Jinxed It!

After my post about being so grateful that Ms Sophie ended up in my life, obviously the universe felt the need to humble me a little and my little mare was a bit of a jerk this morning. Babies - always keeping you guessing!

Here comes trouble.

Last year when I bought her, my coach really, really wanted to call her Sass. I've had a few sassy mares and didn't want to tempt fate. There are days where it's the perfect name for her, though!

"My friends have my brain over there somewhere"

Sophie forgot her brain out in the pasture with her friends, which was unfortunate. I'm not much of a fan of screaming ponies, and Sophie is definitely one to ramp up the behaviour if I engage it, so the easiest thing to do was walk away and wait for her brain to reinstall.

Pony had a temper tantrum to end all temper tantrums, while I went off to the pasture and said hi to the other horses,  then she gave up and settled and I came back and gave her a good grooming. For today, I thought we'd that a good enough win. I was tempted to do some groundwork and get her working a little, but reconsidered...even though it's not normally an issue, standing tied alone at the barn was really, really hard for her today and maybe I just need to respect that.

Being a baby is exhausting sometimes

I feel like as time goes on, I'm less likely to try to push things, and it's working just fine for me. I might be way off base, but when I watch the other horses in the herd with her the treatment is similar...none of them really engage her when she's being rude, but she's also not welcome to hang out with them if she's in that frame of mind. Being a very sociable pony, she figures it out pretty quick and calm and order is restored without anyone doing much of anything.

Go away, Banana Pest.

I've been reading up on the "less is more" concept with training horses, and also newer research showing popular theories about herd dominance are incorrect and outdated. I'm intrigued. I'm not a trainer, nor an expert by any means, but I'll post some of the things that struck me as useful and/or interesting later next week.

Anyway, enough with the deep thoughts.

Bridget was also feeling pretty sassy this morning and it resulted in a really fun ride!

I took advantage of how active she was feeling and was able to use some of that energy for good - we had quite respectable collections and lengthenings in trot and canter and even a couple of strides here and there where I was able to get her haunches in and shoulder coming around...I'm sure it was not recognizable by any dressage gurus as a pirouette canter, but the right feel was there and it was fun :D

Pouring rain today, but too cute to resist posting this one from last weekend.

Those of you who have been reading for a while know that the biggest problem I have with Bridget is getting enough energy coming from behind - she's often disinterested and behind the leg, and often feels underpowered even if she looks like she's really moving. So, the days she brings 110% are really treasured by me.

Bonus to not showing? No mane taming. It's natural state is quite...something.

Like with Sophie, I feel like taking the path of least resistance/celebrating the easy wins is creating some good changes in Bridget. (Lets be real though, there is no master plan to it, mostly I am just a lazy and non confrontational person ;) She's feeling very good and way more forward and agreeable than when I was putting pressure on us to move up the levels and be all serious about this dressage thing. No regrets on "retiring" her, because we're both happier now.

One Year On

Time flies...a year ago I was driving home from the worst show ever and really feeling sad and discouraged. I had made the decision to stop attempting to seriously compete in dressage with Bridget (for both of our mental well being) and was pretty down and out about that.

Tiny baby Sophie and her mama. (This story subtitled "Baby ponies make everything better" :)

While I was beyond excited to be bringing an almost 2 year old Sophie home from that same trip to Vancouver, it was bittersweet given my decision with Bridget. It felt like it was going to be forever until she could take over for Bridget and I could potentially start to get my riding goals back on track. I was second guessing my decision to buy a youngster rather than something I could just start riding.

Walking the pony everywhere last spring.

A year on? Zero regrets. Everything has worked out as it needed to. Yes, I very much miss my lessons and showing and having dressage and eventing related goals and a full schedule at a competition barn.

March 2018

March 2019. She's grown a little over 2 inches in the past year. Still looking like there's room for more, too!

My riding feels quite rusty these days. Despite still spending many hours a week in the saddle, lessons have been infrequent and I'm noticing it. But, now that I'm looking at starting Sophie in a few months and organizing appropriate coaching and schedules,  it's kind of surprising how quickly the year passed and how used to being independent I have become. I enjoy problem solving all things horses and so, while some of the technical aspects of my riding have been lost, I feel like I've made great improvements on the horsemanship side of the equation since I've had less of a support network and been forced to think for myself a little more.

So cute. So happy.

