Riding Amja

I had my first ride on Amja tonight. FINALLY. It was worth the wait. I was his 7th (?) ride, the second person to ride him, aside from Mr. L getting on him once. He was sure a baby, but I was expecting that. He tripped a bit but most of all was really unsure what to do with this bit in his mouth, he was all over with his head, chewing it. I just fol

lowed.

Look, he's got A.M.'s horse's "Sexy Mouth" - that endurance lady in Woodinville. Her horse was quite photographic. From what I've heard, she and her sexy mouthed gelding are not still doing endurane. His name was named something like the browser Firefox. I'll always think of her and her steed when I see a muzzle like this. How she loved that horse.

At first I misunderstood Mrs. L, that I should let the reins out, and then she told me to take contact. I was just trying to do as she wanted, but finally I understood she meant for me to keep contact. Good, cuz that's what I know to be right with young horses. Keep a light contact so they can experiment with their heads and learn what feels good.

I asked him when he'd last seen a dentist, being only 5, and she said he only had one hook and it was rasped and that was it. I wonder what else could be keeping him with a bit.

I'm SO GLAD my man was there. Because everything I said about horses, almost everything, my man had to say, "What my wife means is..." I guess I cannot talk horse yet in Germany with clarity. That sucks. All the barns I've visited, they had a hard time understanding me, and I didn't know what to do about it.

What I mean is, when I tried to describe how different endurance rides are in America, there is always a little misunderstanding. My man, this time, was right there to say, "What she means is, there are no cell towers and there are no car routes to follow the horses all day. Yes, she needs water but she carries it herself, on her horse."

"The horse should not have to carry..." I thought I understood, but before I go there, I"ll ask my man to read this and comment: )

Anyway, the ride.

He's great, just like they said. No spooking, no looking. Just a little looking when two riders on Icelandics came over the hill and talked for a while. That must have got him upset a little cuz after they left, he wouldn't walk, he would only jig.... UGH, just like Baasha. 20 some years of jigging. I'm so done with that. I was kind of nervous cuz I didn't know if the jigging would lead to something else, and since I was only the 2nd rider on him, the owner didn't know either. She was helpful. Eventually the jigging quit, thankfully.

We trotted a hill climb and it was fun. I sensed his careful baby trot and just enjoyed it. I laughed and pet his neck, saying GOOOOOOD BOYYY!! over and over and rubbign him until Mrs. L turned around and laughed at me. Yes, another German who's never heard "GOOD BOY" spoken to her horse. I think the horse knows what it means.

The German horses must adapt to my "whoa' because I'm never gonna adopt thier tongue-trill "brr" to stop/slow a horse. I just won't do it. Too bad. I say "Whoah" or "Hoh" (however you type that.) I believe the horses know the difference bewteen Germans riding them, and Americans.

If I find differently, ever...I will be sure to document this phenomenon in my blog. If my blog still exists after Google Blogger says I need to pay now.

More on this trip later. My man took a lot of videos of this horse walking under saddle. I hope to upload them to YouTube and see what experts have to say about his way of travel.