Day off! - and Florida is a smorgasbord for rider education

Tuesday it was up before dawn to get Remy settled before leaving with Jota for Miami for the day. Jota had offered to take me as he had meetings in the city, what a perfect opportunity. This gave me the opportunity to see a beautiful sunrise at White Fences:

Early morning at White Fences

Miami is about 90 minutes by car from Wellington. I was amazed when I saw the city: All those apartment building really reminded me of Shanghai. It's not what I had expected, but during the course of the day Jota took me to different neighborhoods. I got to see the Art Deco houses, and we had a fun late lunch in South Beach people watching.

Impressions of Miami

While I was having fun walking 11 km is Espadrilles (!) Remy had the day off. Apparently all my good 6 a.m. grooming was for naught as he had let himself out and managed to grind so much dirt into his short coat that Roz decided not to get a coating of dirt herself.

Yesterday was a rain day - literally, gusty winds and heavy rains all day. Perfect for education, but not when you are on of the clinic riders. I went to see Susanne von Dietze* teach at Yellow Bird Farm and unfortunately, the outdoor arena there is not covered. I have to hand it to JJ Tate, she rode two horses in the downpour and not only managed to do a great job but also to keep her smile.  I've read Susanne's book and was very keen on learning more so I zipped back to take care of Remy and then returned for her lecture (lots of driving involved here).

The lecture was on "Balance in Movement - The secret of invisible effective communication between  rider and horse." It was great! It took copious notes and will post a write up in the next day or so. It was also great to chat with Susanne (she reminded me so much of my friend Antje, it was eerie).

Paulette and Jota also attended and they agreed with me that it was a super evening, between the lecture, interesting people, good food (including chocolate covered strawberries), and a well stocked bar: What else could you want??

*Susanne von Dietze is a world-renowned seat, balance, and position expert and has written two excellent books on the biomechanics of riding.