The eternal second...

Arwen raced again today, the first time since her past disaster. I gave YB free reins to race in whatever distance he wanted - after all, he's the one doing the work and as a jockey, he only wants to race where he thinks he can win - and he chose the 1000m - my least favorite. But I thought why not. Although it wasn't her distance, she came in a good second place (Arwen the eternal second!) and that was fun. It's the last I see her race before I go, because according to her new Swedish training schedule, she's only to race every three weeks!

Arwen & Yaronbaba gets a visit from Arwen's exjockey Chinada

Ishtar

No foal!

This week, the two Nigerien vets Dr Madougou and Dr Hamzy conducted a rectal palpation on Arwen (their first ever on a mare!) and I finally got the answer to one of many questions concerning my little mare: Arwen is not in foal! Not much of a surprise really, but she did have us fooled there for a while, while her belly growing and all the signs of impending birth... She must have resorbed very early on (when it's easy to miss), but I'm just happy that there was nothing seriously wrong with her (like having a dead foal stuck somewhere). They did not find any cysts or anything else that seemed to be the matter, and the only thing I am waiting for now is for my mare to return to her normal cycle and not be so sensitive all the time. But that seems to be taking its time and right now, she seems to be in some sort of mourning! ...Which my jockey is taking more seriously than I! But then again, I have my own hormones to tend to regularly so maybe that's why I'm not so alarmed... :-D I'll let you know when Arwen falls in love again! It might be a few years though before I actually allow her to mate again. Not while she's still in training, that's for sure!

Ishtar

367 days

It's been 367 days now and the foal has still not come out. I started getting worried this weekend that something would go wrong with Arwen, and the question popped up from different directions: is there indeed a foal? Ah, who knows? So many contradictory signs... Madougou came with backup today, a very nice Omar, who at first look said "No way, she's not in foal, you can mate her again."
"But she hasn't been on heat for a year. And she hasn't aborted either."

After going through all the contradictory details, including foal movement throughout December, the two vets set about examining her. I had been hoping they would do a rectal palpation but they did not feel comfortable about doing on a horse, so I still don't know for sure. However, having poked around for some time and provoked Arwen's anger, they were both convinced that there is indeed a foreign body in her belly. So the diagnosis remains: Arwen is in foal. However, we cannot say anything about the nature of that foal or when she plans to pop it out. The record for horses is 390 days and we are approaching it at a rapid pace. The good news however is that Arwen is doing just great - which rules out the possibility of her carrying a dead foal, as I have previously been afraid of. She is either carrying a stubborn little foal in her tiny-but-oh-so-very-round football-like stomach or she has no foal at all and in either case, she's not in danger.

For belly comparison, look here:


Isthar

Arwen gets to visit the race track

Today, I brought Arwen with me to the race track. I rode out with both horses yesterday, and since that was a hit, I thought why not today. I wasn't planning on going to the track, but eventually ended up going there anyway... Everybody was pleased to see Arwen again (her ex jockey would not stop hugging her) and she seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself so at first it seemed like a very good two-in-one idea.

I was so impressed with her composure (even as the stallions raced right next to her), that I thought I would be able to do this over and over (seeing this foal does not seem to be coming out soon!). However, Arwen was only patient until it was time to go home, and once she realized that she had been brought to the race track and was not going to be allowed to run, she threw a fit. She launched a good kick at Sahara and although I intervened between the two mares, Arwen remaining furious all the way home... Sahara was no better, because as soon as she realized that I was protecting her, she too started to act up and I had to ride home with two very cross creatures and having to keep a watchful eye on all of their internal insults. As soon as we got back to our street however, the fight was over as quickly as it had started (don't ask me why!) and Arwen trotted sweetly by Sahara's side - just making sure that the latter showed proper respect and kept half a head behind. I for one cannot understand how a problem so huge (at least it seemed so!) can settle so quickly, just by crossing from one street to another... But then again, I'm not a horse!

