This photo is of
a 4yr old horse that we found and thought was pretty special, his name is Lacord. He was so much fun to ride, very forward and balanced and a great work ethic. He already has over 20 placings at horse shows at Training and First Level. The other picture is of a stable that we went to looking for horses. A real family operation. They breed horses and sell them, there are 4 children in the family ranging in age from 16 to 26 and they all work at the stable. It is still very much the tradition for the children to take over the family business. You almost never see houses for sale, they usually house multi-generations and the oldest son inherits the property. Most of the people live in the same town where they grew up. The unemployment rate here is about 13% and taxes can be as much as 50% of your gross pay. It is a very foriegn concept to the young people here to go away to college and possibly move to another state to take a job. They can't drive until they are 18. However, they can drive a tractor at 16. But there is a tremendous sense of dedication from some of the young people here. One of the Bereiters at Hubertus' stable, also named Hubertus but affectionately known as "Hoopsi", drove his tractor and pulled his horse trailer along the backroads at 25 KPH for 2 hours to take lessons with Hubertus. The young people that work in the barn are here hustling all day and then go home to their family's stable at night to ride and teach as well. Every three weeks, one of the working students has to do the barn work alone ( there are over 60 horses),over the weekend, meaning they don't get a day off that week and you never hear a complaint. That's life in Germany.