Wrapping up Germany with a Final Competition...

Tonight I am very excited, because tomorrow and Sunday I will be competing yet again! Seb and I will be doing a Prix St George level test tomorrow, and an Advanced level test on Sunday. We have been preparing all week, building up our work to get maximum suppleness for the weekend and practicing our tests to polish the movements and make sure there are no unexpected surprises for Seb.
We found a couple of new challenges when practising, for example a rein-back 5 steps and straight into canter, then after a few strides straight into a half-pass. And a half-circle of stretching in sitting trot, then taking up the reins and trying to connect him all back together in time to do an extended trot. Only small things, but those crafty Germans snuck these little tricks in to check that you had ultimate submission. Well, we will find that out soon!
As well as having a build-up to a two day show at a lovely venue in Hannover city, I have also been experiencing the anticipation of my departure of Germany. Yes, people, the time has come. I officially have five days left here!!! FIVE DAYS!
I honestly can't tell you if I'm happy or sad to be leaving. On one hand I am happy to go home to see my friends, live in a proper house with a kitchen and washing machine, have all my horses in one place together at my new yard, and most importantly continue on to the next chapter of my life. But on the other hand, I am sad to leave what has become my home away from home, the people that have been so welcoming and friendly to me, the great German lifestyle of work hard, play hard (every evening after work I go straight to the beach for a couple of hours - don't get that in England!), and just the general novelty of being a forgeiner in another country. Everything ironically seems so much more exciting when you are in a position of ignorance and vulnerability!
Usually people say "oh it feels like only yesterday that I first arrived here, and now I'm leaving!" but no, oh God no. It seems like a whole lifetime ago that I arrived here. I have experienced such a huge personal journey in the past 3-4 months, it is like I have flipped myself around and upside down, and have become a new person. A new person for the better, I can guarantee. Who would have thought that just a few months of dressage training in Germany could change your whole perspective of life.
More on that in a post next week, but for now, lets focus on the task at hand... COMPETING!!! :D