Animal life

Some weeks ago a good friend of mine had to put her cat down. Even though the cat had a good long life, 16 years, it is still unbelievably sad. Yes I know that people say that animals are not people, and indeed they are not, but they are still family members. Somebody who is there all the time, depending on you, and loving companions.

The reason I'm thinking about it, is that there is an older lady on my street, who has a dog. I see them almost every day, and she's walking with a stick very slowly, but even more slowly the dog limps along. He's a big black dog with deformed feet, and I cannot tell if he's in pain, but I would think so. Today he stopped when I passed by, I petted him on his big head and he just laid down, refusing to stand up. What can I do?

I cannot talk to the woman, the dog is probably her only companion, but I feel for the dog. It should be put down and out of his misery. I feel so helpless.

Come to me

I was out walking the dog today with a friend. We passed a gardener who was working on the street, and after about 20 meters I realized the dog was way behind us, so I called her. "Come, come" I yelled and clapped my hands, and nearly doubled over when the gardener took a few steps towards me. Hahaha!

I can't help it, but I take pleasure in little things nowadays.

Eagles

I just saw a shadow outside my window, and to my surprise I saw this big bird fly by. It looked like an eagle to me, it was huge. Bigger than a seagull. Brown and wide wings. But it cannot be possible, eagles in the city? Nah, must be some sort of related bird, a hawk? Are there even eagles in Switzerland?

One thing for sure, am not letting the cats out today.

Horse show

Last week I went to the stables to watch a show. It was interesting. A combo of professionals (I'll never be able to ride like that!) and students like myself riding in formation, a tiny pony who clearly had his own will and refused to jump, a white unicorn (a white horse with wings attached) and a "bull", consisting of two men under a cloth being chased by a horse. Funny. Sorry about the quality of the pics.

Zoo III

And the last round is always through the Masoalahalle looking at the giant turtles and enjoying the rain forest.

Zoo II

This is like Kingkong, reflecting the girl in the glass. And a very cute gorilla baby.

And I think there shall be camel babies next year, since I had the pleasure of watching foreplay. Camel-style.

Zoo I

Last year I missed going to the zoo, but yesterday I was there, enjoying the penguin parade once again. They just look too funny.

I was on my own this time, and I almost got lost so I missed the tigers and the lions, but no regrets. I always feel bad for them, having such a small space to live in. But I saw lots of others.

Smelly rider

I was riding again today, and I've come so far that I know instinctively what I'm doing wrong. But to correct it, is another matter. A lot of it has to do with my fitness level, I don't have enough strength and endurance. And before you comment, I know, I need to reduce my smoking. It's something that's been on my mind for a long time, and I will do my best, beginning next year.

Nevertheless, I still enjoy it, riding i.e.. And when it's going ok I feel it. The teachers are almost always on about what to improve, and very seldom saying anything positive, but that's ok. That's their job. And thanks to them I do better.

Another thing, when I go riding in the morning I don't shower before, no point, since I'm sweating a lot, but when I go back home on the bus I feel myself stinking, both from the stables and from body odour, so I try to stay away from people. Maybe it's only me, 'cause nobody ever complained or even looked at me, but I don't wanna annoy people.

And I was thinking, if I reduce smoking which is getting to be more and more expensive, I could invest more money in my riding. I don't think anybody would vote against that!

Riding

Had a riding lesson again today (on Feri, my first love), and my flatmate came to see if it would be something for him. I think not. He's never been on a horse in his life. A challenge I might be able to talk him into. Or not.

We arrived early and were watching a pro riding, doing things that the Spanish riding school in Vienna does, and he asked if I could do that too. Duuuuhhh! I wish, but sadly no. Shows how much he knows about horses.

He was asked to take some pics, and out of 25 these were the best. Not seeing him being a photographer. Ever.

Locked in

I haven't been riding for a while now 'cause I haven't been well, but today it was time to get up in the saddle again. It didn't start out very well though. I got locked in one of the stables. I was there peacefully preparing my horse, when I heard somebody shouting. Too late I realized why. I was locked in, and the lesson was about to start in ten minutes.

Fortunately I was able to get out by climbing through fences (luckily not electric!), and for each one I saw a surprised horse looking at me.

And it was happy days. Lately I've had a feeling that it didn't go too well, and that I'm not making progress, but today was different. First, I had my fav, and second, I was able to melt in with the group. We seemed to be on the same level. So even though we were five today, it went very smoothly and I had a good feeling. I felt more secure and relaxed. Possibly the horse felt it too.

After that I was served a delicious dinner, so another good day.

Squirrel

I saw a squirrel the other day in the forest. One of these cute as a button little brown ones with a fluffy tail, not those big grey ugly ones in Hyde Park. When I was telling a friend later on he remarked that squirrels have become more scarce, and why is that.

Yeah, why is that? I have seen very few squirrels in the last years. One or two outside my flat, but I have a feeling there were many, many more when I was young. Are squirrels becoming extinct?

Back in the saddle

Guess what I did today :) ? But I really have to up my fitness level. A mere ten minutes of trotting and my mouth is like the Sahara, absolutely no saliva left. Still, it was a lot of fun.

Bloodsucking bastards

Another disadvantage with this hot weather, is that I sleep with the window open, and that has consequences. I have mosquito bites all over my body. Scratch-scratch-scratch. It's making me a bit crazy.

But I try not to think of it. I mean, imagine sleeping peacefully and at the same time being sucked dry of blood from an insect. Not funny.

