Pferd und Hund

I just got back from a horse fair called Pferd und Hund, in Dortmund. It was amazing!

I had such a great time I cannot believe it. I saw presentation after presentation of fabulous horses doing incredible things.

The mounted games were incredible, these kids doing stunts at speed. Picking something off the ground at a gallop with their hands! Leaping onto galloping horses, pole bending and detailed work, all at a gallop, I was in awe!

I saw driving competitions with teams pulling carts at speed through a course, that was awesome.

There was a wild horse presentation where horses performed simultaneously in ground work, jumping, dressage, and just for fun...all these wild horses come from Europe somewhere. I noticed they had no brands.

A Fjord show where they did circus tricks and jumped through hoops and did dressage blindfolded, and jumped Norway flags and ran through banners, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

A novelty show from America: The American Miniature Horse. Making Shetlands look huge. They had jeweled strings tied into their manes.

There was an unsmiling man who rode a Lusitano, doing classical dressage with a Falcon on his arm!!!! He rode like a dream. His horse did the levade in an entirely new way, a series of levades, so lovely.

Welsh, Tinker (Vanner) and Connemara breed presentations were also nice. I love a good Welsh pony!!

DQHA. This will throw you. It threw me. Can you guess what DQHA stands for?

Did you guess the German Quarter Horse Association? I know. Get out! They use our the same logo as the AQHA, and I went straight to their booth and demanded answers. What the heck is a DQHA! Do Quarter Horses in Germany receive registration through AQHA or what? (Yes, they are just a "daughter" firm of AQHA, they just help people in Germany get their horses registered and their points.)

I said I wish I would have had my camera, cuz ...DQHA!!!??

I saw the Quarter Horse presentation, where they did Western Pleasure and Reining. The Western Pleasure here is like our Western Pleasure 20 years ago. At normal speeds.

Cutting was done without cows, they had none here so people pretended to be cows, and the horses cut them beautifully! I loved it.

I also loved how none of those Quarter Horses wore fake tails. God forbid that awful fashion comes to Germany.

BTW, they cannot properly pronounce the word "Quarter Horse" here. I had to giggle. I was sure to tell my friend how to say it! The DQHA people laughed at how I said AQHA. Uh... I say it right.

I was dismayed to see not one but two "Colored Arabians" stables present their horses. Agh. Why can't they find a special name for their special designer breed, which is NO BREED AT ALL, it is a mix. They were very proud of their tobiano "Arabian" stallion, whose white ringed eyes were disturbing, but not as disturbing as his obviously gingered tail. Before today I had never seen one.

We did see some real Shagya Arabians doing dressage and jumping, that was amazing. I was in love with one head tossing naughty grey.

One lady brought her Andalusian out to "dance" with, that was awesome. It was his first time on stage, and halfway through the presentation, he called it quits and trotted back to the curtain. She dutifully fetched him, made him perform a few more maneuvers and then said goodnight.

One man brought his 36 year old horse out to play games with, which involved "getting in bed and sleeping together" where he lay between the horse's legs. I shook my head. There is a perfect word for that in German, Leichtsinnig. That means, "Asking for it."

I was actually able to resist temptation and not buy a single thing from any vendor. I did say hello to my friends who own the shop Way Out West in Remscheid. It was wonderful to speak to them again, and tell them we bought a home, and brought my horse home!

No matter how much stuff you have for your horse, there is always a new shiny item that would look great in your barn or on your horse. It was hard for me to keep my hand off my purse!

I had a nice long discussion with a feed retailer, about the state of horse food in Germany. It is so different here! We discussed at length this fear of oats people have here, even though any old timer will tell you that oats are the oldest best grain, entirely natural and good, as kraftfutter. People feed corn instead of oats cuz they are scared oats make horses hot? Ahem?

We talked about probiotics, which have only barely arrived in Germany. We talked about alfalfa, which can only be had in the bag here, for lots of money. We talked about senior feeds, which do not exist in Germany, really. There is no "Complete Feed" here (meant for horses who cannot eat hay.) She did not know that and had several questions for me.

We talked about endurance riding. She was an endurance rider! She convinced me that I should go volunteer at a local NRW ride, not the International ones I visited. Hm, maybe there is something to that.

Wonderful, talking to people about horses, seeing fantastic riding on amazing horses.

And to end it all, we walked by the Shire section, where three GINORMOUS horses stood in stalls they barely fit in. I had never seen such huge horses.

I couldn't believe my eyes, they were so big. My friend confessed to me, "It has been my lifelong dream to ride a Shire." I said, "Well then you need to just talk to these people! I'm sure if you do, you will have the opportunity."

An old man in a tweed coat set his beer down and came to talk to us. It was after closing, but he was very friendly. I thought, maybe she'll ask. Heck, it is her lifelong dream!

She did. They said yes.

They threw a saddle one the biggest one, and a bridle, and led him out. He had to duck his neck completely to exit the box. In the aisle, I took all of my friend's purchases in my arms, and someone gave her a leg up. A leg up on a Shire does not help much! She had to scramble the rest of the way. The calm, friendly Shire just stood there as she climbed.

I realized as I stood there beside that horse that my head only came to the point of his shoulder. That is, his legs were about as long as I am tall, and his back towered above my head. They said he measures 2 meters at the withers. I am about 1 and a half meters, I think.

My friend looked so tiny up there. Like a child on a thoroughbred. She was beaming. I was beaming. She rode that horse right outside and down to the underground parkinglot which was converted into stalls.

Her dream came true. I loved seeing it happen. I can't get that image out of my head, how tiny she was up there on that horse.

Nice people are everywhere, we just have to bring them out.