Let's just hope this foal pops out some day so that Arwen can resume the greatest love of her life, because I doubt I will be bringing her on any excursions to the race track again until she is ready to have her own rider. But then again, you never know, because I'm such a softy when it comes to my precious little mare and when she let's me know that she does not appreciate to be stuffed away in her little garden, I'm not the one who will exclude her from the outside world...

Ishtar

Training Sahara

Since I have decided that Arwen is not to be ridden anymore, I started training Sahara instead. I know she has the "gudu" but not the endurance, so I took her out for a twenty minute ride in the bush - my favorite. As you can tell from the pictures, she was drenched in her own sweat by the time we were back, but I never had to urge her. She just loved it as much as I did and did her very, very best.

During the time we were out, Sofia had taken Arwen to Josef and Renate's garden, where she happily trotted around by herself, until she heard Sahara's galloping footprints approaching... She whinnied and rushed forward to expect her younger flock member, seemingly asking a number of questions which Sahara was too exhausted to answer... However, they were happy and content and spent another half an hour grazing Josef and Renate's delicious and untouched grass...

Now, Tabita also known as "Busmusen" was very interested to see what was going on and where the horses were going. So when you're small and short, you have to be innovating and climbing is a very good skill... In case you didn't know...

Ishtar

Arwen's foal makes a move

A lot of things happened today. Arwen was supposed to race today, but when I went out there this morning, I could tell she was not feeling well. Her head was sunken low and she looked thoroughly depressed. The Snowman passed by and convinced me to take her out anyway. After all, Sofia and I had been looking forward to this afternoon as it was one of the main events of the year. When we arrived however, it turned out that Chinada, Arwen's jockey, had signed a contract with the Gold Man (as we kindly call him) and would not be riding Arwen, even though he had been talking about nothing else for about a month. It was a very eventful afternoon which ended up with Chinada loosing his job with Arwen and me making a very swift entry on a galloping horse. Arwen was at first upset that she was to be taken away from the track without having given her all, but she quickly calmed down and Sofia and I had a very nice walk in the fields. Once home, we left the horses in their garden and walked over to Ali, who had not been present at the track because one of his bosses needed him that particular afternoon. He was devastated about Chinada's behavior and had not know about the contract (I figure we were about the only two in town who did not know about it until this afternoon) but would find me another jockey the very next day. I told him however that I was pleased that Arwen had not raced, because for the first time since her pregnancy, she had shown signs of discomfort.

The discomfort continued and in the evening, Moussa knocked on my gate to tell us that Arwen had run through the gate to their garden. It was a boxgate that I had bought in Sweden and was a very solid thing, but Arwen had just run through it and split it in two. I found her grazing in the courtyard... We brought her back inside, fixed up another temporary gate and then stayed with her for a while. For fifteen minutes or so, it looked as if she was going to labor that night, since her stomach was living its own life and she was clearly very uncomfortable. She stayed to close to us as long the foal kept moving, but then all of a sudden it was over and she headed back to her food. Sofia and I thought about staying around, but knowing false alarms are all to common when it comes to horses, we decided to go to bed and just hope for the best.

Ishtar

The camels show off

Yesterday, the horses worked on their parade; today, it was the camels' turn. Mmmm, those animals have been created for parades! They absolutely love it!! And I can't believe how peaceful they are; you put five bulls side by side and they walk with their heads together - no fighting... Now if it were horses........... Yes, you get it all right!

Some however did more than work on the parade, they tested their camel's "gudu"!

Mmm, I wouldn't want to race my horse against them... Once the camels have found their speed, they are incredibly endurant! It's amazing how easy they make it look, "flying" over the deep sand...

Now there were some small races as well, and Ali actually convinced me to let Arwen run. She was really happy about it, even though her jockey Chinada was not around (she got another one, a certain Yaronbaba), and to the cheering of the crowd, she won her race... I could not really believe it but I was happy to see that she did not give her all (still, that was enough to win...); now she will take it easy until the little one comes out. I've been "talking" to a vet on the Internet, who said that a turnout in the garden will probably be enough for her, so despite Arwen's love for gudu, she will be taking it easy from now on... Even if that means I have to send her back to Ali for a while!

