German farm owner saves fuel money with horse-drawn carriage
Stephanie Kirchner’s journey to work has got longer but, she says, cheaper: she has left her SUV at home and switched to real horse power
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Stephanie Kirchner's journey to work has got longer but, she says, cheaper: she has left her SUV at home and switched to real horse power.
Stud farm owner and horse trainer Kirchner, 33, says she decided “it can't go on like this” after fuel prices jumped following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Since I also suspected hay harvesting and everything else will become much, much more expensive, we said, ‘we have to save a little money,’” she says.
So she has switched to traveling the roughly 6 kilometers (3 1/2 miles) from her home in western Germany by horse-drawn carriage. That turns a one-way trip from 10-15 minutes to as much as an hour.
But Kirchner calculates that, given how much fuel her Toyota SUV consumes, she saves about 250 euros ($264) per month if she can use horse power every day.
Her carriage, drawn by two horses, is popular with children and some others. But "of course humanity is hectic and then some people are annoyed if they can’t get past me fast enough,” Kircher says.
She acknowledges that her answer to rising fuel prices isn't for everyone.
“I can’t put a horse in a parking garage," she says. “I think a lot more horse riders would do it if opportunities were created for the horses.”