Author: Untacked with Angelea Kelly

Here’s a few photos of the Kermis going on in Gemert right now. This is the downtown area. The carnival ends today and I can hear the workers outside tearing down the rides and booths. It was quite a cute little carnival (I’m not sure on the translation of Kermis because they call carnival something completely different). Anyway, here’s some pictures and now I must run get ready to head to the stable.










Here’s a photo of the building I live in.


Here’s a photo of the Gemert church. It’s hugely Roman Catholic here. Doug and Patty you should come visit!


This is my workspace.

All of this took place, depending upon what time zone you are talking about, between ten in the evening on Thursday the 17th through Saturday evening on the 19th.

The horses were loaded in cargo. Here’s the cargo door closing. Yes it’s blurry but at that point in the trip so was I. Haha!


This is the front door/ramp of Carrara’s container.


This is me and Carrara inside her container.


This is Carrara in her container. All of these are before take off.


So then there was take off. I was stressed having never experienced standing up, facing backwards as a jet liner took off so I wasn’t certain what to expect. As soon as we started going up it was soooooooo amazing! Carrara was standing leaning forward like one of those long jump skiers as the jet ascended into the sky. I could only imagine how good of a stretch this could be for them! Wow! She was quiet through the whole thing but breathing with deep breaths which I understand is standard. We leveled off and all was quiet. She began eating hay. It sounds so simple but being my first time it was simply too cool of an experience. After over 24 hours on the road from North Carolina to New York we were finally in the air and coasting along to Holland. The official KLM groom for the flight was very kind and wonderful to speak with. He raises Dutch Appaloosas which is something I’d never heard of. This of your typical American Quarter App then add the magnificent confirmation of the DWB with very nice movement! The flight seemed so short. The KLM groom offered to sit in the jumper seat (saying he preferred more leg room) and gave me his seat so Olivia the Swiss girl, Ricardo the Columbian guy and I could have more space between one another to relax. I think we all quickly fell asleep! I woke to breakfast being served and knew I needed to go back and check on Carrara to give her some water. She drank some but after almost 48 hours of travel I am sure she was getting dehydrated. She was mellow. Just hanging out and occasionally taking a bite of hay so I didn’t linger as to not keep her up. It seemed so quick that the landing came and just the same as take off, I was in her container standing facing away from the motion. Landing was even more smooth than take off and I recommend standing backwards than sitting forwards for landing on flights. It was very fun. Again, Carrara was a rockstar just being mellow even after landing and during the taxi. We then needed to de-board but the attendants were kind enough to let us watch the cargo people work a bit from afar. Like typical passengers we left out of the plane and went to the car hire. I can’t explain how I felt walking out of Schipol that morning other than I felt like I was home. This isn’t something I’d felt in a long time except when in the presence of Ex. A fun side note on the car hire… Humberto told us to take the red bus as it would take us to the cargo area where we could meet up for customs and taking our horses so Olivia saw a red bus as we were pulling out the parking area and said “follow that” so I did but we ended up going down a buses only area, people were staring at us and it was hilarious. I jokingly stated we I could just smile and apologize for being a dumb American and hopefully they wouldn’t arrest us all but then the Columbia jumped in that we might not have the best of luck with him in the car! Haha! It was hilarious but I am thinking you’d have to be there to fully understand the lack of lucidity in the moment. We arrived to cargo, got our visitors passes and they allowed my car (a cute, tiny Ford Ka) inside. We’re talking cargo as in cargo for many different things including animals. The horse boxes were already inside waiting for us and all we needed to do at this point was to have the vet look at the horses and approve our customs paperwork to be allowed entry. There was plenty of fun conversation, unpacking our gear and Picollo was let out to run around in his cart. He immediately made friends with everyone that came by and the dutch are so nice for dogs, they gave him a disk of water and many, many pats. This is Ricardo wrestling with Picollo while we awaited the vet at the animal hospital KLM cargo.


Oh yes. One very important moment upon arrival to the cargo area is a massive banner with Anky and Salinero was in the area of the horse containers. I couldn’t pass the opportunity to take a photo with the banner.


We offloaded the horses from the containers. Again Carrara was a superstar. We all walked to the vet for a quick inspection, boarding straight on the Dutch side ground transports and the waiting for customs began. Picollo quietly waited in the car.


I hired Marcel Jordon (http://marceljordan.com) per a recommendation from Karin Offield and he was fabulous. His lorrey was super and he was so kind to talk to me about the special features and some of the customizations he made. He was definitely pro and unlike anything I’d ever worked with stateside. It was like a Rolls Royce for the horse world. Here’s Carrara inside the transport.


Here’s the outside of his lorrey.


This is as we were driving out of customs.


And now on the road to Erp!




Being a Friday at about four in the afternoon it was a long drive which typically takes about an hour and one half. We finally arrive to Erp and the Stal Anky but I was completely exhausted by this point and far from conherent so I have no photos of this. I got her settled, with food and the tack trunks in line. The new barn is still under construction but it is quite nice. The outdoor has the old roof removed and the new roof is waiting to be installed as it’s sitting in pallets in Anky’s outdoor. The mentalities are so different here but in a very good way. I’m exhausted at this point but so happy!