Ishtar

Preparing for the national day

The president is coming here on the 18th December, to celebrate Niger's national day. Horses and camels from every vicinity of the country have arrived and are currently camping at the race track, where they will perform on the National Day. Yesterday, Sofia and I got ourselves a slight shock as we rode out there on Arwen and Snövit. The camels (twice their size) coming in full speed scared them to death; and so today, I went out with Arwen by myself and Sofia went by car together with Elisabeth and the boys. Good thing they brought their cameras, because there was much to see!

Camels, camels, camels... Beautiful creatures!

The horses were working on their "parade", forming the letter Z which would represent Zinder.

Arwen watched the whole process with great interest... However, after having trained endurance together with her owner, she ended up with a very big fan club that wanted to know everything there was to know about her!

I was told later by the another race horse owner that they wondered what I had done with the crowd, as everybody was supporting Arwen! Nice people!

Ishtar

Arwen

There has been a lot of talk about Arwen's pregnancy and during the last few weeks, a lot of people have been telling me that there simply can't be a foal in her stomach because of all her "gudu" and because her belly is so small.

I agree that her belly is small; however, you can feel the foal move and her body has been developing, preparing for birth... Now, I have never had a horse that is about to foal before, and I must say, I am learning new things by the day. At first, I listened to what the "wise" people here had to say, but after a while, I got confused trying to sort out what was wisdom and what was myth. That you could tell she was pregnant because of her udder development seemed true. But to speculate on her foaling date by the number of white marks on her body was just a waste of time. Now to take it easy with her seemed like common sense, but to tie her to a post because it was not good for her to exercise at all was ridiculous to both of us (both Arwen and me). I must say that when I came back to Niger, I had no intention on galloping Arwen at all. There were several riding novices who wanted to go out with me and I was set on taking it easy. However, Arwen was not. In the end, I chose between keeping her stimulated or keeping her "safe". I chose stimulated, as safe made my gentle mare aggressive, and I didn't like that. I've seen the best of horses turn into the worst because they weren't stimulated anymore, and I'm not experienced enough (with horses) to know how to reverse such a change of character. Arwen has never bitten and never kicked - however, if she would start to, I would not be able to keep her and hence I would lose her anyway.

Now, stimulating Arwen means an unbelievable amount of work, and I'm not kidding. Arwen will allow Anette and Sofia to ride "sanu-sanu" (easy-easy) with her for a few days, but when I hear that she's starting to freak out (jumping left and right because she's so "scared"), I know it's time for some "gudu". There is no end however to Arwen's gudu. There comes a time about once every week, where I just have to give her free reins and wait until she gets tired or satisfied. It takes a long time though. A very long time. And when she's done, she only satisfied but never tired. She'll even ask for more, although she knows at that point that I'm not in for it any longer. We'll go home, Anette, Sofia or Elisabeth will be able to continue to ride her without the slightest problem in the world, until she gets restless again and I have to take her out for another ride...

Now, I can sincerely tell you that I'm waiting for this foal to come out - and it will take some years bef ore I mate her again! Arwen is just not the kind of horse that wants to stay inside and take it easy. You should see her look and her behaviour if Sahara gets to go out and she doesn't. "What?! What is the meaning with this???? You've got to be kidding ME!"

Race horses take on attitudes and that is one of the reasons why I have not been as anxious to train Sahara as much as I have trained Arwen. Sahara is young and she has a lot to learn just by maturing and watching things happen around her. She already loves the race track, but she doesn't need to have the same blooded tooth as Arwen has. She doesn't need to have the same airs and the same ways as Arwen. Now, exactly a year ago, Arwen was a little mare that came in from the bush. She was timid and tranquil. She ate like a fly and did everything she could to please her new mistress. She never bit, never kicked - and followed me faithfully around in the garden like a dog.

