Random updates

There was no murder. It was a case of drunkenness, the lady fell down and hit her head on a trailer hitch and died. How horrible. But still - no homicides since I've been here.

***

Another WW2 bomb was found last week, making a nearby town evacuate. J assures me our neighborhood was not worth bombing, so we won't find any on our land, but who knows. In case you're new to my blog, they find bombs every week in Germany simply from the vast numbers that were dropped here. They often must be disarmed, and it's sad when those guys die trying.

***

The bay gelding is still pending 2nd vet check, which should involve an ultrasound based on the fact he reacted to the chiropractor's suspensory ligament exam. *sigh* I'm really nervous about this. The owner has been in touch with me and her last email said, "I think it's the right thing, that he comes to you." But I'm afraid a suspensory is a deal breaker.

***

I found a mare for sale that I'd checked out last time I was shopping, one of the Prognoz daughters named Phara if you can remember her from 2012? The liver chestnut with flaxen mane who'd recently had a foal but I rode her. She was so green at that point the owner had to walk beside her and grab the reins every so often, not a good sign. Maybe she's better now. I'll see if I hear back from the seller. The seller is an endurance rider/instructor from our area but I'm not sure she knows who I am.


This is the photo I took from my 2012 visit. Although it's not a great photo, it does show her good legs and hooves and nice long hip. Here is her ad, with a nice professional photo of her face. She's not far from Wuppertal, so I would like to go see her just to see how she's changed. If she's changed.

S knows the seller and warned me against her. Lots of people have bad reputations around here. Or lots of people just like to gossip. I probably have a pretty bad reputation too, keeping Baasha in a drafty stall, keeping Baasha alone until we found a donkey companion, keeping that same companion alone now....

***

The US government told me to stay out of Cologne this weekend due to  - get this name - the "Hooligans against Salafists" demonstrations. They knowingly named themselves hooligans!? "Counter-demonstrations are also expected to take place throughout Cologne. The police are concerned that the two groups will clash, causing an outbreak of violence, similar to what occurred last year. U.S. citizens living in or visiting Cologne should avoid areas where political demonstrations are expected to take place due to the threat of spontaneous violence. We remind U.S. citizens that even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can become confrontational and turn violent."  

The counter demonstrators are the political party called "The Left" who are there to support their cause - what cause? J just told me the Left is against anyone who is against someone. OK then.

***

I've been taking the donkey for long walks in the muddy hills, even in the rain, and she seems to enjoy them. She's been using her stall as a toilet daily instead of going outside, and lying down in the mess, so she smells terrible. I decided I couldn't stand the smell anymore so I half-bathed her. It's too cold to bathe, and she's never been bathed before, but I had to do something. Funnily, her resistance tactic - refusing to move - is perfect for bathing. She didn't seem to mind the water, nor the scraping, but really hated the toweling afterwards. I was worried about her first bath, but I've been slowly introducing her to it by spraying her hooves and legs and then her tail over time, so it was fine when I finally put the hose on her body this week. Two days later the sun was shining - it was tshirt weather (for me) and I did the other half.

It's amazing. She's soft like a stuffed animal. I had no idea she could be so soft, and I didn't even try to do a good job, just get the horrible smell out. Her fur is so thick it's usually full of bedding hay and dust that you simply cannot curry out, but now she's clean to the skin. I gave her a full body massage today exclaiming the entire time, "You're soft!" I will definitely be doing this again. 

I'm so bored without a horse I've been trimming Bellis' hooves myself for the first time. Her feet look better than ever. And she's really, really good about giving me her feet. She doesn't have to shift her weight like a horse does, she just puts her leg in my hand as if she didn't need that leg afterall, so strange. Trimming her feet is easy because they're so tiny, and lately they're wet so they're softer.

I'm teaching her to stand tied to trees in the woods for when I have to find a geocache (or use the bushes) and she doesn't like it, but she's getting it. How she expresses her disgust at it - a little twitch of her head. Not a toss, a twitch. I can't explain it, it must be a donkey thing. 

That's all for now, I'll let you know when I have something to report about potential horses..