Feeling Accomplished

Is it possible to have horse trailering PTSD? 

I went for so many years without owning a trailer, so despite my horses trailering well and us going on the odd adventure, trailering them was kind of A Big Thing. 

Despite many fantastic, fun filled adventures that I'm eternally grateful to have been invited along on, I feel like I also had more than my fair share of stressful travels.

Most recently, the borrowed trailer that stranded us far from home (and a tire shop) when it turned out the tires were out of date and prone to randomly exploding.

Prior to that, sucking up lesson and clinic costs when my ride share had a last minute change of plans and didn't go. That time my horses were 36 hours late arriving, with radio silence the whole time. The pro hauler who started not answering my calls the day before she needed was scheduled to pick my horses up from training. That time a friend's horse panicked in the trailer as I was loading mine, knocked her unconscious, and I ended up trying to be on the phone directing 911, keeping an eye on her, and trying to stop traffic to catch a loose horse on the highway, all while holding Bridget. That was fun, and probably not at all what you should do in such a situation.  

Plus, smaller things like needing to be on someone else's schedule and the stress involved with trying to adjust mine with theirs. Add in random vehicle breakdowns, trailers I was nervous about putting the horses in and me generally being a worrier at the best of times, and well, I knew it was going to take a bit before hauling the horses didn't feel like a big deal. 

Remember when my new trailer even had the resident deer interested? :)

Anyway, last night I looked out the window after work, and saw some rare sunshine interrupting our current 'Parade of Storms' (I don't know who the new Environment Canada media people are, but they are fully on board for drama - 'Atmospheric River' being my other favorite forecast from this week).  So it felt pretty freakin' cool to decide spur of the moment to trailer the horses to the ring and get a ride in.

 Better yet, anxiety levels were finally pretty non existent - I keep the trailer packed with everything I need, I know our truck, it's a local drive, and my girls both haul super well. So, I did all the driving myself, despite G being there, ready and able to help. Laugh at me if you want, but it's kind of a big deal for me - I've been practicing with the trailer empty forever and more recently, delaying adding horses to the plan due to a giant twisty hill with a narrow bridge at the bottom that stands between the horses and the club ground across town  :)

Actual bridge - was not worried about it at all until a well meaning friend was like "don't worry about the bridge" :D

Maybe hooking up and trailering my own horses without any pre planning or worry is not your standard big picture accomplishment, but I've been looking forward to it for so many years that it's a huge personal one.

What’s Old Is New Again

 I’m on a bit of a roll with the weekly updates!

I got the all clear to get back in the saddle, so that’s exactly what I did. Bridget had several outings this week, and Sophie got some too! 

Happy ears

Bridget and I, plus friends, spent a few evenings this week exploring the trails. I met friend S when we were about 10 (in other words, a very long time ago) and we both worked at a trail riding barn (child labour laws weren’t a thing, that’s how long ago ;). In my early 20’s I bought my house across the street from her current place with my first “real job”. I did a ton of work to it, then off I went in search of something bigger and better (in terms of life AND horsey acreage) Many life goals have been met but horsey acreage remains a dream, so a number of years later, here I am, back in the same town, riding the trails where it all started, with S, while I get the old place ready for horses again. It’s different, but the same, and as fun as always.

This used to be all forest - sad to see it go, but the ocean view is stunning now

Trying to get home before the street lights come on :)

I can’t say enough how grateful I always am for Bridget. She’s rock solid, but with enough opinions and energy to be super fun. She’s really a dream pony for trail riding in suburbia where the unexpected is kind of the rule. Plus, I guess I don’t really need the bigger horsey acreage after all - she survives on air and isn’t overly big on stretching her legs on her own time😁

G was working a 16hr shift -  sending him pics of us trail riding on the bluffs above may have been insensitive :D

