The 300m racing continued

Today, the fight between the laziest and the most stubborn mare at the race track continued.

Although there was ordinary races as well, our new happening (the 300m distance) attracted quite a little crowd and the mood was festive.

Unfortunately, Sahara had a bad day: being beaten 0-4 by the laziest horse! Now where's the spirit, huh? Can't wait until Arwen gets back and shows the little one how things are done in this place... :-) For like I've told Sofia, you're no better than your horse at the track!

Sofia poses next to Snövit and her owner - in order to pass for a true Nigerien, she should look serious and stare into the camera...

Now, our poor jockey was so cold that we actually borrowed him a sweatshirt. Or we would not have stood a chance!

Only problem was, Sahara was also freezing and maybe that's why she performed so badly today...

Now could it have been Snövit's fat that rendered her such a victory? Hmm, I'll leave it to the readers to debate the issue further... I'll be very interested on Anette's theory in this case!

Ishtar

Introducing 300m races

Today we introduced a new sport at the race track: short-distance races, 300m! The thing was that when Yaronbaba and I went riding in the bush yesterday, he actually managed to get some speed into Snövit, so she obviously wasn't as bad as she made out to be on the track. Sahara on the other had already shown me her gudu (she just won't do it at the track either), so I had come up with a way of making it fun for the mares. So a new distance was introduced today, and boy did we have fun!

You wouldn't believe all the wind there was that day! It certainly took your breath away... But it was quickly "down to business", with professional jockeys on amateur horses: Yaronbaba & Sahara versus Bala & Snövit...

Sofia had a hard time deciding on a favorite between our two contestants... "Who's going to win, you said? I don't know! Either it will be Sahara... or Snövit... or both!"

Because it was such a short distance, we would be able to carry out more races, but because the point was to make the mares like it - not dread it, I decided we would stick to two rounds today and see how it went. You'd be surprised, but they set off like real racing horses and fought equally to the finish line - Sahara winning with a head or so...

The jockeys were happy when they returned and the mood was a combination of anticipation and cheerfulness!

As for the second round, Snövit beat Sahara with good margin. This was where Snövit's racing spirit overtook Sahara's in her quest for fame and glory, while Sahara on the other hand was content doing her own thing. Very unlike Arwen, I must say!

Now, the camera failed in quality but today (maybe it was just too windy...) but even a seemingly ruined (black) photo has potential once you let Photoshop do its trick...

Ishtar

A grey variation of Snow White...

Sahara is still limping, so today we took up the offer from Altiné: to ride his new mare. He asked me to give her a nice Swedish name, and as a joke, we offered "Snövit" (Snow white). The poor mare however is not the least white, but of this not so beautiful grey combination that you finda ll to often (as it is a dominant color). Anyway, Altiné fell in love with the name, and voilà, Snövit it is!

I had tried her once before, and because Arwen was restless, Sofia rode Snövit today. She did not like her, however. Snövit is not a well trained horse. In fact, she hasn't been used for anything at all; neither walking from one village to another, or being allowed to race. You wouldn't believe what Altiné paid for her - more than 50% more than I paid for Sahara and then it must be mentioned that Sahara can actually run! But Snövit's main purpose was to be a brood mare. However, Altiné's mind is changing and he wants me to train her like I've trained Arwen. But for that, he says, he will keep his eyes closed and not ask any questions, as he knows I love "gudu" too much... :-)


Ishtar