More (Unexpected) Firsts

Baby horses are just so fun. Some days it feels like everything we do is some big first or big goal accomplished.

My husband was free to act as spotter today, so Sophie got tacked up once again and I thought we'd take ourselves down the road to the club grounds and do some longeing and groundwork. The stretch goal there was to maybe hop on in the round pen and walk around solo for a lap or two. Steering and whoa/go from the saddle are very sluggish and murky and there a few more distractions there so that seemed a reasonable stretch. 

Sadly, we got there and there were a number of trucks and trailers and activity and the round pen was in use. To be quite honest, I had every faith in Sophie being fine but I wasn't all that keen on an audience or distraction for myself and opted out of going. I was pretty disappointed.

G, being awesome, was like "Dont worry about it. Let's just go for a hike on the trail. You can get on if you want to, or not. It'll be more fun for all of us to get out for a walk, and trail miles for Sophie are always a win." 

Walking trails in a XC vest and tall boots isn't something I'd recommend, tho

This guy, he maybe missed a calling as a riding coach/horse trainer, lol. Or he's just pro level at talking me off the ledge ;)

Long story shorter, we walked up towards the gravel pit, about a 45 minute loop back to the barn. And...apparently the trucks were working late. Guess whose horse is fine with dump trucks and engine brakes? Mine :) What a good girl! 

Since she was so happy and chill, I hopped on while G continued to walk beside us (with a lead rope attached just in case!) Sophie was a star. She didn't even blink at carrying me along and the lead ended up just being a security blanket - my steering and whoa/go were adequate enough. G set us free for a little bit before I hopped off and gave her all the hugs and treats.

Pics again to prove it happened and everyone was happy ;)

Honestly, I probably only sat on her for 10 or 15 minutes total, before getting off and walking the rest of the way home. I'm a big believer in keeping it easy and fun (and ending while it still seems too good to be true!) I kind of feel like in some ways this was a pretty huge step from sitting on her earlier in the week in a stall and taking a few steps in the round pen a couple of days ago - she's a VERY good girl.

In other ways, well, I have been quite diligent about getting her out on the trail. She's confident and comfortable there, so I guess why not hop on? 

Anyway, first kind of sort of trail ride is in the books and was perfectly uneventful. First dump trucks drove past us. First awkward mountings from sketchy stumps and rocks - (probably the most important win and skill for a pony with a very short owner, lol) And she was absolutely fantastic for it all. I think she just loves getting out and doing stuff with us.

We'll keep playing for a couple more weeks, then Sophie is going to get time off to grow up a bit more.

Lucky Me

The other day, I was leading both ponies down the road, one on either side of me. Both were being perfectly behaved and happy to be out for an adventure. It was one of those "wow, life is great! I am so lucky" moments.

Until we got the the part where we cut through the farmer's market grounds with the big grassy field. I'll just put it out there - successfully leading 2 'starving' dry lotted ponies at a time across tall green grass is Expert Level Horsemanship And Pony Training. We're not quite there yet, lol.

My expedition with both ponies in tow was actually to test whether Sophie will be OK stalled at the fairgrounds by herself for a couple of hours. I have a clinic this weekend I'm taking her to, and I thought it would be nice to stick around after our session and audit a bit. So, I put her in a stall and took Bridget for a ride out of her line of sight. Not to worry, she screamed a couple of times for us, then seemed content hanging out and munching her hay. It might be a different story in a busier clinic environment, but I'm glad we tested it out and she had a good experience. I wouldn't expect her to be frantic or overly stressed, but she can be quite vocal and I don't want to distract everyone from their learning.

"Go away already! This hay is mine!" 

The remainder of our outings this past week were my standard trail rides on Bridget. We got out 3 times, and saw our first bear of the year up close. It was on a spot where the trail is quite narrow and close to the lake edge - the bear opted to run towards the lake, and I don't think any of us were pleased with him being sort of cornered there. We took our time and he got out ahead of us, only for us to catch up and startle him again a kilometer or so later. Poor bear by that point headed for the hills as fast as he could go, and the horses were feeling quite brave and proud of themselves! I was pretty grateful to be on Bridget. She told me in no uncertain terms that we needed to be Bear Aware and was very careful to kerp everyone safe.

No pictures of the bear as it really was a little dicey, but this picture from the following day shows what I think Bridget looked like when he was running away. 

