I was recently asked to pick up a horse from Belgium and bring it back to Germany and I was more than happy to do this job as it’s always exciting to visit other countries in Europe.
It sounds a bit crazy but I can get to Belgium in a two hour comfortable drive from here in Germany and that includes driving through Holland on the way. The distance would be just like driving from Sydney to Newcastle, but I go through two different countries … I still can’t get my head around about that!
One of my favourite countries is Holland
I’ve been to Holland few times now and I always enjoy driving there. The country reminds me of Australia in a lot of ways. There are big, open spaces with cows and horses everywhere in the paddocks. A lot of sings are written in English and they have BP petrol stations!
Belgium was quite similar to Holland in the way that it appeared to be really neat and tidy - not that I’m saying Germany is an untidy country! There are lots of old buildings and big churches and you can really feel the history with just driving through the town.
Driving through Belgium
The place I went to pick the horse up was the stallion station where Belgian warmblood stallions live/visit there for semen collection and it was just like a palace with absolutely beautiful stables and gardens. The size of each box for the stallions was 5m long 4m wide and all the stallions looked magnificent.
I actually went to pick up a gelding but I must have looked like a kid who was amused by the facility and atmosphere because they asked me if I could help them to collect semen from one of their stallions.
So I got to hold this big Belgian stallion. Apparently he is a showjumper, but I forgot to ask what his name was … bugger, he might have been a very famous stallion.
Anyway with my horse picked up I bought some Belgian chocolates on the way back and got home safely. Yes it would be fair to say I am enjoying this European tour quite a lot!