Of course, it helps that the pony I ended up with is Sophie. I'm so glad I took a chance and bought her sight unseen - she's got the most fantastic outlook on life, is plenty athletic, and I think has all the makings of my dream pony (minus the unfortunate palomino color, of course...I'm still not quite on board with it :)

I'm looking forward to many more years of Sophie, and no matter where this unexpected detour takes me, I don't think I'll ever have any regrets about purchasing this particular baby banana pony.

Small Wins - February/March

Keeping on with my new tradition of celebrating the small things, here are some recent things that made me happy!

March had so much sunshine. It was definitely appreciated after our long grey winter. G and I had take out dinner and watched the sunset here after I rode this Thursday. So beautiful!

- Recent adversity was a good reminder of how strong and determined I can be and that I need to be more confident in myself and being firm about setting boundaries. Also, that I have a good support network that I can and should utilize before things get so bad.

- Fitness and diet have suffered a little, but I have been getting lots of hiking and gardening done and so my yard and paddock maintenance has been A+. Basically I've been using any excuse to be outside in the sun, but I'm still super motivated to be fit and happy - particularly as I have a pony I'd like to back this fall!

Hiking has been stealing many hours from yoga and the gym. How could I be inside on days like this?

- Calling Sophie in the field now results in her leaving the herd and cantering up to me about 50% of the time. (The rest of the time she walks over) Either way, my inner Black Stallion loving child is delighted :)

- Overcame my worries about an unwanted confrontation and made some decisions about farrier care and boarding. (Of all things horsey, why is hoof care THE hot button topic? Like, it's important, but people don't seem to have nearly such strong opinions and feelings about vet care, nutrition, etc!?)

- Daylight Savings Time.

Daylight savings = trail riding after work!

- In my biased opinion, I think both ponies are looking good despite it being the time of year where they're shedding and muddy.

Joys of owning ponies: We're on month 2 of shedding season, and it still looks like Bridget has plenty of winter coat left.

- Website revamp. Been pondering it for months, and am glad I finally just got it done.

- Another work conference...oh boy do these put me outside my comfort zone. This past one I unexpectedly ended up demoing some things and answering questions from a fairly large group. And  I survived. This is relevant to horses because pretty much the only thing holding me back from doing the testing for my coaching certification is my anxiety about teaching and presenting a lesson plan to a panel of people. So, the more comfortable I can get presenting things confidently, the better!

- Mini hoof trimming clinic with Sophie and she was very patient. In general, her attention span is improving.

I'm generally not a fan of palomino coats, but Sophie's dapples almost make up for it :)

- Have been riding as much as I can, and Bridget came into spring surprisingly fit!

- Set a plan for Sophie's training. Signed up for a bunch of learning opportunities for myself in April too.

The past while ended up more about getting my mental well being back to a strong place and less about definitive progress with the ponies. I've been enjoying some downtime and the opportunity to spend more of my free time pursuing some of my other interests.  An increased horse focus is coming again soon though, and I'm feeling refreshed and ready. We have horsey activities scheduled every weekend in April, and of course I'm counting the weeks until Sophie boot camp!

B is ready and waiting! She lives to boss baby palomino ponies around :D

March Resources

A short one this month! I've been spending a lot of time outside and in the evenings, seem to have been reading books unrelated to horses. Thanks to all your input re: cameras I've temporarily(?) gone down the rabbit hole of all things photography.

- To start, here's an inspiring, feel good story.

- The Double Bridle: An Instrument of Understanding. From Eurodressage, a great in depth look at  history, use, and technique.

These are amazing and I want them. Holly Spagnola Design.

- Check out this blog post outlining exercises From The Queen of Cavalletti. Ingrid Klimke might just be my favorite rider, so I'm going to try these for sure.

- If you're showing in Canada this year it's time to review the 2019 Equestrian Canada rule changes! Here's a handy article from Horse Sport magazine outlining some of the changes that might impact you.

- 'Ride' the 1969 Badminton Cross Country course. You know you want to!

- The Mustang. Looks like it could be good!

- The Greatest Sports Story Never Told. Great article and I'm going to buy the book, because she sounds like a protagonist I could cheer for.  Unbreakable: The Woman Who Defied the Nazis in the World's Most Dangerous Horse Race by Richard Askwith

Baby Horse Goals

If time is limited I often just pop on Bridget bareback for trail rides and neighborhood explorations. I'm not the best rider in the world, so while I feel secure enough trail riding and doing basic arena work sans saddle, there are situations that leave me feeling a little vulnerable. Luckily, Bridget is the most responsible of ponies and while she's quite capable of throwing in a lot of silly, feel, good antics, she is rock solid when it comes to scary things and real world situations.