My eight in the morning alarm was shut off and I rose about eleven instead but the sleep was welcome! My first full day in The Netherlands was spent organizing my tack boxes, hand walking Carrara several times, a sandwich and fries in the afternoon (I took this photo with my iPhone from an indoor table next to the open window. Yes they are as good as they look and yum mayo!!!),


and working on the laptop looking out at Carrara grazing in the pasture for a few hours. This is Carrara meeting the horse next to the pasture I placed her in.


It’s quite green and lovely here with tall trees lining the road. I was surprised to see they have not chopped down their corn fields yet (you can see some of the crop in the right side of the this photo)!


Here’s a few photos of the new stable which is almost complete. This is from the opposite end of Carrara’s stall.


This is the door leading out to Anky’s outdoor arena which is now home to the pallets of roofing materials waiting to be constructed.


As the stable is not complete, neither are some of the stalls so the stall opposite from Carrara is where I was told to place my tack boxes. Hey… It’s close by so quite convenient and I do most of my tacking in her stall.


This is further back showing my tack boxes in a not yet completed stall and the stall opposite is where Carrara is living now.


There’s much more to follow but we’re all here, safe, sound and I’m loving my home in The Netherlands!

I was nervous about flying but this was a once in a lifetime chance for training with the best rider in the world and I wasn’t about to let a bit of fear back me out from it. Humberto (of Fly HFR) drove us from the Vetport (I met some FABULOUS people in the quarantine with lovely horses) to check in at the airport and pick up our boarding passes, board and get the prep for flying away! The check-in was fairly painless and I was completely shocked that TSA didn’t stop me with my carry on bag which has all my video equipment in it. Perhaps they have better scanners now and could see it was all video and audio equipment? I had my a comment to my flying colleagues that my bag was a target for TSA and I am appreciated them waiting for me to obtain Picollo’s boarding pass but that I would likely slow them down at the security point as I always get pulled. It was a joke that since I was with a Swiss and a Columbian we might all get tagged. Haha! So that was a nice point. Walking to the jet way I snapped a quick picture of the containers. If you look closely just behind the engine you’ll see a series of white blobs which are the containers with the horses in them. They load them up to the cargo area with a crane. It’s all so amazing to me! Oh and if you’ve taken the JFK or LAX flight to AMS then you’ve quite likely flown with horses in your cargo.

We arrived to Brent’s farm about 11 in the evening Wednesday night. The transport up to Brent’s took about seven and one half hours as the regular drive (no horse box or horse) takes about four and one half. It was long but I was very glad I estimated for a fall out plan and left with lots of extra time. Carrara had drank some water and was eating her hay and apart from a few shifts she was hauling very quiet and comfortable. That Brenderup horse box works like a dream and it was so easy for me to work with by myself!

Brent offered to use his Suburban to tow the rest of the way up to the airport in New York and knowing it’s like driving a Cadilac (complete with seat AC!) I quickly jumped at the chance to drive such a fun/fancy vehicle plus he’s more familiar with it too and since he was dropping me off and making the empty horse box return to DC solo, I thought it would be less stressful on him. OMG! I can’t believe we didn’t get a picture together that day!!!! I just realized I don’t have a photo of us driving up but I was exhausted and stressed and it completely slipped my mind! Dang it! Well, here’s a picture of Brent’s hands driving the last leg to the airport. You’ll see NYC in the background. Thanks Brent. You made my maiden voyage in the new horse box and my send off to Holland so enjoyable. It’s so nice to have such a close horse enthusiast friend and we celebrated several decades of friendship that day (I won’t spill the beans and go into just how many!). Seriously, you’ll need to come visit me!



Okey so did I mention we drove out of Brent’s farm that morning just after three? Yes, only a few hours sleep and back on the road to arrive at the Vetport of JFK about half past nine in the morning. Here’s Picollo just after arriving to Vetport JFK with everything we’ll use for the next several months. I love the simplicity and spareness of living out of a suitcase! Two tack trunks for Carrara (one large and one smaller) and two suitcases for me (one large and one smaller too! actually one is my clothes and the smaller is all the HorseGirlTV video and sound equipment) and then there’s two bags for little Picollo of course!



Here’s Carrara munching on hay in her Vetport stall. They must quarantine there for, I believe it was, seven hours prior to departure. I later pulled her wraps so her legs could enjoy some air and used the comfy padded wraps to make a very uncomfortable bed on top of the tack trunks. Picollo and I curled up together and tried to nap. Hilarious side note is Humberto (the super awesome rock star exporter I worked with!!!!) came in looking for me and to check us in and didn’t see me as we were completely covered with a blanket (yuh it was kinda chilly in New York). I heard him and sat up and he about came out of his skin. I guess I must have looked like a ghost!



This is Carrara and I in her stall. Before preparing to load into the container and fly away!

