Chapter 125: My Little Pony

nerd blog psot #130

The other day, my pal Lukas took me outside of the beachside retaurant and pointed to the one cloud in the sky. Though a series of Portuguese explanations and full-body sign language, I got the feeling he was telling me rain was to come. Rain, here? In paradise!? Never....

But Lukas was right. It started raining yesterday and hasn't stopped. Warm, fat raindrops everywhere. It's actually kind of nice, but I do miss that hot sun. Last night was wonderful. I lay in the caravan and listened to the rain beating down on the roof and it reminded me of the rainy nights in Lesotho when a similar sound was heard on the tin roof above us. It's a beautiful thing.

Despite the rain, the work continues. Piri-piri's couch was finished today, and sheet lane is also finished. I have learned a great deal here, mostly about horses. I have seen a foal separated from her mother and then trained in the ring. Another mare is being broken now, and today wore a saddle for the first time. She reared up, her front legs much higher than Latoya's head, and my job was to stand by the fence so she didn't run out. I definitely don't have the experience to train a horse like that, but have learned how to launch two of the horses, and it's an added (and exciting) duty of my work day. I take the stallion out, groom him and clean his hooves, and then attach a long rope to him. I stand in the middle of the sandy ring with a whip and make him walk, trot, gallop and do a crossy-leggy trick. It's a really amazing feeling. The stallions are trained to be able to understand a multiple of commands. When I'm on the ground, they know what to do by the position of the whip, as well as by oral commands (in Dutch). While on the saddle, they know what to do by the position of my body on the saddle, as well as by my voice. It's neat.

Still, the stallions can be unpredictable, and there have been some scary moments. Jacto reared up once when I was riding him because he saw his gf, and another of the stallions, X-Otico, bit my shoulder once, I don't know why. There was a round bruise there for a week. I have also had them step on my feet, which kills as they're over 600 kgs. X-Otico once head butted me, sending me flying into a fence, a cm of barbed wire lodging into my hand. But all in all, they have been patient with me, and I like them all very much. In fact, I am considering stealing Piri-piri, as Ion suggested.

And that's all for now.

Signing off,
Hincks.