Eryn from Vermont visits, calls Mara "shamrock green"

Eryn and her BF Sven came to Finally Farm to visit. It was my first visit from a fellow blogger and that's a pretty big deal. I was so excited! We don't have guests very often because we live so far out. In fact, Sven said, "You cannot even consider this Germany out here."



The first thing Eryn said was that Mara was prettier in RL. Wow, that's a nice thing to say. I still can't believe I thought she was homely when I first met her. Then again, they probably had her on drugs. (Who knows but my goodness she was calm in Hanover!)

Sven gave Bellis her Best Day Ever with total nonstop massages and rubs. Bellis repaid him by stepping her poopy foot onto his like-new red Converse. Omygosh I hope he can get that stain out. Bellis has a bad habit of begging for more by pressing her body into you, and you have to watch your feet. It's not as bad as it was, she does this body press slowly, very gently, but eventually she moves in. Her eyes were twitching in ecstasy, her mouth was wiggling, she was in heaven.

As Eryn groomed Bellis, the dust and hair was flying off and getting on my horse. I teased her, "You're getting my horse dirty!" at which point she realized I was just like her Type A, anal-retentive friend back home. It's true.

I said it would be cool, really great, if she would ride Mara, cuz I've never seen anyone ride my horse and I want to observe, and take the opinion of someone experienced.

She was willing, even though dressed in jeans and....cowboy boots? Truly, cowboy boots. Nothing wrong with that, they just really stand out around here.

We went up to  Herr S's ring but on the way Eryn noted Mara's breathing. She was astonished by it as well, I think. She said, "Mara gives the impression now, with her body language, that she's cool, but she's gasping and playing with the bit" (self comforting?). She noted that Mara also licks and chews a lot, and I added that she also grinds in addition for her stress relief.

At Herr S's place, I wanted them to see the odd barn. Sven had some choice phrases to describe it, especially when I showed them the hay storage area. I asked "How did they get the hay in here?" and Sven said, "They don't - they simply built this barn around the hay."

I lunged Mara so Eryn could see her fancy floaty trot and Eryn was amused, "Oh, she moves like an Arabian!"

Eryn started with some giving exercises on the ground.

Then Eryn got on and rode her around. I thought it was interesting that she did the same thing that I do, always. She rode small circles and serpentines, and asked for bend and such. She said that Mara was smart, but stubborn and I think she had the same impression the first time I sat on her, that Mara was always thinking, that you'd better do your best to meet her and not bore her. I noticed Eryn never rode the entire arena, she just did figure 8s and such. Exactly. It was cool to see someone do the same thing I do, without even discussing beforehand.

She mentioned that Mara is especially good with weight aids. That's nice.

But Mara would not halt when asked, I mean, she would not just stand still when halted. It was a real challenge. We'll have to work on that. I already do when I take her for walks, we just stop and stand several times per outing, but under saddle is more difficult.

Then Eryn asked her to go through a puddle. It was the one that transports you instantly to China, but not before passing through the worldwide underground blackberry root system, in Mara's mind, and she's not fond of Cantonese food nor blackberry thorns.

After a while I finally just led her though it, laughing all the while, "Oh dear, sharks! Oh no, I lost my snorkel! We're drowning!" but it's such a small puddle there wasn't time for much conversation.

Again and again Eryn asked, and Mara fought, and I realized that Eryn has a ton of patience, even with an audience.

In the end I had to help her across the bottomless depth by foot one more time, and then Mara gave up - she just went through on Eryn's request, and Eryn immediately jumped off her, praised and rubbed her, and gave her two absolutely-fresh banana flavored horse treats that she had in her pocket.

Well done!

It's so fun to talk to another American horsey person about horsey life in Germany.

We came home and played Settlers, with my man explaining to Sven the rules, often using German. I had a combination of bad luck and poor playing skills and lost, but it was fun.

Then we had piano-jukebox where my man played requests. I am thankful for a man who plays piano and loves to play pop songs. We did have a great deal of Queen this night. My man is especially talented at the song "Killer Queen" which is just so much fun.

I wanted to do a 3D movie next but it was too late and we don't have a good selection.

Maybe next time.

I would love Eryn's help with Mara, and Eryn understands how slowly I want to go. Eryn also has the same philosphies......except.... it was so funny when I put the bridle on, Eryn said, "It seems a bit loose - don't you follow the 3 wrinkle rule?" and I said, "I follow the 1.5 wrinkle rule." So now I wonder if 2.25 is optimal *lol*.

I hated for the evening to end, it was so fun. I hope we can hook up again, at least, as long as Eryn is in the area.

So here are some photos of Eryn working with Mara. You can even hear her voice on one of the videos, as she explains what she's doing. It is obvious to me that I need to replace my stupid failed white reins. My white reins have that grippy rubber that dissolves in heat, so she had to ride in my black reins. That isn't optimal for the photos, you cannot see what she is doing as well. At the bottom is a link to videos.






























Since I'm having a problem with simply linking to my YouTube videos of Eryn riding, I will simply place the link to my channel here. Bah.