Sophie's accomplishments for the week include successfully being at the show grounds 'alone', plus some further adventures in wearing tack and longeing like a grown up pony. She's giving me a lot of hope for the future. She's not the fanciest mover out there, but she's correct and decently balanced. She's naturally able to collect and extend and has a good awareness of where her feet are. I have hopes we won't have to teach her where to put her feet so she can canter (cough, cough, Bridget. We love you but please never again do I want to face that ;)

Sophie's balanced enough to canter right on the longe and even shorten and extend when she's feeling silly. To the left is harder for her, but she figured the lead out quickly and can now canter a circle or so before her balance starts to get iffy and I transition her to trot before the wacky lead changes can start. I have goals of helping her figure it all out on the ground/longe before anyone gets in the saddle, but we'll see. Right now it's me picking away one day at a time and my timing and experience is what it is.

Then best thing about this whole experience so far is that I have help handy when I need it, but so far I'm enjoying things and finding her really easy to work with. I want to learn and improve how I train and for me this is a very good way of doing so. 

Trail and Road Etiquette - What Do We Think?

Recently, with nicer riding weather here, there have been a ton of awareness type videos and posters being shared and distributed by our local equestrian community, mostly via facebook. Lots of guidelines for sharing the roads and trails, usually focusing on educating other users.

I think education is great. I think sharing roads and trails with everyone is great. Making everyone safer, also obviously a great thing. This website has some good tips and rules for sharing the road.

Seems reasonable?

I hate to say it though, but to me a lot of the equine-centric materials being distributed come across as entitled and honestly, unfair to other users. Ditto for some of my fellow riders, who I've seen in person being quite demanding of other users. Just one example, but I know people who ride three abreast down the middle of the road and expect traffic to wait for them. I guess they can do it, but it doesn't seem overly safe or like good PR for equestrians. I recently ran into a group of lovely ladies who had been told off by a rider whose horse was scared of their dogs, so thought the appropriate thing to do upon seeing me coming was to hide themselves and their dogs in the bushes next to the trail :D

Bear with me, I have a few thoughts on being a responsible and fair user of shared outdoor space:

- If I am taking my horse out in a multi use space, I think the respectful thing to do is ensure my horse is as prepared and safe as possible for that. I realize I am incredibly lucky to own Bridget, who is level headed in most situations. I'm doing my best to make Sophie just as solid, but it she doesn't turn out to be reliable, I will certainly be getting help and/or making decisions about when or if we share trails with other users. 

- I think it's unreasonable to expect the world to leave me alone in a big happy horse riding bubble. I'd expect pedestrians, trucks, cyclists, ATVs, and motorcycles to want to (politely) overtake me. I expect people to make mistakes and have bad days, for the weather to do crazy things, for strange situations to arise. My horse and I need to be ready for that, not just happy and safe in perfect circumstances.

All alone in our happy bubble...for now.

- Even though I *could* ride somewhere and there are no signs explicitly telling me not to, it doesn't mean I should ride there. I think I've mentioned before, there are some trails I simply don't ride. For example, the local mountain bikers put a ton of work into a few downhill spots and it seems very unfair for me to dig it up with horse hooves and risk damaging their bridges, etc. We also share our crown forests with active logging and resource interests - again, just because theoretically it's crown/public land, is it really a wise choice to ride through active areas during working hours and force the operators and drivers to shut down and wait for me?

Last year there was some facebook drama from equestrians upset at how busy the swimming beaches at a local lake...'their' lake access to be precise. I tend to keep riding past if people are there picnicking and swimming, it seems safer. The land is public, and it's only busy for a couple of months out of the year.

- Communicate. Let other users know your intentions, wave them past, smile, say hi. Thank them if they've stopped to let you pass on the trail or given you extra respect on the road. It's so easy to get into a zone and take things for granted.

I don't know, maybe some of the educational stuff is just trying to err way on the side of caution and be super safe by saying things like motorized vehicles shouldn't ever pass horses, bike riders need to stop and get off as you pass, etc. I feel like if I didn't have horses, though, I might be a little resentful of the lengths we ask others to go to just to share a trail.

