Day 15~

Today's weather was much better! High 68, sunny with a breeze. The rest of the week should be very nice as well (high 60's to low 70's). I wasbusier today with more jobs to do. After taking Nero out and working Ding on the high speed treadmill (tomorrow he will be going home!), I helped the girls clean up the barn yard and the treadmill room for the upcoming Open House. Then, I had a riding lesson on a very cute little cob-pony named Drummer. My instructor, Jane, is wonderful! She thoroughly addresses all of my questions in ways that I understand. After the lesson came lunch, and then another work-out with Ding on the treadmill before Kathryn gave us a demonstration on a new piece of equipment. Hartpury now owns a water treadmill for dogs! I have seen one of these in use at a veterinary rehab center in PA and it was fascinating, so I am very excited to be able to use one here. Once we figure out what we are doing, we will be testing dogs in it as early as next week! This will be a very cool tool for the small animal department here at Hartpury. Hopefully I will have pictures up soon. After work tonight, I skyped with Grant, had dinner with some friends in the cafeteria, then went for a much-needed work-out in the gym! Later, I watched the 6th Harry Potter movie, skyped with Brad, and called home to mom and dad. They say it is very hot and humid there!
The campus is beginning to clear out as students are finishing their final exams and gradually trickling home. I expect it to become rather scarce around here in the next few weeks. Still, some students will stay to work throughout the summer so I won't be totally alone. I have 27 days left. I'm almost half-way through this internship! WOW! I am most excited for my day trip to London coming up this Sunday! I was very glad to hear that its not being cancelled. Hopefully I'll be able to find some cool souvenirs to lug home in my already bulging suitcases! Well, I miss you all, thanks for reading! Stay cool across the pond!

Day 14~

Today was a very rainy, boring day. After tending to Nero and truning him out to pasture, we prepped and worked Ding in the Aqua-fit. Since those are the only two horses in the barn at the moment, we spent the rest of the day cleaning in preparation for the Hartpury College Open House which is taking place this Saturday (June 4th). The open house is going to be a big event where thousands of people come to veiw the facilities all across the campus from the sports (rugby and soccer/futbol) academy to the cattle/sheep farm, to the stud/stallion farm, to the Equestrian Center (including therapy). That is why all the cleaning and painting has been going on! I was originally hoping to take a trip to the West Super Mare (the western coast line of the UK) but I think that trip might be cancelled unfrotunately. I also think my London day trip might  be cancelled for Sunday which I will be very disappointed in, but I will stop in at Student Services tomorrow and ask. After lunch, Tilly, Fiz, and I worked in the office organizing papers and creating a mailing list of clients to advertise for the special Equine Therapy Center Open House which will not be until June 25th. Then we excercised Ding on the high-speed treadmill and I hand-walked Nero for about 30 minutes. I was very pleased to get off work today and be able to skype with Brad (he's buying a webcam! yay!). Now that my mood is significantly lighter and the sun is coming out, I feel refreshed after this boring work-day. Tonight I will watch the 5th Harry Potter movie, hopefully finish a book, and call my parents! I hope you all had a wonderful memorial day weekend, I thought of you often and the beautiful, hot weather that you are blessed with. I can't wait to return and work on my tan that is fading in this country - well, maybe soon it will warm up here too and I will be able to get out more! This trip has been a good one so far and much needed to teach me more about myself. Thanks for reading, until tomorrow!

