Riding with swans, and eating German pizza

I just got back from a nice three hour ride with Ani, our longer loop. It's just warm enough that the horses felt relaxed and it was a really good day for me and Mag.

After walking a paved portion I decided to get on early at the watershed, where an elderly man and his loose but obedient yellow lab were hanging out. Our picnic spot. Two swans were swimming right there and Mag was transfixed. They are not on his approved bird list, and mine neither, I've been attacked.

So I got on and moved away from the area into a safer zone.

The only problem I had with Mag today was up the big hill, he sometimes gets jittery there, I think because it was very slippery and steep and he was frustrated that he'd lose his footing. Rudi, who has turned Dun for the Summer, was able to manage it even in hoof boots.

One of the reasons for the good day, I think, was that Ani and I had some nice conversations. A welcome change to our long silent rides.

Back on pavement, I was leading Mag along again when we heard this strange screeching/groaning noise behind us. Mag stopped and looked and it was a bicylist politely slowing down to pass us. Mag will kick bicycles so I was happy that he was cool with this one, even though he came from behind which is usually an issue.

As the weather improves, Mag gets more exposure to more things, which he really needs.

After we parted ways with Ani and Rudi, I suddenly needed to use the toilet and it took forever for me to get to the spot where there is a bit of privacy. I threw my gloves on the ground, grabbed the tissues from Mag's saddle bags, and wrapped his rope around a tree without tying it. I thought it was cute that he took the opportunity to pee alongside me.

Then I sat on the moss above the creek for a break and Mag started pawing and weaving around unhappily. I don't know why except it's a creek valley under the main trail, perhaps there were trail users above us I couldn't see.

So before we got home I sat on a bench and waited for him to be calm and cock a hind leg before we went on.

Then there was this new herd of sheep right by the shepherd's house, some sort of angora sheep with hair down to the ground, twice the width of a normal sheep. They were staring at Mag and their leader seemed to challenge him, coming to the fenceline. I said, "This is where Mag flips out" but somehow it was all OK with Mag.

Strange new angora sheep, a loud bike from behind, two swans, I'm pleased with Mag.

And really enjoying this time before the horseflies arrive.

***

WS said that horses who are mouthy are often that way because of anxiety. I think sometimes Mag feels anxious or impatient, and that is why he's putting everything within reach into his mouth.

However the other day my man and I were just hanging out with them in the paddock, and Mag, half asleep, was putting his mouth all over J, trying  his best to find a zipper to unzip and rezip. J had a file in his hand, cuz we were waiting on the Government to finish inspecting our ponds, and Mag kept saying, "I never get paper, or files of any kind! You must give it to me! Pleeease!" But we did our best to keep Mag from mangling the state documents. (I hope to write a blog entry about the Government coming to visit and inspect. It blew my mind.)

Mag finally found J's boots and in one smooth motion completely removed the shoelace!

I have an awesome new Swatch, quite large, and ever since it arrived Mag's been dreaming about removing it. "That can't be right, let me get that for you." *giggle*

Today at the bench Mag chewed all over it, including the cast-iron frame, the entire time with a hind leg cocked sleepily. Long ago I lost my fear that Mag is a cribber. If he was, he'd be doing that by now. I think he just likes to experience the world through his mouth, and as long as he keeps it off me, I don't mind.

***

J just got home from work and brought me a package that the mailman had left in the greenhouse. My new Uebergangsdecke! In my entire life I've never owned a horse blanket intended to be simply a rain sheet, because I'd always believed they press the haircoat down and make the horse even colder.

Well, Mag has no haircoat, it's Summer. And often he's shivering: ( All I have are two 250g Winter blankets (Amigo Wug and Weatherbeeta with hood). It's always been enough but I find myself actually needing a new horsey item (hooray, my inner shopper yells.) A "transition" blanket. So now I have one, but I won't open it til Monday, my birthday (Memorial day). It's an Amigo Wug Lite - so, just a raincoat. It has three belly straps, which I'm sure will take me time to learn, I've never had more than two. These things never break so a third seems superfulous but OK.

     

J said, "Go ahead and open it." I refuse to til Monday, unless the weather wackles again and Mag needs it. Do any of you use Uebergangsdecken?

     
The other day Mag and Bellis stood on the upper grazing strip exactly in the "window" I'd created, so for the first time in 10 years I could see them "up close" from INSIDE my house. I was overwhelmed. Soon it will be closer, when they're actually on #72.

To be honest even when my horse is not in sight, I enjoy staring out my window across my pasture to the gorgeous view of a stand of evergreens. It's so foggy in this image you cannot really see them.



     
Here you can see the evergreens and also get an idea about the slant of the land. Nothing here is flat.


     
I stepped out of my house and stood in my front yard and Mag was like "Whoa, I can see you from here!" Likewise Mag!


     
My beloved window. This photo shows where the Quelle begins - in the distance marked by Mag's tail is our Quelle. That's the word for underground spring, I think, where water comes up from the Earth and flows. It flows like a creek when it rains, but isn't an all-year thing. The thistle is thick down there. Is thistle in hay bad? We're harvesting for ourselves this year and I'm worried.


     
The donkey notices me too. Her mouth is full of the bread I just fed them. On days like these I always open our window in the morning and announce to J, "Foggy Bottom!" (Our honeymoon was on the East Coast.)


     
For some reason the snails and slugs did not kill my Lupines before they had a chance this year. Odd year, 2019.



     
Our roses are beginning to bloom and this one was so perfect I had to bring it in the house. It smells wonderful.


     
There used to be this lady who walked by and said, "Can I cut some of your roses?" "OF COURSE!" I haven't seen her in years, but we have enough to share.


     
This next picture is not as enchanting - German Pizza.



     
This is a typical party-size German pizza.

This is the pizza we used to get at the office when I worked in Cologne at a software company.

All the world does pizza differently, even region by region in America! I've been to Rome and had what I hoped to be authentic Salsiccia on what seemed to me to be Naan bread. To die for.

In Germany, they have what I call "cracker crust pizza."


     

That's the width of it. It's not terrible, it's just at odds with pizzas of Rome, Chicago, New York, and Seattle.

The reason this huge pizza was in our house - J's drama students had a party and not enough kids showed up so the teachers had to take pizza home. This pizza was abandoned because of its obscurity - can you tell what type it is? Neither could we.

It turns out it's a Doener pizza - a pizza with Turkish meat and toppings you'd find on a Doener kabab. Not bad, and free, so we ate it (with me leaving all the crust behind).


     
To close, this photo popped up on my server and I love it so much. I cannot predict what Mag will do with other horses but in this picture he is dealing like a been-there-done-that horse. While a Traber and a Warmblood chew on him *lol* To be fair, Mag has chewed a lot of hair off that Warmblood, Argo. His owner said, "He's just EATING my horse!" about Mag.

So much in store for the future, so many things to learn.

Looking forward...

***
PS WHY IS EVERYONE SUDDENLY WEARING NASA SHIRTS AND HATS?
Did something happen with NASA, that Germans suddenly wear their logo? Please tell.