Well that was different

TP is different. I suspected there would be some bossing me around, because she cannot help but be bossy. Probably cuz she had kids. She definitely speaks to me as if I'm one of them at times, which is especially surprising cuz I'm older than she is. *shrug*

But I did break a rule today. A big one apparently. I just didn't think, it never crossed my mind, it never came up until today??

I crossed the street before TP and cars went by between us. I waited for her on the other side, of course, but by the time she crossed, she was pissed. She unloaded on me, how "one just doesn't do that!" Apparently staying together to cross a street is important. Well, duh, of course it is. I just didn't think. She went on and on, scolding me for how unsafe that was, and I just nodded and said, "OK."

I thought about how I'd have handled the situation if someone did something dangerous, and I needed to tell them. I'd phrase it as a question, "In the future, can you wait for me at street crossings? It's really important to my safety."

She wasn't as pissed as I've seen her in the past but she sure can go into lecture mode!



The grass is so close to his mouth, and he's not allowed to eat it.



I took this pic to show you what does not exist in Seattle - horizons like this with no taller hills/mountains behind.





When I arrived at her place, I was 15 minutes early, and she was sitting on her terrace drinking coffee. Her horse wasn't ready! I couldn't believe it cuz I had really wanted to sleep in, and dragged myself out of bed before 7 AM and hurried over to her place.

I sat there a half hour while she got ready, and watched her annoying puppy pester Mag. It's the type of dog who will run up behind you, bite you/graze you with its milk teeth, and then run off before you can react. I popped in the jaw a couple times til it discovered Mag is more interesting, and apparently is just fine with puppies. (Videos at end of post.)




All breeds, including this Airedale, have long tails in Germany cuz altering ears/tails is not allowed.






We made our way to the Bayer Bush loop, the one I've done twice already this week, and she told me it's her second time there. What? Seriously? (It's much closer to her house than mine.) So, all these years, and it turns out she's just starting trail riding. She's only been on trails a handful of times, and her own trails, twice? Wow. Why? Well, she's going on a two-day distance ride next month and wants to get ready. It's one of those rides where no horse trailers are involved, you ride all day, camp at some stable, and then ride all day home. Sounds awesome, but I'm not there yet with Mag. (To differentiate from American distance rides, these involve riding trails that lead you to villages you must ride through, in traffic, and then back to a trail that leads to the next village, and so on. There are horse trails all over Germany, but they don't go far before your'e at another town again.)

The guy leading the ride is the one who owns Ibn and Star Island - interesting cuz I didn't know he was still riding. TP told me today that he tells people I'm "the scared one" and I'd heard the same thing from S1, he told her the same thing about me. So, that's nice, that this guy tells everyone, including people I know, that particular fact about me. Since we're talking about him, I'll let you know why I only rode with him once on my own horse (Mara): He couldn't stop telling me what to do/how to ride the entire time. Again, if I were a child, I'd be more accepting of that. How old do I have to get before people accept that I'm grown up?

So we're going down the BB loop, and suddenly TP takes a turn to the right, up a muddy, washed out logging road. I said, "That is not the BB loop!" she said, "But I did this yesterday!" I said, "OK it's fine I'm just telling you, since it's your second time here, that is not the official loop. It's no problem!" So we scrambled up this hill that was truly steep - she said, "Is this like your home?" I said, "Yes!"

Mag was bewildered to be there, we really need to do more exploring.

Then we crossed a huge hay field - which makes me very nervous, in addition to me not knowing where I was, and then suddenly I knew where we were! We'd taken a huge short cut, well, eliminating most of the loop (lol) and were almost home.

Then she took me through this village that I'd only ridden through twice in the entire time I've lived here cuz it's no fun - just a long straight street with traffic racing full speed.

We are almost to that village with the busy road in this video:



On that road, inevitably, a car came, and suddenly TP was very commanding again.

"GO TO THE RIGHT! WE MUST STAY TOGETHER! SAME SIDE AS ME! GO TO THE RIGHT!!!!" I had this urge to just go left and show her that cars can actually drive between two horses, but I complied.

Now that one is just stupid, if that's a rule. I've never had anyone tell me horses must stay together if cars are coming! Is she the only one or do I just hang out with dangerous rule-breakers?

Ugh, I predicted her behavior but was surprised to see how it manifested today.

I must say I expect a certain amount of riding etiquette when I'm out there, for example, waiting for each other at obstacles. S1 has really good trail manners. Ani does not. I guess I fall in the middle, with a splash of DANGER in traffic! *gasp*

So now you know, if you ride with me, I'm gonna go infuriatingly slow, but I might get crazy with the cars.




What I found interesting, not just how careful Mag was, was that Mag would stop eating and just hang his head there immobile. Since Mag has no dog experience that I know of, I'm curious whether he would have been as patient if it was an adult dog.