Staycation

It's been a couple of weeks! I needed a time out, and while a staycation is never going to be an all out break (horses and property maintenance don't get days off) it was really nice to put some responsibilities on hold. 

This was a nice day. Looking towards Vancouver Island way in the distance

The horses are spending a lot of time in their second field, which makes keeping them in summer just that little bit easier. I'll retract that statement once it comes time to mow and harrow, but for now the decreased poo picking and hay bag making is a nice reprieve. 

Happy vacation summer camp ponies

Although, after the experience of owning Bridget, I should have known better. Someone ruined the summer camp field fun for everyone for a few days and forced me to fence this area off with electric. Google had made me aware of the risks of wild cherries but I have never had a horse interested in consuming all parts of fruit and tree (or any of it to be honest). That changed. Luckily the worst of it was a pushed over gatepost and a cleanout of the neighbour's tree (because yes of course you have an unlimited grass buffet but that cherry tree in the neighbour's yard is all you want in life) and some explosive diarrhea for a couple of days. Horses. Such stress free creatures. 

Name and shame. That's Buck stripping my apple tree of leaves. Also a no-no and now he's banned from this area too. If he had his way he'd just browse trees like a deer. It's the weirdest thing, grass is his least favorite food - give him a good tree or some random hedging and he's happy.

Exhibit C. Willow also features as one of his must have trees but is horse friendly. Actually scratch that, this is the tree Sophie managed to run head first into.

looping her into the tree associated shame spiral. She's got a VERY large lump on her forehead now that I'm told should shrink over time, but I'm not ready to show it on the internet. She looks like a really extreme Arabian or something.

Anyway. Despite their antics, my equine mowing crew is in high demand this year, so they have two more fields to graze. The next one is just two driveways down from the current, and actually one I leased many years ago. It is set up for horses and comes with a shelter and auto waterers (and the sole tree is fenced off - yay!), so I might be tempted to just leave them there overnights. We explored purchasing further land in the neighborhood last fall but the deal kind of fell apart and now I'm feeling like maybe it was meant to be. The ponies have more grazing than they can handle this year. We do a fall mow and tidy of the spaces as an extra thank you so everyone is happy. Now word has got around to all the people who bought little acreages in the area but didn't realize the amount of yard maintenance required if you don't actually own livestock or make hay - so I've got a waitlist :).

Mowing is such hard work though, is tired, wants hay now.

For the actual staycation G and I took some day trips to local spots, ate out a lot, and played tourist. There's a lovely island a short ferry ride away that's like stepping back in time 50 years. Every time we visit I am SO tempted to find a nice piece of land to purchase - the riding opportunities would be incredible there. Never mind I'd basically be at the end of the world as far as practical things like groceries...or internet.  You can get me away from my horses, but eyeing up all the quiet fields and unpaved roads for creating beach rides, hacking routes and cross country courses in my mind is a lifestyle. 

so pretty and peaceful

more local beach that I do need to add to bucket list rides one winter

As a very tourist-y bonus, our ferry rides turned into free whale watching tours. Seeing actual results of environmental protections in this lifetime made me kind of emotional, honestly. We saw too many whales to count and it was so incredible.

Next time I will bring the good camera. For now you'll just have to trust my cell phone pic of a far away whale and trust there was a whole pod of humpback whales and it was so amazing I didn't even think to take a picture.

Self improvement plans continue to progress this summer, which makes me incredibly happy. I had set myself some out of saddle riding goals (primarily just to regain lost cardio/balance/overall fitness but honestly I had hope that the scale might be a little friendlier as a bonus). It's been a super rough couple of years outside of horses and that took a mental and physical toll, unfortunately. But, I'm getting there. The scale is friendlier these days, I enjoy being more active again (fingers crossed my body continues to be onside - I feel superstitious about assuming and am still in the wildly appreciative stage) and keeping a healthy balance feels more attainable. The cob boys are going to be much bigger than Sophie and well able to carry an average sized rider, so I'm hopeful with that and my revived activity levels I can put the obsession with the scale to bed and just focus on being fit and healthy and enjoying riding.

They are already quite a bit bigger than Sophie. She still is the boss of everyone, it just looks more ridiculous now (and witchy mare faces make it impossible to line up anyone close to her for nice photos or direct comparisons lol) 

The hair! G says all horse 'haircuts' look dumb, and Buck *technically* belongs to him, so we're rocking the flow while I make vague threats with scissors and making G responsible for learning to braid one day.

Reggie also blessed by the hair gods, but I can't handle it and he gets tidied a little more.

Anyway, kind of a case of not too much excitement happening in this part of the woods, but almost all of it the past while being good things. 

Do you see the deer? This deer basically lives with us every summer and frequently puts my horse training goals to shame. Yes, that's her hanging out with the sprinkler running. The same sprinkler the boys are absolutely horrified by and cannot go within 200' of every.single.evening. (Reggie is also still wildly overwhelmed by the magic of how the ground IS WET HERE BUT IT WAS DRY OVER THERE every time I lead him over the newly watered ring lol)

Either the world's chillest deer, or my horses are not as domesticated as one would hope. Sadly, if they've learned anything from her it is the eating of trees and shrubs horses/deer should not like.

Upcoming, I do have a rescheduled groundwork clinic and camping trip for the boys in the calendar. It's at a different location than the usual, so yay for new adventures! Plus I have some more annual leave booked for other staycation adventures. I'm in a fun place mentally where I really miss riding goals and am refreshed and excited to get back at it soon, but I'm having so much fun with non horsey things this summer that my time still feels very well spent. Waiting a little longer for my body (and the cob boys! They're three next spring!) to be ready doesn't feel like too much of a hardship.

