End of the year

-

Seems fitting to end the year of confinement and hibernation with a month of summertime sunshine and sunsets. Q is on vacation too, but getting the occasional grooming so he doesn’t turn feral. 5 weeks of bliss and then its back to winter.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sailing

-
Image
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. 🤷‍♀️ 
Read more

Early mornings and deer flies

-
Image
Holy camoly did I have a good ride today! We are thick in the middle of our second scorching heat wave (and ensuing forest fires) of spring, as summer just started yesterday. It is an unusual weather pattern. So I planned for an early start to get on the trails for a quick ride before the sun started beating at 10. I was back at the barn with a sweaty horse in tow by 945. I had planned for a short loop of mostly walk and trot with a bit of canter. I wanted to check in with my buddy Q as our last trail ride ended in a “discussion” about key principles when heading home, and our ride after that was a tough cantering session that left Q with sweaty eyeballs. So it was time for another trail diagnostic. He was brilliant. An angel. The deer flies were out in abundance so by the second mile I launched us into lovely jog that Q proceeded to maintain in rhythm without prodding, holding or any aiding as he was on the buckle for two miles. It was so smooth and relaxed that I was able to ...
Read more

Hello dragon!

-
Image
After a mostly sleepless night I headed to the barn for what I hoped would be a good ride on what was turning out to be a spectacular weather day. Temperatures had cooled to 24C with bright blue skies and a slightly damp track for some nice footing after all these days of rain. My hip was still hurting so I was going to take it easy, but I did want to work a good canter stretch with some lead switching in a particular spot. Q had other plans. At our first trot and canter he clearly told me that THIS.IS.NOT.FAST.ENOUGH ! Then he started his usual “dragon mode” of tight back, hard bouncing, head in the air and increasing his speed at every stride. Ouch, my back! I didn’t argue with him, but chuckled a bit at his antics. I used all that energy for good (as much as my back would allow) and worked on contact, leg yields, transitions and shoulder in. It was the best lateral work he has ever given me. But we have a date, in the arena, for lots of canter circles and then we will go back on the...
Read more

Ho! Ho! Ho! Secret Santa showers me with gifts!

-
Image
This was my first Secret Santa experience having experienced it vicariously through Teresa at Journey with a Dancing Horse last year . So when I saw the announcement floating through the blogland last month I jumped on the opportunity.  I was tickled pink to come home this week to a big box filled with very important things for our nordic winters. My secret santa was Alaina at Alberta Equest and she knows a thing or two about winter.  A beautiful hand-made and closed loop (this is so important for us nordic riders!) scarf in Qs color of blue (and it matches his saddle pad), a bag of yummy horsetreats made by the Gheeky Chesnut, and a cozy keyhole quartersheet for those days when the mercury drops to -20 degrees (this happened twice this week). Q does love his treats but I wanted to get a video of his first reaction. This is one happy customer! Thank you Alaina for organizing the secret santa, and being my special santa this year! I really enjoyed the giving and receiving and ...
Read more

Extend the shadow of our decisions

-
Image
I lost my trail buddy this weekend. It’s not clear how much was determined by the ongoing barn drama. He packed his stuff and moved to another barn within 24 hours. So, I am sad. No doubt that having an activity buddy helps keep us motivated, and gets our butts in the saddle more often than not. Now, I feel alone. That our horses and our riding styles were so in sync makes the transition much more difficult. How will I find another trail buddy that is so compatible? This probably marks the beginning of a new chapter of riding solo. I do love riding my horse solo and not having to negotiate pace, direction, detours with anyone. Big bonus is that my Q is just as good alone. Add caption I might need some external motivation like one of those wearable gadgets that track pace, elevation, etc. Something that would push me to go further, ride harder, discover new trails. This week we have our exciting clinic to “despook, the mounted police way”. And soon after that Ill be off fo...
Read more