Dear Shoveltrash,
Yes, living in Croatia is very different! It has definitely opened my eyes and it's very interesting seeing the world from a different prospective. I do really miss England, but would never be able to have the laid back life style that i have now if I lived there.
The climate is lovely,although a little too hot in the height of summer for an English Rose like me
As for the horse world, it seems to me that the most popular thing here is show jumping, followed by endurance and then dressage. Most of the dressage tournaments are held in Zagreb which means that the majority of people in my region, Istria, are not interested....going anywhere further than the bakers on the corner is too far to travel
Also there are very few trainers for dressage, although i am lucky enough to be close to the National Dressage Champion who trained in Germany(classic), so I am able to train with her on her horses who are of a good level, although as they are also school horses and a bit lazy, they are tiring to ride. (Has been a challange learning the language too...all new horsey terms mastered now though i think)!
I recently borrowed a friend's horse and went on a 30km endurance ride just for fun and to keep her company, although i have to say, endurance isn't really my thing and i ached pretty badly the next few days. Ideally i would like to compete in jumping and dressage. Here is a photo of myself at the endurance at the front left, with the number 10 vest on, bay horse (looks like pony however with me on him as am fairly tall!) there is a piebald horse behind me.
Anyway...enough rambling, don't want to be a bore!! Will post more photos in training section one of these days!