Day 13

Today was a cloudy, windy day. Hopefully the weather will begin to get nicer and warmer soon! I woke up early to help Tilly exercise Ding in the Aqua-fit, then I met the show secretary, Phillip, down in the large Hartpury Arena because I volunteered to scribe for the affiliated dressage show that was held today. This was a very cool experience for me! Scribing means that you write the comments and scores that the judge tells you to record on each rider's dressage test. I was helping Judge Deborah Cole in two classes: Elementary, and Musical Freestyle. She was extremely kind and I loved hearing her commentary on each horse and rider team. She also liked having me as her scribe and said I was very knowledgeable and told Phillip that he should keep a hold of me for future scribing! What a compliment! I can learn a lot by scribing. After our two classes, I ate fish and chips for lunch! (I missed having fish and chips on "Fish and Chips Friday" which is every Friday, so I made up for it today) They serve a lot of fried food here, and the good, wholesome produce is scarce and very expensive, unfortunately, I suppose because it has to be shipped in from other countries. After leaving the show I had a relaxing afternoon in my room in which I continued to watch Harry Potter movies! A friend here has the first 6 and so I'm determined to get through them all before she leaves on Thursday to return back to the U.S. I've made it through the first 3 so far and Toy Story 3! I also discovered that I can rent books from the campus library so I will be utilizing that source! After supper I tagged along to Cheltenham to see a non-denominational, modern worship service. It was excellent! The church was a beautifully restored mini-cathedral, the music was great and exactly my style (upbeat hymns and Chris Tomlin music), and the message was really good. This was very refreshing to my spirit considering its been 2 weeks since I've been to church! Hopefully I'll find my way back there again! Now I'm going to settle into my room for another Harry Potter movie!
P.S. Does anyone know if it is OK to fed-ex chocolate internationally?

Day 12

Today was a good day to sleep in and recover from an exciting night of Summer Ball. I managed to stay out until about 2:00 AM dancing and hanging out with new friends. There were also two theme park rides (bumper cars and some spinney-thingy) which were awesome despite the frigid England air.

A girl names Kathryn who I met that night! I think she was already drunk...

The ladies restrooms were in a portable trailer?

The giant circus tent filled with hundreds of people!

Welcome to Wonderland was the theme

Annie, Beth, Me, Katie (all Americans)

The spinney ride

Me in a bumper car!!!

I'm not going to lie, drunk people in bumper cars are really funny from a sober perspective!

My toes after a pedicure!

Tina, Kristen, Beth, idk, idk, Me

(idk = i dont know)

Me and Vicky! (from therapy center)

Vicky, Me, and Tilly! We're the Therapy Center girls

This morning, however, I did not sleep in very long because I had to wake up and help Vicky exercise Ding in the aqua-fit. These horses must continue their work-out regimes even through the weekend. I stayed until lunch time down in the therapy center and helped paint because I did not really have a lot to do today anyway. After lunch I borrowed some Harry Potter movies from Katie and took a much needed nap! Then, after talking with Brad, I met up with Kristen and Tina to have some girl-time talks and watch America's Next Top Model over the Internet. Afterwards, we watched the Barcelona vs. Manchester futbol game in Legend's Bar over some wine and panini's with nachos! Now, I'm back in my room relaxing and getting ready for a busy Sunday. I hope you all are enjoying your Memorial Day weekends! I hear the weather is nice and warm!!! Oh boy how I will welcome the sun, 80 degree weather, and yes even the humidity upon my return!

I think one of the most valuable lessons that I am taking from this trip is how to relax and chill out after such a crazy semester of school work. I want to learn how to dwell on the present and not so much on the future. To stop planning ahead and let things come what may. Although being driven and motivated has gotten me very far in life, there comes the necessity for peace and rest. But in order to achieve this, one must be content with what one already has. So that is my prayer for this trip. To be content and to enjoy my present surroundings.

P.S. Last night, amongst all the craziness, the "intelligentsia" in my dormitory blew up a vacuum cleaner and coated the entire upstairs hallways, and the stairwell in dust!!!! No wonder the fire alarm went off 12 times in 2 hours!!! ridiculous. Now the warden (much like an RA) is threatening to turn off all the hot water in the building until someone cleans up the mess. great. I will not be happy if this happens.

its soooo thick!!! Like snow!

This is all dust.

Day 11 ~ Three Counties Equine Hospital

Today I spent the entire day at Three Counties Equine Hospital, the veterinarians that work with the Hartpury Equine Therapy Center. Comprised of 5 veterinarians, it is a large practice and stays busy 24/7 seeing all kinds of emergencies! Nearly every stall was filled when I arrived today. I was able to observe many things such as a Coffin Joint Nerve Block with local anesthesia and a Lameness Evaluation on the lunge line by Dr. Harrison on a giant bay Dressage horse named Indy. She also had a dozen x-rays taken on both front fetlocks, coffin joints, and navicular bones. After helping with the x-rays, I helped take the weights (in kilograms) on 12 horses and took a brief lunch break. Then I watched Dr. Claire sedate a horse named Dennis so that we could inject die into his Navicular Bursa in order to see if something was wrong with his navicular bone. We took x-rays to from lateral views in order to inject the die and to see the navicular bursa. I then watched Dr. Mark perform Artificial Insemination in an older mare using an insemination rod. Next, I observed the nurses give a 3 week old foal a bag of plasma! That was cool. The foal has been sick for several days and may be suffering from neurological problems. She hasn't been nursing from her mother, so I got the milk the mare before I left for the day. Check out these really cool pictures of the equipment and facilities at this equine emergency hospital:

