Autumn Scenery

-

Another one of those gorgeous autumn days, where the skies turn cartoon blue, and the sun strikes the colourful leaves with just the right angle to create an illuminating effect. I did this 13 km ride 2/3 riding, and 1/3 on foot to keep building up my endurance for my upcoming Patagonia trek. It went well, but with the mercury climbing to 15C, I started getting overheated mighty quick. Q, not even a drop of sweat on him.



We also saw our first cow! Boy Q was surprised. Now actually it was a calf, two in fact, but he doesn't know the difference of course. Except that something smelled different, and was slightly hiding behind a conifer hedge. Made for a pretty stance though.




He also got spooked by a painted concrete stump. It took us a few extra minutes to approach this one, as he was sure it was the devil hiding behind that black face. Looked like a ghost to me. 
























Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Expansion of normal

-
Image
Our five-week European escapade is now coming to a close and I look forward to the return to normal that is my bed, my kitchen, my routine. As I reflect on all that we experienced on this trip, it is clear that even I, a self-proclaimed expert in change management, struggle with disruption in my life. Each new destination would have me grumpy and fussy for the first 24 hours as I shifted to a new living situation almost every five days. This guard and horse stood immobile at the Royal Horse Guards in London for at least an hour. It stretches my imagination of patience. The grand 4 ton Gold Carriage at the Royal Mews. Requires a brakeman walking alongside and 27 meters to stop. Apparently this might be the most uncomfortable thing to travel in, and was very seldom used. Gorgeous Cottage and English Garden in the middle of Hyde Park. This park really had me question my definition of high-density urban territory. Hyde Park with all of its variations on a garden theme
Read more

Q gets acupuncture

-
Image
There is a wonderful veterinarian-turned-acupuncturist that works in our area, and Q gets an exam and sometimes a treatment once every six months. With our latest saddle restuffing, I thought it was good timing to take a look. This lovely older gentleman has over 30 years of equine acupuncture practice (in addition to 20 years as an equine vet) and many a story to tell but the biggest stories come from his patients and his magic hands. While I have never tried acupuncture on myself, I have been successfully treated for many ailments with osteopathy and I believe in the body as a system that can often heal itself. So today was the day, and I watched him do several treatments before it was our turn. Q had no back pain or soreness, but his weakness in the left hind was flaring up and probably connected with the increased work on collection over the last few weeks. So, he got some needles and then I watched him slowly drift to sleep as he licked my arm slower and slower. After these
Read more

Happy 8th Birthday Mon Amour!

-
Image
Annual Trail Rides: 50/200 A nice time to hit our 25% trail objective. We finally got access to the trails (walking only) and it has been absolutely delightful. Ive also been using these slower rides to be social and go out with boarder friends, and that also has been delightful! Q was a delight on our first time out, as steady as an old cow pony. But yesterday on the way home he reminded me that the dragon needs tending. Navigating through icy patches between trees where the obvious path for Q is to hug the trees where the ice has melted, but that means my knees go knocking into the bark. So I picked up the reins to navigate better and he got fired up. All of a sudden his sides were on fire, and any heat from my leg prompted him into a trot. Which is not what you want on slick ice. So I stopped him. And we would start all over again. This happened 12 times on the last 1 km stretch home. Not fun. After some reflection, I realized that we were in a 12 rabbit situation. Being Florida-bre
Read more

Pocketful of mints, aka the slowroll

-
Image
It has been over twenty-five years since I did a solo trail ride bareback. Today was the day. Q was amazing, and gave me the confidence to ride on the buckle most of the way. When we came up to a road crossing, I got nervous because I could hear an unseen car climbing the road and was afraid it was the roadster sans muffler that had been gunning it up and down the road earlier. So I asked Q to trot, and he steadily complied with the smoothest transitions. Comfy and confident! The last time I had done this was with my first QH Rocky that I moved from Canada to Costa Rica (in the winter - bad idea) to live on the Pacific Ocean with me. We would go ride on the beach and in the ocean and bareback was the way to go. It was mostly walking around and I honestly don’t remember galloping bareback since my poney days as a teenager. Of course my new best friends bareback pad is amazing. It provides a little cushion, gives a stickiness to my seat with the suede-like top and adheres to Q
Read more

Quaint Krakow

-
Image
We arrived in Krakow on a super short commuter flight from Budapest and spent most of the weekend wandering about the charming town, constantly watching out for rogue trams that want to run us over. Our first afternoon was a delightful stop in the large market square to sit on a terrace, drink local beer, eat a lovely plate of cured sausages and meats with a kickass fresh horseradish purée, and watch the parade go by on National Constitution Day. Somehow, we often arrive in a new city on their national holiday. Krakow town square and basilica In the town square, m any fine carriages and horses are in line, with beautiful women in black hats with white ribbons driving the carriages. Its so unusual to see only women driving so many large carriages, that I took notice. At first, I thought it was because of the parade. Later that day, I watch the carriages circulating with passengers and the pretty lady is up front doing nothing while an old peasant dressed man is driving the carri
Read more