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German Woman Uses Horse Power to Save Fuel Money
A woman in Germany has made a big change in her daily ride to work that adds time but saves money.
Stephanie Kirchner now leaves her vehicle at home and uses real horse power to get to work. She rides a carriage pulled by two horses.
Kirchner is a 33-year-old horse trainer and farm owner. She says she has little choice. Fuel prices have increased following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. She also expects the running of her farm to become more costly. So, she said, “we have to save a little money.”
Horse farmer Stephanie Kirchner prepares her horse at a small stud farm near Limburg, Germany, May 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Kirchner now uses the carriage to travel about 6 kilometers from her home in western Germany to work. That turns a one-way trip from 10-15 minutes to as much as an hour. But Kirchner estimates that she could save about $264 a month by not driving her vehicle and using “horse power” every day.
Horse farmer Stephanie Kirchner drives her carriage on a road near her hometown Schupbach, Germany, May 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
The carriage and her horses are popular with children and other people. However, she does admit that some people are always in a hurry and can get “annoyed" if they cannot pass her fast enough.
Kirchner drives her coach through a village near her hometown Schupbach near Limburg, Germany, May 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Kirchner knows that her answer to rising fuel prices is not for everyone. And she does run into some difficulties. Parking, for example, can be hard to find for her horse and carriage.
“I can’t put a horse in a parking garage,” she says.
However, she adds that “a lot more horse riders would do it if opportunities were created for the horses.”
I’m Anna Matteo.
Writers for the Associated Press reported on this story in Germany. Anna Matteo adapted it for VOA Learning English.
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Words in This Story
carriage – n. a wheeled vehicle
annoyed – adj. feeling or showing angry irritation
parking garage – n. a building in which people usually pay to park their cars, trucks, etc.
opportunity – n. a favorable combination of circumstances, time, and place : a chance for greater success