Best mare

Like last weekend when a lost(?) street sweeper found us. Early on a Saturday morning, on a very rural, only sort of paved road outside the city limits. Weird, right?

Cleaning the gravel road.

Bridget was like "Large truck coming behind us. Got this." Then "Why is the large truck creeping along behind us so slowly?" Finally, "Wait, that truck is weird. I think it is also throwing rocks everywhere!" And so, I finally listened, looked behind us and pulled her into the nearest driveway, which of course the dog that lives there took offense to. She waited, with big eyes and a tense body, for the truck to pass and watched it spit dust and gravel at our feet, while the dog ran and barked behind us. Then, situation averted, B happily left the driveway and the dog to follow along behind the street sweeper once the way was clear. I let out a big sigh of relief, because even though I trust her, sitting on her without a saddle in a potentially scary situation kind of left me more at her mercy than I might have liked.

Striking a dramatic pose the previous day.

I'm always grateful that Bridget comes with a ton of common sense and is not one to worry too much about life. Bridget came with the whole 'wait and think' attitude towards new and interesting situations, so I can't take much credit for her being so reasonable about them. 

It did get me thinking though, that I'd sure love for Sophie to learn to approach life with a similar mindset. One day, I'd love to be able to hop on her without a saddle, to make mistakes, to not be the best rider in the world, and to not need to worry too much about any of that. She's definitely a bit of a spicy pony, and much more inclined to react a bit randomly if she's unsure, but she's got a good brain in there too and wants to be a good girl, so I think it's doable.

Baby Banana Pony is getting dapples again.

Baby horse goal #1: There's no way you can ever show them everything, control the world around them, and never make a mistake. So, my most important priority in the near future is that I'd like to give Sophie the basic set of tools to handle new and unexpected situations confidently and successfully.

Such concepts start small, though. Currently she is learning that standing tied by herself is something she can do.

We were discussing some similar things this weekend, when someone stated that horses should not be allowed to have opinions on things. My thoughts were that I really want my horses to think for themselves and 'talk' to me and that I actually like it when they've got opinions on things, because I would do well to listen to them. Sometimes it's simply a training opportunity, sometimes it's very valid input...like Bridget with the street sweeping truck...I would have happily kept being the bad horsewoman texting on my phone without a care in the world until we were pelted with rocks, except Bridget very kindly let me know that while she was happy to continue to do her job and walk and share the road with the truck, this was also not a normal truck and that perhaps my input into the situation might be helpful  :) 

A Week In 36 Hours

I'm usually the most spoiled of people. My work schedule is adapted to allow me lots of time at my home a ferry ride away. Its the best of both worlds - a big(ger) city job, plus a west coast lifestyle and a home in one of the last areas that doesn't require you to be a multimillionaire. This past week, though, I had a number of projects on the go and only got a 36 hour weekend turn around at home.

Never fear, I still fit a surprising amount of horse time in! Since I was on the super early Saturday morning ferry I actually had 4 days worth of paddock cleaning done by the time I normally am just showing up at the barn.

Cloudy sunrise on the ferry

Bridget is loving her new and improved giant paddock, so I was half tempted to leave her, but I rode and am glad I did. Spring has sprung and the arena finally lost it's snow cover and we had a good ride. B feels weak and out of shape. Pretty much everything is happening on "vacation time" and not as sharp as I'd hope, but hey, that's my head space too.

B got sweaty so I walked her home and she posed for photos.

I'm grateful for a friend who randomly commented that B is looking really good, and that she's in impressive shape given our surprisingly wintery winter. It's nice to have an outside perspective, particularly as my friend's horse is naturally quite athletic and usually in far better shape than Bridget! I certainly wasn't pushing B at all and was doing a lot in walk, but I got in a zone and ended up working longer than the lessons also taking place. I was happy that we put in a solid 45min and B was still feeling good so I do think we're at a decent starting point to building back up. All those walking miles on the trail all winter honestly got boring to me, but they do help, I guess.

Bareback neighbourhood wandering on a sunny morning.

I'm all excited for spring, so I went home and spent the rest of the afternoon in the garden. I must be getting old, because I really love gardening now and every year it slowly takes over a bit more of my free time. Sneaky garden!

