WHAT A WONDERFUL MORNING IT WAS.....

The weather in Tirol at the moment is marvelous, temperatures reaching 30 degrees, long, warm evenings, ideal for white wine and chatting with friends.  It is not before time though as May was the wettest month I can remember, we had flooding and even snow in the middle of the month too.  So this weather is a welcomed treat for us, but for how long it will last, who knows?

After dropping my daughter to school at 7.45 am, yes such an early start for kids over here, but their day is over at lunch time and their afternoons generally free. I drove my usual half hour drive to the stables to see Dan.

 For anyone who does not yet know who Dan is, he is one of the loves of my life!  A large, grey/white, often bad-tempered, scaredy-cat of a horse, whom I rescued 5 years ago and then moved with me to the mountains, he is now my best-friend and rock!  He has challenged me more than any other horse in my life to date, and yet over the years and especially since our move here, we have grown very much together and our trust in each other is now incredible.  I think anyone who had known the Dan I first bought all those years ago, would not believe the Dan he is now.

I rode out today with another girl from the stables, actually they are her stables and she has two beautiful horses.  As it was hot we rode in the shade through the wood, near the river and had a wonderful gallop along the wooded track.  The sound of two large horses thundering hooves on the stones below, wind in our hair, strong, powerful creatures racing into the beauty of the nature, filled me with an unreal sense of freedom and happiness.

On our way back she suggested we take our hot and sweaty horses in the river for a cool down.  Well as my horse generally has a phobia to water, he is known to leap over puddles rather than getting his hooves wet, I was willing but not actually sure that he would go anywhere near it.  How wrong I was!  He followed his friend straight in the river and started to paw the water so that his belly got wet too, then kept plunging his nose under the water, loving every minute of it.  I was completely amazed and thrilled too.  It was another time that Dan had proved me wrong and shown me yet another side to his ever growing personality.

It was particularly wonderful for me as being the land-locked mermaid, I miss the sea and water dreadfully and I am often know to drive an hour plus to the beautiful lake Constance/the Bodensee to get my fill of being near the water again.  Being on my horse in the water was a completely new experience for me too and something I can't wait to try again soon.

Oh I do hope it is hot and sunny again tomorrow morning!