Given that my nerves are currently in an uproar about our flight to the US tomorrow, it would have been really nice with a riding lesson today, to tire me out and calm me down a bit. But no, today’s lesson was of course set aside for one of just two theory lessons this semester. We do tend to have one at the start of each semester, but still, rotten timing. Next week’s lesson, that I am missing anyway, would have been a much better slot for it.
Suitably enough, the subject of the lesson was a nervous horse, picked to exemplify a difficult behaviour in a horse. The ‘victim’ was Amadeus (one of the much too large horses in the stables, at around 17 hands) since he’s a very flighty horse who has a hard time trusting people as much as he trusts the rest of the herd. So, we spent the lesson down in the arena with him, observing and discussing his reactions.
Although it was interesting enough to distract me while it was going on, my jittery nerves came back almost immediately afterwards. The visit to the stables also served to remind me that the trip means I’ll miss all of the World Equestrian Games. Unless, that is, I can get the streaming feed off the official website to work, and even then I doubt I can manage to catch much due to the time difference.
After this, I am staying in Europe for the next two decades, at the very least.