Had a good ride in sector 3 and got some new flying mane pictures on 17 and N trails. The scent of the wildflowers was a delight, and we got surprised by a deer. 🦌
This story shows how I was obviously oblivious and Q was paying attention but not threatened. His maturity on trail continues to exceed expectations! Q was excited and energetic. It was our second ride after weeks of confinement (due to icy footing) but our first time trotting. Footing was dry in certain sections and we were both happy to move out. I tried to convince Q to give me his « traveller trot », an easy smooth ground covering stride that I can sit for long stretches. Some think he is gaited as I could sip champagne (or cava) when he moves at this pace. He tried but his body was tense and in one section he lifted his head up and telescoped to the back right. I thought he might have seen riders behind me but nope. Added some leg to get his attention back, and while he never broke his metronome pace, he was still clearly bothered by something to our right. And then I saw it. I laughed and stopped to get a better look. I said hello but no response. Of course it was a bi...
Got back to Buenos Aires at 2 am this morning, after a week at the southern tip of South America in the borderlands of Chile and Argentina in the Los Glaciares National Park. Stunning scenery, rustic outposts of the neighboring sheep farm where we cooked meals on wood fires and slept in shacks barely protected from the howling winds blowing down the Dickson and Perito Moreno Glaciars. My little firecracker of a criollo mare Achicoria was stupendous. We herded wild cattle and scrambled over rocks, logs, and steep descents in between long gallops. I took a nap in a glacier field between the Calafate Berry Bushes and the wild grasses, drank mate and learned how to make empanadas with my guide Juani. To say the trip was epic is a disservice. Being disconnected for so many days in the grandiosity of the Andes glaciers, drinking water straight from the streams, was a return to a lifestyle we have never known. As Juani and I did our last race back to the barn we were intercepted by a gaucho w...
I do lots of different kinds of rides, with lots of different kinds of riders. But cantering always has me stumped. I have an established checklist of rules, but not everybody shares my view on this. Here is the short version I do not ride on trail with anybody who is not comfortable cantering their horse (at least in an arena). I don't want their first canter experience to be the spook and bolt when their horse sees a deer. I will occasionally make an exception to this rule for very short and controlled trail rides within proximity to the barn. I do not race. The order we start in, must be maintained until the end. No passing. With some of my trail buddies we will canter side by side, and it is glorious! I do not gallop. I have made a few exceptions to this rule with individuals that I trust, and on a trail I know well. The gallop stretch never lasts very long. I do not canter up ravines or anywhere I do not have a long line of sight. Again, I sometimes make exceptions to this on ...
Epic. The massive and exponential spread of COVID19 and rapid changes in public policy is nothing short of epic. I sit here watching countless hours of press conferences across Canada and USA, witnessing the closure of borders and President Trump finally changing his tone of casual disregard to one of concern and action. Finally! I must say that the ladies have been the real stars of these press conferences. Serious, well informed, empathetic and firm. True leadership. Our provincial premier Legault has also been stupendous. His bold moves before the number of cases had exceeded 20 in a provincial population of 7M stunned us all, but also spurred our inert institutions, like my University, to action. Finally! So Im on voluntary isolation. Not quarantine, and I still go outside for brief shopping, walks around the neighbourhood and a few short visits to the barn. But Ive curbed my movements by 98%. My hope is that my isolation stays voluntary during the next 2-6 weeks. Even my littl...
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