Sophie got out for a walk one evening and a longe another as the daylight’s already fading too soon to ride both ponies after work. She did get her own outing to the arena, and I was pleasantly surprised with her. Due to me not feeling great, she hadn’t been trailered off property or even properly ridden for almost two weeks. She’s previously not done super well when there’s a gap like that, but aside from a little initial tenseness to start she settled in and did all the grown up pony things the best I could have hoped. We were stuck in a banana shape, so left circles weren’t as nice as I would have hoped, but for the most part she was soft and relaxed and willing to stretch to the contact. Leg yields to the wall are quite nice, spiral right is lovely, as mentioned left is a bit more of a struggle. More balance is coming in the transitions,  and giraffe antics have settled as she’s figured out her body again (she grew again this summer) Anyway, I’m pleased. We’ve got two lessons booked in a clinic two weekends from now and I’m looking forward to it. 

I should pull her mane. Step one towards anyone taking us seriously!

Friday nights out = meeting at the arena to ride. It’s fine, my friends are all horsey anyway.

I was hoping to capture the nice sunset but it got a bit dark 

It’s been a while since I mentioned how I’m doing - I don’t want to jinx it, but the “riding the reactive baby pony” butterflies are totally gone, and in fairness that’s probably a good part of why she’s been so much less spooky and “reactive baby pony” too. I did seek out some help with the anxiety in general, and the recent move has done a world of good as far as lowering stress levels...so yeah, while I will continue to work at it, I think I’m on a good path again.

Sorry for the novel...my tendency to be wordy is probably why I continue to blog rather than just post updates via instagram, lol

Hope you all had a good weekend too! 

Still Loving It

 PSA: You're going to get pretty tired of me saying how happy I am to have moved my ponies!

While the people at the other barn were lovely, it's just so cool to be sharing a place with one of my best friends. We grew up riding together and are pretty much on identical wavelengths on all things horses.

Yesterday afternoon's greenery, and B's ears

 I have zero worries about the horses being there. Not that I had huge worries at the other place, but self boarding and not living on site caused me anxiety. There was all the driving and worrying about getting there when I had to work early or late or the weather was bad, plus the unavoidable mix ups and missing things that go along with sharing a common storage space with many people.

Friend S has three horses of her own, lives on site, happily puts out morning hay nets for me (I get to sleep in if I want, for the first time in YEARS. It's weird!) and is out at the barn most of her free time. She's also one of those people who genuinely is happy, positive and motivated most of the time and that's contagious when it comes to smiles as well as riding plans. 

Hiding from the rain

That being said, frustratingly, my pony time was a little restricted this week - winter came out of nowhere and we had winter temperatures and the rainiest days in 3+ years (which is saying something, on the Wet Coast). I also managed to have a surprise health scare and needed a bit of a time out. Fun times! 

Not the exact scenario, but reflective of my medical appts last week ;)

 I still snuck out for a walking only ride on Bridget a couple of times. 

A trustworthy set of ears

At this stage, I'd like to say Sophie is pretty low risk, but she still has moments and it's not overly fair to ask the energetic baby to sedately walk an entire ride because I feel delicate. For the record, she has stepped up and looked after me before, but it requires a lot of try from her.  I like us to be on the same wavelength rather than asking her to accommodate me too many times in a row and risking her getting confused or frustrated about her job. Not to fear though, Sophie still got longed and had a couple of days of pasture turnout. We've got some upcoming clinics booked to keep us motivated too.

I need to get video. Because she's the actual cutest, she comes running in to say hi and tell me about her day the first time spots me or my truck anywhere. Bridget just gives the horsey equivalent of a casual wave from her pasture buffet ;)

We got a little bit of work done on my property this week, mostly just G brush cutting and mowing and me making plans for further improvements. I don't want to get my hopes up, but we saw the tenant packing boxes yesterday...maybe we'll move ourselves in too, sooner than we had planned? No plans to evict anyone since the rental market here is absolutely brutal and we'd feel terrible making someone homeless, but maybe packing boxes = alternate plans on the horizon? :)

B enjoying the all you can eat buffet - photo of her acknowledging my presence courtesy of a zoom lens, lol

Kind of A Clinic

 On the downside, my much anticipated trip was a no go this weekend, so no new saddle fitting or EC lessons for me. I'm going to try to set up lessons in a couple of weeks when my work schedule relaxes, and it sounds like the saddle fitter has a wide area she travels to so one of the upcoming visits to areas around me will likely work. All is not lost!