The chute and ultrasounds machine used to see when the mare's follicle is about to ovulate and when she is ready to be inseminated. When using frozen semen, their only exists a short window of about 6 hours during the mare's ovulation cycle when the semen can be implanted as opposed to fresh semen that has a window of several days.

Ultrasounding the uterus

The x-ray machine!!! awesome!

The dolly system in the surgery suite. Once the horse has been "knocked down" or anesthetized for surgery it is carried into the surgery room via this system on the ceiling

The surgery table and large animal anesthetic machine for equine surgery patients.

A horse that was on IV fluids. She has a muzzle on to keep her from eating.

Dr. Harrison doing a dental.

Surgery! If I'm lucky, maybe I'll get to see a real live colic surgery!

Injecting the die to find the navicular bursa

A foal nursing from her momma

This is the 3 week old foal undergoing a plasma transfer!

Day 10 ~

Today, the weather could be described as very "England". Gray, cloudy, breezy, rainy, blah. Nevertheless, there is still work to be done. After grabbing breakfast in one of the cafeterias I went to work cleaning stalls and prepping horses for the day. Ding's parents came to see him so he and his stall needed to be immaculate. I got him looking all shiny and pretty, and his parents were very pleased to see him and all the progress he's made on the treadmills. He will actually be going home next week! After having the rest of the summer off, he will begin training for the steeple chases again in the fall. Good for him! Nero was let out to pasture today for an entire 2 hours, however it ended up being about 3 after it took 4 people to catch him and bring him in, that was eventful! Then we cleaned tack and swept out the facilities before going to lunch. After lunch I took Nero for a walk and a graze. Then we painted some of the walls and doors in the therapy center until I went to my riding lesson today with Instructor Jason. I rode a very nice, gentle, bay gelding named Dillon. We worked on a lot of flat dressage work such as straight lines down the center line, yielding off of the inside leg, bending into corners and on half circles, and cantering 20 meter circles. I very much like the no-nonsense teaching styles of the instructors here. They provide very valuable information such as the whats, hows, and most importantly, WHYS!!! This makes riding understandable and art-like. After my lesson I rejoined the girls in the therapy center who were scrubbing down the highspeed treadmill. Tilly upset a ladder that was propped up on the wall and Fiz (our fearless, scottish manager) shouted, "If that ladder falls on the American you're all dead!" then Vicky shouted back, "It's OK! It hit Tilly instead!" This was the funniest thing I've heard all day! Supper tonight was very good - chicken with mushrooms and tomatoes with with broccoli florets and some really good cheesy scalloped potatoes. For the rest of the night I'm just going to relax, read a book, watch Bones on my laptop, and talk to Brad later. I might hit up one of my new American friends named Katie to see if I can borrow a DVD! I hope you all had a great day! Thanks for reading!

P.S. I had a good time going out to Gloucester last night. We ended up traveling to three different night clubs throughout the night, but I didn't stay out past 1:30 - I had to get up at 8 AM today. Still, the kids are crazy over here, but all the people I have met have been very nice and welcoming. Some stayed out until 4 AM today! That's crazy! I'm not much of a dancer unless its swing or line dancing, and the atmosphere was really loud, flashy, and smokey, so I won't be at a loss if I never go back :)

Day 9

Today was a good day and I was able to keep busy! Since we only have 2 horses in the therapy center (usually they have as many as 10 but unfortunately this is their slow season) we are able to excercise them and attend to their needs quickly. The treadmills were both getting worked on and tuned up today so I meet the most charming Irish man who actually works for the treadmill company that is based out of Sweden! He travels all over the world, including some states and universities in the US, working on and installing these treadmills. We spent most of the morning and afternoon painting more of the endless acres of fence.

