Horse issues and some owws and ahhs

Naloma and I currently have some issues that need to be resolved. She can be rather explosive, but I've gotten used to that over the years and we had worked out an agreement. She'd see scary things that weren't there, I'd tell her not to worry and to relax and she would believe me. However, now that I haven't been really fit and healthy and the population of ghosts- and bears-behind-trees apparently has increased dramatically, I can no longer convince her that she will not be attacked and eaten by non-existent creatures. So when I'm riding her she turns around and runs away at the most unexpected moments. And she's QUICK!

Now, I'm not the worlds worst rider, and I haven't lost my balance on any of these occasions (yet), but it doesn't do wonders for my confidence and it takes the fun out of riding. Over the last couple of weeks this problem got worse, so I called friend/riding instructor for help. He is the best riding instructor I've ever had. He used to be a really good show jumper, loves horses and understands them. His conclusion was that Naloma has become really disobedient (oops, my mistake, I spoil her rotten). So we are now busy to get her mind back to work and off the spooky things again. He is the one who helped Evie into this world last year while his own mare was on the brink of having her foal too (if you don't know that story, you can read this). He and his wife are priceless friends to us. Their mare does have a beautiful foal this year too (see photo below).

never mind horse whispering, horse kissing is thé thing to do these days

Yesterday we went to see them at the stables where their mare and foal are. "Oh you have to see the Shetlandponies and their foals that are in a field close to the stables", he said. "Bring your camera. They are so cute, I'm sure you'll want to take them home. I've been tempted to kidnap a couple myself. I bet they fit in the boot of my car."

So first we went to the stables to see their mare and foal and some other horses that belong to the owners of the stables. Like this stallion that does this neat pretending-I-have-a-large-steel-pole-going-through-my-head-trick:

One trick pony?

Hubs will now demonstrate some different horse-sizes:

And now, for the piece-the-resistance, prepare to say OWW and AHH, the little shetlandfoals we seriously wanted to take home (but didn't):