Sometimes we ride on the ferry, sometimes it is broken and then it's a chain reaction of side effects in our isolated town.  

On the plus side, there was a clinic at home, and while I was too late (and thrifty, after buying a trailer and planning for a new saddle the horse budget is tight) to sign up, I did go audit and volunteer to take photos. So that was fun. 

Sophie's boyfriend looking pretty cute

The really good decision I'm glad I made, though, was to load up Sophie with friend S's horses and have her hang out all of Sunday. I treated it as a practice show/clinic outing for her.

The clinican is a regular and he's great - you all probably know by now that I can get a little weird about riding in front of new people, particularly shows or clinics, but zero anxiety about it in this situation. He's kind of one of the gang at this point and the clinic is pretty relaxed, so it was fine for me to bring Sophie along and ride on the periphery (provided I gave the paying folks space and priority :)

<I'd insert Sophie pictures here, but did I take any of my own horses this weekend? no, of course not >

And, she was absolutely fine - a little aware of all the horses, people, and vehicles coming and going, but honestly the arena itself was pretty tame considering what it can be like when a few people are riding with less organization ;) She's still a bit looky about horses cantering towards her, or hearing them coming where she can't see them, but it's pretty easy to refocus her. I don't think she'd be happy in a crowded warmup yet, but we're light years from where we started and every horse was cause for distraction. She was very quick to settle and let the anxiety go, and I had zero moments of concern about there being any pony antics beyond my capabilities.

A previous barn friend she was happy to see again.

She was great in her stall, but she'd kind of had enough by the end of the day and was getting excessively dramatic and flirty with her neighbours. I moved her a couple of stalls away from everyone and there were feelings expressed for a while, but nothing too terrible.

All in all, a couple of very long horsey days. I managed to get some nice photos of everyone, plus I got to cheer on everyone's successes, learn a little for myself,  and give Sophie a bit of education too. So productive!

Some Things We've Seen Lately

 We're super spoiled here for trail riding - at the place I was boarding there was a nice lake about a 30 minute hack away, and tons of nice forested trails.

A typical scene

Moving where I have, I'm in a more residential area. When I had the horses at home years ago, I usually had to spend a bit of time on paved roads and sidewalks to get to the better riding. But, across the street at S's, she's built a lovely network of trails that directly access unlimited amounts of crown land. We could literally ride for weeks and never touch pavement.

I've been doing the odd neighborhood loop anyway, and it's somewhat amusing - Sophie happily walked everywhere through the forested part, through ditches, over bridges...but a fire hydrant and a storm drain almost had her pooping herself :) Civilization isn't something my two have seen a lot of, apparently. Bridget being Bridget, she's fine with everything, but the noise of the city bus driving past us had her looking twice.

Mostly, though, we've been hitting the new to us trails and enjoying some new scenery.

Look closely and you'll see some friends we took for a walk last night. They went ahead for a while, then hid in the bushes and let us pass, then popped out to follow us for a while longer. Bridget and her chestnut eared friend think they're big dogs and barely pay attention to them.

Friend S enjoying a spectacular view across to Vancouver Island.

600 privately owned waterfront acres that we have permission to ride on and rarely see anyone - just us and the wildlife. Just a little spoiled.

I'm terrible for not taking trail riding photos, which is a shame because our surroundings are stunning. Perhaps the different sights and new areas to explore will change that? I'll try!

All The Things

 What just happened?! I’ve gone from spending most of my riding time solo, to having some kind of social riding adventure organized nearly every day this week. Which, actually, is all sorts of fantastic and motivating.

