Sojourn in Seissen

We reached Bermaringen on May 11th where we received yet more overwhelming German hospitality, this time from Alexander, Ulrika and Miriam Fischer, starting with a Chilli dinner that evening and a Big Breakfast the next morning, shown below! 

Then it was  a short day's ride to Gaby's home town of Seissen -  she took over the ride on Bolashak to join us.  L to R below - Miriam, Andrea and Leo, Alexander, Ulrika, me and Zorbee, Gaby and Bolashak, Wolfgang.

Gaby and me on the road with an audience of curious cows....

In Seissen we had a very relaxing stay for a day off in Gaby and Wolfgang's stylish modern house which they designed and had built in the middle of an orchard!
Gaby lays on a Swabian dinner party for us ....

Andrea pores over maps to plan the route for the next section with help from Gaby. Mike sticks to drinking beer....

Gaby and Wolfgang's cats lead a life of Riley.....

I have heard of chicken in a basket, but this is something else.........

In the footsteps of the Neanderthals...

On arriving at Dillingen on May 9th, we were hosted by Sylvia, who unusually for Germany, runs a New Forest pony stud.  Here she is with us the following morning at her stables...

 From here we left the banks of the Danube for good, and set out across country through field....

 and forest.....

...and into Andrea's home stamping ground of the Swabian Alps.  This conjures up images of snow capped peaks, but in fact the Jura mountains (as they are otherwise called) comprise rounded ranges of hills covered with forest.

We meet an unusual sight - a four in hand of Percherons!

                

Our next hosts were Wilma and Heribert Gall who run a trail riding station in Stetten http://www.pferdehof-stetten.wigall.com/,  and treated us to some wonderful hospitality.  The horses were in heaven in a large grassy paddock seen here in the background.  Zorbee is not having a fit, but settling in with a good roll while Leo thinks about following his example... 

 

 ....in the meantime we had a marvellous party laid on for us with copious amounts of food and drink...

 

 Sittting next to me is Helena, a young friend of Andrea and Gaby who is studying journalism and was to join us to gather material for a newspaper article...
Here we all are the following morning May 11th and you will see Bolashak has been saddled up again for Helena to ride. L to R.  Leo, Andrea, Zorbee, me, our hosts , Bolashak, Helena.

Then it was a marvellous morning's ride up the secluded and beautiful Lonetal, or Lone valley...

                                 
 Helena in her role as a mounted member of the paparazzi taking photos for her article...

 We meet a lone traveller on horseback - he had been touring round the Black Forest for two weeks and was on his way home.....

At one point I was most excited to find that we were riding along the Neanderthal Way - quite appropriate considering that I have not had the opportunity to have my hair cut and I have been feeling a bit like a Neanderthal for some time.  The Lonetal was the location of much Neanderthal activity thousands of years ago, when they inhabited caves in the cliffs along the valley.  Here are Zorbee and I at the entrance to a former Neanderthal open plan residence........

...otherwise known as the Hohlenstein cave, where one of the oldest (non Neanderthal) statues was discovered - a carved ivory figurine in the form of a lion-headed human. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_man_of_the_Hohlenstein_Stadel

The day was made even more memorable when an entourage of family met us en route with a lavish picnic including a couple of mouthwatering homemade gateaux which we consumed with relish while basking in the sun by a small river.

Andrea and Helena's mothers absorbed in some sort of calendar (?!) while Helena looks on. Herbert is at the bottle again, but it may be just sauce?



STOP PRESS!! ......

NOUS SOMMES ARRIVE AU BORD DE LA MANCHE!!  ..in other words, at around 8.00pm on the evening of Friday 15th June Zorbee and I reached the English Channel - or should it be French Channel from this perspective?  This makes me the first person on record to cross Eurasia coast to coast by horse - unless anyone knows different......

......By the white cliffs of Dieppe.  Zorbee's first introduction to the sea, but in spite of the heavy breakers crashing on shingle he managed to overcome his suspicion and walk down within about ten ft of the waves - enticing him into the water would have been a step too far! 