Thoughts? :)

Day 9: Bridget Lives Here Too

Bridget has been neglected media wise, but she's still here being Best Pony and taking part in all the adventures. I'm just not as motivated to post updates of Bridget seeing the farrier, longeing, going for a ride, etc for you because she already knows her job and does it well. It's maybe not as exciting as baby horse adventures, but she's very much appreciated! I hope I never take her for granted.  In the past week we've gone out for some solo rides, had a spa day, and went swimming at the lake with Sophie. She also got put out to a summer grass field later last week and highly approves of that!

Bridget is more about wading than swimming, but was a good sport for leading her younger sister into the water.

we've been spoiled with lots of sunshine and warm temperatures.

Unimpressed, this seems like work.

Next week I'll pony the yellow pest off of her...to be honest though she prefers heading out solo so I'll keep making time for those rides too. It's not that she doesn't like Sophie, but I get the feeling she finds her a bit tiring.

Day 9 of Sophie boot camp consisted of a super rainy, cold day. It felt a little surreal that we were swimming the day before! So, both ponies just got a short period out to eat grass, plus a spa day and a short walk around the neighbourhood. Sophie tried on saddles and I think I have one that will do the trick for now. Sophie's energy levels were pretty low and she was perfectly behaved so I didn't feel bad about her kind of having a slack day.

I tried to tame manes, but Sophie's mane is even crazier than Bridget's and she's not fond of me pulling it (and I don't blame her). When they are that thick, it's not that easy to make it look nice with the thinning shears either. I'm not a huge fan of long manes on my horses (I love them on everyone else though) so I'm thinking I'll keep to a middle ground where I try to keep it tidy but it's not going to be perfectly pulled and neat for perfect braids or anything (kind of like Bridget's) Thank goodness I don't do hunters :D

I'm back at work today, so both ponies get a day off.  I'm returning home for further pony adventures tomorrow evening. I'm trying hard to stick to schedule as if S was at a 'real' trainer. Fingers crossed, week 1 felt like a success - I managed to keep up on chores for both ponies (picking paddocks is time consuming this time of year when they are out on bigger spaces), get them both out regularly, and still work and have a personal life.

Just Chillin

I had a pretty quiet weekend. I was barn sitting for Bridget's barn owners this past weekend, and it served as a friendly reminder that driving to and from the barn multiple times a day isn't really my thing. I lose the desire to ride when I've already been at the barn a couple of times already in the day. A big part of the joy I get from the horses is just caring for them and hanging out, so I was quite content, just not riding much!

Hanging out Saturday night with Bridget.

Anyway, it was a pretty quiet weekend riding wise...a couple of hacks around the neighbourhood and just a little bit of remembering how to dressage in the arena. I also had a good visit with Sophie, but again very low key.

Spring is here. Even the power line trails are looking rather epic right now.

Our clinic next weekend was cancelled, but I think we're going to trailer Sophie in with Bridget for an outing. That might actually be more fun, since it will be Sophie's first outing of 2019 baby pony training boot camp and expectations might have been a bit high thinking a clinic was a good idea.

She's always up for a visit! See you next week, Sophie :)

Spooky

I caught this creepy dude watching us from the bushes this weekend:

Can't decide if he's sort of cute or just incredibly creepy. I am sure Bridget gets a free pass the next time she spooks at a stump though...this thing is set a bit off the trail and has probably been watching us a good long while. I may or may not have let out a tiny scream when the light caught my eye just so and I turned around and saw it.

5 Days Of Riding: Western Games Day

I've got to admit, I was kind of nervous Saturday morning. I knew it was a pretty informal fun day and that I'd most likely enjoy myself, but lurking in the back of my mind were all the what if's, given this was a new thing to try and especially given Bridget's recent rambunctious behaviour. Confidence issues stink...my mind had taken a few "exciting" rides and turned it into a thing where galloping Bridget felt like it might not be safe anymore.

So cute, though.

I had to give myself a little pep talk, especially once I hopped on and B was once again spooking, scooting and generally looky and generally not steering and stopping as well as you might hope. These cobs are fun, but they're also quite quick and very powerful feeling when they're "on".

Scurry race. B was feeling ambitious.

And, it all worked out just fine. Better than fine, actually. Bridget actually won the keyhole and scurry races, which was more than slightly shocking given she's not what I'd call fast! I guess she does have a big stride though, and is pretty quick through turns.

