Dock bar showing recent apps

To be clear, this is my Dock:

The section on the right is what I'm trying to eliminate, it takes up a large portion of my dock.

I can't drag them out and I didn't pin them to the Dock. I literally have no control over these things appearing and can't get rid of them. Been using MacBooks for about 10 years, this is a new.

The only option when I right click is to open. I think you are thinking of the Apps on the left side of the Dock, these are the Recent Apps that show up on the right side, right of the Application folder. On the right, I can right click and choose to show/not show in the Dock.

I can't. I only have one option, open it. I can't close it, I can't drag them out, I can't hide them.

I feel like an idiot. It was a massive pile of finder windows and previews. Thanks for all who looked and responded.