Ride with S

I got a chance to ride with S, my first time in 1.5 years since she talked me into buying a horse from that dealer that I don't really like. But I'm glad I did, Mag was worth it.

She doesn't ride in Winter because her horse is not easy, and last Summer Mag had hoof issues so this was our first chance.

I was not happy as I headed out, leading Mag 30 minutes to the halfway point. It's a sunny Sunday and we encountered 4 groups of mountain bikers just during that 30 minutes, between 9:30 and 10AM.

Mag was fine with them but I was worried they might ruin our day.

Then we were passing by the old guy's place with the Standardbred and Arabian and the Standie was nowhere to be seen and the Arab, Ibn, was pacing and calling and when he saw Mag he called to him, "Friend!" and I noticed he was looking very old, and had a full Winter coat still.

Then we passed another pasture and a horse came trotting over to us, and also called out to Mag. What the heck, we don't know you, shut up!

Then across the busy street, an entire herd came running up to us. Just as some bikes passed us, and with cars going 100kph on our other side.

I haven't had this happen (horses running up) with Mag so this morning I didn't know what he'd do, but now I know he's OK.

Finally we met S and she was also leading her horse, who was having some difficulty, jumping around a little. She said, "Oh, this weather!" and I thought, "What, it's warm and sunny..." but she was right, the wind was blowing up their tails and making it hard to be calm. Her horse has so much more hair than Mag, she noted right off, "Mag's got no hair!"

I said the weather has been really rough on him, frosty mornings, if I remove his blanket even in the sunshine he will start shaking. So riding in this wind isn't ideal, he's twitchy.

We got to Bayer and got on our horses, and as we headed out, I felt Mag relax, I think he was happy to be on the same loop we did last week, "I know this place!" Yup, yer an old pro now Mag *lol*

Lots of mountain bikers passed us today but we got lucky - each time they were heading slowly up hills, not careening up on our butts downhill, which I've seen cause her horse to take off.

Families with kids, people with dogs, everyone was out. Mag was worried by one group, a large group with many dogs and....beers? Sunday morning beer hiking?! We said Guten Tag to every single person we saw, to let our horses relax when they returned the greeting.

I had been so curious which horse would be better, I had a feeling Mag would be, but he was gimping on the rocks and kept slowing down and falling behind, so S's gelding had to deal with things like ducks taking flight and some senior citizens that surprised him around a corner. He gave little spooks, but nothing bad. Mag did not spook the entire day, but then again he wasn't in the lead much. I was glad to see that her horse's spooking did not affect him.

The two water crossings were no problem, Mag walked right across, whereas last week he hid behind Chili.

I explained to her how Mag has trouble with downhill slopes, how he lets gravity pull him along in a somewhat controlled falling motion, which is unsettling. She said it took her horse a few years to be able to descend slowly, and offered to block Mag's "fall" by putting her horse in front of him. I said, "Thanks, let's try it, hopefully we won't fall on top of you" and it worked! Mag had no choice but to descend slowly. She told me I should do it while leading him, ask him to walk tiny steps, or half steps, all the way down. I told her I was planning on doing just that.

She asked me if Mag is comfortable to ride and I thought what a strange question, it never occurred to me to think about that. His trot is pretty lackluster but he hasn't found his gears yet, and I'm not in a hurry. I rode a two-bra mare for 7 years and after her, any horse is an improvement, but honestly I was never bothered by it, only realizing it when others rode her. I told S that Mag is so unbalanced,  you wouldn't call it comfortable to ride him, but that will only get better.

As we turned for home, the horses got a little bit more forward and suddenly her horse was snarking and threatening Mag, and Mag was pinning his ears like, "Don't you dare." One time her chestnut even swung his hip into Mag, in a kick threat. I kept Mag a safe distance but I was sad that they can't just get along. I asked S why so grouchy and she said, "Oh, he just doesn't know your horse yet." But I remember him doing the very same thing with Mara. It's not a big deal, but it's always nicer when horses get along. As it is, we have to keep alert constantly to not let them get too close.

I rode one handed most of the day, feeling at ease and safe. Gotta get hoof boots - she had Renegades and Easyboots on her horse and he strolled over the rockiest parts no problem, while Mag was on the sides in the bushes.


I'm so glad to see that Mag is good with her horse, I feel so much more confident about how he will behave around strange horses. I may not have relaxed solo rides yet, but I sure can enjoy going out with others! She is having surgery next week and won't be able to ride or even take her horse on walks for 6 weeks *sigh*

It would be great if the fancy arena people nearby would get their horses out of the arena onto the trails, as they promised me a month ago. I saw the husband at the grocery store the other day and said, "You promised me you'd get your horses out on trails, at least leading them - have you done it?" He said, "No, it's too cold out. But this weekend we'll try!" So it's not only S who doesn't work her horse in cold weather.

I had my camera and she was kind enough to capture a few shots of us. Not great pics, but I'm grateful to have them.

     



     
I used Spray & Wash on the tail last night. It works! (Just the lower part of the tail.)


     
He's asking for a treat, cuz I had his favorite ones in my pocket and I swear he kept them in mind the entire day.


     
Her horse looked so delicate to me, and I remember compared to Mara he was big boned. Mag is a Mack truck: ) Her horse is 12, and if you've been reading this blog a long time you know she bought him from the same dealer that imported Mag. Her horse is a Russian Arabian from Hungary.


     
Lookin' good Mag. I like that his ribs are not visible after the long skinny Winter. Note the bucket, that's why.


     
I am not exaggerating, this is what it looks like here most days. Come to Germany if you worship the sun *lol*


We mostly speak English but it's been a long time since I've seen her so we kept going back and forth mixing English and German. She's pretty good at getting what I mean when I use German nouns in English sentences.