It’s been a while since my last blog, mainly because I couldn’t seem to come up with anything besides complaining about the weather. It wasa long winter, but one way I avoided the winter blues was by traveling as much as possible. 

One of the best parts about living in Germany is the easy traveling. We are centrally located and there is super cheap airfare to get around most of Europe and Africa. Besides the thousands of amazing locations to go see, there are also dedicated equestrian trips around here. You can go eventing in Ireland or take dressage lessons in a castle in Poland. And despite my husband being super supportive of the horse habit, he has absolutely zero interest in taking a full equestrian vacation.

I understand (or at least pretend to…dressage lessons in a CASTLE?? Who wouldn’t want to do that?) and have tried to keep the horse viewing to a minimum when we take our trips.

These are family vacations, so it would be unfair to make him stop at every auction house or tack store along the way. But, I have gotten really good at sneaking horse events into what seems like normal people travels. And I must say, it’s been pretty fun.

It all really started when we first moved out to Germany. My mom came out to visit and we took the train down to Paris. I had forgotten to look up directions from the train station to our hotel, so we spent part of that first afternoon wandering around the city. While wandering and eating fresh baguettes we stumbled on the Paris police horse stables and training grounds. It was so fantastic—the riders all had sharp uniforms on while exercising the horses and the grounds were immaculate. I’m not sure we could ever find that place again, but it was such a great way to spend an hour and relax between all the walking.

Another trip was to Amsterdam, during which of course one of the stops was the Heineken brewery. Although I’m not a huge fan of their beer, I had a great time on their tour. It had movies and flashy lights and the history of the company is fascinating. But the surprise bonus was a view of the stables, complete with some gorgeous draft horses. Draft horses used to deliver beer throughout the city. I can’t imagine how great it would be to get beer delivered by a horse to my house.

However, the neatest adventure was in Morocco. I was on a week-long tour with some friends, and at one of the stops there was a man with an Arabian all decked out in native costume. It was an obvious tourist trap, but next thing I knew I was getting hoisted into the saddle. I ended up trotting away on a strange horse, following a strange man into the woods with whom I could barely converse, sans helmet and boots.

It was definitely not my smartest moment, but the 17-year-old in me who used to show Arabians couldn’t resist. It was fantastic. (I also learned on that trip that camels have verrrry different gaits than horses do. I was sore for three days after the camel ride through the Atlas Mountains.)

There have been many great moments—seeing the armor the horses wore in England during Henry the VIII’s time (how in the world did those horses carry all that armor into battle and stay sound when my wimpy horse can barely make it through a session turned out without coming in on three legs?); the Andalusians in Spain, and so much more. My goal is to find at least one horse “thing” during each trip; at least until its fully summer and I can spend all my free time with my horse! 

Kristin Alexander is an adult amateur dressage rider living in Kaiserslautern, Germany. After being in Northern Germany many years ago as a working student, she moved to California, Virginia, Tennessee, Washington D.C. and Florida for school and work, trying to fit riding in at each location. She is now living in Southern Germany where she lucked into an amazing lease on the super horse, Acridos. Kristin’s taking lessons, participating in clinics and recently started showing again after a 10-year hiatus. Follow her as she navigates language barriers, re-entry into the show ring, and balancing riding with traveling around Europe.