Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Freaky horse and a Christmas market

My expectation never shape my horse's behavior, not that I've noticed. Yesterday I took her out for another ground-drive + attempt-to-stand-tied session in the woods. I expected the worst.

She drove out perfectly calm, ears only slightly above wither height so her neck was pretty much level - which is incredibly relaxed posture for her. She looked at everything but seemed fine.

Again, no one was in the woods on a calm overcast Sunday.

We made it to the shepherd's place before she spooked, and she had good reason, one of the dogs was tied in a new spot close to the road/trail and it jumped forward and its chain slapped against an upside-down wheelbarrow. Then, for the first time, one of the dogs was loose, and it ran up to us. Mara skittered forward, almost causing me to fall in the mud. That's another danger of ground driving out in the open, if a horse spooks forward, they can pull you off your feet if the footing isn't good. I faced off with the dog and it turned out to be a cowardly puppy so it ran back to its friends, taunting them about being free, while they are all tied to overhead lines between the trees.

Mara was good after that and continued calmly along. We looked for the Icelandics but they weren't there, so we had no friends to visit with.

Mara was spooky about a gate, as always, but didn't refuse to pass it. I teased her, "You're still afraid of this gate?" We stood there a while just pondering things and then turned back the way we came.

I was about to tie her to that giant beech tree when suddenly an elderly couple was approaching us, decked out in North Face. One of the unique things about Germany - old people are always to be found in the woods, and always properly dressed. Getting old is no reason to stop hiking.

I was so happy to see people in the woods I took a chance and started up a conversation with them. "Where are all the other people? In the Christmas Markets?" I got lucky, they were both the chatty type (it's uncommon here to talk with strangers). The man who was standing next to Mara's head started bitching about the tourists who come to Germany and clog up the cities to see as many Christmas markets as possible in a short time. He said they even have tour busses taking them around for this reason. I listened to him, nodding as I recognized the names of some of the markets. His wife joined in, complaining too about how the markets have changed. I said, "Well as an American, I have to tell you we have nothing like the German Christmas markets, and I really love them." Then they wanted to talk about America, the wide open spaces, and how it contrasts with Germany's tiny open spaces and population density (80 million people in a space the size of Montana). The man was stroking Mara's face and she was standing perfectly still. The lady joined him and they were both petting her face together. I was glad Mara was standing still, but I could see that she was slightly frozen in anxiety, she was fixed on the sounds coming from the shepherd's house which was about 75 meters away. In fact, she peed while we were talking, an enormous amount, and I told them that she's peeing because she's scared of the dogs. The lady said, "I pee when I'm scared too."  (!? I think I caught that right.) They said for me to be careful, there's a loose dog up there. I thanked them and they wished me a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year. Germans are very formal about holiday wishes (and greetings in general) - it's some sort of cultural requirement to say it to everyone you meet. On Easter they start saying Happy Easter on the Thursday before.: )

As soon as they were out of sight I tied Mara up and sat on the bench to read. I was really impressed with her, she stood like a statue for the most part. A scared stiff statue, but no figeting like she normally does. She didn't once test the rope/tree and try to free herself. She circled the tree only once, but stood staring with total concentration at the scary house location the entire time. I didn't read for long, and a couple times I got up and praised her and gave her cookies. Finally I untied her so we could go home.

I did not ground drive her because I could see that she was very nervous about that house, so I let her walk behind me. She had trouble staying out of my space, she wanted to lunge forward and blast by it. As expected, they were home and had caught that loose dog. I said hello to the shepherd's wife, she's a sweetheart, though most of the neighborhood scorns that family.

Mara could not relax. Even though she was walkind behind me, she was snorting each breath, and giraffing her neck continually. When I stopped and stood still with her, I could see her heart pounding, but she wasn't trembling at least.

For some reason the entire way home, a very short distance, was stressful for her. Even directly at our pasture gate, she was staring off at sounds in the distance.

I have no idea what changed her from her calm state to a hyperanxious state, but that happens often lately, and it's unpredictable and inexplicable.

