Last rides of the year - and greetings from Pferdle

2018 ends rainy and gloomy, but just concerning the weather. JP and I had really good rides this morning, the boys enjoyed themselves and the four of us had a good time. I'm still not 100% at home in the jumping saddle, but at least now I feel like a welcome visitor.

It's nice to ride at a place where there are various disciplines. The people we have encountered so far were friendly and the horses are mostly laid back. But this morning it became clear again why people from other disciplines frown about Dressage riders. We had almost finished when a woman came in with her dressage horse. Immediately she pulled on the reins, tried to crank the horse together, and didn't stop tapping him with the whip. Honestly, I had a VERY hard time not to say anything. Note to self: Don't rock the boat and risk not having an arena to use. And sadly, whatever I could say in all likelihood wouldn't change anything. Eye rolling is still allowed, though.

I am so grateful for the many wonderful people, horses, dogs, and cats in my life. The older I get the more appreciative I have become, and I no longer take the good things in my life for granted (yep, JP, that includes you, too!).

Now let's see what new adventures 2019 will bring:

Prost Neujahr from Pferdle* and me!

*Pferdle is a cartoon character that has been on the Swabian TV channel Suedwestrundfunk since the 1960s. It started with the Pferdle as the horse is the symbol for Stuttgart (Stuttgart means Stutengarten = mares pasture). Later the Pferdle got a friend: the Aeffle (monkey) was added.  These two have a famous song: Hafer- und Bananen Blues ("Oats and Banana Blues")