The last weekend in November was spent in Strawberry Arena, Stockholm, where the Sweden International Horse Show took place. This was our big premiere “in real life”. Finally we would get to come out and meet a lot of horse people and talk about rugs, horse toys, equipment in general and horses in particular. We had longed for this for some time now.
But as you know, things don't always go as planned, even if you have a plan B and C. Our first delivery of rugs, containing 220 boxes of goods, was supposed to arrive by November 14th, according to all the paperwork. But our container was stuck in Hamburg. Not out on a stormy sea, but in a port just a few days' journey away. The cargo finally arrived 3 days before departure for Stockholm. 220 boxes of rugs (and some with toy balls) that turned out to be mislabeled, not labeled at all or not packed in our bags. We just had to get to work. All the rugs had to be checked and many had to be rolled and packed.
The mornings were early and the evenings were late. It didn't help that we had the wrong strategy from the start and had to pick up all the rugs and start all over not once but twice. With lots of laughter and silent groans, the bus was gradually filled with boxes. Packed with love but not much logic.
When we rolled north on Tuesday, November 26th, we were tired but happy. The bus was full of rugs and Prince was firmly tied up in the trailer (read mannequin-horse).
Once we were there, moving in and setting up the stand went much smoother than we had thought. Now we were there and feeling incredibly excited.
Four days flew by even though these days were very long from morning to late evening. If our start was a bit shaky, the days on site were something else entirely. So many wonderful horse people we got to meet. So much good feedback and exciting discussions. Our reception was exactly what we had dreamed of and thanks to this it was okay to land in bed Sunday night at 01:45 after packing again and moving out.
And yes, we hadn't really succeeded with the packing despite all our attempts, many rugs had to go home and many rugs had to be ordered.
Just over 2 weeks later and with a 40-foot container unloaded, we are happy that it is two months until Eurohorse.
See you in Gothenburg!