Tilly from the UK

ENDLESS!!!

Faye from Zambia (a country in Africa, who knew?!)

And of course, SWEEPING!!!

After lunch, Faye and I attended a lecture on the British Horse Society (BHS) about equine wellfare and awareness. They discussed many infectious equine diseases such as Strangles, Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA, which is very prevelent in the US but has not yet spread to the UK), and we learned about the poisonous weed called Ragwort. After work, I went with some of the therapy girls into town and we got manicures and pedicures in anticipation of the big Summer Ball on Friday night. Then we stopped at a local grocery store (Tesco's) and ate dinner at McDonalds! McDonald's is significantly healthier over here due to their hydrogenated fat restictions. Now I'm back in my room getting ready for the night life tonight. For some odd reason Wednesdays is like a party night here in Gloucester. Don't worry, I am definitely going to remain the designated driver. Clubs are not my seen, but everyone keeps encouraging me to partake in European culture and drinking is a huge part of it over here. The legal age to drink is 16!!! wow. If I don't like it I will come home early and not go out again~ I'll try to take some pictures!

This is me doing my laundry last night! The girls said I was such a tourist :)

At McDonalds! Vicky (aka Welsh because she is from Wales) did not want her picture taken!

Faye and Nero, he's back!!!

Playin' with the yard dog

See all those cans of paint?! They were empty after today.

Schmoo! She is freaking HUGE!!!

This Nero! Poor Nero, look how skinny he is :( hopefully after a few weeks with us he will have gained weight and built muscle mass. We weighed him today and he was 460 Kg, which is about 925 lbs = severly underweight for a horse his size)

This is his back-end shot :(

Day 8

Well, guys, I made it over a week into this trip, I suppose I can withstand another 5 :) It has been pretty rough struggling with homesickness and being far away from the familiar and WAY outside of my comfort zone, but ultimately it is good for me, stretching my person. Today was a good day. First we put Ding in the Aqua-fit, then we swept out and around the barn making sure everything is clean for opening day (which I think is still 2 weeks away - basically we do A LOT of sweeping and the barns are so clean you can eat off of them!) Then I went to my riding lesson. I rode an old bay mare named Saffy. She was a good girl, but very stiff and heavy in my hands, much different then Bren yesterday. A lot of suppling exercises such as shoulder-in and leg-yielding would be great for that old girl! After lunch then I rode with Steph in the "lory", a giant horse van, to go to the 3-Counties Equine Hospital to pick up poor Nero. He is such a sweet horse but very sick and colicky. We're doing the best we can for him, but his chances are slim and he should probably be humanely euthanized yet his owner refuses to let him die! So if he needs another surgery then he will receive it (they cost $10,000 at least). After settling him in at the therapy center, I took him for a walk. Then we did some more barn chores and cleaning as well as cleaned the Aqua-fit and the high speed treadmill (it is getting worked on tomorrow).
Tonight was laundry night. I did my first load(s) of laundry during supper time and now I just plan on relaxing, reading, and calling Brad tonight before I go to bed - hopefully it will be before midnight tonight! Thank-you all for the emails and comments on my blog. You don't know how much they mean to me and the vast amounts of encouragement that they provide to me during this time of trial. I have soundly decided that world traveling is not for me, at least definitely not by myself, and I can't wait to return home in 5 weeks (35 days!). Until then though, I will persevere and stick it out to the best of my abilities. I love you all!

