# Our life in Germany!



## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

Hi everybody!

First of all my english isn´t perfekt. I love the language and I´ll try to do my best! I hope you´ll understand me and you are interested in my story.

My real name is Simone, I´m 33 years old and I come from Germany (Ruhrpott  ). I live with my husband in a country. I´m a driving teacher and I love my job. 

I have an own horse. His name is Glencoe, he is 15 years old and a Hanoverian. He isn´t my first horse. I have had a mare but I sold her because we don´t fit together.

Glen is a very nice horse, very friendly. We´ve been together for about 6 years. 

Of course we had good times and bad times and sometimes I was in a desperate situation.
I want to show you where we live, how we live…. .

So here is a first photo of us. Have fun!


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## Maple (Jan 10, 2012)

I've spotted your other posts and think he is just gorgeous. Look forward to hearing about what you guys are getting up to


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## ChitChatChet (Sep 9, 2013)

Thanks for sharing with us!


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

Hello you two and welcome to my member journal! 

*How do I get my horse?*

I was looking for a gelding, 7-10 yo, every colour but no white, not too high and not too small.

I tried to ride some horses but there are no horses I liked. And then I watched on the internet and saw him: gelding (ok), 10 yo (ok), white…..white???? (NO!) and only 15,3 high….NEVER! 

At the evening I watched the photo again. Well, he looked very nice for a white hoerse. I decided to look at him. 




I can show the picture, there´s no copyright!


About 40 minutes away we arrived a small stable. And there he stands; white and small. I made a ride and he was very lovely. The owner were very nice. I decided to come again.

The second ride there was a bad weather; rainy and there was no indoor riding arena. The owners showed me some pictures about riding and competitions. I said that I´m not sure, I need time to think about it.



3 days later I decided to buy him and I made a call with the owners. They said that there is a little young boy and he is interested in the horse, too. They would call me this evening.

So they called and Glen belongs to me!


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

*Our first stable OR the years 2009-2010*

Glen came in September 2009. He felt at home very quick. Here are some photos:











My only problem was the hang of his head. I tried to jump with him but I fell off. I was too afraid in jumping. 

About 5 month later I decided to change the stable. My friend has had a horse at a stable next to a forest with very long bridle-path. First I was afraid about the huge herd. What I was thinking was “would the other horses beat him?”.

We will see….


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

*The year 2010 – the new stable*

We arrived at the new stable and Glen should be in the new herd on the next day. He was very nervous. He ran 10 minutes from the first corner to the next. The other horses looked at him and didn´t do anything. 

About 10 minutes later everything was ok.


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## Maple (Jan 10, 2012)

Looking at the puddle in the arena - you sure your not in Ireland?! haha!

Keep the pics coming, he is just fab!


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

Maple said:


> Looking at the puddle in the arena - you sure your not in Ireland?! haha!
> 
> Keep the pics coming, he is just fab!


 Sometimes the weather in Germany is like in Ireland! But now spring is coming today! I´m happy!

I have so much work this week because my boss is in holidays but I´ll do my best with photos!


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

Germany had some GREAT weather last week. Seven days of hail/snow/rain/strong winds/sunshine and they'd mix and match the order within an hour. 

Germany has the best of both.. the really cold, and the really hot!

I miss hacking out in the spring weather!


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

*The year 2010 – Competitions*

I started my first competitions with Glen. 

*May*

I tried to ride without side reins but Glen throw up his head and stopped several times. The judge said that my horse is disobedient. I was very sad about it. You can see it in my face.










*July*

I drove with two friends to a competition where you can test the calmness. 

At first Glen was very calmness. Then he was shocked about the umbrella. But then there was a blue thing on the edge and Glen stopped. After a few minutes I gave up.























Of course we practised :lol::








The weather changed from sun to storm. And now the horse from one of my friend didn´t get into the trailer. She went into the indoor riding arena and my boyfriend drove the trailer into it. 

The competition was ready, football european started and five hours later we are still there. However, we could hear it when Germany made a goal! Then the horse went into the trailer. This horse shetterd my nerves!



*July*

I started in two competitions with side reins. The first was only for “older” people and it was very funny. It was ok but I wasn´t happy about our riding. But…..it should be enough! We were on the second place! I was so happy about it! Yeah!!! 















.....


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

.....

The second competiton (on the same day)….I don´t mind. We rode it and Glen was very well but I was so happy about the second place. We had a good note but no place.


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

Hi everybody!


Four years have passed and a lot has happend. I am so sorry that I have neglected this journal so much. Writing everything in english was very difficult for me. But I would like to continue now and hope that I will find some new readers and old readers here.


We have taken a lot of lessons in the last years until 2017. We have found a very good teacher and we had to realize that his talent was jumping.
We learned to jump very fast. Of course there were also dressage lessons in between.


Then slowly came the first loops in the tournaments.


Of course there will be photos of it!


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

*Photos*

Here are two pictures of how it looked in dressage and jumping:


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

Hello! :wave: How nice to have an update. Schaut gut aus! ;-)


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

Thank you, Sue! I will post a lot of pictures the next time  and tell you what we do today.


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

This is excellent, @Piccadilly. 

And in case anyone could use it in their conversations with you:

*NICE GERMAN PHRASES TO USE HERE*

_Oh, aber Ihr Pferd ist wirklich süss! (Oh, but your horse is really sweet!)

Ich hoffe, es geht Ihnen gut! (I hope you are well!)

Viel Glück mit dem Turnier! (Best of luck with the horse show!)

Wie schaut Frühstück bei Euch in Deutschland aus? (What does breakfast typically look like for you in Germany?)

Haben Sie ein gutes Brezen-Rezept für uns? (Do you have a good Pretzel recipe for us?)

