Sorry for the bad update, but that's life ;)
So last friday we went to Ballyrafter for showjumping, both Claudia and Una went really good. Knocked a pole or two, but it doesn't really matter in the end.
After that, we went to The Foleys, a restaurant in Lismore and we ate some food and celebrated my birthday, it was very nice! Una said that if I come back in the summer I can even work part time at that restaurant, because she knows the owner.
I forgot to tell you about what Neil said about me at the beach. Neil, is a man in the horse business too, and he told Una that I really look like a dressage girl. So wierd, because I really don't try to be like one, but I guess part of the story is my long legs. Una also always compares my work to proffessional stables, how I can't to and what's good to do. I'm not even sure of what I wanna do with my life, I don't even think I want to work with horses.
But anyway, this work experience has been a very good experience for me. Most of all, I've learned how to take care of myself, how to be responsible, and how other people live. It makes you appreciate everything so much more when you're coming home. I've really grown, got to know myself a lot better and managed to be independent and be tough and at the same time kind and friendly.
I don't know if I'll come back to Ireland this summer, because Una and I are so different as individuals. She likes to rush, to not make lists and I'm the very opposite, I like to enjoy things and to make a plan of each day. Our horsemanship are very different too, sure I've learned some stuff there. But in the end, it's all about making your own choices about what's wrong and what's right. Because it's really up to you how to act and how to live your life.


I must tell you that I had a great time yesterday in Dublin. We had a blast, we went to the 4D-movies and it was so cool! Like wind in your hair and a moving chair, Emma and I just laughed, Alex was quiet and Cecilia screamed, so much fun. Later on we had some bun with jam and cream and we ate on McDonalds and Subway, really exclusive ha? In the evening we did go to some bars and had ourselves some drinks. ( I can write those stuff now that I'm legal to do it, right?) Well, Cecilia and I got tired and went to bed about 1 am, Emma and Alex went on to about 3 am. At 7.30 am it was time to go up, eat some breakfast, pack our belongings and at 9 o'clock we got to the airport.
And here I am, at home with my family. It feel absolutly wonderful.
Home sweet home!

Well this is my last post, if you want to see some more photos, just ask or you can find them on facebook.

Cheers!

Lots of love,
Emma

Yes, I'm officially an adult now.
On my birthday, the 21th, I didn't really do anything special. Because you see, Una's aunt died, so the funeral was actually on my birthday, sad I know.
But we are going out to eat on a restaurant tomorrow evening. Thanks for all the birthdaywishes!
On the 20th we went to Lismore point point, it was like a big thoroughbred competition, like a race with big fences. It was really cool!
Today Una and I went to the beach for a ride. It was fabulous! I really enjoyed it, it was so lovely you wouldn't believe it.
This morning I also went to Dungarvan while Una was running errands, so I did some shopping as usual.
Now it's only one day left and then I'll go to Dublin on Friday morning and the plane is going on saturday morning. It's gonna be a blast spending a whole day with my girlies in Dublin.
Here is some pictures:

Lismore Point Point


Lismore Point Point


Me and Blue on the beach (I really love that horse, wish I had the money to buy her)



Lots of love,

Emma

Yesterday I took a day off to go to cork with Cecilia.
I had to get up pretty early, because I had to go with Claudia and she was leaving the house at 7 am.
So I arrived in Dungarvan at 7.10 and the bus didn't go until 08.50, so I had some time to kill. I went to a bakery, hade a cup of hot chocolate and machmallows, and some toasts too. The time went by slowly so I started to read my book that I've brought.
When I finally got on the bus, I picked a seat in the front. Unfortunately a man sat down beside me, I think he was really hangover or something. Because he smelled like alcohol and he felled asleep all the time. There was a traffic accident on the motorway, so the bus was about 2 hours delayed, poor Cecilia had to wait in Cork.
But When I finally arrived we had a blast, we talked a lot, it's so nice to have someone that you can talk to about everything. We also did lots of shopping and we met a funny statueman, he scared Cecilia and it was so funny! We couldn't stop laughing after that.
It was a very good day!

Cecilia and the scary man

Today it has been a very cold day, but we have done plenty of work anyway. Now the sky is all open and the rain is just falling down. Well, at least it's good for the grass. :)

One week left now!

