Karneval, Thomas, and laid-back barn fun

It's Karneval weekend in Germany and on the way home from the barn I saw the Karneval people waiting for busses along my way. I saw Aladdin, a leprechan, a conquistador, and a couple clowns. The costumes were Hollywood worthy, very well done. As I got closer to home, I saw more and more celebrators, because I live between Wuppertal and Cologne and Cologne is where they are all going. On the radio was a live broadcast of comedy and oompa drinking songs. I heard the word Arschgeige for the first time, "Ass violin." People really say that!

It was nice to hear something else on the radio than American politics.

The other day we had Storm Front Thomas (not exactly a hurricane, just 115kph winds). I was looking forward to seeing picnic tables fly by my house but there wasn't that much, well, our brick wall fell down by the barn (bricks can blow away, it turns out) and we still have someone's rain barrel lying against our pasture fence. If no one claims it, well, I hope someone claims it. Good thing Mag wasn't here. He would have hurt himself on the stall door that had broken loose from its tie, I'm sure.

I was upset cuz Thomas took place in the middle of the night, so I missed watching it but it kept me up by banging on our house's slate shingles and windows. No one was killed in Thomas, but a tree landed on one car and seriously injured someone.

Today, Saturday, I was in a great mood cuz even though it's the weekend, not that many people were at the barn. I hate it when it's packed.

A nice lady named Nicole was rasping her big brown horse Caspar's hooves. I think Caspar is one of the prettiest horses in the barn; if I had to take one home with me, I think I'd take him (and Jolly the Welsh pony as a companion animal). He looks like a great big Icelandic and has a frosted mane and tail. I asked if I could try her rasp, one of those Rider's Rasps, cuz I'd never used one before. His hooves and legs were so massive! I really prefer normal rasps - it simply wasn't as effective. But I enjoyed talking to her about it and finding out about it.

Then I asked her if she thinks her horse is a good role-model for mine if we were to go out into the woods together. She paused with a wrinkled brow. I gave her a moment and then said, "Well, if you have to think about it, probably the answer is no." : ) She said, "Well, it's not Caspar, it's me, I am just getting back into riding." OK, it's fine, no worries.

She pointed to Diego's lease rider who was grooming Diego. Diego is the rock-solid PRE I rode bareback once. The lady who leases him has never spoken a word to me and has a great big dog that is always whining loudly as if it's in pain, and I mean loudly whining without stop. Like parents of loud kids, she is apparently deaf to him. It grates on the nerves, even though it's a gorgeous dog. A pure white German Shepherd with great conformation (but ugh, white). Anyway I felt uncomfortable but the lady said she's there every evening after work. I said, "I'm never here evenings but that might have to change in March cuz it's my last month here and I am tired of being here alone." She said she'd text me, I told her my number is on my stall door.

Christina was there and I said, "Hey, isn't your house the one by that barricade gate in the woods? The red and white striped one between the two chain link fences." She said, "Yes, but you cannot take a horse through." I said, "Yes, I tried, but it's impossible. I wanted to say hi." Today her trailer was gone, at inspection (all vehicles must be inspected for safety every 2 years. This is not an emissions, this is just a safety check).

I took Mag to the arena and lunged him with his most-frightening rump rug hanging off his side and Angela came to watch the show. Angela is the one who will talk my ear off, and the one Gabi said is an idiot, a beginner who has no idea the danger she's in on that green horse. Angela talks and talks but I don't mind having someone around. I was embarrassed because Mag keeps cantering when I want a working trot, because he thinks there is no gait between jog and canter. That trot seems to be his most difficult gait to sustain, and it really tires him out.  

You know...I have to pause and appreciate that this is our issue with lunging on February 25, 2017. Not many months ago he was trying to rip the line out of my hands and run off. He doesn't do much of that funny business anymore, thankfully. Well, having a 15X30 arena kind of prohibits tricks.

I took Mag to the outdoor to ride because Marin was there working Wolke. Angela moved to the observer section of the outdoor. Angela is the lease rider of Marin's husband's horse Blue, another paint. I pointed to Wolke and said, "Wait a minute. That is not your horse! And that is not your lease horse!" What's going on. Marin said, "I volunteered to help Wolke's owner out because she's turning into a runaway horse and I like a challenge. Earlier today I saw Wolke's brand new lease teenager taking her for a walk. So, the owner is ..afraid of her? She has a lease kid AND Marin AND Angela working her mare for her? Hm. How nice would that be....

