[2DogsFarm]

Keep fingers crossed for me!

If all goes well I will be visiting a Dutch friend in the next 2 weeks at her place near Amsterdam for a 10-day stay.

What horsy things are Must See Must Do in Holland within a reasonable distance from Amsterdam?
Tack shops?
I used to drool over a Dutch catalog a trainer had and cannot for the life of me recall the name

She & her sisters used to ride, so I am not afraid to suggest indulging me for at least one day of horse-related touristing

[sketcher]

It's a nice ride to head north to Freisland and drive by all the Fresian farms and see the babies out in the fields.

[Appsolute]

Oh I love the Netherlands, hubby spent some time in Alkmaar (noth of Amsterdam), and I had opprotunities to vist and travel around.

Its easy to get from place to place by train / bike. But I did rent a car for a few days to go to horsey stuff!

When I went there was a big show in Valkenswaard, and it seems like that area has a lot of horses (the big Valkenswaard show is in August though).

It sounds like your stay will overlap with the Outdoor-Gelderland-2012/64

Visit the international horse show OUTDOOR GELDERLAND 2012 in the Netherlands and experience the international horse sport live in an exclusive ambiance. OUTDOOR GELDERLAND 2012 is a horse show of category CSI4*. This horse show is one of the most popular horse shows of the Netherlands. It offers exciting horse sport in jumping and dressage. Here you can experience top riders of the international horse sport with their best horses in the highest classes of jumping and dressage.

It is from May 30 to June 3rd. If you are in the country that weekeend, I would SO go to this!

Edit Oh! Look at pictures from last year!

I am jealous! I would love to be catching a flight off to NL!

[2DogsFarm]

That's the catalog place - does anyone know if their shop is in Amsterdam or nearby?

Oooh! Friesian babies!
Maybe we will be in cycling distance of farms. Lots of biking planned.

Appsolute:
PERFECT!
That is the last weekend before I head home.
I'll ask friend if that is something she'd want to do.
Weather there now is colder than normal - "Fallish" is her description, so perhaps not the best choice for that day, but we'll see....

Keep ideas coming!

[MunchingonHay]

http://www.riantstables.com/

they have a lovely restaurant that over looks the indoor school and the food is amazing. I lived here for a summer a few years back. Its worth the drive OR you could take a train. Apeldoorn is where you would catch the train and is a really nice place to visit as well. Its where the Queens summer grounds are and they hold horse shows on the grounds.

[2DogsFarm]

Ooooooh!
MOH: now that cafe is a place for cooler weather horse-ifying.

All COTHers:
jingle those curbchains for an available seat on my flights!
(I'm flying standby courtesy of an airline employee friend = cheapo RT, but I am pondscum re: seating on flights)

[Appsolute]

That's the catalog place - does anyone know if their shop is in Amsterdam or nearby?

I remember passing a Divoza from the freeway, I think it was when we were down by Eidnhooven thouhj. It had a big sign that said "Horse World" my eyes bugged - WHAT is that place!!! - ahhh but we didn't have time to stop.

Mega Store Locations

Here are the locations. None really near Amsterdam (not a horsey hot spot) but they are often near major roads and might be on our route somewhere.

[Rhiannonjk]

If I may share the thread, I'll be in basically the same situation for a week over Labor day (end of Sept/beginning of August). Staying in Zaandam, with a friend who is prepared for me to come up with horsey demands.

[2DogsFarm]

I remember passing a Divoza from the freeway, I think it was when we were down by Eidnhooven thouhj. It had a big sign that said "Horse World" my eyes bugged - WHAT is that place!!! - ahhh but we didn't have time to stop.

Mega Store Locations

Here are the locations. None really near Amsterdam (not a horsey hot spot) but they are often near major roads and might be on our route somewhere.

What a coinkydink - my friend lives in Eindhoven!
I believe we will be biking to DiVoza

[Appsolute]

What a coinkydink - my friend lives in Eindhoven!
I believe we will be biking to DiVoza

Just looked at a map. Must have seen the Divoza when we were driving to Germany, its not very close to Eindhoven.

BUT there is a Epplejeck Horse and Rider SUPER STORE in Eindhoven!!

http://www.ej.nl/default.aspx

Spent 14 days in Eindhoven, really liked it. Not touristy like Amsterdam (and no cool canals etc like Amsterdam), but a nice little city, with very friendly people. It is an easy drive over to Germany from Eindhoven, and a train ride to Amsterdam. On one of the days we had a car, we also drove down to Belgium and toured some Trappist breweries (mmm I LOVE Belgian beer).

While it is an excellent country for traveling by bike, I did appreciate having a car for a few days to really get out on the country roads. A little stick shift was very affordable to rent, and through AAA you can get an international license.

[joiedevie99]

I was there with non-horsey SO and we didn't have a car. We did rent bikes one day and we biked out to Vondelpark. We stopped across the street at the Royal Riding School to admire the old indoor and watch a bit of a beginner group lesson. We also stopped at a small tack shop in the area that was clearly meant to cater to the lesson crowd.

[ako]

Maybe there will be stallion shows or auctions at that time? My trainer and I went to the VDL Stud Spring stallion show last year and loved it! Got to see Dutch Olympians ride and TONS of new foals - even roaming throughout the crowds at times when they made a wrong turn away from Mom's side! It was free and fun!

Probably something similar going on. Big shows or inspections.

It's a small country, you can drive to Friesland in maybe 90 minutes or less, if I remember correctly. You can see Friesians riding Friesians in Friesland, speaking Friesian. (At least I think that's right!) And other horsey areas will be close, too.

Wish I'd gotten to do a nice trail ride through the countryside.

Have a great trip!!

[ako]

Oh, lamb-nap a little sheep for me! We weren't able to sneak one into our luggage, sadly! So many gorgeous horses and animals everywhere in the countryside!

[2DogsFarm]

Appsolute, I think I love you
Look what Epplejack has(in their BlingBling section):

[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/ADMINI%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg[/IMG]http://www.ej.nl/SupplyImages/WF00002/6300009-t.jpg

Seriously, good prices - 29EU!!! - for breeches.
Easily packable, affordable breeches

Lord, let there be seats for me on those planes! <insert on-my-knees icon>