One downside to riding with friends is we have so much to chat about we don’t get finished riding til dark

S and I have been good friends since we were kids, so this move to her place has been easy. I feel right at home and the transition for everyone has been seamless. In fact, it’s been so much fun we’re just going to make it a semi permanent arrangement and I’m going to stay indefinitely. My own place is right across the street and I still plan to move them there, but there’s plenty of work left to be done before it’s ready (if you hadn’t already guessed from the lack of barn progress updates this past month!) 

The girls might be happier here, there is a lot more grazing space

Bridget of course settled in as expected: located source of hay, had a nap, made friends with the over the fence neighbours later on her own time. Sophie of course doesn’t work like that at all at is sporting some interesting bite marks on her face, likely a result of bringing too much enthusiasm to the table. She’s not figured out keeping it low drama and having a respectful personal space bubble might earn her more friends, despite Bridget telling her quite clearly to behave herself. I have no idea why Bridget ever decided to take responsibility for raising Sophie right, but I 100% support her efforts :)

Cute temporary accommodations.

B has been out for a couple of nice trail rides this past week, and she was so HAPPY to get out there. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut of same old, same old, and forget how much horses like to see some different trail adventures and buddies now and then. So, that’s been wonderful - few things are better in this world than a nice trail ride on an enthusiastic Bridget pony, and we’re very spoiled for trail options right now. 

Sophie’s been surprisingly good too. Friend S has a ginormous trailer, so we’ve just been popping Sophie in hers and tagging along with them to the arena. Shockingly, she’s had zero drama surrounding that - not at all worried about the other horses, the different trailer, leaving Bridget at home, riding in a group. I’ve been able to hop on and have productive rides and she’s pretty much got right to work with minimal opinions. Who is this pony? 

Just chilling at the exhibition grounds and minding her own business.

In Sophie training updates, I’m still over here just trying to build strength and topline. She’s beautifully consistent in walk now - I have tons of adjustability and can pick up or give the reins without it affecting tempo or turning her into a giraffe. Trot is really solid again too, it’s mostly just the transitions where she loses balance a little and things can get funky. Still, it’s improving all the time. Today’s exercise was 15m to 20m and back spirals and she had some lovely moments when I got smart enough to use the leg yields to help set up the up and down transitions. You’ll still find me limiting most rides to less than 30 minutes - once I feel her starting to tire I give her a break, then go a little more so it’s me making the decision that we’re done, not her.

It’s been such a hot summer, everything bloomed and went to seed early. We’ve had cooler days lately which is a relief, riding and barn chores are much more bearable!

Mostly I’m just grateful the wild child of last winter seems to be on a long term hiatus - having a pony who shows up ready to work makes everything so much simpler and more fun. 

Bonus gratitude for changes resulting from last week’s sketchy situation resulting in nothing but better things for myself and my ponies...how lucky is that! 

Silver Linings

 Well, that week didn't go to plan...

A person directly involved in where I board went on a trip, got quite sick with Covid, then opted to travel all the way home three or four days later while obviously still sick. We got warning (second hand) a few hours before they got home. So, as you might guess, my faith in them doing the right thing and quarantining, letting people know their status, and taking precautions on site wasn't strong but I didn't want to overreact. 

However, my suspicions re: them not staying out of the barn and away from other people were confirmed immediately, so we've moved the horses out (hopefully temporarily) rather than stressing about a situation beyond our control. G's mom is in the hospital and we just can't mess around with this and not take it seriously. 

(Boarding is super fun, am I right?)

My place at home is still nowhere near ready, but I have a friend right across the street from my barn-to-be who was willing to take us in short term. I owe her a ton of gratitude for finding space for us on super short notice.

So, some of my ride plans will be put on hold as the horses are in a different area without such easy access to the usual local events and amenities. 

Silver linings, you ask? The ponies and I get an upgrade - her place is beautiful and we're getting spoiled there. Plus, she's been a great friend since we were kids, so it's just nice to have more of a reason to see each other.  Also, I have added impetus to get working on my barn again. Finally, lots of  'new' area trails to explore and a built in buddy to get out there with. 