Sadly, I was practicing doing trot outs with her and realized she's still lame on that leg, even though she was perfectly fine last week, I even had KT check her gaits before I had my lesson. What the heck. I guess we'll have a lot of these on-foot outings in our future, which appears to be what she needs. I'm gonna try a strange German home remedy today, I'll let you know what happens.

***

We finally made it to a Christmas market, this time I wanted to see Remscheid's. It took us a while to find it but when we did we saw that it was tiny and mostly food booths. However there was an ice skating rink set up (how strange - I'd never seen outdoor ice skating until I came to Germany). It was fun to watch the people skating - it brought back memories of rollerskating. There was music blasting but to my disappointment it wasn't Christmas music. On the other hand, I may actually make it through the season without being forced to hear that awful George Michael song (don't say it!) for the first time.

My priority was to get myself a cup of Gluehwein, but I was disgusted when the Gluehwein structure was full of people smoking cigarettes ("indoors"), including the employees. Also, 3,50E for a cup? Too much!

We shared 3 Reibekuchen, my favorite food at a Christmas market, something I wait for all year. J had a curry Krakauer but I don't believe in buying food that you can get all year long at a Christmas market. (To which he reminded me I could make my own Reibekuchen, but for some reason whenever I try, I fail.)  I found a booth that sold only jewelery from India (one of only 2 non-food booths, how odd) and I fell in love with so many things. I ended up with a gorgeous Tiger Eye bracelet that I've been wearing ever since. We splurged and sampled something new - there was a booth that sold fried mushrooms with garlic dip for 4E. They were awesome! And I told the mushroom lady how much I appreciated that she actually smiled at customers. All the other booths were full of grouchy people who acted put out if you ordered something. J said it's because they're cold, but I don't think so.

We left happy and satisfied. It's fun to splurge once in a while.

Sorry no pictures, my camera is dead: (

4 comments:

Achieve1dream said...

Aww man sorry you're camera died... wait do you mean batteries died or the camera is dead dead?

That's so strange about Mara. Maybe she's bipolar??? Is she on any hormone supplements? Is that what the home remedy is?

kbryan said...

The Christmas markets sound like they would be fun to visit, that does sound like a lot of food booths though. Glad you treated yourselves and got a pretty bracelet.

Sometimes I feel discouraged for you regarding Mara's issues and your progress with her. It seems clear that she is not a "bad" horse, just one that may have had some traumatic things happen to her at some point. You clearly have taught her many things, and it seems that she tries hard for you. I imagine it is unsettling for you to see her wig out for reasons that are apparent only to her.

Any possibility that you can find out more about her upbringing or maybe touch base with anyone who has a close relative of hers? Do you sometimes think about selling her (while you can) and looking for another, more settled or socialized horse? I feel sad for Mara, she has a wonderful home, a loving owner, and a doting donkey companion, she should be a happy horse. For her to be so outwardly terrified at times is just the pitts, for both of you.

I wish there was an easy answer to getting her sorted out. Maybe you need a horse psychic. :/

Anyway, y'all have a nice holiday season. Be happy. Pet the cat. Tell Bellis she is beautiful. And give Mara a big hug.

Kay

Nicole A said...

I get so frustrated for you with Mara. I hope she starts making progress again. She had been doing so well for a while there! But I guess it's like I've heard say a lot lately in the Blogosphere: progress isn't always linear with horses. It doesn't make it any less frustrating.

We have outdoor ice skating rinks on the East Coast! :) There's even one in downtown Rockville not too far away from where we live. I am an absolute klutz on skates of any kind, but I always enjoy watching. It's like they're flying almost.

A couple of years before I moved away from the island, they had started having an outdoor ice skating rink in the parking lot of one of the big malls. Dont ask me how or why...but imagine this: people in shorts and tank tops ice skating on real ice in 75 degree weather. True story.

The Christmas market sounds lovely!!

Nicole A said...

And Merry Christmas!!! :)