Trails were lovely today and the sun was shining. Our trail buddy was very tolerant of trotting up his butt, as I had little control with my phone in hand. I was lucky to not drop my gloves or phone in my filming sequences.
Annual Trail Rides 202/200 (Bareback 29/40) Ive been reminded of the zen proverb about the empty cup a few times these last few months, and I think it is such a powerful analogy when it comes to learning and growth. Obviously, horses are an incredible catalyst to self-awareness, learning and growth and my Q is no exception. The zen proverb is based on a zen master receiving a student who has come to learn but spends all his time explaining to the master his great accomplishments and successes. The zen master invites him to tea and then proceeds to filling his tea cup until it is overflowing. The student exclaims while the tea is spilling over the the table, and the zen master says "you are like this cup. Overfilled. I can not add to your learning until you empty your cup." Its come to my attention recently that Q prompted me to empty my cup a few years ago, and it continues to be something I am working on. It started when he first arrived, and I could not touch his ears or pu...
This summer has been generally lovely. Warm, sometimes hot, but manageable most days. We havent had a long severe drought, or prolonged period of hot humidity. Usually we would have 10-14 days in a row of heat wave. Its been sporadic days here and there. Q has been lethargic this last month, perking up when the temperature is low 20s. Ive taken advantage by cracking out the bareback pad quite a bit and doing lots of walking trails. Or I go early morning. And then a long cold shower. We just changed his haynet, to something smaller that the crew cant overstuff. He is still eating too much hay, and its hard to lose weight if you cant manage input. Work in progress. So we dance in the shade, looking for cover. Listening to cicadas, and smelling the wildflowers. Life is grand.
The year I turned 50. Technically I don’t « feel » different, but it’s a big new decade for sure. Aside from the mental and emotional impact of the pandemic, I also lost some significant people in my life and finally came to understand how finite my time is. And, perhaps more importantly, at least for those of us who always think we should be better, richer, thinner, stronger, fitter before we do THE thing … I chose to just jump off the cliff now while I still have four functioning limbs (and a brain) to do THE thing. One thing is for sure, time will not make us younger. Enter my 230 km horseback expedition across Alberta, and my 70 km horseback expedition to the bottom of Argentinian Patagonia. The trips of the outdoor « plumbing ». Neither trip caused me any significant pain in my left hip despite my concerns, and both delivered mega experiences. I learned how to dress for sleep when the temperature drops below zero. I learned how to pack my saddle bags for a long day without shade. ...
A proper vacation for me means good sleeps, multiple novels, fresh produce and maybe an occasional adventure. So this summer its sailing from London to Amsterdam to the fjords of Norway and then around Iceland. But the weather turned sour this week and so we got quite the jostling in the North Seas with twenty foot swells tossing us around for 30+ hours. Temperatures are now in the low teens (Celsius), cloudy and ready to rain at any minute. But Ive been getting lots of sleeps, lots of reading time, lots of sauna/steam room time, and my skin is softer than ever. 🤷♀️
Ahhh yesterday was such bliss. It is my third trail ride in 4 days, each one varying between 80-110 minutes. Good practice for my upcoming riding marathon in 7 weeks. My hip pain has flared today but it was worth it for the 80 minutes of sunshine and good footing yesterday as we were able to tackle some of our more frozen landscapes. Some of the trails in the deciduous forest were pretty dry, as were many of the wider and sun exposed trails. It was a glorious 15C and blue skies, so we were out and about in sweaters only. The more frozen trails had mushy ice which was just perfect for this barefoot team. Still lots of puddles which Q likes to suck on. Hoping for another day like this on Friday, where we might venture out into sector 1 for the first time in a month. If we can make it past the icy winter ravine, we can access the likely very dry, sandy and sun exposed trails for our first glorious trots and canters of the season. Im looking forward to mix up my riding plans with some long...
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