Spring is here...The grass in Bridget's winter paddock is getting greener every day!

Sunday, I rode Bridget again (just a light 45min walk/trot hack on the trail) and got her all set up for my work week ahead (only 3 days away this week, thank goodness). I ordered hay and stacked it, as well as grain for both girls. B eats practically nothing, but with Sophie returning to semi self board I need to stock up - she's got a tb metabolism and eats an incredible amount for a pony.

Growing baby! I really need to measure her again. The other weekend I was saying Bridget seemed smaller than I thought, but rather than Bridget shrinking, I think the more likely truth is that Sophie has grown and my reference points are all messed up :D

Sophie got just the one visit at her farm this week and some hoof trimming practice. Shes feeling a bit rude and sassy, but I'm OK with that...pony boot camp is coming soon and she'll have plenty to do this summer.

Educating Myself

April is going to be kind of fun, I think!

I kick off the first weekend of April auditing a Severin Pederson clinic. Sev is super positive and great with nervous riders and young horses. Since I'm in a baby horse training frame of mind, I'm sure I'm going to pick up some useful tips. I hope to take Sophie to one of his clinics later in the year when she's ready to go a little under saddle. Until then, I watch and I hopefully learn.

Bridget is glad I won't be interrupting her field time with such ambition.

The second weekend of April a barefoot trimming clinician is coming. I've booked a consult for myself and Sophie. Long term, I'm expecting to always use the available farrier, and I'm always open to shoes, but learning and practicing trimming is fun too and will hopefully alleviate my worries when there is not a farrier near to us.

So enthusiastic

The third weekend of April I signed up for a first aid/bandaging clinic. I'm pretty confident I know the basics, but a refresher is always good!

The last weekend of April, I'm planning to move Sophie to Bridget's barn. Yay!

Come on Sophie, let's go!

On the side, I've also signed up for some design courses once a week throughout April and May to (officially) benefit my work, but they will hopefully (unofficially) pay dividends down the road on this blog and the photos I post too.

And, never fear, my favorite person providing equine education is still available and I haven't given up lessons and showing forever. I plan on lessons with EC (my riding coach on the South Coast) making a return later in the summer after her busy competition season has slowed down and my budget is replenished. I'm crossing fingers she can help me get Sophie going in the fall, but even if Sophie is not ready, resuming lessons on Audrey would be good prep for me as well. Ideally, this time next year, I'd like to be planning Sophie's first summer of baby dressage shows and have her boarded with EC so I can take weekly lessons.

Fingers crossed she likes her future job

We're a month away from my new work schedule and a season of baby Sophie boot camp! Poor Bridget will be stuck in the role of babysitter, so expect lots of random outings for her this spring and summer because I'm pretty much going to sign her up for anything and everything available locally so she can drag Sophie with her.

I'm excited, because I actually love introducing babies to the world. It's the 4/5 year old 'why should I?' stage I dislike!

Environmentally Conscious

I do try to be!

Further to Emma's post, I thought I'd turn it into an informal blog hop and outline how I try to keep my horse's environmental impact to a minimum.

The area I live in is super green and environmentally conscious. It's a beautiful part of the world that has sadly seen more than it's fair share of destruction from the past century of resource based economics. The positive though, is that I think (I hope) we've learned from those mistakes and the research is showing changes made in my lifetime are adding up to things like returning fisheries stocks and forest cover.

This post brought to you by scenic pictures from last week's hiking adventures. This is the Pacific and as you can see we look at a lot of islands here rather than open ocean.

The local residents are unlike anywhere I've ever lived. I got called out by a stranger a couple of years ago for buying a plastic bottle of water, and we'd better not get started on my organic veggie farmer neighbour's opinion of those pressure treated fence posts I bought that one time.

While there are a few things I can do to minimize my horse's impact, there are others I kind of struggle with.

My least favorite walking trail because it seems to be always flooded and it is closest to our house so I have to start the walk in wet shoes. First world problems. It was very pretty this weekend, though.

Feed:

- I try to buy local hay whenever possible. It's cheaper, the farmer I buy from doesn't put any chemicals on it, and it hasn't been trucked for hundreds of miles. it comes with baling twine, though. I reuse bits of it for all the horsey hacks and repairs we all know and love. I use some in the garden to build  'trellises' for the peas and beans. The remainder goes back to the feed store for recycling, but I have to admit I'm in the dark as to what's actually done with it beyond that.