Winner winner

A riding acquaintance wasn't having as much fun as me and needed to hop back on and finish on a good note, so I took the opportunity to call it a day and head for a quiet trail ride with her. I felt a little bad leaving halfway through because I appreciated the organization that went on to coordinate the event, but I think we've all been the person having a not so great experience and trail rides are always fun too.

This trail always makes me feel like I'm in some fantasy movie. The trees are huge and gorgeous and it's very peaceful.

We got back just in time for the first aid and wrapping clinic. Poor B was still not tired out and had a bit of a tough time standing for 2.5 hours of demos and talks, so I'm actually starting to wonder about her. We were out from 9am to 5pm, with about 4 hours of saddle time and she still was impatient and jumpy and spooky all the way home. Very, very unlike her.

Learning how to do a hock wrap.

At any rate, the wrapping clinic was good. I didn't do pony club or any kind of organized learning as a kid, so I often feel like there are gaps in my knowledge. Most of the things demo'd were familiar to me, but it was cool adding some additional tips and tricks from a pro groom. I tend to use boots for everything, so it was good practice to do shipping wraps and polos and have someone super experienced check them.

 All in all, it was a super long, but enjoyable day. It felt a little unreal to still have two more days of adventures planned before I had to return to work!

Weekend Happenings, 2019 Bridget Style

The last post ventured back to 2015, which was a fun time. But you know what? I'm  so glad I was brave enough to keep moving forward and change between then and now. I've got zero regrets about selling Ginger. I miss her, for sure, but she's doing so well with her new owner and it's a way better fit for everyone. I'm glad I kept Bridget, I'm glad I had the experiences at EC's barn that I did, and I'm glad everything led me to buying Sophie and reassessing my work and home life balance.

So, now that we've established how grateful I am to live the life I do, onwards to new adventures!

This past Friday, I thought it would be fun to take Bridget's little friend along with us on a ride. Bridget's friend, Lily, LOVED it. She's the best mini I've ever been around. My husband G likes bringing her because she's so easy and polite, so it's a win win. I want to buy Lily and keep her in my backyard :)

So fuzzy, so cute! Lily enjoying a little snack on the bluffs.

I'm not sure Bridget enjoyed the outing quite as much. Someone had A LOT of ants in her pants, and thought having Lily there meant the game was on and it was play time. She was generally being pushy and disagreeable to boot, because even Happy Forward Bridget is not happy to have anyone tell her what to do.

 It's got me thinking, she's been consistently a bit spicy for a few months now and has changed energy wise in a big way from last year.  I haven't been bothered because she seems happy and enthusiastic, which is a positive considering she was still kind of shut down and dull when we first came back.

Anyway, I'm not sure in the 5 years of Bridget I ever really needed to enforce the whole "stop means stop", "no you may not blow throw my half halt" "walk, don't jig" thing. Probably because the discussion was always about the go button! Even the past few months where she's been borderline getting worse I always in my mind have labelled her as lazy and so I let it slide thinking it was temporary - winter sillies, spring fever, too much good food, etc. I tend to redirect to canter work or other things requiring the energy, thinking I am being smart. In retrospect, I guess in her mind cantering when she offers equals Bridget being large and in charge!  Since it seems her energy is here to stay and  I apparently have been lax in setting boundaries, B now thinks it is cool to race everyone and go everywhere as quickly as possible whenever the mood strikes her. A long overdue chat was had and poor B's mind got a little boggled.

This hill is about 5km long and normally B slows down by the time we get to the top. Not so much lately - I have no idea where this energy and fitness is coming from - certainly not any dedicated efforts by me!

 Every form of forward shes offered until now has always been a good thing and rewarded. If you've been here a long time, you may remember Bridget Version 1.0 would slam on the brakes and refuse to move, even in walk. Gradually, we established walk, then trot, then canter and even gallop and even then the brakes always felt like they were stuck on a little.  In true pony form, I wonder if she's finally given up on napping and hiding behind the leg, and is now doing a 180 and electing to bring all her efforts to escaping out the front and gaining back her pony independence that way?

On our Friday ride it was also super insulting that her favorite person G was walking with such an obviously inferior pony IN FRONT OF US the whole way home. Oh, the tragedy of it all. Never mind that Lily and Bridget are besties in real life!

She's been getting a bit of extra alfalfa, perhaps the attitude comes from there? :)

Wow, never thought I'd be writing a semi serious post about installing brakes and dealing with a too forward Bridget, but here we are.

