Pictures from yesterday's ride in Wuppertal

First we had to get pretty. For the very first time, I walked Mara into our tack room/tool shed that used to be Baasha's stall. It's crowded with tools, but she just stood where I put her. She was quite curious about everything, gently touching things with her nose. I also trimmed her hooves in this tight space. No flies in there, she was at peace. I couldn't have braided and trimmed outside with all the horseflies.

The donkey was in the stall, looking out, probably thinking "No way, she gets to go in there? I've wanted in there all these years but I get in trouble if I set hoof in there!"

Anyone who has successfully trained a mane to stay on one side, please give me some tips. This particular design doesn't work very well.



Insert incredibly slow journey to Wuppertal in this space. I don't get it but every single person I've been with pulling a horse trailer here drives so incredibly slow, as if they think horses are made of glass. With five different drivers here I've sat in the passenger seat and thought, "Good grief, just drive!" We're talking speeds less than half the speed limit - so we went through my town at 20 KPH  (that's 12 MPH), and our top speed on the Autobahn was 80/50. I believe that's the legal minimum speed. I've ridden in the trailer with horses a few times, so I how hard it is, but I don't go that slow. I found that back home the speed limit signs seemed to be spot-on for hauling horses, that is, if an exit ramp says 40, I carefully took it at 40, where a car can do it much faster safely, conditions permitting.

Sidenote about European horse trailers: I asked if it's possible to load horses into a trailer with no vehicle attached, assuming the tires are blocked. No-go: the tongue will flip up as soon as a horse gets in, and the back of the trailer will hit the ground. OK then, we won't try that.

Wish I'd taken pics of the barn. Next time?


The Newforest Pony somehow keeps his chocolate color in Summertime? He was a sweetheart, but not the calm, unflappable trail horse they had promised me.



My hero. The only truly good trail horse in our group. His rider is the silent type, and never acted bored at our walking pace. Oh yah, he paces too! I admit, I want to sit on another TWH, it's been a long time. Talk about an exotic breed, check out the prices (only 21 of them for sale in Germany on this popular online marketplace.)



This was my proud moment, where Mara realized we're just gonna walk, even if we fall behind.



Finally at the dam, where I rode so many times long ago. Josie is having another moment and you can see Smartie and Mara looking at her, "What now?" I had asked if we could stop for photos and Josie objected.



Bored TWH, concerned Mara, and "Dam's bonna bust!" Josie.



I had moved Mara back away from the feisty one. Josie is looking up at the other side of the valley, planning her move. This photo also demonstrates why my knees get sore after long rides: I shove my heels down hard as a defense mechanism.

If that dam breaks and we die a watery death, well, it's our time to go!



At the bottom of the valley, you can see behind me a culvert opening for overflow. There was also a lovely fountain down there and a swarm of mosquitos that came directly to Mara to feast on her.



Mosquito attack! Direcly after this photo was taken Josie lunged at Smartie, biting and kicking him. So glad his rider didn't drop my camera.



This is my favorite picture of the day because it shows Josie about to do her glomming on thing. She doesn't just touch noses, she presses in tight. She lives in a herd, you'd think she'd know better. I bet Mara would teach her some life lessons if they were pastured together. In this photo you can see I'm reacting to Josie's imminent intrusion by pulling Mara to the right. Take a look at where Mara's hooves are in relation to that concrete strip.....



A second later we've moved aside. The look on my face shows exactly how I feel about this.

Afterwards....


Very bad.



I sent these photos to the Specialized Saddle Yahoo group, hoping for some advice. Equal pressure spots on either side, which is odd to me because her right side is so flat.



I couldn't end with bad sweat pattern photos so here is a horsefly through my house window. Any day now they should stop plaguing us.

The video below shows my proudest moment, and you can see Josie do her little trot to catch up thing, and Mara hold her walk. Her fastest possible walk, she's so much smaller than the others.