- Grain bags. I buy the stuff that's made on Vancouver Island and comes in 100% paper bags. I reuse the bags in the garden instead of landscape fabric and also re use them for my super thrifty stash of wood shavings from the local sawmill.

Bedding:

- I use fir shavings from the local mill, so they compost well for gardening and keep the manure pile small (vs cedar, which no one will take for their gardens and is better as a mulch). In the winter I am guilty of buying the pelleted wood bedding to mix in, and so although I use them sparingly, I have about 10 plastic bags from this winter that are currently enjoying a second life as garbage bags.

Dewormer:

- Like Emma, I try to keep it to a minimum. I have no clue what to do with the empty tubes, so I throw them in the trash. Bad me. I wonder if the place that takes expired human medications might be worth looking into?

Trail to the beach.

General Horse Gear:

- I have way too much, and after reading about how bad even synthetic fabric waste is in our world, I've been feeling pretty guilty. I've been giving away things I know other people need, and trying to buy good quality items that will last forever rather than cheap, replaceable stuff. I have much room for improvement, though...in general I previously purchased a lot more than I really needed.

Water:

- Every place I've ever boarded has been on a well. And so, it's second nature to be aware of what you consume and what is going into the soil. I'm thinking of setting up a rainwater collection in B's paddock...her lean to is attached to the barn and it's all metal roofing. If nothing else, it would save me hauling out the hose to fill her bucket a good part of the year :)

Beach and pier near my work.

General Horsekeeping Considerations:

- Sacrifice paddocks are my friend in the winter. There is no point in trashing the fields. Picking poop all winter to compost for spring and spread in the fall makes for happier fields too.

- I don't ride off the trail or on trails I might damage. I know that might sound weird, but given our terrain, erosion (especially in winter rains) is a thing. Given the large numbers of people out there mountain biking and hiking too I want to keep the trails nice and I want to keep horses welcome on them.

- Keeping Bridget's fields mowed and weed free. Not only helps the fields stay healthy, but helps curb the spread of said weeds and invasives. If left neglected, not only do they spread on their own accord but if Bridget eats the weeds and poops on the trail, boom, potential for spread there too.

- Participate and support local events like Trash Bash (we have riding club team that marks places in the backcountry to clean up)

- I have no idea if this was a good thing or not, but after reading about how in the UK a lot of synthetic footing from arenas is essentially classed as hazardous waste if you ever need to replace it, I've mentioned to our local groups that maybe we should explore that topic further before decisions are made regarding upgrading our existing sand footing.

Lake on my drive home. I had to stop for the rainbow! Off topic: the camera so I can have nicer pictures on this blog is coming! I had a last minute doubt or two about which to order so I decided to look at them in person when we are in the city next.

Just a Trail Horse

I'm pretty sure our arena is the last frozen, snow covered place in the entire region. That's both a good and a bad thing. Bad because Bridget's got energy to burn and is reverting to her pushy pony ways. I find it easier to problem solve those things in the arena where I have space to work on it. On the other hand, being forced out of the arena is a positive because Bridget is easily bored and I should get her out on the trails more than I do.

We got out a few times this past week. A couple of times solo, once with my husband hiking alongside, and once with an unexpectedly big group of people.

The ride with a bigger group was a bit of a challenge for many of the horses, Bridget included. Everyone has a different "normal" when they're out, so while some horses were used to the loose dogs accompanying us, some found that new and exciting. The mini that tagged along caused a few horses to look twice, and couple of the overexcited younger horses had a chain reaction effect on most of the others.

For us, we spend a lot of time hacking solo or in a small group, so B was a bit intimidated with all those other horses. (She's a funny thing...antisocial and independent so she's brave and happy on her own, but gets anxious if she feels crowded in a larger group) As a whole, there was some pretty big, chaotic energy going on, and the experience in handling that was varied.

B is a really solid citizen, and even though she didn't put a foot out of line, the feedback I was getting from her was that she was stressed and unhappy. She felt claustrophobic and wanted to be out in front, away from it all. Unfortunately circumstances meant we compromised on staying behind in our own space, but we still ended up waiting and being crowded and bumped more than she'd prefer. And so, I was super proud of her for listening, keeping a lid on it, and being the good girl she is. I love that she's cool with expressing her opinions, but trusts me enough to keep the conversation a two way one, even when the situation I've put her in isn't as fair to her as it should have been.

