One of the best things about Germany is the horsey world. It's ubiquitous -- you cannot get 10 minutes out of downtown Cologne without there being a riding stable for citizens to enjoy. Multi-user trails must mostly include horses, networking cities across the entire nation.
Boarding is the way here, in a country the size of Montana with one quarter the population of America.
And there's leasing. Most Germans do not own their own stand-alone homes, the majority living in either apartments or multi-family dwellings, so horse "sharing" is huge.
It's awesome cuz people who cannot afford a horse can pay 80-100 per month to ride a horse 2 to 3 times per week, in their own neighborhoods.
Tonight on Germany's "craigslist" I found a lovely dapple grey in our neighborhood being offered for cheap to an experienced rider who will, well, basically train him and pay for the privilege. The owner, I realized suddenly, is the lady who rents her paddock out to S1. (Oh, and to add another layer, she doesn't own the property at all, she rents it, and then re-rents out part of the barn and paddock, as well as leasing out all the fields the horses can access. This is German horse life in NRW. "Re-renting"!)
"Come help ride my 11 year old German Riding Pony who is not easy. Ride him with confidence and experience."
I could read from the ad she is too busy with her show poodles cuz last I heard her grey gelding was wonderful to ride. S1 said he's much easier than her own horse, Bintu, "you can just sit back and enjoy!" she told me. (If you are new here, S1 is a friend who pushed me to buy a horse from the same dealer she got her Arabian, Bintu, from. She, in fact, scouted out Mag for me. I agreed to travel to the far reaches to check out Mag, where the dealer put other horses in front of me.)
I would never lease Mag out unless I trusted the person. Guess how many people I trust *lol*.
So I find it disturbing to find so many ads online where horse owners are over-horsed and try to get people to pay them money to get on their horse.
This next one - my goodness - seems like something straight out of FHOTD.
No trail riding allowed, top rider weight 143 pounds.
Bad Google translation follows. ENJOY!
***
I am looking for a riding participation with head and heart ...,
which sees in a horse much more than just a welcome sports equipment.
Wanted for my 8-year-old gelding (P.R.E)
Until the age of five, he only knew life as a stallion.
From then on, his life began with me ... as a gelding in an open stable herd.
He was therefore ridden late and must certainly still learn a lot.
He is a friendly, playful guy who likes to test his limits. Therefore, you should be able to prevail and no longer be a beginner rider.
As a rider you should be able to give him security, as he pays very close attention to how you behave yourself in "scary situations" for him and adapt to your behavior ...
In a nutshell, he gets upset quickly
.... insofar as you yourself remain calm and relaxed;)
I am looking for a loving and responsible riding participation, which sees him as a leisure partner. You should be assertive but sensitive. I reject a hard hand, spurs & unnecessary adjustments of the horse !!!
It is also important that you are weatherproof and I can rely on you to take good care of your fur nose on the agreed days.
Stable works are not available ...
Horse care such as cleaning and feeding ... are of course included.
He has a very short supine position, is not a weight carrier ... And is currently ridden with a fur saddle western ... You should therefore be rather dainty built and best not weigh well over 65kilo.
He has a stick of 1.60
We would agree to fixed days, when you take care of him, work or ride him.
He is standing at a riding stable in Dabringhausen. Riding instruction is possible
Riding area, two riding halls and Roundpan are available. It is rather difficult to reach by public transport.
Unfortunately, terrain rides are currently not possible due to its hooves and stony terrain ... But we are working on that.
If you are interested in getting to know us ...
and you:
- At least 18 years old
- you are mobile
- no beginner and horses are experienced
- you can prevail, but have no hard hand
- are responsible and reliable
- not too hard ...
... can you write me a message ...
I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
For a trial would be incurred € 5 fee, which will then be charged in the case of an agreed riding participation with the monthly price ... Thus I would like to avoid that people announce themselves, who would like to ride a P.R.E times, but no serious riding participation search.
***
Wow, that's new to me - a 5E fee to test ride the horse.
I hope you believe me that I run into similar ads regularly. I keep track of "craigslist" in our neighbhorhood cuz I like to see what's going on - who is selling or leasing what horse.
I think it's great that Ani is allowd to ride Rudi twice per week for free, because the owner apparently sees the benefit in it, and understands the horse is not safe.
This horse sharing is really something here. Back in Wuppertal, where I boarded Mag one Winter, there were a few horses that had both an owner and TWO leasors showing up to ride. Those horses were ridden at least once per day! Amazing.
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7 comments:
I can not imagine ever leasing my horse to anyone. To think someone else could injure it with careless behaviour (galloping through thick uneven sand) and then leave me holding the bill with perhaps months of recovery and no more leasing income ... no thanks! Would rather injure him all on my own.
That said, those horses at the ranch in Hungary were ridden 4 hours a day (by same rider) and they were solid. Knew their jobs. There is something to be said for regular riding 10-15 hours a week. Shakes all those cobwebs out.
It is hard to imagine leasing Major, but without leasing I really would not be where I am, so I'm glad of the different horses through the years (even the naughty ones!). And so glad I never encountered any ad or person like you wrote about, those are some very specific details!
But I do think some horses don't mind being leased/ridden by many people. Back when I leased a school horse (a beloved horse named Echo) I thought it fascinating the different behaviors by the horses to different riders. They knew exactly what they could get away with, and who they could do what to. Occasionally they'd test you (Can I grab grass...now?!) but a quick correction and he was the best horse, we went everywhere, fast! Watch him the next day with a little kid riding, and he'd carefully pitter-patter trot and stop when the teacher (not student) said whoa. Lots of respect to horses like that.
I can't say I blame her. There's nothing worse than leasing to someone who is not weatherproof and doesn't take care of the fur nose on the agreed upon days. :D
Also, is 1.60 equivalent to 15.3 hands? It's hard to believe that a 15.3 hand PRE who had time to get bone density as a stallion cannot handle anyone over 145 lbs.....
I’m with NiT.
Just think though. You could earn so much money.....,
I careleased the Toad for 8 years, which included hauling over hell and gone for more than 2,000 miles of endurance competitions. I also did the rehab on him when he tore a muscle in his butt. I guess you could say that I was weatherproof!
Would I do it again? Probably not (and not just because his owner was...complicated). I certainly had offers when Fee was on the rehab bench. But if anybody had offered me a 14.3hh Standardbred mare, I might have considered it.
I did not pay money for extensive use of the Toad, but I did pay for his shoes, his chiro, and his entry fees. His owner paid for feed, routine vet, etc.
"New in Town".
HUH?
I must have been signed in under my weird email address - like, my work-specific email address Weird.
Hi Becky, new in town: ) 160cm is 162.5 hands.
Also, I got a Roomba for Christmas and it's the best ever! Just, you can't have things lying about. I have to do a quick sweep to make sure the cat hasn't left something around, before I let him work. Piles of clothes are no problem though. A Roomba cannot do as quick and flaweless a job as you, but it's worth it to me to just leave the house and let him do a less-than perfect job. Best toy ever!
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