Lots of love,

Emma

Today was the Lismore Fun ride, and I rode it. Can you imagine? I jumped over fences, the horse climbed over hills and jumped dreins adn whatever was on the way. The horse I rode was Blue and she was grand! A lovely ride, with lovely company.
Unfortunatly Una, Naomi and Claudia couldn't join me. Claudia was in school and Una's god mother is lying on her deathbed, her kidneys are failing, so she had to visit her.
But Una's friend Niamh took me there, we kept company all the way. It was so nice to have someone to talk to and to have someone waiting for you if you got left behind or whatever.

Now, I really am in pain.
My inflammation in the heel (more precisely in the achilles tendon) is back and more worse than ever.
My knee has got an big bruise on it, it's also very swollen and it hurts like hell. The worst part is that I have no clue at all what I've done.
My hands are really sour, but I just put some vaseline on, and I will mind them when I come home.
I think I also really needs to see a doctor about my heel, but that has to wait until I get back too.
Both my hands and fets are filled with vesicles, it's so growse.

My camera is acting very wierd, so I can only take photos with my mobile phone now. But I wasn't able to take photos in Lismore today, too bad.

Tomorrow I'm heading of early to Dungarvan for taking the bus to Cork and meet Cecilia. We'll be spending the whole day there, awesome.

One other thing: I've noticed that Una has give me a nick name, Emms. Haha, I always gets surprised when she calls me that.

Una has also aked me (more than once) if I wanna spend my summer here, to compete her horses and stuff like that. I'm really not sure, it would be lovely but at the same time, I love the Swedish summer. I think I want to be home.

Lots of love,

Emma

The weather is turning back again, awesome!

Yesterday was a really lovely day, Claudia and Una went for the Finnisk charityride. I will go on one at the beach next weekend on Merlin if everything goes as planned.
Naomi and I was supposed to watch the charityride, but things came up and we had to redo our plans.
So Unas sister Catherine picked us up and I went to town at first for a hour and after that we did a bit of gardening at Unas parents house (and of course, we had a cup of tea! haha!). Later on we went to Catherines horse and she asked me if I wanted to ride her while we where going for a walk with the dogs. I wasn't dressed for it, but I said yes anyway, so I borrowed her helmet and jumped on the horse. The horse, Bella, is only four years old, but she's got a lovely temperament. We also went to cooligan woods, a great forest with beautiful walks.

Bella

Naomi, me on Bella, Keira


Today I did some work in the arena, I used a rake to make the ground be more flat. When I was done and looked at it, I was really proud. I think the good work probebly comes from my dad's genes, so thanks! ;)
I did also ride Star today, she was very lazy and a bit of a fighter. But after a while she came around very nicely.

It's very hard times in Ireland now, the fuel is going up, the unemployment is very high, the horses are out on the roads and on their way to get slaughtered, everything is just so damn expensive.

I noticed today that the time is just fly by. It's less than two weeks left and my birthday is a week away. On friday I'm going to Cork with Cecilia, it's gonna be so fun. I've also decided that I'm gonna spend the friday before I'm going home in Dublin with Emma, so I wont have to go up so early.


Cheers!

Lots of love,

Emma

Rain, rain and even more rain.
Well, yesterday me and Claudia went for a hack anyway. We where out in the rain for about two hours and when we got back we where all wet.
On the evening we went to Ballyrafter for showjumping, Naomi was splendid on her new pony.
Last friday I started feeling a little bit homesick, but I talked to dad and after that I felt a lot better.
This morning we had some kids here to ride the ponies, so we went for a walk along the road.
When you have been out working for a few hours it's perfect to come inside the house and have a cup of tea and scones!
Well that's the most important things that happened, don't have time to write a longer post.

Lots of love,

Emma

Last night Una and I decided to go for a hack this morning. But when we got up, the weather changed our minds. It was very windy and cold.
But I have been able to work some horses in the small arena.
I've longed Merlin, he was like a robot, he did exactly what you told him to do.
I also rode Star and Blue, Star was very nice today. But Blue was so spooky because of the wind. So I just tried to get her calm and walked a lot with her.
The ponies and the young horses went out in the big mud paddock, they looked like they had a great time.