Marin puffed on her e-cig as I rode Mag around casually, talking to her while doing a few steps of leg yield and trotting one circle, then just sitting on his back as we talked.

Then Marin jumped on Wolke bareback with a rope halter and started doing Parelli stuff with her. Mag was fascinated, like watching TV. It cracked me up. I saw Marin looking where she wanted the mare to go (as the mare nibbled at barrels in the corner) then Marin picked up the rope, then she held out the end of the rope as a warning, and then, step 4, she whacked the mare with the rope. The mare very calmly moved off to the next corner where she started nosing things again, and the 4-step program resumed. Fascinating. I admired her for volunteering to help a horse, the very horse who intimidated my old friend Jasmin so badly we never saw her again.

At least, that is my theory why Jasmin and her mother Birgit disappeared. Jasmin was leasing both Moritz and Wolke and Wolke had a bad day and dumped her and ran home. Turned out to be bad saddle fit and lameness. Now Moritz and Wolke have new lease teenagers, both very excited to have their "own" horses.

Marin said, "What is your education?" I said, "I'm a technical writer." She said, "With horses." I said, "I ride. In America, we just ride. We don't need this piece of paper telling us if we can or not. If we are curious, we enter a horse show and we either do well or we don't." She said, "Did you ever take lessons?" "Well, yes. 5 years dressage. I never earned a piece of paper."

She said, "The thing is, life is about learning and I never want to stop learning."

This is the second time I've heard this argument for these certificates. It proves your devotion to learning.

I sat there on my horse feeling nearly completely confident that she doesn't consider me adverse to learning. 

I strongly resist the compulsion to pay money for that. Lessons and clinics are different than these courses I've seen over the past few weeks at this barn. Intensive, expensive classes about how to lead and lunge a horse. The thing is, in this country, those certificates mean something. You cannot get a job without them. And you cannot progress to the upper levels of certificates without them. Therefore the people pay the money to prove what they already know. I don't need that. I am addicted to competitions that either prove or disprove that I can compete  successfully. I hope to compete successfully in Germany someday.  1st step, get the horse broke. 2nd step, try to find anyone who does any sport I might like. CMO season started this weekend back home. I'm very sad, again, to not be there.

I was taking Mag back to his paddock and felt like running with him. He trotted behind me and then I saw Tanja's smallest son Jon (named after Jon Bon Jovi, I kid you not) playing 11 meter schiessen with another boy. They had just moved in this weekend, to a house adjacent to the barn.  11 meter schiessen is a soccer thing, it's when you are 11 meters from the goal and get to shoot in some sort of penalty situation. I was happy when Jon recognized me and said hi back to me. I said "But you have no goal." He came to me and pointed to the fence post closest us and the next one and said, "That's the goal." Oh. Oh I see. Oh, then I need to get outta here!" And I quickly walked Mag away but not before he shot the ball directly at the fence, sending Mag spooking, one hoof leaving a huge stripe in the wet grass. Whoops! I turned Mag around and just watched the kids playing for a while.

Nearly back at Mag's paddock, running again with him, we came to a huge teeter-totter thing with an axle and wheels. I think the storm had blown it into our path. I happily jumped onto it and it creaked and flipped up. Mag snorted. I stood on its middle and tried to keep both ends in the air. Funny, it was easier if I crouched down a bit. Mag thought it was suspicious. I jumped around and then invited Mag to join me. Then I insisted that he just put one hoof on it, not being sure it was in fact made for horses. He did, a couple times and got some of his new treats.

Then I tried balancing in the middle again while Mag waited. I was able to do it, and I said, "I did it!" Then I looked behind me and saw some of Gabi's school horses standing directly behind me in a row, staring at us. Then I saw two little girls standing behind them, also staring at us. Look Mag, we have a big audience! I laughed and pretended to be embarrassed and put Mag away.

Back at the barn I told Marin, through her cloud of cotton-candy smelling smoke, that she's not a typical German, she's more American. She said why? I said, "You're too laid back." She said, "That's what Cesar Millan said. I just got back from seeing him at a dog training clinic." I said, "Cesar Millan is in Germany?" "Yes, Oberhausen, and I gave him a unicorn toy." !!! She explained how he said the Germans are so much more uptight and in a hurry and regimented and...*lol*


Anyway, I hope to have more days like this. Sitting on Mag's back just enjoying being there, and talking horses.


(This is our view from a West Seattle ferry of downtown whenever we go visit my dad on the peninsula - when will I see this again, no idea, airline fares are so high.)