"I cannot say enough good things about the German Horse Centre but I will try.

I have been looking for a special amateur warm blood jumping horse for over a year. My search took me to Belgium, Holland and France but with no luck and a lot of stress and heartache from horses not passing the vet test and dealing with less than honest people.

After a particularly disappointing weekend searching in Holland wth my husband, we decided to contact the German Horse Centre because of the enormous amount of outstanding reviews we read and their professional, clear and informative website. We were not disappointed. Stefan was polite and professional and sent me a list of suitable horses for me to review. From there he established a precise and well planned itinerary for our trip and we met in Dusseldorf the following week.

The first day was planned extremely well with and packed tightly with 4 partner stables to visit but Stefan still found time to stop in a lovely hotel along the way for lunch which was much appreciated! At every stable we met good professionals, amongst which were Marten Frehe-Siermann, and Jens Baackmann. They took the time to coach me riding their horses and gave me advice and opinions on which of their horses suited me. They also brought out other horses that had not previously been on our list that they felt could be right for me and I tried several that were excellent. It was at the last partner stable however that I met Phillip Baumgart and saw Chardonnay, the five year old grey stallion that I was going to ride. I firmly believe that finding the right horse for you involves feeling a special connection and I cannot explain why, but I knew it the minute I laid eyes on him. I tend to be a little anxious in the saddle but when I rode Chardonnay we just clicked. He has a great personality, very sweet but intelligent, laid back and with a lot of talent. He is also beautiful and with an outstanding pedigree.  I still cannot believe that he is only five years old. We managed a course of jumps together and I couldn’t stop smiling.

We discussed the horses I tried that day with Stefan over dinner and I was looking forward to meeting our independent purchase advisor the following morning. Having made a mistake buying the wrong horse in the past with no advice, we wanted a separate honest and professional opinion. Martin could not have been better. We had already read his impressive bio on the German Horse Centre website and knew that he was more that qualified to help us.  He arrived at our hotel in the morning and we discussed the 3 favourites that I wanted to try again and set off together. Martin is very refined in the saddle a pleasure to watch. He trained me and also rode each horse himself to test their abilities and make deliberate mistakes that an amateur would make to test their reactions. He was able to give us invaluable advice about the horses and also point certain things out that I would never have been able to see. Apart from that, he is a very nice and genuine and dynamic person and by the end of the day I felt that I had known him for a long time.

Martin thought that there were 2 horses that suited me the best, Chardonnay, and another beautiful and sweet grey gelding that I tried a Jens Bacckmann’s stable.  It was an easy choice because of how special I know Chardonnay is. Naturally he passed the vet test performed by Dr. Brunken with flying colours. Philipp has agreed to let us keep him at his stable and continue the excellent training that he has been receiving with him for a few more months after which time we will transport him to France. I will also go back to Germany to train with Philipp myself for a week which I am really looking forward to.  I never thought that I would be lucky enough to have such a special horse and am looking forward to a great partnership with him.

One of the reasons why I feel that Stefan delivers such a high quality service is because he has been in the same position when looking for a horse and perfectly understands the point of view and position of the buyer. We all want a horse that has the best qualities, but we also want to buy with confidence, knowing that the horse we are taking home has been trained kindly and correctly and that is something that Stefan takes very seriously and is able to deliver. It was a great pleasure to have met him and to have had the opportunity to buy our horse with his help. I cannot recommend him and the German Horse Centre highly enough. "

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