No language barrier with horses

Today was a fun day. I spent a good amount of time with one of Pam and Jurgs horses, Trooper. He's a Paint they brought with them from Kansas last year. He's stabled a short drive from their house at what appears to be a classic European horse facility. Pam said its not as rigid as those in England, but from the horses and people I saw there it looked like something a little too"tight" for me. The give away was when it was recommended that we "dress" for the barn. Luckily, I brought my collared shirt and had riding shoes. I'm fine with etiquette and want to respect Swiss tradition. However, feeling like natural horsemanship may not be totally accepted here, I did feel a little conscientious as I pulled out the rope halter and carrot stick I brought with me.

Pam doesn't speak Swiss fluently, and me only knowing what Swiss chocolate and Swiss cheese is, there were some awkward moments with the people at the barn as we weren't sure if using the indoor arena was okay and how it all worked. Trooper and I, on the otherhand, communicated quite easily. He's a nice horse, trying hard to figure me out. We made some great progress in a few hours.

I noticed as I was playing with him that there were a number of people in the balcony of the arena watching us. Nervous? Oh, no not at all!!!! A bit later a woman walked boldly into the arena, no expression on her face and asked if i was teaching parelli. EEEEKKKKK, we didn't know what to say. "uh, yes, sort of. No, I'm not a Parelli instructor". uh oh, was our first thought. It was a trick question? Come to find out she was inquiring about taking a lesson with me, she had taken a course with a Swiss Parelli pro. and wanted to learn more. Whew. She is German, speaks some English, but apparently speaks some horse too.