A telephone call and a riding lesson

I woke up this morning after seven hours of sleep from a telephone call from Nigeria. It was Ali and Yaronbaba. I didn't know at first if something had happened, and in Niger, phone calls are complicated matters. People shout to one another - even when the line is good - and as they are shouting, they cannot hear what the other one is answering; and so they keep calling "what? what?" until they run out of money. As calling is expensive business, I didn't want to waste their time finding out if anything was the matter, but Ali spent three minutes trying to explain who he was (but he didn't have to because the line was so good that I had no problem recognizing his voice) and where he was calling from, in case I had forgotten. I was happy that I was alone in the house, because finally I shouted "NAGANÉ, Ali!" (=I understand) and I could hear him laughing as he told Yaronbaba beside him: "She has understood!" Then Yaronbaba was on the phone, just wanting to say hi and asking how Arwen was and then it was goodbye. Lol, it was a sweet gesture and I really appreciated it.

After that, I had brunch consisting of fillet & horseradish, fried eggs, fruit (guava, grapefruit and the most wonderful orange I have ever tasted!) and coffee - no bread. That was very nice... Then I spent the morning doing housework of different kinds; making yogurt, ironing, cleaning etc. Time went too quickly and at 2 pm I had a rendez-vous with Emmanuel (age 10). I had promised to take him horseback riding because he has been so eager to help YB and me with the horses. YB was really happy when he heard about this deal, and on Friday evening when I checked with Emmanuel if he had asked his parents for permission; YB gave me a contemplating look and said: "You don't forget anything, do you?" I do though, I just try not to! Anyway, Emmanuel was thrilled when I arrived at 2 o'clock. Fifteen minutes later we were out on the street with two horses, him riding Sahara and me walking Arwen. He did a good job, and it shouldn't be long until he'll be able to follow me out in the bush.

Ishtar

Training the Stubborn & the Lazy

Today, the Snowman and I had our very own scheme planned. He had recently bought a new horse and wanted to try it out, so I suggested that we race the three of them together: his newly bought who had the speed but lack the endurance, Snövit (the lazy but well-developed mare) and Sahara, my stubborn one...

Being one jockey short, the Snowman asked Chinada to ride Snövit. My ex-jockey cockily stated that he was certain that with this (lazy) mount, he would beat Sahara and her jockey (who has now replaced him and taken over his job). I said nothing, but thought to myself "You wish!"

However, more horses asked to join our party, which was not exactly the intention (we'd be racing on a whole different level!) and soon they were eight all together.

Chinada of course was quick to trade Snövit for the best mount!

After three jump starts, they finally set off, and Snowman and I were equally interested in our mares' progress, or should I say lack thereof...
Chinada won with a good margin on his black stallion...

... while Sahara and Snövit competed for the last position. In the end, Sahara won with a horse length, but it did not look very convincing, but then again, Sahara has been trained to run behind Arwen, so it was no surprise that she did not mind cantering over the finish line. I, however, knew that she could do better, and this provided me with a new challenge: how to get the lazy one (Snövit) and my stubborn darling (Sahara) to actually enjoy the game!

After all, it has always been much more challenging (and inspiring) to start as an underdog!

Anyway, Sahara was an eager mount and we worked on turns for a while, just for fun.

I even took Snövit on a second round, but now there's a horse that will run without passion!

A cheerful mood was set however, and Bala played out, making us all laugh. I was thrilled, because I had always taken him for being the serious one, and suddenly, neither Snowman, Sofia nor I could stop laughing...

Then, all horses had been ridden and Yaronbaba followed me into the bush where awaited a wonderful thirty minute full-gudu ride - my favorite!

Ishtar

Learning the art of riding a camel

After the president had left, we followed Aïssa to the part of the camel camp where her family was staying, where we met a lot of riders with their beloved creatures! Did you know that camels are very affectionate animals? They truly bond with their owners, and even though Arwen appreciates me very much, I doubt sincerely she would do what some of these beast would do for their owners...