This is Picollo not being a very good co-pilot. He might not be the best of help with loading and transport but he’s definitely cute and that makes up for much of his lack of ability to be of help with the horse.



We drive to Brent’s near DC and then continue on with the rest of the journey to NYC and JFK airport.

The journey began at approximately half past two in the afternoon today. Carrara, Picollo and myself drove away from the North Carolina stable to drive up to NYC, fly to Holland and begin training with Anky. It’s exciting beyond words yet it’s quite the journey so it’s also nervous.

This is the last time I am closing the gate at our stable in NC for quite some time.

We had a fun time yesterday with a casual photo shoot for FITS breeches. I really enjoy riding in my FITS and Sheryl was kind enough to send me a brand new pair in black for the shoot! Of course, what would a HorseGirlTV shoot be without something bright in orange, teal or purple and we just finished it off with my favorite ball cap from Devonwood! Just like all my FITS, they are too comfy and I get this deep close contact that really makes working on the FEI moves so much more secure and exact. Plus they are pretty darn stylish too!

It was a pretty North Carolina day with the recent rains really showing up on the green, green grass. Nope this picture is not photoshop enhanced. Not too hot or humid! First, we walk out to the arena. Miss C was super mellow today and a good thing as it was opening day of dove season.


I love this picture of the HorseGirlTV pad!


There were tons of warming up and early on schooling pictures but I thought this schooling pirouette was pretty nice. Working on that inside hind!


It was a great ride with everything coming easy and most everything soft and forward so why not school to the top? Just a few seconds of course! Yes, yes! She can sit and this is with less than 6 months of working with the Dutch system of movement after starting all over from the ground up on her training! Super mare!

So I haven’t been working on changes too much or getting too terribly stressed out about it. There are far more wacky things to get stressed out about lately. Hah! I’ve sorta been trying to have the western rider or jumper mentality of flipping the change instead of the dressage rider, spending the horses entire life to get that single flawless, straight, over two feet thru change. Again, I can only laugh. But today! Today!! Did I type TODAY???? Well, today all our changes were clean and pretty through and to the dressage classics relief pretty darn straight too! Of course they were all forward but there wasn’t that jumping through the change and speeding up or going on the forehand immediately. It was, dare i say, brilliant for where we are at in this training time? Ok. So I’m not saying I was brilliant, perhaps it was part me but perhaps it was part luck. Never the less, she changed, it was comfy and as one of the photo will attest, she was also thru!



Now and again we work on the halt trot transitions and sharpening the transitions. Perhaps you’ve read an earlier post which shows a darn good thrust coming from Miss C’s hind end. This day, and again I’m making no claims of miracles, I was able to do our walk to halt transitions with ONLY (yes I am 100% dead serious) core muscle. This was no pokey walk. This was a working walk and I would used my core to ask for the halt and she would halt! Wow! The trot halts are still with more of the entire body and sadly still a good bit of hand but we’re working on it. But, I digress. Back to the halt, trot transitions. In working these and when she feels like there’s some consistent give and lift I will ask for a wee bit of an extension to see if she’ll carry herself in it. Well she does carry. Her tall yet narrow withers lift like a car jack and she will carry. There’s not a super duper picture that expresses this as the extensions were too few but there is this pretty artistic shot of a working trot!



I am getting so excited to train with Anky. I wish I had more and more time to get better and better but wait, that’s what I’m going for so bring it on!

Ok. So maybe fall isn’t 100% here but I was sooooooo excited this morning when I was able to don my new Mountain Horse jacket to prep for riding! I haven’t had (don’t ask me how I went without it) a waterproof jacket for several years now but Chris at Equestrian Collection and the folks at English Riding Supply hooked me up with two amazing Mountain Horse jackets. They are functional and fashionable. I know as soon as it gets way cold I’ll be ready for summer again but I’m so looking forward to snuggling in these jackets and getting beyond this awful southern humid summer season! Whew! Nice job on the polos to eh? Oh and we can’t forget the awesome Devonwood cap! I sooooo miss my Pacific Northwest horsey friends!

So there’s been lots of controversy talk on the horse forums lately about Dutch rider Edward Gal and his tremendous mount Totalias with of course so many complaints about the Dutch system of movement. To each his own I say but I can’t express how excited I am about training first hand with Anky and studying this system like it was my Master’s Degree because quite frankly, to me it is my Master’s Degree in riding.

What I’ve been working on learning physically (after years of being told “rock them back” with the reins while driving with the legs) from this system is the very elementary concept of the brakes and the gas, the whoa and the go, and never using them together. That the mystical half halt should moreso be a fantasy term and that you work the brakes and gas so well together that your half halt (if you must use that term) comes from there.

If with all this training and working on myself I’m able to get this kind of sit with my mare then I can’t wait to see what professional world class lessons can help us achieve together. This is a great mare, no doubt. When I bought her she was honestly, completely confirmed in walk, trot, canter with excellent leg yields and a decent shoulder-in. We started all over from the ground up with the Dutch style (as best as I could of course) and well… just look at the push in those soon to be elongated and plumped up muscles of her hind end!