So, an unexpected plot twist, but I think we're going to have fun for the next couple of weeks!

Slo-Coast Weekend Update

 After the go-go-go of last weekend and returning to work after a week off, this past weekend really needed to be a laid back one.

There are tons of upcoming clinic opportunities and events on the schedule, plus I need to arrange for EC to come here for a clinic (or me to travel there overnight) but I've currently got commitment issues and haven't organized or signed up for anything - I just want to slow the F down for a bit and keep a fairly open schedule.

Attempted glamour shots on Saturday, failed for the most part. She doesn't stand still long enough to stay in frame AND keep her ears up.

Sophie went trail riding and had a session on the longe last week, plus I rode at the arena on Saturday. Not quite the full fitness schedule I'm supposed to be keeping - especially when you consider my 'ride' was more Sophie serving as a mobile couch for socializing. Still, I think given her stress levels last weekend, I think there is value for both of us in revisiting the concept of things not being a big deal and some outings just being a chance to relax and have fun with friends.

Bridget's been out for a trail ride, but mostly the two ponies have just been enjoying extra field time. We've had basically no rain all summer, so the fields aren't doing great...in a way that's great for ponies, but it does mean I'll need to pull them off soon and wait for rain so the grass can recover - normally they can be out there until November-ish, so it's a bit sad this is the last week or two of the grass holding up now.

Bridget: "Nom nom nom" The most wonderful time of the year for her

I got more hay in the barn this weekend as well. The plan was to get enough to tide me over until we move the ponies 'home' this fall, but probably we shouldn't talk about the lack of progress there...I may be staying where I am longer than I think! There is just not enough time in the day to get it all done, and I've got a few projects pending I just haven't found time for yet. With the hot, dry weather affecting things we've also got to wait to run machinery there due to fire hazard, but I'm worried our fall rains will come all at once and turn things into a mud pit we also can't run machines in! Honestly, I haven't sorted a schedule beyond verbally discussing plans with the equipment operator for some point in the future and ordering the wood post and beam for the barn addition. Go me! ;)

Eating last years hay for dinner, because she likes it better than the $$$$ new stuff?

Pony Camp Part2

 By Sunday, the sleep deprivation was really starting to hit, along with some anxiety. I was returning to work the following day after a week off I really couldn't afford to take from a workload perspective, so I knew it was going to be tough.

So, despite the majority of my friends firmly encouraging me to tack up Sophie for a final lesson, I opted to do what felt right and brought in the reserve team - Ms Bridget. Life is too short, my ride time was later in the day and I really just wanted to have fun on the final day of my vacation rather than sit and worry over things out of my control.

 This might not put me in the best light, but I planned the weekend around having a vacation with horses included, rather than 'A Training Opportunity'. My lessons with EC work for me as far as being serious about this riding thing and I am quite happy with her methods, so in my mind this past weekend was more about just getting out there and having fun with friends - no pressure, no serious goals or expectations.

I'm entirely pleased that Sophie came along for the outing, travelled well, settled in reasonably well, and for the most part coped with a new and very busy environment. I took her on a trail ride, I had a lesson, I think she learned a lot, and the end result was a positive for her. So I was quite happy to leave it there - my hope was to simulate what she'd experience travelling to a show, but in a lower pressure situation for myself where it didn't matter how things went. Goal achieved.

Anyway, I know I don't need to defend my decisions here. It's all about enjoying the horses, celebrating the positives, and not taking it too seriously. I don't have the head space right now to tackle anything else.

Best pony

So, I had a super fun ride on Bridget. She was also feeling very spicy, but with B that just manifests itself in forward and some little dolphin bucks in canter. I basically told the clinician I just was there to have fun and she fully supported that plan after my ride the previous day :) She set up a very challenging pattern and gradually increased the difficulty. I really enjoyed it as it had all the components of a dressage test, but was more like a horsemanship pattern - lots of transitions coming up very quickly, and some poles, lateral work, and spirals thrown in for good measure.

