Also we are watching the worldwide development of the Corona Virus with great concern. The health effects with the many deaths in Italy and Spain and here in Germany can be tracked daily, but the economic effects across Germany, worldwide and above all also on us and our horse and riding facility cannot be quantified at all.
We should “stay at home” restrict our “social contacts” and even win something positive from the situation, “have more time for ourselves and our family” and the term “slowing down our lives” is used more and more often in the media.
Well, we horse people know the decongestation of life very well. Doesn’t that bring our hobby, or our profession and love for horses, with us every day? We, even, who work professionally with the horses, “slow down” every day. In the morning at 6 a.m. when we are greeted by a happy neighing when the lights are switched on in the barn, the snorting of the horses, the excited expectation of their feed and finally, when dozens of horses eat with relish, the painting of the teeth, the snorting ….
We are also slowed down when we watch the two-year-old stallions in the pasture as they are happy, proudly run across the meadow and we imagine that these boys will soon become riding horses and future competition horses. We are even more “relaxed” when we visit the 24-hour-old filly from our German riding pony mare. How trustful and curious this little foal is. We are almost jealous because the little baby knows nothing about our precarious situation and our worries.
Despite daily riding, preparing, we have never lost the joy of it and are happy with every progress of our horses and even a standstill or a step back does not discourage us, sometimes you just have to take a step or two back in training and then take a big step back to be able to do in the front.
We are also “slowed down” on our Sunday ride. The forest, the calm and the sounds of our horses hoofs, these are feelings of happiness. In this sense, it is never too late to start riding and especially in this difficult and stressful time, when we have it behind us, one or the other should start riding because so much more is involved than just sport and finally we can all use a regular “deceleration of our life”.
Your Rietbrock horse team
