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 : 148/200 (Bareback 10/12) Ive been wanting to do this for a long time. Ive been amping up my speed on trail quite intentionally, being more consistent with canter departs, lead changes, and transitions. Ive also been working on much longer canter stretches, pushing my endurance and managing my breath. The result is that Q has now defaulted to a lovely cadenced canter on trail for long consistent stretches, while I have dropped all contact and sit on the buckle. Which helped introduce two bucket list items: 1) cantering downhill (Im so fearful of tripping hazards since my last horse was a daisy-cutter) 2) I managed to film a long sequence with my phone while cantering on the buckle Talk about trust! The small clip is below. Ive also been spending consistent time with my horse loose grazing under the power lines after a ride and bath. He loves it because his turnout is in a dry paddock! And recently he has been coming to graze next to me, while I sit in the grass...
Two days of glorious spring weather, two trails of glorious footing, two surefooted steeds happy to trot forever, and two friends gabbing and giggling along the way. It does not get any better. This was probably the last rideable day for my barefoot pony as we begin the period of ice and thaw. At least for a few weeks. I just hope I can ride on trail again before our big European trip. It was also Q’s 6th birthday. We celebrated with apples, carrots and peppermints.
Its been a busy riding period, despite the “hot and humid” weather. In fact, the weather has been quite tolerable, and on days when it hits 30+C we ride early. And if we can’t, then we keep it short and quiet and stay under the canopy. Q is still chunky, and we are trying to rein in the hay but its a challenge with everything else going on in the barn. Meanwhile, we have upped the intensity of our rides by 50% and have created a new “Long Trot” section stringing several trails of good quality footing together to make for a 4 km circuit that we do in 17+ minutes. Tomorrow I plan to venture out alone to strike a new record pace as I have fellow boarders hot on my tail to beat the pace. 😂 My afternoons are spent lounging in my hammock and reading a book. Verity and Greenwich Park were speed reads. Im now reading Trevor Noah’s autobiography Born a Crime, which is skull bending. Favorite book of the summer goes to Isabel Allende “Island Under the Sea”. Brilliant cast of characters.
… and survive thrive. Ive been hanging out at the remote ranch at the bottom of Argentina, 10 km from the border of Chile, getting my saddle bags packed for our expedition start bright and early tomorrow morning. I had a hoot of a day learning about the ranch activities of milking, sheep shearing and the meeting the gauchos and herding dogs that keep everyone/everything in line. I also met a bunch of fellow travellers from UK, Denver, Malaysia, Spain, France, San Francisco, Australia and made quite a few new friends along the way! Travelling solo sure has its perks. The location here is absolutely stunning and I recommend a ranch stay to anyone looking for easy relaxed atmosphere with a rustic flare. Be warned the rooster will get started at 430 am and the sun sets at 10 pm. A few pics of the last day before I head off into the wilderness to get to the outposts in the summer pastures over the Andes mountain passes. These outposts follow the Chilean border and have zero electricit...
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.
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