I was losing B's left shoulder a little in the smaller canter circles and shoulder in, but nothing major, it's a fitness thing for sure. I am seriously impressed with how much she retains given I don't school anything regularly or make any concentrated effort to really keep her fit. Plus my fitness is really lacking - I wasn't stiff or sore, but I definitely was overheating with the hot weather and my cardio was suffering.  On the plus side, B was totally fine with the heat, and was again moving confidently throughout, which gives our working theory that firmer, more supportive footing is more to her liking some credence. Clinician was a huge fan of Bridget and her training, which was nice - B means a lot to me and  a product of my riding and decision making :)

With that, we had a nice pub lunch and another float in the river and then it was time to pack up and head home. Pony Camp 2021 was over far too quickly, but there's good news - we all had so much fun we're already planning for two 2022 camps. I'll arrange for pictures of us next time too :)

Pony Camp Part1

 Wow...that was a jam packed weekend. Guess who took photos of all the rest of the crew but didn't arrange for any of myself? That would be me! I'm so sorry, blog land!

A couple of google images of the area to give you the idea. They have more farmland and a way bigger equestrian community there than we do. Our mountains seem to start right at the ocean.

We went over to the Comox Valley for a weekend of camping and riding lessons and ended up with a crew of about 15 people and 17 horses there.  Pretty amazing turn out for our small little community of riders. We'd originally planned something a little further from home, but given the wildfire conditions in the rest of the province sticking close to home seemed a better choice. Besides, the Island is lovely, I always forget how nice more of a staycation can be!

My two travelled over like stars. It was pretty hot out but luckily we ended up on the upper deck of the ferry with a nice breeze flowing through for the horses. I was extra pleased with my two as we were parked behind a trailer with what the ferry workers assumed were more horses but were actually pigs. I noticed some of the adjacent horses weren't pleased with 90 minutes parked next to those smells and noises!

I started out so well, taking a picture of us getting on the ferry like a proper tourist 😁

I was extra grateful for my two when we dropped them off at the farm - they settled in to a shared paddock with zero drama and good thing, because G and I were late for an unrelated appointment up Island and needed to basically drop them and go, leaving them to their own devices for a couple of hours. Not ideal, but with all the other horsey ladies around I knew they'd be well looked after if needed.

Actual photo of the trails at the end of the road near the farm. They were all lovely like this, and included mounting blocks and trail maps at every intersection. I needed more time to explore!

Between the travel, the appointments, a quick hike in the forest, and a pub trip, Friday pretty much disappeared in a blur. We finished out back at the farm with an informative talk from a human/equine chiropractor. A lot of what he had to say and the exercises he demonstrated tied in nicely with my goals of improving Sophie's topline, so I'm interested in learning more.

Saturday morning came early....too early. Guess what getting back late and setting up your tent in the dark in the only free spot you see gets you? An unintended neighbour - the chicken coop, including multiple roosters, lol. Tricky little things were deadly silent in the dark, then rock concert decibels at the first hint of daylight.

I lazed about in a sleep deprived haze most of the morning watching lessons, took the ponies for a trail ride, then it was time to tack up Sophie for a lesson. Who...was absolutely wild. Uh oh. And it was HOT out so the poor thing was drenched in sweat just from stressing. I think I took for granted how good she was on our last road trip/lesson weekend, plus how good she's been this summer. I didn't think I needed to do a lot with her, and that's my mistake. Poor pony was absolutely overwhelmed with the atmosphere and was completely tuned out and a sweaty mess as soon as I pulled her out of her paddock.

OK, I know I said I didn't get any photos, but I did manage to snap this one of Sophie

I longed her, attempting to keep a quiet walk/trot with lots of direction changes and transitions to get her mind back for a good 30 minutes, but then it was time for my lesson far too soon. There was no freakin' way I was getting on the dragon. To give the clinician her due, she took one look and was like "go longe her, please don't get on, we'll just do ground work today if we have to. No big deal". Sophie, when stressed, goes into an interesting panic mode where there's a bit of 'fight' mode activated. It's really not pleasant, but also I know it's not 'her', if you know what I mean. So...there may have been an incident where she tripped on a cone while I was longeing because she was too busy gawking around, then got angry and tried to destroy said cone for getting in her way. Lovely, Sophie, lovely, way to scare the children. You really can't have any sort of pride when young horses are involved.