In the bush, she showed her true nature. While galloping with the boys (the two stallions of the former governor), she would often ask to take the lead - though she always accepted her position no matter what it was. The one riding her (it would rarely be me, as most of my friends were afraid of riding a stallion) would complement her for being so obedient... She was gentle, timid and obedient. What happened??? She got turned into a race horse...

Now reversing race horse behavior is not easy and with Arwen, I've had to settle for something inbetween. She's not "mad" like the other horses at the track. Her training is varied and if stimulated, she's a safe mount with any rider, no matter their level of riding experience. The only problem is that you have to keep her stimulated and that's not always easy...

Arwen's maternal instincts are strong! While I check on Sahara, who has been limping, Arwen "checks" on me. Mmmm, who can resist a good lick in the back? No wonder I keep showering all the time!!!

Ishtar

Afternoon walk

Today was Anette's last afternoon out and we were supposed to go to the racetrack. Unfortunately, Sahara put her foot wrong and started limping, so we turned back and left Sahara at home, while the rest of us (Sofia, Anette, I and Arwen) walked out to the fields so I could ride Arwen and they could take pictures...

I thought Arwen and I were just going for a walk, but seeing that we didn't have Sahara in tow, Arwen had a different mind. "You let me run!" her body language said, and I just had to. Or I would have had one highly understimulated horse at home!

Rocks, rocks, rocks... Zinder was built on its exact location just because of these rocks; it made it easy for the inhabitants to spot other armies, while their own soldiers were well hidden... That's it for the history lesson today, folks!

Ishtar

Bringing out the mares

This afternoon, Ali came over with Chinada to take both the mares to the race track. Chinadahas not been around much after they moved to their new home. During the weekends, he has been away (there has been racing in both Magaria and Matameye) and during the weekdays, I have not asked him to come. Chinada has not been in my good books since he asked me for a motor cycle, and I think Ali wanted to patch things up a bit - as Chinada is like a second son to him, and Ali knows he has my confidence.

A funny and unexpected thing happened though: Ali galloped for the first time since I don't know when! People were cheering "Ali, Ali" as he spurred Sahara into a cantor just as he passed the crowd. I was thrilled! You see, Ali used to be a jockey in youth, but stopped galloping after he started training them. Don't ask me why, that's the way things are done. I understood that when he refused to run with me in October and I set off alone instead.

Now, Chinada had other horses to run as well, but Ali did a good job keeping the two mares together, even though both of them were full of anticipation.

Now, greetings in Niger are very important and at the race track, there is a unspoken rule that whoever arrives last has to walk around and greet all the people he knows; both his friends and the people that are higher in hierarchy (meaning, those with more money or influence). Being neglected is one of the worst insult here and if you do not get around to greet everyone by the end of the day, they will feel slighted and think that you do not care. Now, I always take care in greeting all my friends, but as you know, I don't always follow the rules. If Ali greet me and takes my one hand with both of his, I will answer by giving him both my hands as well. This is a gesture that shows equality and makes people confused; for in their eyes, I am a "horse-owner" while Ali is simply a "horse trainer". Now, today, I was not the first to arrive, but the three of us (Anette, Sofia and I) started by walking straight to the track. The first ones we greeted were of course Ali and Chinada. After a while, I turned around and walked over to the Snow Man, a friend of mine, whose company I enjoy. The Gold Man however is not among my aquaintances, and I so I never walk up to greet him. Despite this, we have never yet missed out on a greeting - ever - since we started meeting at the race track. No matter how much distance I keep - at the end of the day, he will always have found an occasion to barge in, wherever I am. Having worked hard on his social skills, all my friends are now his aquaintances as well and as soon as I approach them, he follows. Though he will not adress me first (he knows better, because I might just turn him my back and nothing would make him more ashamed than to be slighted publically), he will start talking to whoever I am speaking to. After a minute, he will turn around and greet me as if I am his best friend, but by then he knows that I am waiting for my friend to continue my conversation, and will not leave my friend just like that. Now, on top of it, my jockey is now his jockey as well and my horse-adviser, Ali, has also started doing some small jobs for him. I actually asked the Snow Man which horse he thought Chinada would end up riding if both a horse of a mine and a horse of the Gold Man were to participate in the same race. He answered without the slightest hesitation: "Yours!" Fortunately for the Gold Man that I have only two mares then...

