Hi everyone!!!!
I decided to write a blog of my adventures whilst in America to keep track of all the things I have done. I know you all will want to be nosey beggars and can catch up with what I'm getting up to :-) pahahaha.... Plus, this is the first time my life has ever actually been interesting so I feel the need to spread it to the world!!!
Arrival and the Local Area
I arrived here at the Middleburg Agricultural Research and Extension (MARE) Centre in Middleburg, Virginia about one week ago and I already feel like I have learned so much it is crazy!
When I arrived, I was shown to the pretty little house that I will be living in all summer with two other girls who are both lovely. One of the girls, Kaitlin, made me pizza for when I arrived after my long journey which was a really nice welcome.
I decided to write a blog of my adventures whilst in America to keep track of all the things I have done. I know you all will want to be nosey beggars and can catch up with what I'm getting up to :-) pahahaha.... Plus, this is the first time my life has ever actually been interesting so I feel the need to spread it to the world!!!
Arrival and the Local Area
I arrived here at the Middleburg Agricultural Research and Extension (MARE) Centre in Middleburg, Virginia about one week ago and I already feel like I have learned so much it is crazy!
When I arrived, I was shown to the pretty little house that I will be living in all summer with two other girls who are both lovely. One of the girls, Kaitlin, made me pizza for when I arrived after my long journey which was a really nice welcome.
The house is pretty basic but we have everything we need and we have some amazing views from our windows. Most importantly, we have air conditioning which is essential in this Virginia heat - it has been around 29-33 degrees with 60-90% humidity since I arrived! When I first got off the plane it literally felt like I was in a steam room. I have never been so sweaty and smelly (so attractive) although I am beginning to get used to it now...
The MARE centre is in a remote area - the nearest big town is about 45mins away by car (Leesburg). We have been out for tea there a couple of times with Dr Splan and the food over here is just amazing - you can't beat a bit of American fatty food! Middleburg is a 1 and a half mile walk away from my house and only has one supermarket. However, it has a lot of touristy shops and cafes and is very quaint and pretty. It is a very wealthy area and is extremely horsey - almost like an American 'Cheshire' but I would say even more horsey than that - everywhere you look there is something to do with horses. In fact, even though there is only one food shop/supermarket there are at least three saddleries!
The walk into town is very beautiful so I actually enjoy it a lot despite the heat. The atmosphere is so relaxing and with the quietness and fresh air that is all around you, it is hard to imagine that you are only an hour away from the capital of the USA - Washington DC. Here is one of the views I took of the distant beginnings of the Blue Ridge Mountain range, on the way back from one of several walks to Middleburg this week.
The MARE centre is in a remote area - the nearest big town is about 45mins away by car (Leesburg). We have been out for tea there a couple of times with Dr Splan and the food over here is just amazing - you can't beat a bit of American fatty food! Middleburg is a 1 and a half mile walk away from my house and only has one supermarket. However, it has a lot of touristy shops and cafes and is very quaint and pretty. It is a very wealthy area and is extremely horsey - almost like an American 'Cheshire' but I would say even more horsey than that - everywhere you look there is something to do with horses. In fact, even though there is only one food shop/supermarket there are at least three saddleries!
The walk into town is very beautiful so I actually enjoy it a lot despite the heat. The atmosphere is so relaxing and with the quietness and fresh air that is all around you, it is hard to imagine that you are only an hour away from the capital of the USA - Washington DC. Here is one of the views I took of the distant beginnings of the Blue Ridge Mountain range, on the way back from one of several walks to Middleburg this week.
There are 5 other interns at the MARE Centre who have all been here for a month longer than me so at times I have felt quite out of my depth - especially as things work and are done so differently in this country! The other girls have all been really helpful and supportive though despite the fact they have had to teach me very basic things that are done differently over here! I felt pretty dense when I couldn't work any of their gate latches, taps and couldn't put a headcollar on correctly haha....I have also been finding the language barrier a bit tricky and quite funny and now have a new dictionary of American words that I didn't understand...
Faucet - Inside tap
Spigot - Outside tap (why?!)
Rough housing - Play fighting (I thought this was referring to a dodgy area of town haha)
Lobby - An entrance hall - definitely not stew!
Sassy - Cheeky/bitchy/cocky
Hokie - Someone that goes to Virginia Tech/ a buff turkey mascot thing (see below)... if you ask anyone what a hokie is over here they reply 'I am' - apparently it is some kind of slogan but I still don't quite get it...
Chips - Crisps
Biscuits - Sweet bread rolls
Cart - Trolley
Grocery store - Supermarket. Doesn't just sell groceries LOL!
Zucchini - Courgette
Faucet - Inside tap
Spigot - Outside tap (why?!)
Rough housing - Play fighting (I thought this was referring to a dodgy area of town haha)
Lobby - An entrance hall - definitely not stew!
Sassy - Cheeky/bitchy/cocky
Hokie - Someone that goes to Virginia Tech/ a buff turkey mascot thing (see below)... if you ask anyone what a hokie is over here they reply 'I am' - apparently it is some kind of slogan but I still don't quite get it...