I did eventually end up getting on, but we just walked serpentines, poles, and figure eights, with lots of halt/walk transitions, because the urge to bolt and spook was VERY strong. She's not the type where you can burn off energy, she just gets more ramped up the faster you let her move, so a lesson in being patient and focused in the walk and finding some calm in the routine of the pattern was absolutely perfect for her on the day.

Walk felt similar to this at times. More leaping, less 4 beat. Tail/ears also representative of the weekend.

You might think I'd be incredibly disappointed with that, but I'm not. I didn't prepare her well by just assuming she'd be fine out there, plus she was legit overwhelmed and there's really nothing I could have done in the moment but take a big step back, support her and be proud of how hard she tried. She was shaking at times, poor thing, and when I got off post lesson she reverted back to fire breathing dragon. I'll take from that that I'm doing SOMETHING right and she's getting a good bit of confidence from her rider these days.

Also, winning for me. You're all aware I'm not the bravest of riders so to get on the keg of dynamite horse and trust that she was going to trust me enough to try out there was a big thing. Also, the instructor didn't give me a ton of feedback beyond assigning us exercises so I'm going to take that to mean I was doing an adequate job of managing my own mental demons and staying calm and confident in the moment.

Instructor lesson feedback: "Really good job on getting it done and giving the baby horse a good experience"

Actual river tubing area, again though, not my photo ;)

After that, a few drinks and a river floating expedition were in order. We were luckily just a five minute or so drive from a nice river - much needed given the crazy heatwave we were having, and I really needed a time out.

Then, SURPRISE! It was my birthday, which I thought was top secret, but the ladies surprised me with a cake and a mini party when we got back. So sweet of them. I was way too tired to party all night though, so off to bed (with earplugs ready this time!)

Long Weekends Part 2

 I’m so grateful to Previous Me for scheduling so much vacation time this summer. I’ve been off work again this week, enjoying the sunshine and plenty of pony time - definitely living the good life! . 

Sophie’s been hitting the trails more often than not - it’s just been so easy now that she’s so much more predictable in traffic. It’s also helped that I’m able to just hop on without longeing most days. I’ve got some thoughts brewing about why she’s so much easier these days - it’s definitely a summer vs winter thing, so I’m going to have to brainstorm ideas of how to carry this happy, easier version of S over into winter.

They love their forest paddock.

I’ve checked in with her in the ring as well, but it’s the same old basic things...going forward immediately is sometimes an issue, going forward and not being a llama also something we continue with. The forward thing is on me, when she was hot and bolt-y this past winter I was definitely shutting that down, the llama moments are just strength and balance. Progress is being made, we had a few up and down transitions last night that were lovely and balanced.

Throwback to Winter 2021 Sophie. Was “fun” to ride.

I continue to follow EC’s advice and am focusing on building up her strength and topline with lots of easy walking miles on a light contact too.

B striking a pose

I’ve started reaching out to get Sophie her “grown up” saddle. I’m hoping the County Epiphany model I tried and loved can be fitted to her. Ongoing saddle compromises haven’t been helping either of us out and I’m just feeling done with it. As with all things here, there will be travel involved to get to the fitter so I suspect this will be a longer than average process to coordinate. I joke that once it’s done it means Sophie is staying forever, but it’s kind of true...the saddle costs more than she did, lol.

Speaking of travel...surprise!...we’re off to pony camp for adults this weekend. There’s a group of us heading over to the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island first thing tomorrow morning and we have lots of fun things planned, including daily lessons, of course! I’m taking Bridget and Sophie and planning to camp too, so I’m pretty excited.