For Sahara, today was her very first offical race, and she proved to be the exact opposite of Arwen last year (when Arwen did her debut), possessing top speed (which Arwen lacked) but having little endurance (which was Arwen's strong point and the reason why she did so well right from the start). Sahara started off well enough and kept pace with the other horses for about half a lap, before starting to lose ground. She came in last (as last as you can be) and I lost €5, but I did not mind because I wanted her to get the experience. Besides, I actually prefer working with an underdog than all the expectations in the world. Believe me, there will come a day when all the other horse owners will refuse to let their stallions race against her, but she is young and does not need to hurry. She's already doing a good job just eating like a horse, developing her social skills and growing in width.

Fortunatly for my honour (if I even care about it), I still had Arwen left and she was very keen to be taken to the race track.

Pregnant or not, my mare wanted to race! Which she did...

She ended up on second place, beaten only by a horse that the Gold Man bought for about fifteen times as much as I bought Arwen... Though Chinada was satisfied with his "revanche", he did not feel that Arwen had her usual "gudu" (speed), so maybe it was little junior helping out.


Ishtar

Training

Following up on our success, Anette and I rode to the race track again. The race horses train every Tuesday and Thursday, and even though Arwen trains endurance out in the bush, I like to take her to the race track so that Chinada can take her for 2600m. Most horses are lucky if they get to run 2000m but considering the time Arwen and I spend galloping in the bush, this is nothing for her!

On her second lap, Arwen got company, but she passed the other horses as well. There has been a lot of talk lately whether Arwen is truly pregnant or not - and even I have been wondering. Her belly is considerable small (but then again, she's loosing weight now that she's back running) but she hasn't been on heat since January and she has milk. More than that, I have no further arguments. I have know nothing about horses and foal-births; I have no experience of how long gestation period this particular horse species (the Berber horse -> subspecies: Nigerian) has. We'll just have to wait and see, but in the meantime, I must admit that few things would be more fun than racing (and winning!) with a pregnant mare in a country where stallions are overestimated and where pregnant mares spend their last six months tied up to a post somewhere.

While Arwen races, Sahara found it hard to stand still. She is still on some sort of trial period in my book even though I have (since the day I bought her) decided to keep her. There's no reason why not actually, even though I find it ridiculous to pay more for a semi-developed horse than I did for Arwen. She's nice, gentle and completely stripped of imagination, meaning that even the most common form of mischief never even enters her mind. She has been feeding incredibly well (she's the Grand Voleur, the big food theif) and I have started to imagine what she will look like in a year or so. She has not been introduced to Arwen's kind of racing but she has developed the typical race-horsish anxiety when she watches other horses rush past her. However, she's not interested in any other horse than Arwen, for in Sahara's mind, the two have become one and must be kept inseparable. It's gone so far as to have earned her the nickname "Arwen's Shadow". What else do you call a horse that has made up her mind to always walk behind Arwen and follow her WHEREVER she goes???

On our way home, we met Piccolo, one of the eight "puppies" that my late Bamse had in 2000. Though I gave him away at five weeks of age, this huge teddy bear has never forgotten where we came from (he moved in right next door, so maybe it wasn't so hard for to keep remembering...). Unfortunately, his owner just died, so I'm unsure what exactly will happen to him. It seems the guard will keep him, but there goes a good dog wasted because there's no way the guard family will have enough food to feed him. Unfortunately, that's life in this country.

Ishtar

Sure, why not?!

Yesterday, Anette and I rode to the race track together. I was a little bit worried that it would be too much of an expedition, but the fun thing with Anette is that she's always on. You name a suggestion, and she goes: "Sure, why not?"