Cats and old people

I was working again last Saturday at the old peoples home, and they used to have a cat. Unfortunately she has now gone on to greener pastures, hopefully with lots of mice.

They also have a visiting cat, a volunteer, who comes every day, supposedly 'cause he gets fed, have various cat beds to choose from, plus he gets lots of love from the tenants. He is big and black and looks like a panther.

And to my delight there was a new cat there. She (or is it a he?) just came along one day, and even though the home has searched for an owner, they haven't found one. Meant to be?

I reckon she's young, 'cause she was pretty feisty, but the two cats got along well, and she was friendly to everybody. I hope she moves in.

Mormon spiders

I really don't like spiders. I don't care if they eat other insects I like even less, I just can't stand them. However, when they are on the outside of my windows I cannot help but being intrigued.

There are grandma and grandpa, the parents, the grown-up kids, the youngsters and the new-borns, all working very hard to weave a if not a world wide so at least a local web. The threads are so thin it almost looks like they are climbing in the air.

They are big, ok so not in comparison to Aussie ones, but for Swiss standards, they are large. And I cannot bring myself to clean the windows because of it.

Or it could be that I'm too lazy in this heat to do anything about it. Your guess is as good as mine.

Dog's playing

Doggie is playing with me. Last week we were jogging, i.e. powerwalking at first since dog is morning lazy. All of a sudden she stopped and I didn't realize until maybe 100 meters away. I called her and she just sat there looking at me. So I got a wee bit irritated, walked back towards her and when I was just about to put her on the leash she ran away. Had to put my nicest voice on, and give her the command to stay. That worked.

Today we were out in the strong sunshine and she wanted to swim. Thing is she doesn't go in if it's too deep, and by the river that's difficult. But we found a spot behind a fence where she could at least dip a little and get a drink. But then she couldn't get out. Tried several times, but didn't come out. So at last I climbed through the fence (which I'm proud to say wasn't a problem now with my new slim self :) to catch her and bring her back. Nope, she just went further on the wall next to the river, and I wasn't about to follow of fear of falling in. But next thing I know she was back on the right side, and I was stuck behind the fence. Hmmm.

Not Dalai but

I'm with dog today, and she really is a sweety, very easy to handle and friendly to everybody. She only barks if the doorbell rings, or if she sees dogs bigger than herself.

So today on our afternoon round, I was sitting peacefully reading a book while she was roaming around, sniffing interesting things, when she of a sudden barked. But when I saw why, I could kinda understand her.

It's not every day one sees llamas taken for a walk in Zürich.

No Grexit

Some weeks ago I came across a Swiss Greek, who I thought was a nice guy. He told me he had two dogs, which immediately made me think he was a good person. But we didn't keep in touch, until this evening.

So we connected again and he showed up, bringing the doggies. Oh dear. I didn't realize they were that big. My cats disappeared at the speed of light, and I could kinda understand them.

However, doggies were sweet. The black one friendly though big, and the foxy one terrified of everything new, just like one of my cats.

Relax

Today I had my last group riding lesson this season. Next season I will go on with private lessons. Not that I haven't appreciated and learned, but I think 30 minutes suits me better with more intensive training, not having to look out for others. Plus my goal is still to jump.

Today we did "kadrilj" - not sure what it's called in English - but riding in pairs. It was fun! Two pairs of horses trotting in circles, and moving along each other like we were one. Ish.

And as per my suggestion we had an apero after. Our lesson finished at 8.30 pm and we waited and included the next lesson that finished an hour later. They are better. Way better! But of course they've been riding a lot longer.

Normally we come a bit before the lesson to prepare the horses, then ride, then we all leave and there hasn't been much time to talk and get to know each other, so tonight was fun and we stayed a lot longer than I had anticipated. Most of us brought something to eat and both my bottles of prime Pinot Grigio were gone by the time we left.

Two things I took away from the evening. One, the only guy in our group always brings his daughter, she's very good with the horses even though she's only 8 years old. Today I learned that she's been riding for 4 years already and the father only started to ride in order to be able to go on riding camps with her. That is very sweet, until he told me that she's already better than he is. And he's about as good as I am. Hmmm.

Two, I asked the teacher if she could give me one advice what I should improve after now knowing me for about half a year, she said: "locker sein", meaning relax. And here I was thinking I was the most relaxed person in the world. I guess not. And I know what she means. I tend to tense up a bit and I have to learn that the horse feels it. Sit back, relax, and just give the horse the signs it needs to do its job. Sounds easy in theory, and I will take it to heart. Just not sure I can practise what is preached.

Got my fav

Was having my second last riding lesson today. Well, not meaning I'll never ride again after, but the half-year course I signed up for, is ending next Friday.

And I got my fav! My rock'n'roll hero. He's such a sweetheart, and is so fantastically well-trained so all I gotta do is to learn not to disturb him.

Like when we were doing leg-yielding training today, and before I used to lean over to "help" him move in the right direction, but today I just gave him the sign and he knew instantly what to do. I was just sitting there enjoying (looking at the corner like the trainer told me numerous times), while he was doing exactly what he should. And I got no comment from the trainer (a good thing!).

And he's like me a bit. Slow in the beginning, but in the end of the lesson there's no stopping him. Until the teacher told me that he reacts to my mood. "Annika, if you sit down and lean back, he's gonna read you and do the same". Aha. And so he did. It's kinda irritating that she's always right, but at the same time I have a great respect for her.

And I have to remember that those teachers have been horseback riding like every day for ages, and trained for their profession. Still, I want to be better and when they explain something to me, and it sounds like common sense, so I should know better. Only one week to go!