Why are we not surprised he thought the Dairy Queen burger would be 1. for him 2. an absolutely appropriate meal for him to eat. All of my horses are absolutely ridiculous pets (and I love them all)

Day Off

 It's been a bit of a hectic few weeks. Along with volunteering for the WE show and all the work that followed that, it's hay season and of course the yard and property maintenance is also in full swing. Plus I have an office job as well. G had a surgery that means no lifting for a while yet, so the stacking and moving of hay and a lot of the more labour intensive jobs around the place are on me this year. I've been having fun with those gym apps that tell you how many steps you took and how much you lifted in units of animals - a day last weekend was a black rhino, the weekend before one day was a hippo. G's favorite was the time I moved the equivalent of 3 manatees in an hour. I should hire a strong kid, and the temptation to hire a landscaping service was strong for a few days there, but that feels like losing :D One more hay load is incoming in 2 weeks and the vegetation is slowing down so soon I can feel like I won (and be set up until 2026.)

Sophie on mowing duty

I caved to exhaustion and pushed out my work travel day to this week, then took Thursday/Friday off to make a super long weekend.

I had a lot of things to do, but I bookmarked Saturday as MY day, and made sure to avoid any outside plans. I basically hung out with the horses in the morning, then I ended up auditing a clinic in the afternoon centered around how to ride the WE obstacles correctly and a recap of all the rules. If I was better prepared and more motivated I could have participated properly, but I really needed a day off. Walking through the course on foot with an obstacle by obstacle recap of how to ride them and the rules around them was surprisingly useful. An entire new discipline as a whole seems a bit daunting, particularly one that seems like it has a million ways to be DQ'd in competition, but if you break it into little pieces it starts to feel like something that could be doable.

Can see this guy maybe wanting to be a WE horse. He's deceptively quick and maneuverable and really able to sit back and use his hind end.

After a quick social hour with horsey friends camping there, I did a walk/run home through the trails and that in itself made my day...it's been literal years since that was a pain free possibility. While I look forward to being able to jog/run the whole thing again one day, it just felt so nice to be out there and not feel like I needed G on speed dial 'just in case'.

Reggie showing off his pre grooming self. The cob genes are slightly unfair, that shine and dapples make it look like I'm out grooming him daily and that's completely not the case. At least the mane and tail tell the true story ;)

In the evening I again just spent my time outdoors with the horses, doing a minimal amount of things. Everyone got a tidy up at some point last weekend which felt nice. It's been a shamefully long time since anyone got more than a quick dust off and some fly spray.

They care not for my attempts at cleanliness though

All in all, a perfect day. I'm still me and have far too much on the go and way too many projects pending, but all of those things aren't worth doing if I can't have a day to just enjoy life :)

Never fear, consistency not required. These two obviously remember our mounting block practices a few months ago. I'm piecing together the 'over' and 'step up' part to get them to line up properly, but coming up to me/the block is a great first step! Over time with these two I've learned it benefits me greatly to let whichever one I'm not planning on doing anything with tag along and be curious if they want to be - they learn almost perfectly from copying their friend and retain everything even without their buddy there. 

A Weekend And A Half

 It feels like I fit a week into a 3 day weekend. I have a horse show hangover without even riding a horse.

Our local club hosted another regional Working Equitation show this past weekend. In keeping with my promise to do better about volunteering (inspired by Emma) this is the weekend I keep the calendar clear for and donate all the time to. Last year I served as the judge’s scribe, but this year we had someone interested in getting their judging credentials so they were the obvious fit for that job.

The professional photographer couldn’t make it. I have a camera and I like taking pictures of horses, so could I take that on? I’m actually a little proud of myself for saying yes, because everything in me said that was a job way beyond my talents and comfort zone. As a way to keep the pressure off me, I suggested  I’d take pictures of everyone and if they like them, great, send our club a little donation. That way no one is under any obligation to sign up to buy anything if the results of my efforts weren’t great. 

Spoiler, the pictures turned out fine

If you’re a really long term reader you might remember “EC”. I think I called her that as a shorthand for “Eventing Coach” because that was her initial focus.  I boarded Bridget at her barn for a few years ago. When I switched to be able to work remotely, it unfortunately made no sense to keep living there during the week, so B and I moved home a few hours away and it was a very sad goodbye to EC. ANYWAY, there is relevance here because EC switched to dressage, then WE a few years ago and decided to bring some students up to our show. She’s also qualified to represent Canada in the world championships in Spain in 2026…the lady is seriously impressive (with Audrey! Do you remember Audrey, who I used to be lucky enough to take dressage lessons on?). I’d consider EC a friend at this point so it was a lot of fun to have her come visit and meet the boys, catch up on all the things and make fun future plans.

Anyway, back to me pretending to be a horse show photographer. This guy's eyes were super cool

The photography thing went fine, but I learned many lessons. Like I’ll never have enough memory cards, batteries, sunscreen, and water. A chair would have been a good addition too. First world problems, but local means I have lot lot of horsey friends and balancing the people visiting and chatting with focusing on taking and editing photos felt like a bit of a challenge at times. On the flip side, everyone competing came from Vancouver Island or the Sunshine Coast, so I didn't actually know the riders and needed a way of keeping track of who was who for photos. Also, offering to photograph EVERYONE seemed reasonable until I realized we had twice as many entries this year, plus like eventing, there are three phases over the weekend. So, a lot of people riding 3 times each, and a lot of pictures.

These two were goals

My biggest mistake though, was that I didn’t look ahead and really consider how long it would take to edit that many photos. I have a newfound appreciation for anyone doing the job for real. I think I ended up with 10000 photos to sort through, and I’ll be editing them well into this week. I think I've maybe pulled 25% of the riders photos off my camera at this point.

WE might not be my 'thing', but the dressage outfits were on point and much inspiration was gained :)

Lessons learned. But it was fun and I’d do it again next year!