Olympic Dream Itinerary August 12-22, 2012
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The Dressage Foundation's 2012 Advanced Young Rider Olympic Dream Program Chaperone Participants: Eliza Sydnor Ashley Perkins Young Rider Participants: Nicole Del Giorno Catherine Chamberlain Jaclyn Pepper Jennifer Detandt Administrator: Beth Baumert A note about overseas phone calls: Time differences : At 6:00 am EST, it is noon in Germany. That is, they are 6 hours ahead of us. Young riders in Germany should not call home in the morning hours because it would be between midnight and 6 am EST. If you live farther west, as some of you do, just do the math to figure out when is an acceptable time to call home. Except in an emergency, we ask that parents not call their kids after 3 pm EST. Odd as it may seem, they may be asleep then. Details of dialing : When dialing from the U. S. to, for example, the Ibis Hotel in Munster, the number is: 011-49-(0)251-4813-0. The 011 will get you out of the U.S. The next number is the country code: 49 for Germany. Then the city code, 251 is Munster, and then the individual phone number: 48130. The “0” before any city code indicates a toll call much the same as we use a “1” before dialing long distance. When calling from the US, do NOT dial the “0” before the city code, because it is already a toll call when you dial 011. If you are calling from within Germany you DO dial “0” but not 49. If you are calling from within Germany on your own American cell phone, it would be the same as calling from the US. 1 Olympic Dream Itinerary August 12-22, 2012 Sunday, August 12 Plan to get to your home airports two hours before your departure for Newark. Even though this isn’t an international flight, most of you will be checking your bags internationally. Your United flight 9256 departs from EWR at 4:30 pm, which is 10:30 pm in Dusseldorf, Germany (DUS). It would be a mistake to succumb to the dinner and movie. Consider having dinner before you depart. No matter how great the movie is, it will be available at another time. Sleep as much as possible on the plane! Monday, August 13 You arrive in DUS at 6:05 in the morning, and Ratingen, the location of your first stop is very near the airport, so you won't have to drive far on this morning when you're tired! Pick up your rental car--a Ford Galaxy or other 7 passenger vehicle with space for 5+ suitcases. At this point you will either be glad you packed light, or sad that you didn't! Hopefully, you will have slept as well as possible on the flight, but you may be tired/disoriented, because 6:05 am in Germany is just after midnight in New York and even earlier on the west coast. Regardless, it's very important that all six of you take a close look at your rental car before driving away with it. If there's any damage, take a photo, be sure the agent sees it and you get something in writing that says the damage was present before you drove the vehicle. In the past, the astute observation skills of our travelers have saved time, money and trouble. Today you visit Jan Bemelmans. You are expected at Jan's between 8 and 9 am. Get some coffee and breakfast, maybe some flowers for Nicole if you can find them. Bemelmans is the coach of the Spanish team. If you've been following the Olympic coverage or you went to WEG in 2010, you know about the very successful horse Fuego. He was also successful at the 2012 Olympic Games. Also Grandioso, who is owned by American, Kim Boyer and Hampton Green Farm, is on the Spanish team. Jan is known as one of the very classically correct riders/trainers of Germany. You'll spend at least a half day with him. Perhaps you can offer to take them out to lunch. When it's time to leave, you'll go to the Hotel Pfeffermuehle in Borchen (Map #2). The address: Paderborner Strasse 66, 33178 Borchen. The phone number is 011-49-5251 540060. The drive is one hour and 45 minutes to the hotel. Your reservation is for two doubles and two singles. Whenever possible, the 2 chaperones will have single rooms so they get as much sleep as possible. This hotel is close to the Hubertus Schmidt stable, Fleyenhof, where you will go on Tuesday. If you have time, you can visit the Reitsport Franke at Paderborner Strasse 56, 33178 Borchen. The phone number is 49-5251-398688. In your packets