From embarrassing to good, with requested photos of Fresian and Sheila the pony

I cannot mount my horse from the ground because I'm not willing to clamp the saddle on so tight she becomes girthy. So I asked Herr S if he has a "getting on helper" as they call it in German. He quickly went and got me one. Then I tried and tried to get on my horse using it, but she kept swinging her butt away. Strange. Getting on her from the ground is no problem, why should a mounting block be an issue? I kept moving her back into place and trying again, but that didn't work. So Herr S finally came over and held her, yelled something in German at her, and I got on. I thanked him and went twice around the arena, and then went home.

At home we practiced. We have a low wall along our driveway that would be my mounting block simulator.

My plan was not to do as I had done with Walli (remember her?), because Mara is very whip sensitive and I didn't want to make it such a negative experience. The method I'd used was to tap the outside hip and teach the horse to move toward you. It works so well I got ran over by Walli once: )

So what is the alternative? As I stood on the wall and she shifted away, I just pulled on the outside rein and she flipped her hindquarters back toward me quickly. It works. The next time she moved her hips away, I pulled again on the outside rein, and she was so imbalanced in her rush back toward me she scraped her hock on the stone wall, taking all the hair off one spot.

After I was sure she was not bleeding, I tried again. This time it worked. She realized moving away made me unhappy (with my "ah, ah!" noise) and resulted in her being thrown off balance back toward me. Also, I give her a treat when she aligns with the wall and doesn't flinch when I get on halfway.

Then I took her down to the table and chair area and used the chair. It worked! She took to the chair perfectly.

So today I took her back to Herr S and asked him for his mounting helper. He brought it out and I lined her up next to it, climbed up, and she moved her hips away. I got down, pushed her back into position and tried again. Then she was fine. I got on, rode 5 steps, felt how uncomfortable the saddle was, and jumped off again. Then we practiced getting on using the mounting block a few more times til she was solid.

I am pretty impressed that she got it so quickly. I'm sure she's not done with her trick, but I know she'll abandon it in time.

I'm also amazed that she was calm when Herr S's son was there banging on his huge metal boat that lives inside a huge tarp house. Remember that old ship that you could see from our house? He moved it into a tarp structure to work on it, and man is it loud when he's banging on it and sawing on it. I lunged Mara right next to it, cuz the arena is adjacent to the boat, and she was fine. Nothing he did in there worried her.

We spent some time in the barn. The barn is odd - the stalls are set below the aisleway for some reason, and the aisle is so narrow I have to be careful about where I ask her to turn around. Oddly she feels right at home in there, note her expression in the photo.

Then I met another lady who has a horse there - this time it was Sheila the pony's owner! She lives in Cologne, where I work, and somehow keeps her pony here. I told her how popular Sheila is with "my friends" and took some more photos of her. Mara had to be patient and stand there for 15 minutes as we talked, but it was OK, she was being good. She likes it there. It was even OK when Herr S started up his tractor and used it to pick up a plastic wrapped silage bale right behind us! Then he started moving manure around next to us with his tractor. This was like 5 meters away from us, and Mara just stood there.

Earlier I saw the morning routine. Herr S sets up a corridor with electric wire, and then simply opens stalls and the horses go where they should. Or they don't, which is funny. It was great. I was lunging Mara at a walk, and we just kept on walking perhaps 15 minutes as these horses ran around or ran out to the paddocks. They were having so much fun. The boys started grooming each other immediately.I found it interesting that so many of them drank from the automatic waterers outside, when they have them in thier stalls as well. Is drinking with company more fun?

I couldn't believe that my horse was OK with all that commotion. It is our 6th visit there, and she must really like it. I think she loves to be in that odd low barn with all the horses staring at her, nickering to her. She must feel like a princess. Somehow she's at ease in that crooked, dark corridor, perhaps because she has admirers?

She is changing color. She's getting darker, and some dapples are coming out. I love it. I told my man she's getting dapples, and he said, "Oh no, she's turning into a Pinto!" cuz he didn't know what dapples are. *lol*

 I realized today she is not as photogenic as Baasha while grazing. I deleted lots of photos.

My man called a mobile saddle fit company so I hope to get an appointment soon. My vet is coming on Tuesday. I look forward to that.