I lived in Greece for many years - my sister still does. She married a ship's purser who gave up the sea to start his dream business, a riding stables. This was over 45 years ago. They started small, renting a piece of land and buying up ex-racing horses that were destined for the knacker's yard. Horse riding was an elite pastime in Greece back then, pretty much only for the rich, but people could afford to at least have lessons.
Slowly over the years the business expanded. They bought more school horses, took on livery horses, entered show jumping competitions - one of the best showjumpers was one of the ex-race horses, an Arab named Aris. My niece and nephew grew up riding from as soon as they were able to sit on a horse and ended up champions in show jumping and dressage - they even competed in the 2012 Olympics, and my brother in law was chef d'equipe for the Olympic games that year. Horses and riders trained at Varimbombi entered international events with much success.
Last week it all came crashing down - fire broke out nearby, burning not only acres and acres of forest, but also the whole riding club. My sister and her family have lost everything. There is no insurance against forest fires, they happen too often in Greece. There will be a small government grant towards re-building, but it will not be enough.
There is a crowd funding website - if you feel you are able to give a little towards the re-building, please do, it will be so very much appreciated. If you can't, that's OK, thank you for reading this far.
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