My birthday and a product review for the Barefoot Ride-on-Pad - Physio

My birthday was Memorial Day this year and it was a great day - my new bareback pad arrived (ordered Friday evening!) and my man's parents and grandfather came over for coffee with gifts (white bleeding hearts and a star magnolia, what I wanted). Also, my man bought me 10 Star Trek movies on BluRay. I have all available Star Trek films now!

My colleagues called me and sang happy birthday on the phone! I was totally thrilled because I took this week off to avoid any attention to my birthday, but they got me anyway, in a way that didn't feel awkward.

Since it's Germany, the person with the birthday must bake. I made my mom's lemon bar recipe and a peach cobbler. They were both terrific but my man's family just barely gagged them down. Germans' perception of American sweets is "Sugar with sugar on top." Then again, my perception of German sweets is "Needs more butter. And sugar." My coffee was too dark but milk helped. I was so happy to have guests over and Eva helped me with gardening tips as usual. Opa made the trip to the garden to meet Mara and Bellis and Mara was gentle with him over the gate. Then my man and I tossed the Jolly Ball around, a gift from Kay Bryan, a blogger friend in America who wanted to send me a gift in the mail in Baasha's memory. So incredibly thoughtful! (But sadly the equispot that I asked for was confiscated and destroyed by customs. That was a really sucky situation, and I officially hate customs now.)

Kay also sent me a tea gift set and I'm so out of it, I had no idea that some tea comes in "blossom" form that actually blossoms in your teacup! I carried that with me around the office and showed everyone my tea.

This morning, Tuesday, I took Mara to Herr Steinhaus' ring to try out the new bareback pad. Thank God I still have a dressage girth - it hasn't been used in the 6 years I've been here and is still covered in white Baasha hair. It was almost too long but that pad doesn't need to be clamped down too tight - it's got that rubbery grippy stuff on the horse side. This pad has a removeable (velcro) underside pad, where you can stick two different types of foam inserts. I chose the heavy closed cell foam and put the lighter open cell foam away. (No both do not fit.) With this extra pad-under-the-pad, the thickness of the entire thing is over 3 inches. Not a very close feel, but rides like a couch!

Mara remembers her mounting block training and only stepped away from it once. I put her back in place and she was good after that. It is such an odd feeling to ride bareback!  She took a few hesitant steps but I think she's reflecting my uncertainty, so I just said, "OK let's go" and rode her in circles and serpentines, and a few focused straight lines. Then I found some cones and cavaletti! How had I missed them? I set them up and did some 5 meter circles around the cones, then 2 meter circles, snaking her body around them, and then played "approach and touch the cone" which she got right away. Next time I'll lunge her over cavaletti.

Then it was 9 AM, I'd been there 40 minutes (I'd lunged at first). I decided to take her for a walk to another horse stable nearby, the Haflinger farm. On the way there are two calves in a paddock.

Apparently Mara had never seen cows. She believes they are agents of evil, in the employ of Lucifer. She had a meltdown and spun around me but didn't run over me. We spent about 20 minutes next to those calves. She couldn't get over how  horrible they are; her heart was pounding through her chest. We just walked back and forth along their fenceline, and stopped and watched. I said, "They're just clumsy filthy deer!" and one of them tried to poop a solid spray into their water trough. They stood there staring at her, licking their nostrils and shaking their ears at flies. Funny, Mara knows about donkeys, but not cows? Hm.

The Haflinger place was full of adoring fans so she calmed down and enjoyed herself. As soon as she was totally relaxed, head down, I took her home. I walked very slowly, going home must be very "sleepy" if possible. I stopped and sat at a bus stop and she stood rigid and watchful as a bicylist flew by, a jogger, and a cement truck, all directly beside her.

When we got home I locked her in her tiny paddock to think for a while, and made breakfast. It was 10 AM.


Then I drove to the tiny horsey shop and bought another 5 kilos of horse mineral treats for clicker training (she's learning targeting), and a new hay net. Mara is a huge hay waster, grabbing big bites and letting the wind take away half as she runs to the gate to chew.

The new hay net seems to work, but ideally it would be inside a big tub to keep the bits that fall out from touching the ground. They despise hay that has touched the ground, it's been poisoned!

Mara has still not lain down here (rolling yes, laying down no). I will take it as a sign she feels truly "here" when she finally does.

OK now I've got to go plant all my birthday flowers and wash my car, and then maybe ....Star Trek?