The final leg of our Germany journey, and perhaps the last scrapbook style post. Maybe, I still have pictures and things to say, but they aren't as organized as just saying I went someplace. But anyway, can you believe I stretched these posts out so long!? I can hardly believe it... exactly a month ago, I was actually in Germany at Heid[...]
Saturday was the day I have been waiting for since last Sunday evening. Stu came home! Finally, everything was in place, and we were ready for the babies to come home. We made the trip down, and it was so nice to see both the babies and all the other babies on the farm! Stu was also laying down for naptime and did not want to get u[...]
When we last left on off, we were traveling in from France on the way to Baden-Baden, Germany. Our goal was to see the ruins of Schloss Hohenbaden before the sun was gone. This castle was unique from the others we saw because there was no tour, no real restrictions, and was unmanned by any operator. It was just us, the random other people[...]
The biggest delay in bringing home Stu was due to waiting for the shed to arrive. It was originally scheduled for the last week in November, but it kept getting pushed back. I was initially annoyed, but now... not so much. I feel very much like I got my money's worth, and it's hard to be mad about that. I now own a monster shed. [...]
The day I went to Germany was Stu's ball day. He got them taken off, as well as had his hernia fixed. I was provided all the photos by Stu's breeder, although I will only share the non-gross ones. The castration went in the normal fashion, but the hernia fix was quite interesting. A hernia is when the abdomen wall is weak[...]
We spent the night in Cologne, and were planning to get to drive to Baden-Baden in the morning, but when we were describing our plans to our new German friend, he told us to take a detour. He lives in the Rhineland area of Germany, and he encouraged us to get off the highways to see the countryside and multitude of castles, and also[...]
The second day was the free jumping. The dressage horses went first, followed by the jumpers, although the format was the same. First, they were run around the arena in a figure 8 to show those lead changes, then they were sent down the chute. Sadly my battery wasn't charged (dang confusing foreign outlets!) so I didn't get as many photos[...]
The afternoon of the first day was the 2nd Inspection. First, all the jumping stallions were led into the ring and then free lunged. After they got a chance to strut their stuff, they were collected and strutted their stuff out of the ring. The DJ would put on an up-tempo song, the audience would clap along, and the handler[...]
We decided that it would be ideal to stay in a castle for at least part of our stay in Germany. For our time in Muenster for the Stallion inspection, we decided it was the right time. We stayed at Hotel Schloss Wilkinghede. Once upon a time (1311), it was an old moated castle. After a couple hundred years, they decided[...]
After a very wet morning, the rest of the inspection was inside. Thank goodness! There was a lunch break which allowed for some time to explore and marvel at the facility. I'm very upset with myself because I failed to get pictures of the door handles, which were the "W" inspection brand. But, maybe you will still be able to enjoy some of[...]