A tour of German horse magazines

A friend loaned me all her horse magazines, and I have been going through them for weeks. At first I had trouble understanding them, but as time passed, I started picking up on the horsey nomenclature of this land. The titles of these magazines, in case you are curious, are Cavallo, Mein Pferd, Pferdboerse, Freizeit Reiter, and Reiter Revue. These are general magazines that do not specialize in jumping or dressage, but have an overall approach.

I thought I would share the things I found odd or interesting. Mostly I wanted to share what I found different from my experiences with American magazines.

I had the idea to do this blog entry when I read one particular article about a riding academy in Hong Kong. They discuss what riding is like there, how they use ex race horses, and it costs about 80 euros an hour for a group lesson, but worse, you have to get on a waiting list because there are so many people who wish to ride, and only a couple riding stables. What stopped me in my tracks was the following line:

"The Chinese know next to nothing about horses."

I read it twice, and then confirmed with my man that that is what it actually said. Whew, talk about Politically Incorrect! I can't imagine reading a sentence like that in an American horse magazine. At that point I got ready for some culture shock. Ready?

Gaiting for better and worse

A much less tortured Tennessee Walking Horse exists in Germany. Loved for their gait and calm nature, the article condemned the American TWH show scene, where horses wear diesel oil and chains to make them step higher. Here in Germany, it looks like they only use weights and high shoes. The average price for a 3 year old saddle trained TWH here is 8,000 Euros (10k$).


The Icelandic is Europe's cause for concern, with their totling tests putting the horses in an upside down position, causing them pain in their backs, so the articles say. They wear weighted shoes too. These magazines are quick to point out what they consider cruelty, and no one's identity is protected.






Looks like he can touch his elbow with his heel as he tolts.










Now I know what inspired the gaping mouthed carousel horses in merry go rounds.










For Shock Value

Every month there is a "Worst Horse Accident" photo of the month contest.





































For debate or scorn

Flash nosebands are sold on every bridle in Germany. I cannot find a normal noseband on any bridle in my catalogs. Yet, they are condemned as cruel in more than one article.









Rollkur is bad! We all agree, but it is good to see the German magazines point the finger at the worst offenders.










Here is Anky, stopping Salinero with all her strength. What a pity, because they should be an example of fine riding at their level. They are scorned here.










Indeed you can buy products that support the cause to end Rollkur. However that works, I am not sure, but at least your product has the Anti-Rollkur logo on it. My friend has an Anti-Drawreins sticker on her car. Really! Germans hardly ever put stickers on their cars.









Cruppers hinder movement, to the extent of doing damage to a horse's back. 5 experts tell you not to use them. My response is, Have you never ridden in the mountains? Also, they only tighten when a horse is descending a very steep slope. Otherwise, they stay loose and they do not hurt a horse's back.







Horsekeeping

What is up with this way of feeding horses? I don't know the english word for it, but this is what we use for cattle, goats and sheep back home. The animalas stick their heads through and UNDER bars to eat. I can only imagine how many facial injuries Baasha would have if our last boarding situation had had one. Horses snark at each other while they eat, and the normal response is to fling their heads away or up. Don't the manufacturers know that?






I read an article about how they cause harm, but in every single issue of every magazine I read, there is a picture ad selling these horse head traps. I am relieved that the editors are trying to educate people about not buying them.





As I have mentioned, all the barns I have visited have concrete stall flooring with no mats. Additionally, they have concrete or cement block paddocks for winter. That is, many many horses in Germany have concrete underfoot 100% of the time in wintertime. I saw lots of pics in the mgazines of stables with this footing.

Just today I looked at the local horse forum, and someone asked about resurfacing her winter paddock, and she was told by several list members to buy concrete blocks.

Here is the type used in paddocks. Someone else posted photos of her stable, with the concrete block system in place.








This is normal here, not the exception.










I see this concrete block footing everywhere here and it really mystifies me. I used to clean this type of paddock three times a week, and woo was that fast and easy! And the horses never had a fleck of dirt on them, because they never lay down.










I have seen stables with these walls, I cannot believe my eyes when I see them. How often do the people have to extricate horses who have rolled though the bars, getting their legs stuck? The articles agree that horses should be able to stick their heads out of their stalls (it is one of the criteria used in judging the riding stables). But in this case, I would worry.

To be continued