Shanu

Arabians are not common in Germany, and when I rode around our half-snowy neighborhood last week, a lady came outside with her daughter to meet Baasha. They fed him carrot after carrot and the little girl kept stroking his mane saying he's her favorite color, and how good my German is, basically charming me! The lady owns an Arabian too, and she brought pictures out of her house to show me. I said, "I'd like to meet him" and yesterday I did.

We drove to the town of my bridge accident--where we are famous, hehe--and up up up a huge hill to her barn which sits on the top. What an amazing view her horse has from his paddock - you can see in nearly 360 degrees for miles around. You can even see the gleaming blue watershed! Note the solar panels on the barn. So German.

Her barn was not really a barn at all, it was a haymaking machinery storage building, but along the walls they had set up panel stalls. The barn walls were clear plastic sheeting so the interior was extremely bright and sunny. The floor was brick, and the horses had deep beds of straw.

Hey, I've ridden here before! Twice, this is the "end of the trail" for me, as I could never figure out where the trail goes from this point. It is a beautiful undulating landscape (but from our perspective you cannot really tell how steep it is).






Her horse is Shanu. He is over 16 hands high, which is enormous for an Arabian. He is my favorite color, a coppery bay.





He's 6 years old, and nibbles on you like a baby would. He's very VERY green for 6.






In fact as we took a walk, I had to actually jump off the road twice as he did teleporting spooks and whirled around us and into us. He gets no grain, and he acted high as a kite. She said in Winter it's so - the horses are in a winter paddock (a very very small one with 7 or 8 horses in it!), and he is ready to explode the moment he gets out into the open. He kept running into her, and I assured her Baasha used to do that too (when he was 3). She asked me, "How long did he?"





It's been a while since I've been around a horse who is dangerous to lead. I started thinking immediately about mugwump's article about leadline manners, but of course I did not say anything because unasked for advice is usually annoying, and I had only just met this lady.






She says riding him is a real challenge, and she has been in the hospital from his huge spooks.







I volunteered to ride Baasha over - perhaps an hour's ride, but possible, and ride with her at a walk. Going out repeatedly with very calm old horses is what Shanu needs (and leading lessons). Just, hopefully, Baasha won't meet Shanu and regress back into his youth, "Ah, you're an Arab too? Wanna see who's fastest?"





Shanu gave us quite a performance when we finally let him go in an arena. This arena is located on the crest of another hill, and you feel like you're on top of the world. A very invigorating feeling for a fresh horse. He floated over the ground, his wry tail cocked to one side. I think the neighbors must enjoy "Horse TV" when Shanu comes to that arena to play.






Afterwards at the barn the owner of a pretty Icelandic was there letting her horse eat right off the round bales in the middle of the barn. What, no rules about hay portioning?









And from the looks of the bedding (almost hip deep), I see there is no limit there either. (This photo was taken *before* she added more bedding. Nice barn! This lady had a million questions for me - some Germans are so nosy! She was really nice though and invited us to breakfast next week. Hm, what shall I bake...






The little mare has ringlets in her forelock! She was very camera shy though, exactly like Baasha, she kept making grouchy faces at the camera.








You should have seen the grain bin. What I consider a little foolhardy - any improperly latched stall door would mean certain colic. There were also buckets of apples and carrots scattered around everywhere, it would be a real buffet for a loose horse. I wonder how many mice have colicked in this bin? hehehehe







A big draft horse kept nibbling the tail of a pretty Quarter Horse who was trying to get a drink.










Between swallows she would snake her head back and glare, and then drink more, and he'd nibble some more, and she'd glare, and it went on and on.




Shanu was turned loose into that paddock and immediately a spotted pony started playing with him. Roughhousing, that is why Shanu's body is covered in bite marks. They play hard.

I was offered to ride on Shanu but I am not an adrenaline junkie. I think I will pass.

She said that my next door neighbor (the hunter/jumper rider) hates Shanu, calling him "a criminal." She said Shanu misbehaves when anyone else has to take care of him. I can see that. She said she battles her fears when riding him, but I'm impressed she has the guts to keep trying. I did ask if she wears a helmet (yes, whew!).





Shanu, are you giving Arabians a bad name in our town?

She is excited about getting the photos I took, and I'm gonna put them on a stick for her today because there are so many. I was so disappointed when I saw the pictures I took - most of them were washed out, so I had to adjust the brightness (making some darker and some lighter) and contrast.