you will find my favorite article by Hubertus Schmidt: "Building Power with Relaxation." Read this before your visit tomorrow, and you'll understand his system better. Let him know that you have read it. If you have questions, ask him. Tuesday, August 14 Plan to arrive at the Hubertus Schmidt stable, Fleyenhof, at 8 am. (Map #3) He usually expects you to stay from 8:00 am-noon and 2:00-5:00 pm. Hubertus usually does his riding in the morning and teaching in the afternoon. You might also meet Herr Schmidt's wife, Doris. Doris helps him often by being his eye on the ground. Hubertus was a mainstay of the German team with his famous mare Wansuela Suerte, and he has trained many other horses to Grand Prix. He is known as one of the most classically correct riders in the world. This is a normal riding club, so you have to choose who you wish to watch! Remember to feed your journals. This afternoon/evening, you'll drive to Warendorf and check into the Hotel Im Engel, Brunebrede 33-37, Warendorf. It's about 1 hour, 8 minutes. (Map #4) You have two doubles and two singles. Call them if you're arriving later than 6. Phone--011-49-2581-93020 Wednesday, August 15 This morning you'll visit Monica Theodorescu . (Map #5 and 6) She is expecting you at 10:30, and you can stay until 1:00. Perhaps offer to take her out to lunch. Monica is the new coach of the German team. You may want to visit the DOKR before Monica in order to save time at the end of the day. Address: Freiherr-von-Langen-Straße 13, Warendorf. I have given you maps, and follow the signs. They will be obvious. The DOKR is the famous Olympic Training Center for the German team and the place where all professional riders in Germany train and take their exams. I am told there is nothing special going on there on this day, but you can drive in and look around. If you can, please buy some flowers and bring them to Lena Rindermann. She and Christoph Hess were very helpful in the planning of your trip. Try to find her and say THANKS! There is also a fine tack shop in Warendorf, although they only accept cash and European credit cards. The shop is called Sattelkammer Warendorf 3 and is at Dreibruckenstrasse 32. Dreibruckenstrasse is an extension of Dr. Rau Alle, the road you take to the DOKR. You might meet some famous riders at the tack shop. Remember that most businesses and banks are closed for much of the early afternoons in Germany, (enforced relaxation). Wednesday afternoon you'll begin the long drive to Silkeborg Denmark. Don't leave too late because you'll have a six hour drive AND you have to go through the always-congested city of Hamburg. Wednesday night check into the Hotel Scandic, Udgaardsvej 2, 8600 Silkeborg. (Map #7) Phone: 011-45-86 80 35 33. You are okay for late check in here. You have reservations for three double rooms with breakfast for two nights. Thursday, August 16 You don't need to check out of the Hotel Scandic in the morning because you'll spend Thursday night here too. Today you visit Morten Thomsen and his wife Sarah . Sarah and Morten Thomsen have scheduled a wonderful day and a half for you. You are to arrive at 9:30 am for a tour of the stable (an incredible stable that includes an aviary). Starting at 10, they school the older horses, and Morten will explain his training methods. At 1:00 (13:00 hrs), they have ordered lunch brought in for you all, and they can answer any of your questions. Starting at 2:00 (14:00 hrs) they train the young horses and you can see how they start piaffe. You should leave at about 4 (16:00 hrs). There will be time for you to write in your journals, and work on your article, get a nice dinner and sleep well. Again, you spend the night in the Hotel Scandic. Friday, August 17 You join Morten Thomsen and Sarah at 9:30 as you did Thursday. Morten has to fly to Italy at 11:30, but you will stay with Sarah and end your day at the barn at 1:00. Begin the drive to Verden, Germany where you will see the Hannoverian Verband in action. The drive is 4.5 hours. You may prefer to leave when Morten does in the late morning. The foal presentation is at 3:30, which you will probably miss, and the actual auction is at 7:00. You'll want to see the auction, and there's another crop of foals being presented Saturday morning in case you miss the one on Friday.