DQHA Year-End-Trail Ride in the South Heathlands of Germany 

 It was the 18th of November 2012 when six riders started for the DQHA Year End Trailride from Dörthe Menk's Ranch in Zasenbeck, Germany. There were Doerthe, her husband Andreas, their seven-year-old son Peter and her riding students Birgit, Birte and Gundel. First we rode along the fields. Later we jogged thru the woods. Little Peter on his pony mare "Bella" was jogging or cantering ahead. He did a very good job! For it was his first trail ride with so many riders. Doerthe and Andreas were very proud of him!! 

Two hours later we arrived at the "Bickelstein", where we had lunch. There was already a friend with a horsetrailer, just in case we would need one. Fortunately we didn't. We tied the horses to the trees and put blankets on them. When we had yummy beanssoup, cooked by Doerthe, soft drinks and punch, we could sit on benches and relax. Peter was happy and tired. He went home by car. Feli, a 12-year old girl, rode his pony instead of him.

 The "Bickelstein" is an errant block of the ice age. It is 2,50 metre long and 1,20 metre high. It is reddish and has markings of horseshoes and crosses. It's place is in a wood between Ehra-Lessien and Boitzenhagen, near Wolfsburg, in lower saxony. It is the town's landmark of Ehra-Lessien. In former times there were only moorlands. It was called the "Bickelsteiner Heide". The sandy moorlands got needletrees, so the stone is in a forest, now. (If you want to know more about the "Bickelstein", look in the internet.)

After one hour rest, we got on our horses again and rode home. We weren't very sure about the correct way, so it happened that we circled a little hill. That was funny. We tried another path and rode home to the Menk's Ranch in Zasenbeck without any problems. On a field, who wanted could go in a lope. It was very nice. Sometime around 4.30pm we reached the ranch. We were lucky, because when we untacked our horses it started to rain, heavy rain!

After we put our horses in stalls, where they had hay and grains and could relax from the ride, we went inside and had tea and cookies. Each of us got a certificate from Doerthe and a bag with several goodies from the DQHA, like pencils, ballpens, stickers and informations about the DQHA and their magazine. Doerthe was happy that everybody is fine and we are looking forward to the next DQHA trail ride in 2013!