Denmark...

Arlanda Airport early this morning, heading for Billund (Denmark). Businesstrip, but still time to explore parts of Jylland. Went for a visit to the race track in Århus as well as Skårup Overgård where Malin will participate in the eventing competition. Denmark is a nice country :) Love the beer, the food and the surroundings.

The race track in Århus

Updating...

...is not a problem. The challenge is to find the time to do it.. :)

Well...Sunday was spent watching and photographing horses (surprised?)

At first..some hurdle practice for Johanna (and Virengue R) and for Christopher (Irish Poet) at Angarn Training camp...had a good time in the sun taking some photos as well....

After a quick lunch...down to Foderby Stable to watch some novice jumping...Dinner at one of the hotels nearby...and then finally back home to watch Brazil play Ivory Coast in the World Championships...Tomorrow a new destination..not including horse related activities (for a change)..some work in Denmark. I will be back on Thursday. Hopefully I will be able to update the blog from there...

Saturday June 19th 2010

Saturday...always a problem to get up on Saturdays for riding. This time was no exception. Had a good time jumping the horse "Liszt". Then some pony riding, Maja and Jojje did some dressage and some jumping as well.

Riding...

Another day of riding...today me and Maja explored the surroundings of Angarn. A nice one hour tour partly through the forest. Nice weather...but too many mosquitos.. :( On my way to the car I just had to stop for some shots of the Rhododendrons in my garden...they are so nice at this time of year...Tomorrow a business trip to Karlstad. Lt's see if I can get some shots from there. At least I will bring the camera.

Top level riding...:)

I enjoy playing with words, did I mention that? The title is a bit twisted...but why not? The weather yesterday was quite unstable...between the showers we decided to go riding...by we I mean Maja and her best friend. We where lucky with the weather...no rain, and in fact quite sunny :) After passing a forest invaded by mosquitos we ended up on top of one of the highest hills in Vallentuna...the climb really was an effort...but well worth it..once we reached the top we where rewarded by a stunning view...A strange feeling...to ride above the tree-tops on a flat (well almost) grass field...watching the Kaknäs tower and Stockholm Globe Arena (two of the most famous buildings in Stockholm) at a distance. This was a really nice tour...despite the mosquitos. The girls where happy...I was happy...since I managed to get some really nice photos :)

Gröna Lund or Strömsholm....?!?

The plan today was to go to Strömsholm for the annual Grand National Day. I really looked forward to this, but the weather gods obviously had other plans....Pouring rain in the morning :(. A visit to the Grand National is an all day event including picnic, but this demands decent weather conditions. So me and Maja (and her friend Frida) decided to go to Gröna Lund instead. Gröna Lund is a famous (at least in Sweden) funfair located almost in the middle of Stockholm. The weather was still not good, but occasional showers could be avoided by using umbrellas...or just by going indoors...Soo despite the disappointment of not going to Strömsholm (and get all the stunning :) photos of the horses jumping the hurdles) we had a good time. The kids where excited...trying most of the attractions at the funfair...I will save the photos for the next equestrian event...most probably the evening games in Trossnäs during the mid-summer weekend.

Yet another evening....

...with Maja and the pony :) Great to see the improvement from day to day...although there where some questions and discussions about how tired a rider should be before she is entitled to a break :)

Dressage...pleasure or pain?!?

Spent the evening at Angarn, dressage practice for Maja and the pony (Joyride). I think the rider was more tired than the pony afterwards :) Nice to do the practice on the turf instead of the sand. Both me and Maja where happy with the evening...things are starting to fall into place now..

Pony racing...

Spent Tuesday evening at the Angarn race track. Pony racing practice as usual...Nice weather for a change..a warm and sunny evening made life a bit easier..Great fun to watch the kids on the track

Strömsholm

Spent the weekend at the Strömsholm Equestrian games, well not the entire weekend, but Friday and Sunday. The best part was on Friday with the CNC** Eventing competition. The cross-country event was a spectacular show which attracted a lot of spectators. Nice sunny weather (well not so nice from a photo point of view) and beautiful surroundings made it worthwhile to drive the 15o km to Strömsholm. Sunday was spent watching some pony jumping and dressage. Then back home to celebrate my birthday. Next Sunday, the Grand National at Strömsholm, looking forward to that....

Eventing...

Going to Strömsholm today to shoot some photos at the CNC** eventing. Looking forward to this, especially since I will meet some old friends there. The weather forecast seems promising...While waiting for the competition, some photos frpm the CNC** at Gärds May 15 2010... :)

Back from Gothenburg...

A steady 1100 km trip in two days. All this for one single meeting which lasted for two hours. Not the best of schedules, but sometimes you just have to do things in a less effective way. Nevertheless, the weather was nice...blue skies and a temperature above 20 centigrades, so who am I to complain? Spent some hours last evening at Avenyn, the magnificent avenue of Gothenburg, filled with nice restaurants and pubs. Fish'n chips and a Kilkenny at Bishop's Arms was the natural choice. Went for a walk in the harbour area, really nice. The sunset was absoutely breathtaking. I managed to take some photos although the light was poor. Thanks Canon for the superb sensor in the 50D camera...I really love it :) Looking forward to go to Strömsholm on Friday. I will shoot the cross-country competition at the CNC** eventing.