In other news, Ms Sophie was an absolute brat as well this weekend, and I'll recap that fun tomorrow.

For now, bear with me while I am the poster child for spoiled pony owners everywhere. My two are over here taking pony mare drama to new heights, and yes I'm that person who thinks it's just as amusing as it is annoying.

Trail Riding, Farriers, and Having an Actual Job Too

We had a beautiful sunny weekend. It remains unseasonably cold, but the sunshine and dry paddocks are a gift given our normally rainy and muddy spring weather.

The flip side of the sun and cold is that the outdoor arena remains snow covered and icy, and the footing isn't ideal right now in the indoor either. So, I haven't been doing much in the way of proper work with Bridget for the past few weeks. Both girls are shedding like crazy so I'm hopeful warmer temperatures and better riding conditions are coming again soon.

Bridget leading the way on the sunny section of road. The black mare on the left is only just 4 and already super solid - fingers crossed Sophie is half as good next spring!

 We've been hitting the trails a couple of times a week, but again, the shady areas are still quite icy, so it's mostly walking and letting Bridget pick her way carefully through. I'm grateful I don't have any big goals or shows this season...I do miss that and look forward to a return in a year or two, but it's really nice to just make the best of each day without any agendas and to not stress too much about us both being out of shape and out of practice with the spring show season rapidly approaching.

Same ride. It's still quite dark and frozen in the forest!

Across town at the full boarding barn, Sophie continues to be Sophie. Full of life, slightly sassy, impatient, opinionated, yet still so sweet and genuine.

Not Sophie, but how could I resist sharing this picture of Bridget and her adorable bestie? The winter paddocks were redone on Thursday and these two are pretty pleased that they now have a shared fenceline.

I'm learning to trim Sophie's feet thanks the guidance of a couple of more experienced mentors boarding there. One of the drawbacks of keeping horses in this town close to my home is being a ferry ride away from any regular professionals, so it's equally empowering and frightening to take on trimming her. I am learning so much and hope to eventually feel confident enough to do Bridget's in the interim as well. I'm lucky that Bridget is doing OK with the available care, so she's less of a priority than Sophie, who wasn't coping well.

Sophie showing us she has big girl teeth growing in too.

I do have access to an excellent farrier on southern coast, so at whatever point I move one or both ponies back to EC's to resume training and lessons I'll most likely be back to hiring professionals for everything. I think I can learn to do an adequate job, but I'll always defer to a trusted pro if one is available. I like to educate myself as much as I can so it's fun for me to learn to do a basic trim, but I very much like having resources available so I don't need to feel like I have to know everything.  Farrier J who frequents EC's barn is one of those excellent farriers we all wish we had, so it would be silly to not hire her!

I think the biggest benefit to all of this is that Sophie is currently learning a lot in regards to being saintly with her feet. I'm pretty much her worst nightmare as far as needing to be patient goes - it takes me longer to do one foot than could normally be expected for an entire trim. Pretty sure she'll never complain about the real farrier (or standing tied without anyone bothering her) ever again!

Skeptical that tying skills and patience are real things.

I'm heading back Monday morning for a short work week on the south coast. Home again late Wednesday night, so no barn time until Thursday evening...such is my standard winter schedule.  I know May is still a couple of months away, but now that I have my revised summer schedule planned and approved I'm beyond excited for May to arrive and to have 5 days a week with time to ride. I'd never complain about my current 4 day work week though! I feel a little guilty modifying it further for summer. But, I guess this is a good reminder that it never hurts to ask for what you want. My work was more than happy to accommodate my wishes to allow me time to  be a part time amateur horse trainer for the summer ;)

At least the winter sunrise ferry rides are always scenic.

Snow Week?

OK, it was fun when it was just a couple of days of snow, but now I'm reconsidering! We had another storm come in and bring yet more snow and I've been basically trapped at home for the last 24 hours, stressing about not being able to get to work and whether I really filled B's water bucket full enough on my last visit and whether she's drinking enough.

Frozen farm

More snow is predicted for later in the day and all day tomorrow, then again Thursday so I might as well just book vacation time because I don't think my work commute will be happening this week! The water bucket issue I will solve this afternoon, I hopefully have a plan to get some additional big buckets of warm water to her.

Been packing water to her using her grain bucket, which is inconvenient for me, and quite confusing for B!