My parents called me last night, and they where a bit dissapointed that I hadn't mentioned them on my blog. So this is for you:
Well you see, one thing about our family is quite boring. We all have our birthdays within a month.
So my brother turned 20 on th 7th of march and my dad turned 50 on the 8th of march. So happy birthday to you two, hope you enjoyed yourselves! You where in my mind, all day long!!
I'm turning 18 on the 21th of march and my mum is turning 50 on the 4th of april.
You see? Boring!

I must tell you that I enjoy my time here in Ireland very much. I love the weather (even when it's like this), I love the country and I love the people, they are so friendly here!
But I've noticed that it's very expensiva to live here in Ireland. The bus costs about 10 - 20 euro and that's not okey I think.
To have horses here is even more expensive, a bale of hay costs about 30 euro and a bale of straw costs about 15 euro.
But the place that I'm at, the horses are really happy, that get food every day, they have fresh water, clean beds, and thay are able too see the sunshine every day. If you aren't aware, the welfare of horses is tight now very bad in Ireland, horses are dying every day. They are starving to death.
Here is a video if you wanna know some more:
http://www.sydsvenskan.se/varlden/article1389233/Den-irlandska-krisen-i-hastarnas-spar.html

Now I'm gonna keep the open fire burning so that the house wont get cold. I have to admit, I miss my family and friends a lot. But that wont stop me from staying here a bit longer, cause I like it here!
Dad and mum, if you don't know it allready: Your the best!
Just because I don't tell you that every day, doesn't mean that I care about you less!

Lots of love,

Emma

Yeah so I stayed over at Alex place saturday evening. It was a lovely house, you could really get lost in there, it was so big!

So on the sunday morning Alex, I and a student from Germany called Petra, was heading of to Dublin city. When we arrived we met Emma. I did some shopping, Emma went to Meteor to complain about the simcard, alex was just social being and Petra went for the highlights of Dublin like the National Museum.
We ate at Subway, haha! The only place who seemed tasty.
Emma went back to her place at abour 5 pm.
So after that Petra, Alex and I went looking for a hostel because they had another day off and Una couldn't pick me up in the evening.
We found a hostel very close to the big bus station. When we had paid for our beds we went out again.

If you are my teacher or one of my parents/ grandparents just ignore this part, okey?
Later that night we had some pizza, it was really delicious!
What was even better, we found a good pub! One were there were so many people that they hadn't got the time to check for ID's.
It was really good music and we had ourselves a cider each, we didn't wanna like get drunk we just drank a cider cause we enjoyed ourselves and it was nice. So that's it!

Then we went to bed and in the morning I went back to Ballinamult!
I rode both Star and Blue in the outdoor arena when i got back. I did a few jumps with Star, she is really forward going, but I like it.
Now I'm alone at the house and I'm gonna take a shower, read my book and then go to bed, Exciting right?


 
My lovely girls, Emma and Alex <3

Emma is preparing for St Patricks Day ;)

Me, Alex and Petra (on the pub)

Live music! :D


Yeah, so we had a lovely time in Dublin!
I'm having the best time here in Ireland. I hope you are allright at home too!

Lots of love,

Emma

The Whole Gang On The Airport :)

  Guinness :D






When we went for a visit at John's place, he showed us this newborn calf. Cute? Well I don't know about that..




<--Buddy                                     and                             Lily(The cat with no ears, haha) -->




Ginger, a 2 year old thoroughbred.

Princess, a 2 year old something. hahah I don't know which breed she is.

Cream Bailey

Button, a 2 year old gelding, think it is a thoroughbred

Merlin, a real gentleman

Big Bailey

Sonny

From the right, Snowie; Snowwhite; Blackberry

Naomi, the 7 year old daughter.

Blue, a 6 year old mare

Star, a showjumping horse

The house :)

The outdoor arena

The stable, and the greyhound's name is Sarah


Lots of love,

Emma

Well, things just happening all the time, I wont be able to write about them all.

But yesterday we hacked out on Merlin and Reil, after that I rode Blue in the small outdoor arena.
Naomi and Dean went show jumping in Ballyrafter in the afternoon, it's a big indoor arena. It went quite good I think, just a few misstakes. But Hey, who doesn't make misstakes sometimes?