Chips - Crisps
Biscuits - Sweet bread rolls
Cart - Trolley
Grocery store - Supermarket. Doesn't just sell groceries LOL!
Zucchini - Courgette
Virginia is home to a wide variety of wildlife and I have been lucky enough to witness some of this for myself...So far, I have seen foxes, vultures, ground hogs, a variety of butterflies and moths, deer, turtles, moles, frogs, hummingbirds and more! Perhaps the most fascinating little creatures to me are the fire flies, which light up the evenings with their beautiful flashing and are quite spectacular underneath the typical Virginia sunset (seen in my cover picture above).
Work and Education
I have learnt an incredible amount in the last few days - it is like everything I learnt in theory during my degree is finally starting to come together. I worked 4 full day shifts at the start to get me used to the routine here at the MARE centre, but I am now on the same schedule as the other girls and generally work 5 x 5 hour shifts per week, with two days off, although this varies considerably depending on what is happening at the farm. We also have lectures occasionally, perform night checks when horses are kept in and have handling classes on some evenings.
We regularly bring in horses for reproduction work and witness ultrasound scans being performed. We are taught what we are seeing on the scans which is really useful as they are very difficult to read. I have also performed an intramuscular injection which was a lot easier than I expected but still nerve wracking! We also make up and give oral medications every day and clean/treat horses' wounds. For a couple of days during the week, we were part of a research study involving frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance tests - a form of blood testing which assesses insulin resistance in horses, which was a valuable experience in terms of handling blood for lab work and to see how the tests are performed, but I was so nervous and I don't even know why!
When I heard that we were going to have the privilege of meeting Dr Andrew McLean in person at the the farm and also attending one of his lectures at the National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg I was sooo excited - all the girls thought I was a crazy! Dr McLean is a scientist who I have admired for several years and I have also followed some of his training methods with my own horses. He has competed in international eventing competitions, performed groundbreaking research in the field of equine learning theory and equitation science and has also been involved in improving the welfare of elephants during breaking and training in India.
I have learnt an incredible amount in the last few days - it is like everything I learnt in theory during my degree is finally starting to come together. I worked 4 full day shifts at the start to get me used to the routine here at the MARE centre, but I am now on the same schedule as the other girls and generally work 5 x 5 hour shifts per week, with two days off, although this varies considerably depending on what is happening at the farm. We also have lectures occasionally, perform night checks when horses are kept in and have handling classes on some evenings.
We regularly bring in horses for reproduction work and witness ultrasound scans being performed. We are taught what we are seeing on the scans which is really useful as they are very difficult to read. I have also performed an intramuscular injection which was a lot easier than I expected but still nerve wracking! We also make up and give oral medications every day and clean/treat horses' wounds. For a couple of days during the week, we were part of a research study involving frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance tests - a form of blood testing which assesses insulin resistance in horses, which was a valuable experience in terms of handling blood for lab work and to see how the tests are performed, but I was so nervous and I don't even know why!
When I heard that we were going to have the privilege of meeting Dr Andrew McLean in person at the the farm and also attending one of his lectures at the National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg I was sooo excited - all the girls thought I was a crazy! Dr McLean is a scientist who I have admired for several years and I have also followed some of his training methods with my own horses. He has competed in international eventing competitions, performed groundbreaking research in the field of equine learning theory and equitation science and has also been involved in improving the welfare of elephants during breaking and training in India.
His lecture at the museum almost brought me to tears due to the amazing work he has done with elephant training - it was so touching... I would love to work with him one day if I ever have the opportunity, he is incredibly inspiring and really made me think about my own career choices. He was also really down to earth (he is an Aussie after all) and told us about how him and his friends used to gallop around on ponies catching turkeys, peacocks and kangaroos on King Island, Australia - I can't imagine how this is possible! After the lecture, all of the interns and James (a Masters student here at the MARE Center) were all able to get a picture with Dr McLean.
Handling Classes
We have been handling the horses for American sports horse showing which I have never done anything like before and it is quite challenging but so much fun at the same time. Here is one of the horses, 'Naboo', an ex-dressage horse who is simply a pleasure to handle and very pretty.
We have been handling the horses for American sports horse showing which I have never done anything like before and it is quite challenging but so much fun at the same time. Here is one of the horses, 'Naboo', an ex-dressage horse who is simply a pleasure to handle and very pretty.
We always handle in an English bridle which is nice for me as that is one thing familiar to me! We perform a show with each horse after practicing with the horses where we are able to get feedback on how we performed and things we need to work on. Handling is a lot more fun than I had imagined - I really enjoy it.
Farewell for now
Okay so that is my update on what I have been up to so far although it doesn't contain everything! I will be giving regular updates on this blog about what I am getting up to so I hope you enjoy it.
Speak to you all soon,
Charlotte xxxxxx
Okay so that is my update on what I have been up to so far although it doesn't contain everything! I will be giving regular updates on this blog about what I am getting up to so I hope you enjoy it.
Speak to you all soon,
Charlotte xxxxxx