The next day we were taken back to the paddock. Fenja and I walked across the meadow and I told her about the nice ride yesterday. She was happy for me and we suspected that Fenja would also go for a ride soon. Felix joined us, "Fenja, I think Christina is here." Fenja seemed very happy and immediately wanted to trot over to the fence."Who is Christina?", I asked my friend.

She explained to me that Christina had been her former owner and that she still visited here sometimes. I wished Paulina would visit me. I didn't have it bad here, but I still missed her. Christina was standing at the gate and was about to open it when Fenja came to her. She seemed happy about it and talked a bit with the stable owner. Then she fetched Fenja from the meadow and walked with her towards the forest. I and Felix grazed next to each other near the fence and waited for Fenja to join us again. Andvari also joined us and stood next to me. Together we played and were finally brought back to our boxes.

Fenja was in the front half of the stable, so I didn't see her again today.It was getting a bit colder again and it rained more often. That's why we were more often in the stable than in the pasture and didn't see each other that often. I talked a lot with Felix and he told me where he had lived before. He wasn't born here on the farm either. He used to live with a boy with whom he would have liked to stay, but who unfortunately had to sell him because he no longer had time for him. Then I told him about Dan and Paulina and he said that he also found it unfair when people didn't think you were good enough just because you didn't get a note.

When there was snow again, we were often taken out of the paddock in pairs and went for a walk in the snow or were taken along as hand horses on a sleigh ride with the already broken-in horses from the other stable. It was very nice to trudge through the snow and at the same time it was a bit of lead training, which I really enjoyed. We had also grown a thick fluffy winter coat, so we didn't mind the cold. In the paddock I rolled in the snow once and looked as if I had been caught in a snowstorm. I shook myself, but a bit still remained in my coat. In the stable, the water was also warmed up a bit so that we didn't have to drink it ice cold and catch a cold. Luckily I didn't get sick the whole winter and neither did my friends.

Time flew by, but two more winters passed, during which I lived here with my friends. The training became longer and also more difficult, but I still enjoyed it. We were practising lunging and I already knew the commands.One morning, however, they not only haltered me, but they also got a bridle. At first I got it on my head like this, but after a few days there was a strange piece of iron hanging there. Joanna, the woman I trained with every day, held my head, put it on the flat of her hand and held it out to me. I didn't understand what she wanted from me and sniffed cautiously. I discovered a piece of carrot under the iron.

I wanted to eat it, but so I had to take the bit into my mouth as well. I thought about it, but the urge to get the treat was greater and I finally took it into my mouth. It tasted strange and cold, but I also had the carrot piece underneath and that was very tasty. Immediately I was praised but spat the bit out again. We kept practising and every day I kept the bit longer and Joanna pulled the bridle over my head like I was used to, only without the bit.Eventually I was lunged with it too, but the lunge was still hooked into the halter at first. I didn't like the bit very much, but I was praised every time after taking it and that was more important to me.

After the training I came into my box, as it was very exhausting for me, yet I didn't feel overwhelmed. Fenja and Andvari were just as far along with the training as I was, but they were not taught by Joanna like I was, but by two men called Theo and Ethan.In Andvari's opinion, Ethan was very nice and he was praised very often, but Fenja found that Theo was not quite as likeable and she didn't like the bit of the bridle at all. Next it was the turn of the saddle. Joanna just got the saddle blanket and let me sniff it. She carefully put it over my back. At first I thought it felt a bit strange, but soon I realised that it was actually nothing different than a fly blanket we got in the pasture in the summer, only much smaller. I was praised again after standing so still and Joanna took the blanket off again, waited a moment and put it back on my back.

We ended the training with me being led around the arena with the saddle blanket on my back. Over the next few days we practised with the saddle. It was a bit heavier and when it was put on my back for the first time I took a few uneasy steps forward, but I was immediately praised and then I knew that everything was OK. We repeated this exercise until I stood quietly and got used to the saddle. Joanna had also tightened the girth a bit but only so far that it no longer slipped down and then led me around the arena so that I could get used to the feeling. Day by day she tightened the girth a bit more, but I still got enough air and I trusted Joanna completely, so I let it happen.

She now also lunged me at a walk, trot and canter with a saddle. At first I bucked a little at the trot and canter until I got used to the saddle, but that only took a few days. One evening, when we were still standing in the paddock after training, Fenja told me that she hadn't had any training for three days now because Theo was ill. Today she had got a new trainer, but he was much less friendly than Theo, and she didn't like him. I felt a bit sorry for Fenja, because Joanna was such a nice trainer and I would only wish that on my friend. Andvari told me that Ethan had laid on top of him today and how he had been frightened. Would Joanna do the same soon? I had often seen people sit on horses, but the fact that they lay down on their backs sounded a bit questionable to me.