Second thought...Everyone who says "oh he's JUST a trail horse" or "I'm only a trail rider". Give yourself more credit! Beyond all the training they need to be solid citizens out there, I'm not sure there is any other riding activity where your horse is going to have to deal with quite so many random things, usually completely out of your control.

Whether it's wildlife, loose dogs that aren't horse savvy, other horses acting up in close quarters, people on motorbikes zipping by unexpectedly, trails being blocked, whatever. I take my job of keeping Bridget confident and happy very seriously and as much as we love the trails, it's the most common place we go where the normal expectations don't apply, usually either due to random bad luck or unintentionally ignorant shared trail users.

I'm glad we have a partnership that allows for us to successfully navigate it all, but I'm not kidding when I say there are days when hitting the trail is a far bigger challenge than eventing or dressage ever was or is for us.

Blog Hop: My Favorite Event

Thanks to 3DayAdventures for the great blog hop!

Participating in this feels a bit cheat-y since I evented B for about 2 and a half years at the lowest level, and all at venues within our province. I'm not sure I'm a 'real' eventer and certainly don't have a super long list of places to compare to! Still, I feel like the awesome venues and organizers here deserve a shout out, even if it's just from lowly old me!

I went to Rebecca Farm a couple of summers ago to cheer on my barnmates, and I loved it. It was a bucket list thing forever for me to compete there, and if I was more local I'd be making sure it happened. But when we finally drove out there the reality set in. While the venue is of course stunning and everyone loves it, the logistics for us to travel and show there are pretty challenging. It's a long way and a lot of $ for us coastal Canadians to get there!

So, my all time favorite event remains the Campbell Valley Horse Trials! This one is unique because it's actually held at a regional park located in Greater Vancouver. While there are equestrian trails and historic farm sites, it's not your typical eventing facility - there is no permanent stabling and no resident horses. The Metro Vancouver Parks website says the following:

"Sunlight-dappled forests, grassland vistas and wetlands make this regional park great habitat for wildlife, from songbirds to salmon to squirrels and more. The network of trails provide lovely routes for walkers to explore the variety of landscapes, the heritage features and a Nature House. Horse riding is also popular here."

If that description is anything to go by, horse riding is the afterthought :)

Part of the cross country area, which is a hay field too. Photo found here

To the best of my knowledge, there is only the one event a year put on by volunteers, and that's the only time of the year you can camp or keep horses in the park. It's a really lovely park and the volunteers do a fantastic job keeping the XC courses and corrals maintained.

Beautiful trails.Image from here.

Bridget appreciates her tent and grass filled pen, is less impressed with the neighbour behind.

The format is to have dressage on Friday, XC on Saturday, and show jumping on Sunday. So, a full three days. I enjoy the relaxed pace a lot more than the typical events that fit it all into 2 days. 

Show jumping is on grass, B always thinks that's pointless- fields are for grazing.

Camping and amenities are pretty rustic - there is just a big field to camp in. They organize porta potties and a food truck on site, so you can quite easily survive, but quite honestly the park is within a 10min drive of everything so there's no reason you can't head into Langley (a city in it's own right, and also a suburb of Vancouver) for a shower or a nice dinner.

A good part of the reason this one is my favorite is because it's pretty easy to convince my husband to come along and the proximity to everything combined with the easy schedule means we can usually fit in a dinner and movie night and a couple of fun outings elsewhere in the city. One year we went to an afternoon football game downtown after my early morning cross country time.

Our first event! I was sure I was going to die, B looks like she might be starting to figure it out. If I remember right that year we had refusals at the first and second jumps when she was like "Wait!What?" :)

My very favorite part of this event, though, is that pretty much everyone goes. The divisions are usually huge for our area and it's a lot of fun to chat and catch up with everyone you might not regularly see.

Finally, they don't have events, but they should. My favorite 'real' show grounds is TBird. They won me over with the hot showers and laundry even at the off season events we attend, and they won Bridget over with the lovely stalls, all rubber matted with huge banks of shavings included. The grounds are always immaculate and the service is amazing. Surprisingly, for the shows I attend, the fees still are in line with other local venues with far less in the way of amenities.

Actually, checking the schedule,  a person could theoretically attend both Campbell Valley and T-Bird's Summer Fort Classic 4* Grand Prix.

22 minute drive between the two is doable.

Sounds like a road trip to me!