This sudden jump in time has been because of the difficulty of keeping up with my blog, partly due to lack of time, partly due to problems keeping my laptop charged on the road and partly due to lack of reception on our French dongle. However over the next week or two I should have the opportunity to fill in the rest of the story, so keep tuning in. 
I am now staying with fellow Welsh pony breeder and friend Ingrid Delaitre and have booked a ferry to the UK for early Monday morning - then I will have a few weeks at home to organise the last leg of the journey to London. Arrival in Greenwich is planned for Monday 23rd July, so put it in your diary if you fancy being there to welcome us.  More details later when arrangements have been confirmed.

The Woman in the Golden Helmet

The media have continued to show an interest in the ride, and I was visited in Scwheningen by an all female television crew to be filmed and interviewed for German News. When I commented on the camerawoman's her amazing ability to walk backwards while filming, she confessed that she had been a talented Ski acrobatist 'in my other life' as she referred to it!

 The morning included beiing filmed from a moving van as Andrea and I set off on the day's ride, and I was made to wear a helmet cam again.
The one advantage of media attention is that people recognise you and are more willing to offer help.  Cristina, one of the journalists who wrote an article about the ride, referred to me as 'the Woman in the Golden Helmet' which seemed to strike a chord with some people.  It came in useful when Andrea and I stopped to graze the horses on a patch of grass at the edge of a small town, and a suspicious farmer on a tractor accosted us.  But at Andrea's mention of the Woman in the Golden Helmet (at which point I had to produce and wear said article to prove my identity) his attitude completely changed and he chugged off happily, returning with grandchildren!
We collected quite an audience of small children at this rest stop, including the very confident and determined little girl below, who announced that she was going to join me riding to London.....

 Andrea explained that she would need a pony, at which point, quick as a flash, she turned round and pointed at Bolashak, who was on the lorry some distance away and we thought far enough away to escape detection! .....

'There's a pony'  -   You will notice she is still hanging onto Leo's lead rope.

Days Along the Donau

I had not looked forward at all to riding across Germany as I had imagined that I would be largely restricted to asphalt roads. But in fact to my surprise it has been a total delight, and with the help of our maps I have found myself riding along unsurfaced cart tracks through open fields and grassy paths through woodland and forest.  The tracks beside the Danube have been no exception ..........

 When I first encountered the Danube, or Donau as it is called in Germany, it was the wide waterway we ferried across to the south of Budapest in Hungary.   It has gradually become noticeably smaller as we travel upstream, and one is reminded of the great European river that it is by the signs showing distance from the Black Sea, which also remind me of the distance we have travelled from Ukraine ........

 I have had to cross the Danube several times, but on May 8th I made my last two crossings near Donauworth.   Andrea and Leo about to cross for my fifth time......

 The next crossing was over one of the many electricity dams on this part of the Danube.  The signs warn that riding across the dam is forbidden, but leading one's horse is permissible at one's own risk....

 .....and Zorbee and I made it safely across on our sixth and last crossing of the Danube! .....

 Another unexpected and intriguing surprise was to come across the northern end of the Via Claudia Augusta, an ancient Roman route across the Alps.  The circular stone is a replica of the Roman milestones found along the route.  And there is even a bench for Roman legionnaires to rest on at the end of their journey. See   http://www.viaclaudia.org/en/introduction.html  for more details of the road.

 Of course Andrea and I immediately had plans to ride along it some day!  But I would have to find a horse to keep up with Leo, who marches along at top speed as can be seen in the photo below - yes he is walking.  He would very quickly disappear out of sight where it not that he stops to graze every hundred yards or so. 

 Where is she taking me now?........I study my maps while a bored Zorbee waits patiently.....

Andrea Joins Us and We Have Tea With Count Moy

When I was staying in Almaty in the summer of 2010, I met a brace of German lawyers, Gabrielle Doering and her husband Wolfgang. Gaby keeps her own horse and promised to help me if I passed through her part of the world.  At that time I did not know my exact intentions, but when I checked her address after Franz and I had roughly planned out a possible route, amazingly she lived almost exactly on it at Blaubeuren near Ulm! 