Wie halten Sie Ihren bildschönen Schimmel so pieksauber? (How are you keeping your picture-beautiful grey horse so spotless?)

Wie haben Sie überhaupt mit Pferden angefangen? (How did you start off getting into horses, anyway?)

Vielen Dank für die super Bilder und Information! (Many thanks for the super photos and information.)

Bis bald! (See you soon!)

_
...after all, you're making a big effort to write in English, so we might as well return the favour a little! ;-)


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

Hi everybody, I´m back again!


A lot has happened.....


Short form:


- my horse and I started in jumping tournaments


- in 2018 he got sick, had something on his leg, no vet found anything out


- we changed the stable and he was not ridden for 6 months


- my husband and I had our long-awaited child, he is born in April 2020


- my horse is now 21 years old and we don´t start tournaments anymore


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

Here are some pictures from 2016 and 2017:


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

By the way: about 1 1/2 year ago we took over a dog from animal welfare. His name is Pino, he is 4 years old and he lived on the streets of Bulgaria.
He is so cute, very people-related and he always tries to do everything right.


View attachment 1017715



This year we won a photo shoot, I am allowed to show the photo with the signatures.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Oh wow, we have followed Christian Vieler’s Fotos Frei Schnauze FB page for years since it’s so entertaining. How fun that you and your dog got to be a part of it. Very cute dog and horse!


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

@egrogan: Thank you very much. Vielers photo studio is in the town where we live, 10 minutes ago from our house. And it was a lot of fun. For my hungry dog it was the best day of his life


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

He definitely has fans around the world. And I'm sure your dog enjoyed it!


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

Glen has been living for almost 3 years in a nice little stable with 10 horses, very nice people and a well-prepared riding area.


The horses are outside 24 hours, only in very bad weather they get into the box.


Tomorrow the vet will come. He´s gonna look at Glen´s leg because it´s been lame in the past.


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## Thundering Hooves (Dec 16, 2019)

Piccadilly said:


> Glen


Glen is SO cute! I hope they find out what is wrong with his leg :|:|:|:|:|


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

Thundering Hooves said:


> Glen is SO cute! I hope they find out what is wrong with his leg :|:|:|:|:|



Thank you. 



I have little hope that something will be found. About 2 years ago we were already in the horse clinic and they examined him for 2 days but nothing found.
My vet said "no riding for 6 months" and he was fine afterwards. Then I got pregnant and couldn´t do much so I stopped the training again for almost 1 year.


Now Glen´s in training again but somethimes he´s lame and sometimes he´s fine :think:.


But he is 21 years old now, I don´t want to ride any more tournaments....if this keeps up, he´s gonna go into retirement.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Your horse is gorgeous! I love greys - it's my favorite colour despite their utter inability to stay clean!


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

Acadianartist said:


> it's my favorite colour despite their utter inability to stay clean!





Haha you´re so right! :rofl:


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Such a sweet eye!










He looks like a horse that was well bred, or at least well conformed, and well cared for. He looks like he is happy in his life, has complete trust in being well treated, and is up for anything still! Twenty one is not really that old, yet. Wait until he is 26. Then he will be old.


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

@*tinyliny* : I do my very best to make him happy  When I jump with him it´s like he is five 


This picture is from January 2019. I wish we would get snow again.


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## Caledonian (Nov 27, 2016)

I think he missed a bit in the muddy photo!!:smile: There's still some white on his legs:rofl:. I quickly learned to ignore the dirt on my grey.

I love his name as well.


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## AragoASB (Jul 12, 2020)

My mare was 'old' for 20 years since she lived to be 40 and was still rideable (for walking around).


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

the first horse I part leased was a gray arab mare. She was 19 when I started riding her, hot as a firecracker! I rode her for 5 years, until her hocks started to trouble her too much. 





The thing about gray's is that, well, they seem to shed more than others, or it's just how obvious the long hairs are. Every Spring, I brought home enough long white hairs on me to look like a Yeti. I said to myself, "I'm never going to lease a white horse again!"


But, after that mare, over the next 15 years, I leased 4 other white/gray horses. oh well . . . . .


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

Caledonian said:


> I love his name as well.



His name is from Scotland (maybe you know, his full name is Glencoe). Unfortunately it is always wrongly pronounced in Germany.
So I was at a tournament and the following came from the loudspeaker:
"Here´s number xxx, Simone xxx from horseclub xxx with Glen.......how do you pronounce that???"
Everyone was laughing :rofl:



So I like my vet. He is honest and doesn´t want to sell you anything. He said that old horses have problems. And he can´t look into the leg as he would like. Glen hasn´t been lame for the last two weeks. The vet gave me pills in case he got lame again. And then I should see if it gets better. I think they are for osteoarthritis.


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

How is that with riding outside the stable? Can you just ride out?

In Germany you need in most areas a number plate for your horse. You have to pay every year (about 35 US Dollar).


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

Test photo....


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

In 2016 we drove to a natural trail course with 10 people from the stable and their horses. First it was my turn to lead the horse and the trainer gave valuable tips. She said Glen is a grat horse for riding outside.














































We had a barbecue for lunch. Then the horses were saddled. There was a lot of fun.




























Glen just didn´t like the water....


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

And the last picture:


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## Piccadilly (Feb 11, 2015)

Hi everybody!

First of all I wish you a very happy new year!

I've decided that Glen is going to retire. I also have so much to do with child and dog that I can't keep him in training. But I think he likes it.

Here are some photos from spring.


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## CallmeDior (Apr 26, 2021)

Your horse sounds awesome and looks amazing!!! I am jealous! One day I will own one too! Thanks for sharing!


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