I know the "real" winter places like to make fun of us out here, but seriously, we are wimps in the winter. I don't have heated buckets or really any winter strategy for the horses...typically we get a day or two of cold a handful of times mid winter and then it's warm again, so it's not a big deal. Also, having lived elsewhere I've got to say there's something different about the snow or road maintenance here because it snows and it basically becomes an instant sheet of ice on the roads.

Ice skating potential under the layer of snow. I stopped to take this picture on the road to the barn and my first attempt caught someone oncoming sliding off the road. I deleted the evidence because he was embarrassed (his truck is way bigger and better equipped than mine, lol) and also I'm nice like that ;)

The bad news is that even when I have been able to get to the barn, I haven't been able to ride much, so I'm really not in any way prepared for the clinic next weekend. I've never been a big believer in practicing for clinics because I'd rather just let the clinician see a normal day in the life, but this is taking things to a new extreme - it's been to icy to even safely walk down the road to get to the indoor the past week, too icy to safely ride at all, really.

B would still like to be entertained, please and thank you.

That being said, of course I went out yesterday morning for a 90 min ride on the trails and pretty much regretted the whole thing. The footing sucked and B was stir crazy and prancy and not being at all careful, so there where several times we were sliding up and down hills or really scrambling to keep footing. When I turned around to head back I opted for some of the more sheltered trails in the forest, but the wind suddenly got super crazy and there were snow heavy trees and branches cracking and falling all around us. Also, some odd howling noises around us at one point - the person I was with was like "Not what you're thinking! It's owls, definitely owls!' but I think we were both thinking "Wolves!" Obviously that didn't add any warm fuzzies to our adventure and the horses were getting pretty upset. It honestly felt like we were in some horror/fantasy movie (snowstorm, deep dark isolated forest, horseback, wolves?!), and not in a good way! Luckily, we all made it home safe and no "owls" made themselves known.  I feel better knowing I at least tried to give B a bit of an outing, but I'm not sure I'll be repeating that adventure soon.

Trying to look all innocent, was actually quite willing to ditch me and leave me to the wolves ;)

* I feel like I should explain the wolves - yes, we have them, yes there is a known pack in the area I ride. We hear them the odd time, and they're blamed for the odd person's pet disappearing, but generally speaking sightings are very rare and they keep to themselves and are not something any trail user should worry too much about.

Waking The Dragon

Bridget is pretty much the funniest and least enthusiastic workout buddy ever. She's pretty pissed off that I'd even consider her for the part, but sadly for her there are a few things going on necessitating the return of Bridget as my reluctant fitness pal:

- I'm in money saving mode and therefore not currently taking lessons at EC's. But, I want to keep in good riding shape for when I jump back into lessons.

Does this picture make her belly look big? ;) Heading out in the sunshine for a bareback ride - so good for my core and balance!

- Im feeling like there's a chance Sophie might mature smaller than expected. So, I need to lose weight ( I need to anyway, this is just extra incentive with a time sensitive deadline since I'd like to start her this summer)

14hh today at almost three years old...her siblings were apparently closer to 15hh, but I don't think she'll get there.

- My favorite exercise is hiking. Bears and cougars and the like (and weird creepy dudes) worry me. I'm getting less brave when I see wildlife on the trail and we don't currently have a dog.  I feel safer with another human. Or a Bridget!

B humoring me today.

- I did that thing and signed up for a clinic, so we both should probably should be at a moderate level of fitness.

A hike for me on Friday, with a pit stop for some longeing for Bridget.

A good thing about having B as a workout buddy is that no matter how tough you're finding it, B is always complaining more than you. Feeling unmotivated? No worries, B is way grumpier about doing the thing than you are. I actually find it quite amusing listening to her moaning and groaning, particularly as we're mostly just walking at this point :D

So hungry, she worked so hard you know.

The best part though, is when you're finished! You've never had a gym partner so proud of their efforts. B is pretty sure she kills every single workout ever, despite the fact that she's only put in the minimum effort the whole time :)

On our way to the indoor on Thursday night.

Home at dark on Sunday.

Tu Caballo Esta Loco

I had such a great vacation. We went to San Jose Del Cabo for a week since it's a nice short flight from Vancouver. It was very non exciting by traditional standards because I basically read books and slept for the entire week! While I am a little sad to have missed out on some of the fun adventures on offer, we've stayed in the area before so I did feel a little like I had checked a lot of things off the bucket list on previous trips. Mentally I just desperately needed a time out this time, and apparently my body agreed.