Through Gaby we came in contact with her friend the redoubtable Andrea Renz, who has ridden through Germany and came on board to help with route planning.  Even better it turned out that she would be able to join me for part of the ride through Germany.  So she was waiting for us at Marienheim with her horse Leonardo, Leo for short.  To the delight of Mike we were staying with the family Nutz who incidentally have great success driving a team of Welsh ponies.  Andrea and I slept overnight in their tiny guest dormitory - upstairs in the small building shown below.  Unfortunately not very peacefully as it was also right underneath the town bell tower.  In Germany these are a regular feature, with bells ringing the hour and quarter hour - one dong for quarter past up to four dongs on the hour followed by the time in dongs on a different bell.  At first I was most impressed that someone was getting up at all hours to ring the bells and was rather disappointed to discover it is all automated. 

Andrea and Leo all dressed up to go early on the morning of May 7th, Leo with the fly mask he has to wear during the summer.

 The advantage of ridiing with someone is that I actually get photos of myself riding, rather than just a lot of photos of horse's ears....

 We continued to follow the beautiful tracks and paths along the Danube...

Beavers have been re-introduced into the area, and there was plenty of evidence of beaver damage to trees along the banks.   The amazing egg cup below demonstrates how they gnaw at the base of a tree to fell it. Presumably the top has then been sawn off by humans to make it safe.   And presumably beavers were also not responsible for the neatly stacked logs in the background.

 We were riding along this narrow and peaceful path alongside the Danube when we came across a lovely small chateau in a backwater village.

 We had arranged to meet Mike here for a rest stop, and it turned out he had been given permission by the charming owner, Count Moy, to park in the grounds.  Count Moy on the left, and on the right is a local journalist who appeared to interview me. 

 We were invited back for tea on the terrace later with his wife, an invitation we readily accepted.  The chateau is in an idyllic location above an abandoned course of the Danube, and the Count has recently relandscaped the area beyond the garden.  
The Count expounds on his efforts.....

.....and here are the commendable results......

To the Not So Blue Danube..

From Landshut I rode north towards the Danube, and with my newly acquired maps was able to seek out little country lanes and forest paths.  Hopping along happily through the vines...

 The place names in Germany are a constant puerile source of amusement to us English speakers. Here is one of the more innocuous ones.....

 At Pfeffenhausen the horses were once again provided with free stabling at Reitstall Sommerfield by very kind but busy proprietoress Tanya Sommerfield - so busy that I never even had time to take a photo of her!  All the stables we have stayed at in Germany have been very well run, (as in Hungary and Austria) with the well being of the horses a priority. Common features are these stables with their own little outside pens for the horses to relax in - though Zorbee could not cope with pushing through the plastic strips!
Mike fast asleep in his free stabling ....

 En route through the forests to Rockholding near the Danube .........

.... where we were treated to overwhelming hospitality at the Pine Cottage Appaloosa stud  http://www.pine.cottage.de/, courtesy of Andrea and Helmut Hoehln.   Franz and Alison came along to meet up with us, and after I had an interview with a local journalist, they took us all out for a slap up meal at a local restaurant.  Here we all are back at the ranch, and we can see Franz has been poring over maps for us as usual!

Ready for off on a wet morning.  The dog is an Australian shepherd dog, a breed which seems to be very popular here in Germany. With their multi-coloured coats, I am sure they must be descended from our own Welsh sheepdogs, which have only recently been recognised as a distinct breed - http://www.welshsheepdogsociety.com/.  Our daft dog Dyfi at home is an example.

 Back along the banks of the Danube, which I was now to follow for several days....

Unusually it actually looks blue in this photo!

 Zorbee and me with Ingoldstadt chateau in the background -  taken on my cheap little camera, but much better quality than usual as it was taken by the newspaper photographer who had arranged to meet me here!I am also sporting the brand new map case donated to the cause by Franz. It has been invaluable now I am able to do more navigation with maps, and often in wet weather.

I

Sergio, who saddled up his horse to set me on the the right path to my next destination at Marienheim....

These strange teddy bear looking creatures were baby alpacas who had just been shorn......