Better than so-so

Saturdays are busy days at the barn, starting around noon. Wow, there were five dogs there that didn't belong. FIVE, yikes. And farriers, do farriers come every week? How cool!

Mag has some cuts on the front of a hind pastern, nothing too bad, not hot or swollen, but as a precaution I wanted to hose him. But when I asked Gabi she said I couldn't, because the hoses are turned off for the Winter. I should use a bucket. Well, I'm not comfortable treating a hind leg injury on Mag with a bucket of ice water. I am not comfortable with uninjured hind legs and buckets yet. So I put some Betadine salve on. But what if it *needed* hosing? Would I have to walk him to a creek? This is a big barn, and I would have expected them to have a working hose.

Time warp indeed - where does the time go? I had so many plans today but again got caught up in the arena as two other people joined me and being a group of 3 was just so exciting for Mag.

A teenaged girl rode Argo, the huge chestnut and did such a lovely job with him, I've decided he's my pick if I could choose to ride any horse there. He said "jawohl" to all her requests. She took a very long time warming him up, and although she rode in a martingale (that's the first time I've seen a martingale outside of stadium jumping here in Germany), she kept him on and above the bit. She also warmed up with lateral work at a walk. It was beautiful. I asked what kind of horse he is and they do not know. Huge. He was a happy horse with a job to do, he never fussed. I was lunging Mag in a corner at a walk, bending and using ground poles so I could just watch her ride and enjoy. The way she'd switch her whip hand elegantly, she has had good training.

A Parelli person came in and that was also fun to watch, they were quite advanced, doing off-line circling and twirling and lateral walking. Every single thing, he got a cookie for doing. What a lucky horse. Mag watched them intently (by this time I was sitting down on a bench) and I said, "Yes, observe hard working horses and how obedient they are, and how many cookies that one earns!"

Mag had been very distracted during lunging today as people moved horses around, so much activity he could hear but not see. But every time he lost connection with me I just bent him and sent him forward more briskly than he wanted, so eventually he was jogging along with his nose almost touching the ground, which he knows makes me very happy.

Tanja, the newbie talked with me - she'd loaned me her lunging cavesson (and I don't like it as much as the Barefoot model) and I loaned her my Barefoot Physio bareback pad and a wool dressage girth that will fit her Connemara. She offered to come to the barn early tomorrow to help me get on Mag for the first time. I offered to help her horse Mia learn to cross water (in Winter?) and bridges too. We can help each other, I hope. Mag and Mia look like twins, in coloring and their big black eyes. What a sight they will be together!

Then Birgit arrived and she said she'll help me with Mag on Monday. How nice, the two ladies I'd hoped to run into have both offered help. Birgit doesn't seem to ride, rather help her daughter with her two lease horses, but I think that's OK.

Then the Seahawks guy arrived and I saw his hat and said, "WAIT WAIT WAIT!" in English as he walked by, not remembering any German at all. He stopped anyway and I said, "Your hat.." then I remembered German and said how odd it is to see Seahawks outside of America and he was pretty nice about it, he said he has a couple other friends who wear their swag. Huh! I have to tell him about the time I was in Carnation, WA, and saw a car with a Schalke sticker, and how it floored me, "What country am I in!?!?!"

Gabi came in and saw the cavesson and said I forgot a piece and I said, "Oh, it's not yours, it's Tanja's!" and I said it's too big for him, it doesn't fit, and Gabi said, "Look, you can tighten it like this." And I felt stupid - I literally had not seen the extra holes in the leather. Maybe I'll give it another try but to be honest the Barefoot model has such a nice thick padded noseband, if I were a horse I'd prefer it I think. It's 50 euros, and only the nosepiece, you have to buy a headstall separately! Ugh. I'm trying to get one on ebay but the seller isn't very communicative.

So tomorrow geht's los. It begins.

Tanja said "No worries, I'm not a worrier by nature. I'm a Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen Mensch" which I've never heard before, and translates to, "Peace, Joy, Pancakes." Hm!


So familiar to me: baggies with horse food. This is the vitamin mix Mag gets, by the rules he must get something in his bucket twice daily, cuz it's not fair that every other horse gets something and not Mag. So, I spaced out his vitamins into two daily baggies. Love Ziplock, cuz they stay fresh until the moment fed.



Although Mag is cow-hocked, his front legs are fine,  this is just a wonky photo of him. This is Mag tied to the wall, which, so far, so good, he hasn't tried to break free from. There are two other rings there for the school ponies so stand side by side. I've learned that I can only tie him here like this, taking all this space, early mornings. This place is packed with horses most of the time.

Looking forward......