Now I'm of to Clonmel, to take the bus to Kilkenny and then I'm gonna meet up with Alex and sleep over at her place. Because Alex, Emma and I are going to Dublin in the morning :)
I will be back again on monday afternoon.

Pictures will come up some day next week, haven't got the time yet.

Lots of love,

Emma

Yeah, it's really hot weather and the best part is that it's gonna last all week.
Yesterday we didn't had time to ride, but we went in to a town called Dungarvan, very nice town! I went shopping and Una ran some errands. I also cleaned the tack room as she were picking up Naomi from school.
Today I mucked out almost all the  14 stalls of myself, but it wasn't that much of work as it sounds. It's quite relaxing to be by yourself in the stable and work I think, to do it in your own speed.
About 1 p.m. we went for a hack. Today I rode a horse called Blue Lady, she is very nice. She became schooled in september last year, Una told me. Blue was a little bit shy, but after a while she cooled down.
At 4 pm. we went to Lismore, ourfirst stop was at a lovely bakery shop, i had applejuice and a cupcake, yummy! After that we went to a friend of Unas, his name was John, he was very nice and showed me things. He has a farm of horses, dogs, a goat and horses. One of the cows had just had a calf about two minutes before we got there, it was so cute!
Naomi rode a pony called Mitch, a grey connemara, about 7 years. Very pretty! Una is going to buy it for Naomi I think.
When we were climbing up on a labber I felt something grabbing my heel, I turned around and it was John, haha. He was messing with me.
Tomorrow I'm gonna put some photos up here, I promise!!!

Lots of love,

Emma

I'm here!
I'm finally here in Ireland. Precisely in Ballinamult.
Yesterday was a long day it started about 4.30 a.m. (swedish time) and I arrived at this place about 7 p.m.
Lucky me, Alex and I took the same bus, it was a little bit tricky to know where you should get off, so we just asked the busdriver!
People in Ireland are so nice, I asked a lady in town which way to go, and she guided me right to the place and she was so kind.
Today I got up about 8 a.m. (Irish time (-1 hour)) and started the day with breakfast, which was toasts with rasberry jam, cornflakes with milk adn a glass of juice aswell.
After that we went to the stables and put hay in everyones haynet. Later Una, my host, started to muck out the stalls and I filled them up with straw again when she was finished.
At 11 a.m. we hacked out, I road a horse called Merlin, he was a real gentleman. We were out for about two hours. She showed me the landscape and the town. It was really beautiful, green grass everywhere and small farmes with cows and sheep.
It was really hot today, about 12 degrees I think. It's gonna be hot all week, YES!
I have also played with the daughter Naomi, she is 7 years old  and adorable. She's got a lot of energy, fantasy and she loves drama. I have notice that my fantasy isn't so good, so I'll train it up with her. Today we pretended to be wild animals, it kind of sucked all my energy out of me. So I'm deadly tired now. I'm gonna call Cicci and Alex soon to talk a little swedish for variety.
You will here from me soon and I will put up some photos here.

Lots of love,
Emma

Now everything is packed, dad is driving me and cecilia to the airport about 5 am tomorrow. wierd feeling! I haven´t realized it yet I think. But it´s gonna be just fine I hope!
IRELAND, HERE WE COME!

I can´t think of anything but Ireland, it´s gonna be amazing. I have bought almost evrything I´ll be needing now, and a little more ;)
I´ve also solved my packing-problems, I´ve got an huge bag now :D
I love my new helmet that I bought on the exhibitor. Found some more lovely things as well...
Now it´s less than 2 days left.
What´s left is to exchange my money to euro and finish my packing, probebly clean up my room too.
Today I´m going to the Stable and hack out. The horse I´m riding is called Marbel A, his a half-breed on 13 years I think. His kind of a gentleman, always nice and sweet.
Tomorrow I´m gonna be at the horse show in scandinavium all day long, on the evening my friend Cecilia arrives at my place, she will spend the night so we can go together to the airport. Awesome!
We got a mail from our teacher saying that our parrents must give their consent, if we´ll need to stay in hostel. Hope I wont need to!!
Have a wonderful day!
Lots of love,
Emma