After August 15 (Assumption of the Holy Virgin = THE most important feast-day in Greece) the mornings and evenings will get cooler again, is what they say here. Well okay, but HOW far after this 15th of August? Already for 4 months (from the start of May) it’s bone-dry and from June on hot , from July and August really hot, day and night… There are also bush-fires left, right and center – most of the time because of arson – so my planned outing to Naoussa I have postponed until after the first rains: I get super nervous of all these smoke clouds with my darling horses in their fields of dried hay.

But the clients came anyway, also in this first year of my company and after seven o’clock in the evening we could have a good ride out in the lesser heat of the night.

Now (start of September) finally it indeed feels like AFTER that 15th of August, it’s really cool in the morning and this weekend we will expect the first rains! Wow! In my fields the Mediterranean grasses are waiting with their tiny heads right under the surface for a bit of dew to stick out their baby sprouts. Come on September! Autumn is like a second springtime here and a perfect time for nice rides!

The old Simba clearly had enough of all that apathetic sheltering in the shade and runs jovially over the stubbles of a mowed field. He races so aslope through the bends that I nearly fall off, also while he concludes his canter with a big buck! Don’t count him out yet!

We went for a fast ride all around with Zina and Shakira and I may conclude – nothing wrong with their stamina.

With Shiva I started doing some basic dressage again on the mowed field and she loves it. I sit on her and wonder how easy everything is for her, even after a long hot summer of doing nothing of this kind. She seems to tell me – you like this? Want some more? And with that super-concentrated canter of her she’s also the champion in doing road-bends the fast way.

The after-summer period has begun, my horses shake the sweat out of their coats and suck in the cool breeze through their nostrils. It’s nice to ride out now – will you join us?