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Holy wind batman! It might have been sunny, but the wind at -15 degrees celsius cut through us as we crossed the field. It almost had an impact, but our field crossing is a very short distance. So we just grin and bear it. And then we get to the narrow trails and find ourselves in quite the pickle. The heavy snow of late has weighed down the branches and created quite the little tunnel. Not so bad if you are riding a pony or walking. But we were over height. I stopped to take a picture and instead snapped an image of Q telling me to “duck, lady!”. He did warn me, so I guess I shouldn’t blame him for all the face whipping I got by conifer and birch branches with crusty snow and ice minutes after his chattiness. And it got me thinking about Q’s personnality and all the recent internet rabbit holes I fell into these last few days. First, the whorls. https://www.westernhorseuk.com/horsemanship-blog/2019/2/17/whorlology Turns out, Qs head whorl is set high and centered mean

Spring break has arrived! Although we are still technically in winter for another 3 weeks? Anyways, school is out and much riding will be had in the next week before I have to pack my bags for Central Asia. We got a funny dump of snow these last few days with high moisture and then a sudden drop in temperature. So what should have been 15 cm actually looks more like 5 because it all got flattened out with the water content. And then with the cold, it stuck to everything. Making for a very merry winter wonderland. And amazing footing on the trails that made for an absolutely delightful canter stretch that lasted forever and had my buddies begging to walk. Oh, and just to resolve my worries about Q being lethargic... turns out he is doing just fine. When the footing is tight, he is happy to fly. He had much more zip today than my last few rides. And volunteered a flying lead change. Now if only I could convince him to do that on cue. 🤔 And yet, he loves to park. He parks i

While my iphone camera does not do it justice, there is something magical that happens when the sun appears after freshly fallen snow. We get diamonds falling from the treetops. Its been a quiet week, with more work than riding. But still managed to hit the trails 4 out of the last 7 days. When the weather hits the acceptably mild range of 0 to -10C, we usually do a one hour loop on the winter riding trail that intersects other single-use trails like skidoos/atvs, cross country skiing, and snowshoeing. We spend half our time on the wide trails (also used for sleighs) and half on the narrow trails (like the one pictured above). When the snow gets deep it becomes difficult to pass others on the narrow trails because the horses do not want to leap into four feet of snow to get out of the way.  Sometimes we have to do a 180 on the haunches and double back. Q has been doing really well in his deep snow training, and has gained confidence that he CAN leap into deep snow. We have been

I had a narrow window of opportunity to get to the barn, have a quick ride, and get back downtown in time for my meetings. The surprise of new snow made the roads greasy and I saw lots of tractor-trailers and jeeps hanging off medians and into ditches. I slowed down, took my time, and used lots of windshield washer fluid. The weather was pleasant, mild and sunny. But the wind was blowing erratic gusts that always spook me. Sure enough, as soon as my thighs clenched when the wind started to blow and the trees started to sway and release their snow, Q would get tense. Sorry buddy, Ill try to stay calm. As we made it down our familiar trails and basked in the sunlight, I decided to take a picture of us with our shadows. Afterwards, when I reviewed the pics, I realized that one of these gifs capture us perfectly. Here we are, alone together, on the buckle with Q waiting patiently as I try and find the perfect shot and he keeps talking to me with his right ear. We are in a happy s

When I am with Q, I usually pay attention to his expressive eyes. His eyes tell me how he is feeling, what he is worried about and how cheeky he might be that day. But last weekend I was taking pictures and realized he has long legs. They never felt long to me, but when I look at this picture objectively they seem long. Long for 15’3. Q has been on a diet (mostly hay and supplements with a handful of grain) for the last two years and this is probably the leanest and fittest he has ever been.  But all that slogging in the deep heavy snow has puckered him out. He has now started tempering his energy at the beginning of rides to keep some gas in the tank in case we are out for longer than usual. That means Ive been able to just tack up and trail ride without the usual pre-flight check over the last month. For a young horse of 6 that can still be rambunctious and edgy, that is awesome. He turns 7 in a few weeks. Fascinating when you compare it with the beautiful chunky sta

Most people see this temperature forecast on their phone and do not even consider the possibility of riding. Just way too cold. But I would like to say that riding in these temperatures is absolutely possible with a few tips, tricks and gadgets to make it better. But keep in mind that most electronic gadgets like iphones do not like -30 degrees. In these nordic climates, temperatures in the -15 degrees or below range tend to also be blue skies, bright sun, low humidity. The sun and low humidity actually make the temperatures "feel" less cold. Counter intuitive, but true. You must however be very cautious of wind. The wind could possibly change everything. Tip #1: Not all low temperature days are created equal Humidity plays a big factor. We have towns in Northern Quebec that regularly hit -40 and -50 degrees. But if it is sunny and windless it can actually "feel" warmer than -5 on the coast. I have gone outside in a t-shirt on a -40 day, and have even polar

The last 24 hours have been a collection of creature comforts and happiness seeking as I sought to repair the damage of the anxiety-ridden last 10 days. I watched “Its a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”, had a great ride in the woods after a long absence, and finally got a good nights sleep. Today I took a mental health day. And the sun was shining. The last 10 days have required my attention on professional matters that otherwise would have taken a downward spiral. The situation had me doubting myself and putting much credence on my naysayers. I chose to address it head on, and take the high road. It took the form of a public apology in a large forum while watching the confusion of my audience most of whom were left dumbfounded. It was a great big serving of humble pie. I experienced a wide array of emotions leading up to that moment and after, including guilt, doubt, defiance, anger, fear, mistrust and embarrassment. I came home after a trying day to a husband who listened and

The Sunday slump is real, and sometimes hard to get motivated for a ride especially if I am solo. But out I went because the footing was great and the weather mild and you just never know how many of those days you might have. My perseverance paid off as my phone rang while on trail and my buddy B joined me for a lovely jaunt. So instead of doing a 40 minute loop, I was out for 2.5 hours. 😃 We passed by my favorite spot I call the “winter ravine”, where we usually witness spring as the ice and snow melt over the creek and you get this beautiful view and sounds of a winter babbling brook. Of course, being a very mild January and February the thaw is a bit ahead of schedule this year. We saw lots of traffic over the weekend, particularly sleighs and skiers. I was even intercepted by this pair of skiers from France who were enchanted to share the trails with horses. We are so charming, n’est-ce pas? Riders (and horses) do seem to struggle with multi-use trails. Not all users