Sleepy time in paradise. I was in bed asleep by 9pm most nights and the earliest I got up was 7:30am  :o

Luckily for this blog, the one thing I did do was drag my butt out of bed (relatively) early one morning to go riding before it got too hot out. And it was an adventure, for sure!

I booked a 1 hour ride at the place across from our hotel, where I could see the horses were well fed and cared for. Actually, I have to say, even the horses the competing beach vendor guys trudge up and down the beach all day with looked happy and healthy, so that was pretty nice. We've travelled to some places where the animals don't enjoy the same standard of care we're used to here and I'm always a little nervous that I'm going to see something sad.

Beach horses looking for riders one afternoon

Anyway, having worked at a trail riding establishment in the distant past, I never, ever, admit to having any experience riding...because it's a 50/50 chance whether you're going to get the fun, well trained horse, or the difficult spoiled one that's kind of not working out but it's the only one left (and you did say you weren't a beginner, didn't you? ;) So, I quite happily popped on the placid looking Bailo ("I dance")

You'd think horse blogging = horse photo skills. Not true. Poor dude, he's maybe not traditionally handsome, but he's way cuter than my bad pictures portray. 

In an amazing stroke of luck, the other bookings didn't show, so it was just me and the guide.

I started to suspect things were going to be fun when we walked out the gate and immediately took off at a speedy trot up the busy main street. And, the previously sleepy looking Bailo turned into a little wannabe racehorse. Asking whether I was ok with cantering, we popped across the rather large road median like a tiny 2 stride bank complex. Up off the pavement (Why are curbs in Mexico always like minimum 2' high?), two strides over the grass, drop back down onto the road, lol. My "technique" must have met with approval, because next I was being asked if I wanted to race.

So, down to the beach. Where we trotted, cantered in place, and trotted some more. Bailo was feeling great, and in retrospect, knew something I didn't. He didn't walk, at all. There was a bit of a language barrier, but the guide definitely said "Bailo esta loco", with a shrug and a laugh "He's named Bailo because he dances! He's crazy, but he's fast!"

Beautiful beaches

If you're familiar with the riding culture there, you'll know that a dancing horse or one with a lot of energy and expression is considered a really nice horse in a lot of circles. And Bailo really is a fantastic horse. We raced on the beach numerous times, and I'm not sure I've ever gone that fast on a horse. My 3/4 TB mare might have come close for stride length, but that little guy was in a class of his own for acceleration. "The beach sand makes the horses strong and fast!" I was told. I had to laugh a little, because at home, beach sand just makes Bridget sad and slow(er) ;)

Estuary we rode through/around. My Spanish is sketchy, but the guide was awesome about teaching me the words i didnt know for all the animals and things we saw. I seem to have a permanent goal of getting a better grasp of the language. Languages aren't something I find super easy but I try :)

60 minutes later, I was shaky and dead tired.... galloping up and down those (surprisingly huge in places!) sand dunes, through the water, off and on gravel roads, it felt a lot like we had just completed the longest and most scenic XC run ever.

Water hazards ;)

These pictures all courtesy of my husband, who walked this part later in the day. We were too busy racing along here to take pics, lol

We met up with another group for the last few minutes home. A bit of my tack was a little askew, so the other guide was asking if everything was ok.

"Oh, it's great!" replied my guide, "But that horse is crazy, and the girl is too!" (I so wish I had a better grasp of the language, because I missed a lot of what followed, beyond the teasing of whether it was me or Bailo who wants to run so fast/is the craziest.)

Marina we rode by. There were camels and dolphins here too!

Poor Bailo by now was pretty fried, and so we cantered on the spot sideways the remainder of or way home. You'd think that might be frustrating or scary, but he actually felt quite safe and we just all carried on chatting and laughing while even the other horses pranced a little to let us know how much fun they were having too.

So, my expected sedate beach ride was anything but. Better yet, it was probably the most fun I've ever had on horseback. If I had a million dollars, I'd buy and ship that horse home and gallop around like an idiot all day. Or, maybe I'd just leave him be. Our sandy beach space and people wanting to randomly race me for the better part of an hour on horseback is pretty limited, and he seems to be living his best life as is :)