Our first movers come on May 18th and 19th, they will take our items that we will store while we are in Germany. On the 21 and 22, the second set of movers are arriving, they are taking our items that we need immediately upon our arrival. We get 950 pounds so we have to be choosy about what we take. On the 23, our family starts to arrive in Leavenworth to help us celebrate Harpers promotion. He is being promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on May 26th which is very exciting! Finally on May 28 and 29 the last set of movers arrives to take the rest of our belongings across the ocean. These items will take 6 to 8 weeks to arrive.
We will officially leave Leavenworth on May 29th and begin driving east with a stop at Harpers parents house in Owensboro, Kentucky. Then we will continue on to Charlottesville, Virginia for a week to take some classes at the JAG school and to catch up with our friends. We fly out of Dulles airport for Frankfurt on June 11 and will take a quick trip to South Carolina and spend a few days in the D.C. area before we head out.
In the meantime, I am finishing up with my teaching and my horses in training and trying to learn German!
Thanks for reading and talk to you later!
Mary