So we ventured out, two women on two female horses, right into the men's world. I wondered how Sahara would deal with all the commotion around but she took it well and kept her cool. Arwen on the other hand was dancing and prancing, but at least she kept all her feet on the ground at the same time. I watched the first race on a moving back before handing her over to Chinada for a solo run. There has been a lot of talk about whether Arwen is actually pregnant or not, and the way she ended her run did not make people more inclined to believe that she was running with any sort of burden. Anyway, 15 min later (after a second race had finally been organised) Arwen begged me for another go. Ali didn't want to follow ("adults" don't play, you know) so I just stood up in the stirrups and gave Arwen free reins.
Another horse had gone off some seconds before us. I heard people calling me to stop and come back (there were other riders who would have gone with us and raced from the start) but the horse being whipped 50m ahead of us was good enough for me. And for Arwen as well, who just worked her way forward. We past them on the second straight, but then I started to feel how tired Arwen was (no surprise though, seeing it was her second lap). I sat down in the saddle and considered letting it go (with a potential baby in Arwen's stomach, why push it?), when I had a look at the other horse next to us, who was totally beat. The rider's whip was hailing but to no avail. Sure enough, Arwen was tired, but she was not ready to give in yet. So I stood up again and gave her as much inspiration as I possibly could, and sure enough, we passed them with a few inches and Arwen was pleased (people were cheering). Anette and I rode home together - two women on their mares with a pack of ten stallions (and their male riders) behind us. We trotted so much though during our way back and forth that for Anette's muscle's sake, I suggested that Chinada take Sahara out today.

He came at four, washed the horses, washed Arwen's millet (she won't eat it if she finds a single stone... talked about being spoiled rotten in this country!) and then rode out with me. Sahara got many compliments for being such a beautiful horse but I'm a little reserved abut her, not entirely having made up my mind. She's a nice little youth, but not my kind of horse. How could she be when I have Arwen? Anyway, I had played with the thought of letting Arwen race again (just for fun) and when Chinada asked me if we couldn't sign her in, I thought like Anette:
"Sure, why not?"

I had not thought that she would win - after all, I knew nothing about her full capacity as I had not watched her perform a full lap at top speed yet. There are always bad nerves involved when you enter your horse in a race, because the greater her reputation, the less you want to make a fool of yourself (or rather, your horse). I could hear her name being called as people placed their bets, and so expectations were high. I was surprised however that the other horse owners accepted to race against her, because in March, they all pulled out. But they hadn't seen her perform a full lap for so long, and besides, most of them still believed that she was pregnant. So in the end, there were five of them who set off at full speed, with Arwen in the lead. But what happened in the first turn? From afar, you could see how one of the jockeys stood up (the jockey stirrups are so short that he might as well have climbed up on top of the horse), pulled back the reins and cockily awaited the others to catch up with him... Yep, that was none other than Chinada on my Arwen... I have seen Chinada strategically slow down Arwen several times before (not with much success though), but I have never seen a jockey psyche the rest in such a cocky manner! I was sure then that the race would be lost and that Arwen at best would finish third, but she held the lead in a tight grip right to the end.

The funny thing was when I talked to Chinada after the race.
I go: "Great race, Chinada, but that stunt could have cost you."
He goes: "But I picked that up from you, Madame!"
I go: "?"
He goes: "Yesterday, when you raced Arwen!"
At first I couldn't understand what he meant, but then I remembered Isa yesterday, pointing his finger at me and saying: "Great race, but I noticed how you held her back towards the end!" He must have meant when I sat down and seriously considered pulling back from the race altogether, only to later spur Arwen with all the energy I possessed. Oh, was that actually me trying to create more excitement, trying to psych my "competitor"? Oh dear... You can't do anything unnoticed in this country.

So sure, Chinada, by all means, go ahead and change the way people race their horses in this country. Want permission to psych your competitors?

Sure, why not!

Ishtar