1st ride with Seli and Momo

I felt that trepidation I'm so used to as I headed out leading Mag to our meetup location this morning. It's what I feel the first time I ride with someone, when I remember all the times it went wrong.

I had taken a walk with Seli and Momo 2 weeks ago when I first met them, but still had no idea if she would be a good fit when mounted.

Well, it worked out just fine!

It was pouring rain as I tacked up and I kept looking at my phone to see if she'd cancel, but she didn't. Poor Mag was holding his head sideways to keep his ears from filling up, and I was happy for the change in the weather.

Except that every time a car passed, the water made the tires loud and Mag jumped a little. Wind was blowing the trees around and we encountered a large group of people hanging out with umbrellas on both sides of the street. UMBRELLAS MAG! Woo, it's been a while. Had Mag forgotten what rain was altogether?

Happily when we met Seli said, "I much prefer this weather to the heat." Oh really? : )

She had one of those enormous rain coats on, draping over her saddle.

I got right on Mag and Seli and I started talking and did not stop the entire time - she's a great talker, and knowledgeable about the neighborhood, so it's fun listening to her descriptions. She would point to every trail and tell me where it went. But we were in my own neighborhood, so I knew already. I told her, "I was thinking I could show you something you didn't know, but I guess not." Then I realized there's no way she knows MY private trail that I found last year, the one that is unmarked, but provides a great way to get very far without any streets or houses, hours and hours. She had never been that way, so I have a lot to show her this Summer. She asked if I'd ridden to the cathedral, oh yes, but that's not so nice cuz it's partly roads, I have much better places to take her.

She told me how she never wanted a Haflinger, cuz they're so stubborn and slow, but she fell for Momo and she's been happy with him the last 9 years. Since he's 24, I reminded her to enjoy every day.

Momo and Mag have the exact same walking speed so that was really nice, I could lead, or follow, or go alongside with no difficulty. Mag did reach out to bite Momo's butt once, but I was able to stop him. He didn't pin his ears, so I think he just wanted to taste him, or push his limits a little.

Seli has a loose dog with her whenever she rides, which bothers me. (I have to be specific that he's loose because a lot of people in Germany ride with their dogs on leashes!) The dog runs around in and out of the bushes as dogs do, but so far so good, Mag isn't upset about it. Seli did say, "Your horse is doing great with my dog popping all around, and it's cute how your horse is watching my dog constantly!" I was worried Mag would kick or bite the dog, how can I know what he'll do? But it was fine.

I'm so proud of myself, I rode two places I have always been too nervous to ride Mag: along the cornfield by the fancy arena place (Dahkin and Silver's place) and by the shepherd's house! The infamous shepherds house - with goats and sheep and who knows what else.


I was wondering what the fancy arena people would think if they looked out their windows at me riding by for the first time. I keep pinging them from time to time, asking to do ANYTHING at all with our horses. This week I got an email from them saying,  "Sorry, too busy to ride." Hrm, in Winter it was too cold to ride, they told me to wait for Summer. *sigh*

UPDATE: They did see me! I got an email the next day, she said how impressed she was that Mag was calm in that wind. Even better, she says they are getting a boarder for the first time this week, a Friesian. And that she's had requests from others to use their fancy arena, so she's considering letting people pay a small fee to use it. YES. This is what I've been waiting for. I'd love to use their arena if only twice monthly. And if money is involved, she (hopefully) won't shut me down as often. We'll see.

We rode across a suspicious looking bridge - well, the NO HORSES sign on the bridge makes it worrisome to me. I was mostly scared Mag would slip on the wet wood but besides rushing a little, he was fine. Then the dog got too far ahead and Mag wanted to trot to catch up. That's new.


I asked her about that teenage girl who keeps her Duelmener horse with Momo, who wanted to join us. Seli said, "Good that you told her not to come, she's no fun." I said, "What?" (I didn't actually say not to come.....) She said the girl is extremely nervous, despite her horse being 19, the girl is afraid of everything out on trail. I said, "Good that she doesn't have a young horse!" Seli said, "Yah, but I've only ridden out with her twice because of her fear." I said, "I'm also nervous a lot, but when I have someone to talk to, I can't get too worried. You should just get her talking. Or singing, or laughing, and then she won't have time to be nervous." Well, it doesn't sound like Seli wants to try again with the poor girl. I've put pics of her horse on my blog before - the Fjord horse, but the girl explained it's not a Fjord, it's one of the Duelmener wild horses (wow, I didn't know they are Germany's only native pony!).

As we stood at the intersection where we part ways, there was a man across the street with a dog on a leash, barking and pulling. Seli's dog was standing right next to me, I had just jumped off my horse. Seli's dog didn't move, but the guy yelled, "Put your dog on a leash!" I reached out to grab Seli's dog but her dog is shy and darted away from me, running to stand beside Momo. The guy said, "Your dog being loose is upsetting my dog! Put it on a leash!" Seli answered, "My dog is not doing anything, he's standing still, not barking. Do you want me to get off my horse and leash my dog?" Apparently he did, and I honestly didn't know what to think. I see both perspectives - I really hate loose dogs, and I know about leash aggression. What would have happened if we'd ran into him in the woods, if his dog was leashed and Seli's was not? I can't imagine Seli's dog would have just stayed at her side, motionless as he had on the street.

Oh well, maybe I'll find out on another day.

It feels great to have two, TWO people who want to ride with me, even in bad weather, on reliable, older horses. Ani is an hour away by foot, but Seli is only 20 minutes. Woo!


***

I almost forgot -  wonderful (unbelievable) news: Seli told me that next year, the Talsperre will be opened up to allow horses access. That is the watershed, the source of our drinking water, so no one is allowed anywhere near it. There is a huge fence, and I know where one hole is and I used to sneak Baasha down there (and Bellis, when I had no horse) onto a service road along the water's edge. The road is soft and grassy and down there at the water the solitude is amazing, it's just me, horse, and waterfowl.

But the KEEP OUT, CONSEQUENCES! are very scary to me, I was always so afraid of getting caught. And now? Soon? We'll be ALLOWED? OK it's gonna fill up with people and dogs but I can't wait! I wonder how much, exactly, will open to the public. Oh, riding my neighborhood is gonna get so, so much better.  The people who are an hour away, they're gonna wanna be HERE. I'll have to provide them a rest stop for their horses and offer coffee.





We live about 500 meters from the water's edge. The perspective seems to flatten out these hills, but doesn't it remind you of America's east coast? The dark areas are pine trees, the others are oak, beech, and birch that have a thick layer of leaves underneath them all year long.






That thing in the middle is a drain hole.






Here is my picnic spot. This is one of the dams connecting the "small talsperre" to the big one. There is a bench here where you can tie your horse under a pear tree and enjoy the high water on one side, (danger: SWANS!) and the waterfall rushing to the low water on the other. Somewhere under all this water is a village that was no more when they dammed the valley. Underwater village!




Plans within plans......as you can see from my red dots I really do not know where my trails are, but I was so thrilled to discover a secret trail that allows me to ride for hours with only one street crossing. If you've been reading my blog since 2009, you already know all these places (except for the secret trail).