On Thursday, June 28th, 2007, Karin picked Clyde and me up from the Talhof for our vacation on the Dudelhof. Also because of the big riding event, which was to take place on Saturday. Clyde climbed into the horse trailer with no problem at all. Clyde was looking forward to see his horse friends at the Dudelhof. Naomi and he understood each other immediately again and the little foal Ashley gave him a greeting-pinch in the nose.

In the evening Karin and I rode the route for Saturday together. It was my longest ride with Clyde and it was to be the first time I would gallop with him. Wow – I was flying high! It was an unbelievable feeling, although he was still a little unsure at times.

Stefan, Biggi, Regula and Sandra (our Swiss friends) had already arrived. We had a great party (we had to celebrate my first gallop!) and I actually couldn’t sleep because I was so excited.

On Friday we had a lot of work to do! We decorated the barn which was to be our party place, Udo cooked Chilli all day long, we dragged cases of beverages and set up tables etc… This all had to be done for the big Shire Horse riding event on Saturday. More friends already arrived on Friday so that we again had a very nice party together. The Shire Horse breeding judge, Bryan Morgan and his wife had also come directly from England. I truly must that they enriched our event

Finally it was Saturday. We all got up having minor hangovers. Again I couldn’t sleep and got up at 6.30 am and fed the horses. And there was quite plenty of them that had been brought to the Dudelhof.

After a very delicious breakfast everybody started to get their horses groomed and ready. The cars which would follow were packed with goods, bakeries were sold out and the photographers drove ahead of us to look for spots where they could take pictures.

Helen and Marco were the last to arrive. Helen was so kind to let me ride her Shire Horse Jester, so I was already waiting for them when he and Focus got there.

All of a sudden I had to do a lot of things at once. But we were still able to start the First Dudelhof-Hardthof Riding Event on time at 10.30 am after Karin welcomed all her guests down at the BBQ-place.

The horses started breathing heavily  - all being pretty excited. The weather was perfect. Thank God it wasn’t too hot. There were 10 Shire Horses, 1 Clydesdale, 1 Fjord Pony and 1 Holsteiner which would be riding together. A lot of us were wearing the nice caps Stefan hat gifted us with.

I felt relaxed riding on Jester and noticed quite quickly that his Spanish saddle was really very comfortable. Jester was nervous at the beginning but calmed down pretty fast. He was great to ride so that I could really enjoy the riding event.

After a while we caught up with the photographers and made our first short break. We all received a “Welcome Schnapps”.

We rode on towards the Harthof of Lutz and Barbara.

We rode past a gravel pit and also made pictures here.

And the horses really had to breathe hard as they made their way up the steep path. On top we were gifted with a beautiful scenic view.

Just at about noon we arrived at the horse paradise of Lutz and Barbara, the Harthof.

We settled ourselves on their riding place. We got a little bit to eat, drank coffee, whisky and of course schnapps.

Everybody was in a good mood and after having nice conversations we rode back to the Dudelhof. Lutz joined us on his horse Arthur. 

Jester had totally calmed down and even Focus wasn’t nervous anymore. I guess it was just being with the gentle giants that eased him.

We rode through a very small village – it consisted of only 3 farms. The people there were happy to see us and loved our Shire Horses, so that we again had to drink a schnapps. This time we drank directly from the bottle which we passed around (hicks!). For me it was just so great to see so many grand horses at once. It was also great just to be with all these nice people. Again, we arrived at the gravel pit and now we had to go down the steep hill. Every move had to be taken with caution and then all of a sudden it happened…

Udo and Clyde stumbled and Clyde fell head over. Udo did a Summersault, hit the path and came to a stop in the ditch. I cried out and immediately jumped off Jester. Clyde came to me. He had a bloody nose and one of his legs was also bleeding. After a couple of seconds I saw that Udo was moving and that made me VERY happy. He had fallen on his head and back. Luckily he wasn’t unconscious. After a short recovery he got back up  onto Clyde.

Back at the Dudelhof all the participants received a ribbon. Helen and Melissa were so nice to look after Jester so that I could in return look after my two patients. Clyde was doing fine but I didn’t like the way Udo looked. But he tried to make the best out of it.

After all the horses had been looked after, they were to be weighed. Karin also started a competition where everybody had to guess the height and the weight of some of the horses. That’s where the fun started. Everybody acted like they knew what they were doing. In the mean time the rest of the guests had arrived. Friends and Shire Horse fans from Switzerland, Austria, England and the all parts of Germany had gathered together.

Clyde didn’t want to immediately step onto the scales. After a while he was weighed at 760 kg at a height of 186 cm. Not really that much but he would become heavier soon anyway. We received a weighing certificate.

After that we had some coffee and cake and the first pleasant discussions took place. A couple of us cleaned the stables while Judge Bryan Morgan held a speech about the Shire Horse. He used Artos to explain everything and he answered a lot of questions. Udo came in handy as a translator.

There were also requests for a freedom dressage which was spontaneously performed by Tatjana and her Shire mare Annie. I’m always thrilled to watch the both of them.

And finally we got to just sit down and relax...

Huge amounts of Udo’s tasty Chilli and Swiss cheese were devoured, along with cakes, salads and other fine foods (the baguette from The Elsass was so delicious!).

The only thing that could help us get some room back into our stomachs were different kinds of liquor. Afterwards we all needed a nice cold beer to wash everything down.

Oh well, it was just so much fun. So many nice people, who like us, all love the Shire Horse.  We talked about us and our horses. The winner of the weighing competition got his present. After midnight I got really tired and went to bed in accompany of my Udo.  

On Sunday we all had a grand breakfast together and until Monday evening we had the Dudelhof all tidied up. Karin and I went on a little ride again. After that we had a tasty dinner and finally drove home. Clyde stayed on vacation at the Dudelhof until the end of July.

I’d like to thank you all, it was really great with you and your horses

Thank You Karin and Tom for all your effort and the idea for the event

Thank You Lutz and Barbara for the nice break at the Hardthof

Thank You Helen for your trust and letting me ride Jester

Thank You Udo for your cooking

Thank You to our Swiss friends for the decoration and the freedom dressage and for the cheese

Thank You for all the great pictures

Thank You Stefan for the presents

Thanks to everybody who brought something delicious

It was great – CU next time!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yours Tina