“Catching a train that won’t stop here again;
being prepared to leave everything behind to catch an opportunity. Pietro Grandis speaks of his experiences.”
Leaving home, family and friends, the country one was born in, to follow a dream and seize an opportunity that might never present itself again, wherever this may be, a few miles from home, in a different city, in another region or country…being prepared to change one’s life, give up one’s comforts and securities to embark on a new adventure in the hope of making one’s dreams come true is what Pietro Grandis talks to us about: he tells us what inspired him, as well as how and why, six years ago, he left his hometown Albissola, Liguria, to move to Michael Jung’s stables in Germany.
Everything has a price
On December 18th, 2014 I left Italy and my home in Albissola. The evening before I had gone out with my friends and I remember that I did not say a word. At 3AM I left driving my mother’s car and with 650km to travel. I was 19 years old and my English was appalling. Instead of getting there at midday as agreed, I arrived at 1.30 PM. I was worried, late on my first day… I came across two boys in the stables and they welcomed me and soon after that Michael turned up and started to show me the place and explain… I didn’t understand a word. All I said was, “I understand little but I work a lot”.
“These are all people who belong to the world of horses, all prepared to make sacrifices and work hard because they are people who really do love horses.”
At 2 PM I started work.
I had rented a room in the attic of a B&B and there was no kitchen so effectively I would skip lunch. The boys at the yard would take me to a supermarket but I never found anything I liked…I was used to home-cooked food… So I ate sandwiches or went to McDonald’s. In the evenings instead I would go to an Italian restaurant where the owners had practically adopted me, welcoming me every evening and giving me discounts. I remember being cold, my mobile phone not working, the car freezing up at night and every morning being afraid it wouldn’t start and that I wouldn’t manage to get to the stables.
Three weeks later Michael confirmed that I could stay. I had passed the test and so I started to look for a place to live.
[…]by Susanna Cottica | Managing Director of Cavalli&Cavalieri
Preview of the article about Pietro Grandis that will be published in March 2021 issue of Cavalli&Cavalieri