"It'll be horrible.....unless you prove me wrong again."

Yesterday I took Mara on that same verfluchte loop as the day before where she had several mini heart attacks. I didn't ground drive, I just had her at the end of my long lead.

She was kind of dragging the whole time, which is different for her, but it was nice to have her stay way back behind me and not use my body as a shield to hide behind. We stopped when we saw a cat in a cornfield hunting and playing, having a wonderful time. We watched him get closer and closer until he ran right across our path and in front of a car going by that slammed on its brakes to not hit him. Bad kitty.

Then there was this "after snow" vole tunnel. I don't know if you've seen this but when there is a lot of snow, the moles and voles make tunnels much nearer the surface, so that when the snow melts, the roof of the tunnel is gone and it's a shallow trench, not a tunnel anymore. I saw a scurrying thing and stopped again to investigate. A vole ran along his trench and then dropped down into a hole and then peered out at me, squinting in the sunlight. It was adorable, I told Mara, cuz she missed it. Then he scurried down the trench to the next hole and was gone. The trench was parallel to the sidewalk for quite a ways.

In the Winter our yard is full of molehills (I don't know why only the Winter), it's a regional plague, every garden has them at the rate of about 3-5 new hills per day. When the ground is not frozen I scoop them up because moles are my only mammalian nemesis. Get this - they are a protected species in Germany, despite them literally plaguing the country, and a few weeks ago a gardener had enough and killed a mole and got fined 1500Euros. I say that's not much, I'll keep trying to trap and kill ours. I was able to kill one a few years ago but they must have gotten smart to my trap.

Anyway, the silage bales did not freak my horse out today, and neither did the Haflingers etc. She was actually quite calm til we got to the rock and mailbox and woodpile again - those things had her snorting. I squeezed her around me, between me and those things, and she dealt with them well.

It was almost boring, the way she was behaving after yesterday. WTH Mara. See how my expectations never shape what happens?

I like boring Mara.

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More facts about my German horsey life from my magazines:

The "A week with a vet" column said how important it is that horses get fresh air in Winter, that they be turned out into Winter paddocks during the day. And at night, that it's a good idea to shut all the doors to the barn to avoid a draft. Again with the draft, *sigh*, thinking it kills. I cannot imagine locking up a barn airtight at night for the health of horses, unless there are blizzard conditions where the snow is blowing through the barn into the stalls onto the horses' backs, and the horses are immune-compromised and can't take that. There is an inexplicable difference in Germany between wind and a draft, and I still don't get it. One kills, the other is fine.

Cavallo, my new magazine, did a study about proper attire for night riding. Obviously more reflectors is better. What I found interesting was the photo of a pinto horse at night with a car's headlights hitting it. The study said that the best horses for being seen in traffic are pintos. I thought, "How on earth is a pinto better than a pure white horse?" My husband said, "Maybe they mean a misty night." : )

The Icelandic horse association (FEIF) is trying to get the rule revoked that says flash nosebands are not allowed with curb bits. I guess the decision will be made next month.

I really like my new magazine. Every month they send riders *undercover* to take a lesson at a stable that they analyze (and smear) pretty thoroughly. I was thrilled when they criticized a barn in our area that I only visited once because the owner wasn't a person I ever need to be around again: )