Stay well!

After my trip to Madrid, I was horrified by what happened afterwards in Spain. Madrid completely under curfew, while Germany hadn't even assessed the corona virus correctly by the day I left. Of course, none of the lady riders who had travelled from afar knew how this pandemic would affect our lives.

We got there, rode our races, and participated in daily life, as is normally done. Also at that time they didn't broadcast any news over the radio about what is actually happening in Spain.

Back home, my husband and I were then in quarantine, and he was tested, because he is a risk patient. I was not allowed to be tested because I didn't have and still don't have any symptoms. The test result for my husband came back as negative on Saturday.

At this time, there is no racing possible anywhere in Europe, which is an existential threat to many in our sport. When I read posts on social media by owners such as „We small owners lack starting possibilities. We are on the verge of giving up“. I can only shake my head when I see that this owner won 9 races with 3 horses last year, and many people are far worse off. For me, that is complaining on a high level.

Ok, I have never ridden for this particular owner, and I will probably never be booked by him after writing this post. But here someone hasn't understood what I have been taking on as a woman for years to survive in this sport. And this also accounts for many owners/ trainers.

We must stick together! For the sake of our sport! So German horse racing can return to normalcy again soon.