I wish I came here more often. It has so many beautiful sections. It is plagued by some boggy trails with mosquitoes and we have to cross a busy road to get here. But once here, Im always happy!
We found some wooden trails with occasional muddy spots to go trotting in. I took this video with my trail buddy J and her big percheron mare.
Buffet! I struggled to keep Q on the path and focused.
Much galloping happens on this path!
This section has a few streets that we have to cross. But there is practically no cars here.
Q enjoying the view!
The hunt field is one of my favorite spots. And the sun was out in full force with a cooling breeze.
It was a gorgeous day, and the sights were beautiful. With the tardy summer, the trails were a bit muddier than usual. My friend with her big percheron mare struggles with her soundness, and did not like the muddy trails one bit. She would have much rather stayed on the tried and true section 2.
But I am glad I went, and I am looking forward to going back. Perhaps solo. Q is getting to be quite solid going solo and I think we can do this.
Annual Trail Rides: 34/200 A century ago, local farmers in our town west of Montreal were tired of the sand left in the spring thaw that clogged the streets and ditches and created floods and ice dams to prevent passing. So the farmers got together with the town and the province to fund a reforestation project which we would later call the "Nursery". The reforestation would cover most of the old sand dunes that had been left behind many millennia ago by a retreating glacier. The old sand dunes were a popular place for local families to go for a picnic, or some fishing in some of the creeks and lakes that popped up from underground springs. Our history books show groups of families with their farmhorses pulling big sleighs or wagons filled with children. But it was time to stop the constant erosion the sand dunes were having on the local farms. So in the 1930s began the massive reforestation project. At the time, the population of this town was under a thousand, as there was o...
It was a rainy day, but I decided to get out in the woods despite my regular companions abandoning me. I do enjoy a solo ride just the same, and chose to put on the bareback pad for a quiet amble. I also switched back to my bit bridle with a slightly bigger snaffle which doesn’t pinch Qs lips. Although I enjoyed my hackamore rides, I felt that it was hard to not put pressure on his nose (and create a rub or indent) and I also felt he was starting to disrespect it on our last ride when my buddy and I practiced side-by-side canter on the way home. Ok, maybe that was an unfair test. Anyways, we had a lovely ride in the woods heavy with fog, and lots of sprouting mushrooms. Q was a gem, and I feel he does a good job of protecting me when Im bareback. He got tense when he felt a deer nearby, and did a bit of a scoot when there was some new tires lying about, but he was quite cautious of not unseating me. Things are good. Im riding 3-4 times a week, logging about 40-50 km...
Annual Trail Rides: 80/200 On this special trail I got an unexpected surprise of riding with a fellow boarder and kindred spirit. We dont ride very often together (maybe once every two years) because she usually rides with her friends who walk the whole way. But on this day, she offered and I accepted. She took her OTTB and off we went. We trotted, cantered and there was a stretch of a hand gallop too. She was exhilarated about how much fun it was to do more than walk. And I was exhilarated by that hand gallop. Q got a little strong at that point and just blew through my aids in order to match pace with that pretty chestnut mare. She sure was pretty! I celebrated this milestone by forgoing our trail the next day in favour of a walk in the woods accompanied by my husband. It was hot, bugs were out, and I was tired when I got home. But lovely just the same. Ill have to keep this momentum of 5x a week if I want to hit my milestone of 200 rides by end of November. Ill probably start cracki...
I once heard that retirement means that weekends don’t mean the same thing anymore. No more cramming all the chores, shopping and social events into a 48 hour period. Every day feels like the weekend. And the impact is that the pressure of time, and productivity, is lost in the equation. Our COVID constraints and self quarantine have also meant that time has lost a key measurement. So every day, every week has felt the same. Why not procrastinate if it doesn’t really matter? As I have been back at the barn almost every day this week, I have noticed that the pressure of time has returned. And my productivity has skyrocketed this week. So not only do I have less available hours to do the work I have to do, but I have doubled my output at the same time. I did some long and slow rides this week, legging my Q back again. And this morning I was heading out for a short and fast one. It was very brisk, snowing, and Q was very fresh with a few spooks, stops and starts. Five minutes to wal...
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