Be aware of their "gudu" though! Though they're fast once they're up in speed, they have a less developed break system than my horses... Or my bit is more efficient than the little nose ring these ones have...

Life at camp... Now would that be an interesting (stress-free) option perhaps? You'd get to see life from a totally different perspective!

Aïssa and I behind her brother's camel. "Now how was it that you rode a camel again...? What were the movements...?"

"Oh dear, can't believe I'm actually doing this again. Here we go! Expect to be thrown forward, then backward and then forward again. Follow his movements!" (I fell off the camel last time I tried (in 1999)... The saddle swung around its belly...)

"Lol, that was close, but I made it! I'm up! Just hope this fellow doesn't move..."

5 minutes later... "Oh well, now this wasn't so bad! How come I haven't done this more? Camel riding is fun! It's safe! (as long as the owner is around...) And the view is terrific! Hey why didn't I bring my camera, huh? Ah, always so blond, huh..."

Now my sister in law got good company... And I got to take pictures of her coming off the camel! Not very easy that either, in fact, you have to do more (press your toes around the camels neck) and at the same time, keep your balance while you're thrown forward, then backwards and then forward again...

"Easy, camel, easy!"

"Mmm, good camel!"

So in the end, we had a wonderful morning, took lots of pictures, got loads of sunshine - and the best of all was that we still had half the day left! We used it well: resting on the veranda...

Ishtar

Sunday afternoon at the track

In the afternoon, we drove out to the race track again. Ali and his son Isaka had brought the mares and the three of us (Anette, Sofia and I) came by car. Nice deal, if you don't enjoy riding or if you want to wear something other than riding jeans for a while...

Our mission was let Sahara train endurance again. The first time we did it, about a week ago, we shocked the entire racing community. Some watched with little more than indifference when she galloped her two first rounds, but when she began her third, everything grew silent. One by one, the men stopped in their conversation and everybody's eyes were on the mare that was doing the impossible: running a third lap! Now as you've figured out by now, I love surprised, but the surprise that reigned and the silence that followed was more than I had anticipated before! People just stared as Sahara finished off at full speed. And I was satisfied because she had given her all and was thoroughly tired, something Arwen never is...

Chinada was not there this time, as he had gone to Kieby in Nigeria for their two week races. Ali found me someone else however who dared to let Sahara continue her three lap training, and although he was slightly easy on her and had go back and let her run a forth lap, he was just as thrilled about riding Sahara as Chinada was after he had ridden Arwen for the first time.

It's a funny thing with horses and jockeys. And owners as well, I would say! You fall in love with your first horse, and after that, few horses will ever stand out like the first one. Although he has much faith in Sahara's potential, Chinada will never be able to appreciate this second mare as much as the first one. The other jockey however was so impressed with her that he wouldn't stop talking about it, but then again, he has never ridden Arwen!

My fiends however are in love with Sahara, because she's such a sweet and comfortable horse to ride, and being "Arwen's shadow", you never have to worry about where she's going or what she will do once she picks up her speed. Arwen is more difficult to handle. She's my horse down to the bone and what I love about her is that there is nothing she won't do for me. There is no "gudu" in the world that she won't squeeze out if she just gets the feeling that I'm in for a gallop... Only problem is that when she's not stimulated enough, she gets kind of cranky and will often initiate acceleration even when it hasn't been called for. Unless you LOVE galloping, such a mare will not make it to the favorites with the any new rider, and neither Anette nor Sofia are comfortable galloping amongst a million bushes and trees.

Anyway, we had a very nice afternoon. Arwen power-walked around the track and behaved immensely well until she realized that she was to be taken home without having stretched her legs... Needless to say, Ali was pretty tired when he finally arrived half an hour later... As for the girls, they monitored Sahara's three laps and were pleased with the results!

Now believe it or not, while the little jockey rode off with Sahara for her forth lap, I ended up taking care of his horse. Yuk, I don't like mixed colors! This poor fellow had been painted with white dots all over his brown coat...

Ishtar