Client Spotlight:
Stefanie & Willi
Learn more about the international shopping experience through Stefanie’s story about shopping in Germany for her young horse
When Stefanie was ready to retire her schoolmaster, she knew she wanted to buy a new horse, in Europe and knew that she wanted to work with Allida, “I would not have felt comfortable doing this with anyone but Allida based on her knowledge, expertise, and connections.” Allida was equally happy to work with Stefanie, a talented adult amateur rider, who was ready to take her dressage riding to the next level. Stefanie talked with Allida about her goals and narrowed down what she wanted in a horse. “I was looking for a warmblood with good breeding, talent, and rideability with a lot of potential for the upper levels. But because I was not in a hurry and I wanted a challenge, we decided a young horse would be the best bet.”
The planning started with some informal conversations, in which they discussed what Stefanie could expect to get at different price points and what kind of horse would be a good fit for Stefanie. Allida suggested that they shop in Germany and the Netherlands, where Allida felt Stefanie’s budget could get a world class, young horse.
Stefanie’s career and family take up most of her time, so she opted for the “platinum level service.” All she had to do was to show up and choose a horse. To make the experience as stress-free and seamless as possible Allida arranged all the travel, including tickets, rental cars, and lodging, and set the itinerary. “I didn’t have much time to spend so we wanted to be as efficient as possible. [Allida] got videos and leads prior to heading overseas, then she also went ahead of me to prescreen in person.”
Allida arrived in Europe and hit the ground running. She visited all the breeders that she and Stefanie liked best, based on the videos and a few more breeders that she was familiar with. “It’s really a pretty grueling process,” Allida said. “I want to make sure I put together a really solid list of horses, so the clients can choose from the best of the best. Sometimes my day is 16 hours long because I’m trying to get to all the barns. Then I have to weed through all the horses I saw on that day and decide what horses are making the cut.” As Allida visited the barns she took video and notes, then compiled her list of top horses, plus a back-up list, in case Stefanie didn’t like any of the A-list horses.
By the time Stefanie and her husband arrived in Europe, Allida had an itinerary filled with the cream of the crop. The process made Stefanie feel very secure. “She created an A-list and B-list. When I arrived, she had a day lined up of the top talent, and if I didn’t like any of those, she had a back-up list planned. Of course, I chose one from the A-list. I felt very comfortable choosing from the first few I saw because of all the pre-work.”
Continued below…
The horse Stefanie chose was a knock-out, two-year-old, Hanoverian named Willi. His character and movement stood out from the other horses that Stefanie looked at. Stefanie was so quick in choosing a horse that she had time to do more touring around with her husband, while Allida organized the pre-purchase vet check and transportation. Stefanie said, “It was seamless. It was close to effortless, I was amazed!” She also thought, “The import was great in terms of logistics! It was still stressful because it takes a while and you don’t want anything to happen, but I did get photos and frequent updates which helped.”
Stefanie decided to put Willi in training with Allida, once he arrived in the US. “Allida helped organize starting Willi under saddle and the schedule we would do this under. It was a huge help to have this all planned once he arrived from Europe, “she said. Since Willi was young, after he was started under saddle, he spent some time just going out on trails, building muscle and balance. He has since started full training with Allida and is ready for some more nuanced training.
When asked if she would ever shop for a dressage horse in Europe again, Stephanie gave an enthusiastic, “Yes!” She also said, “I would highly recommend it because of the plethora of options and the excitement of traveling. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be, with the help of professionals. It was fun and when it was over, I immediately said I want to do this again someday!”