Day 7

Today started out well with me catching breakfast in the "refractory" as they call it, aka, one of the cafeterias. Then I started work at the barns at 9 o'clock. I found out that over the weekend Nero got sick and coliced again and had to return to the 3-counties vet. We're not sure yet if he will be returning to us for rehab. Colic surgeries are very expensive, however the majority of horses in England are insured. Still, under such stressful conditions, Nero has a slim chance of surviving. I also discovered that Madge, my case study horse was taken home by her owners due to all her many problems - maybe they'll just turn her out and let her rest the remainder of her years? Now, I am in need of a new case-study horse, and Ding is the only one left in the barn since Roxy is leaving for sale tomorrow, and Badger has found a new home. Hopefully, 3-counties vet will send us more horses to rehabilitate! Meanwhile, the barns are all a-flutter in preparation for an open house coming up in the next 2 weeks. So I spent a large portion of my day painting the endless miles of board fence, and washing white walls. It builds character :) and painting was actually kind of fun and thought-less. During lunch, I was able to purchase my ticket for the upcoming Summer Ball on friday - the social event of the season at Hartpury College. There will be music, dancing, carnival rides, and food that will last into the wee hours of the morning! Sounds like a fun time. After lunch I had my first riding lesson! I rode the cutest little cob-mix pony named Bren. He was about the same size as Baylee, so I did not feel out of my element. He was very responsive, and when the instructor actually told us to gallop our horses around the arena multiple times I was in heaven! We flew down the long sides, shortened and collected into the corners and short sides, then flew again! I think the instructor chuckled a little bit at my "cowgirlish antics" hahaha, but I loved it! After that came more painting, bathing Roxy, cleaning tack, and barn chores to close up shop for the night. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this or not, but my barn chores consist of lots of SWEEPING! Everything is kept immaculate at this huge facility. I also make sure the horses have plenty of hay and water, and that their stalls are kept clean and mucked out (poo free). After work, I ate super then went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie with some friends (Amy has her own car which is really nice). We did not stay out late because some of the girls have exams tomorrow - which I am totally OK with because I like to be in bed at a decent hour (before 12). Well, I'm ready for another day's work tomorrow, and I think I might purchase a Hartpury sweatshirt sometime when I can get away to do so. Would anyone else like some Hartpury memorabelia? If so, just holler. Well, its time to put this tube of pringles down, brush my teeth, and hit the hay. I'll see ya'll in 5 weeks!!! Thanks for reading!
P.S. The home-sickness is getting better, thanks to all of your thoughts and prayers. I have a purpose and a duty to fulfill on this trip, and I hope I don't let myself down :) Love you all!

Days 5 and 6 - Hangin' with the Sibs

Hey guys! So these past two days were the weekend,  and I spent it traveling around with Grant, Sam, and Sabrina (Sam's roommate). Saturday, we spent the day wandering around Gloucester (the nearby town to Hartpury). We ate at some really cool restaurants such as the Fountain Inn. I'm not going to lie, but England has the cutest restaurants and pubs I have ever been too! Granted, they all close down between the hours of 4 and 9 which is annoying and weird.

The Fountain

Food!!! Lots of Chips (french fries)

Dick Whittington's, an awesome pub, very friendly owner

Then today, we traveled to the town/city of Bath!!! It was the most beautiful and well-preserved ancient city I have ever seen. Made completely out of limestone, the city is hundreds of years old with the ancient Roman baths being the focal point for tourists like myself :) After arriving by high-speed train (I love trains! It was so fast, easy, and straight!) we viewed the massive Cathedral (not quite as large and nice as the one in Gloucester though I didn't think), then ate a bit of lunch at a really cute sandwhich bar overlooking the River Avon. Then, the girls and I booked a bus tour to take us around and throughout the city seeing the sights! I felt like this was a fantastic way to sight see and listen to the stories/histories behind Bath and all of her beauty. After the bus tours, we walked through the ancient ruins of the bath and the museum! Then, unfortunately, my camera battery died :( But, myself not being deterred, still had a fabulous time committing the images to memory (sorry for you though). After eating a dinner of Mai Tai, we loaded back onto the train at the station and returned to Gloucester for a teary good-bye for they will be returning to London tomorrow. I had a fantastic time meeting up with them this weekend 5,000 miles away from home! What brave adventurers they are!

TRAIN!!!

The restaurant we ate at!

Bath Cathedral/Abbey

Bath Spa!

Inside Cathedral!

Organs are fascinating!

Welcome to Bath!

The River Avon

Every street looks similar or just like this!!!!

Audio bus tour around the city!

Sabrina!

Ok, so it was beautiful, and I just LOVE cathedrals!

Another street!

Hot water runs up from a natural spring, it really is Hot! (I know, I touched it :))

Why, hello there Mr. Statue~

Ducks bathing in the bath!!! hahaha

A goat, and a kitty?

The Bath!