Summer Clinic Campout

Volume 2 of our clinic campouts. I'm really liking the format for this point in my life. It's fun being 2025 me who just rolls in with a baby pony who's literally been out in a field for three months and is going to bring who knows what to the party. We just see where the week with the clinican takes us.

2026 equine happenings will probably look a whole lot more structured, but if I can I'd like to take a little of this current self forward with me - especially with horses there's a lot of opportunity in not being attached to a plan or a schedule.

Anyway, in keeping with 2025 me, the last clinic I went to was 3 months ago and that was also the last time I trailered horses anywhere.

So, Reggie was a little surprised when I loaded him into the trailer. Then, very surprised when it wasn't even a fire drill and the door closed we drove off to a farm about 45 minutes away. In keeping with our last clinic's fun, a few of us decided to camp on site. Reggie's neighbours this time were my good friend's two geldings and they all decided to be besties at first sight. Her two are older but the goofy gelding energy is strong in all of them and they instantly adopted Reggie into their bitey face stallion games mayhem.

He liked this a lot better than a stall

Making himself right at home

For our first lesson we just recapped what we learned 3 months ago. Reggie exceeded any and all expectations. I would have been totally fine with anything, my main goal with any of these outings is just for him to get out and about and have fun. Any learning or gains beyond that is a bonus. 

is suddenly looking like a grownup tho

Apparently though, time is not a real concept in Reggieville, because remembered 3 months ago like it was the day before, and even learned a few extra things since then.  I'm guessing rather than magic, that happened just by being handled fairly regularly this summer.  Our 45 minutes went by in a flash, but to recap, he's at some point learned how to longe walk/trot/halt/reverse very solidly. He does shoulder in along the rail, he does haunches in. I can send him away, I can ask him to come back. Turns on the forehand, turns on the haunches. The answer to anything you ask is "Yes!" and it happens immediately. He tricked a whole lot of people into thinking I'd been doing a ton of work, but I think the giveaways of how very green he is are there if you know where to look - it's a very fine line for me to keep the energy levels from spiraling over the top and the pony on task. I don't think he truly knows as much as it looks like (yet). He's very much just mirroring his handler and being an uber smart and sensitive little overachiever.  

His first night sleepover went well. My friend's geldings had a bigger pen to share and enough room to really run. Reggie's was a smaller space, but with room to move, so happy thundering hooves were heard playing well into the night :) That felt like a relief because at our last stay away we had outdoor stalls and by the third day he was getting stir crazy despite my best efforts at getting him out a lot.

my accommodations. 

For our second lesson, the antics of the previous night must have taken the edge off because he was pretty much exactly like the horse he is at home (spicy and a huge personality, but in a fun way). We did some modified walk trot patterns and WE type questions on the end of his lead and he was absolutely great. He's about the most bold and confident guy you'll ever meet, so he literally just wants to eat obstacles for lunch (or smash them, depending on how satisfying the noise is). So, with that conquered, it seemed an opportune time to think about next steps, ground driving in particular. He got to wear a saddle pad and a surcingle. I want to say it was the first time he'd had a girth on of any type. He's a sensitive guy who doesn't overly love things touching him unexpectedly, so again I had minimal expectations for anything. But again, he tried so hard for us. While he certainly needed some time to think on things, he happily walked and trotted around in his new wardrobe.

He feels very standard Welsh Cob - like the drama and reactions and feelings are high, but there is not a mean bone in his body. His brain always remains installed and available for direction, to the point you might wonder if he's really just having a bit fun with you. The saddle pad was for sure going to eat him, then .5 sec later he wanted to eat it instead, lol.

We've been in the middle of a drought and have some serious forest fires around, so rain was welcome, but oh my gosh did it ever start raining the second night. In retrospect, had I known how bad it was going to be I would have taken him home for the night. As it was, everyone else was planning on staying and G had the truck on a fishing trip, so poor Reggie just got a rainsheet and multiple apologies from me. His dislike of things touching him includes rain (and blankets) so he wasn't an overly happy camper. Luckily his new friends were much less spoiled and far more worldly and set a good example of horses functioning like horses. So, he resigned himself to life in the great outdoors. That didn't stop him from asking everyone he met to 1) take him home with them and 2) take off his blanket. It's amusing to me how many people got the memo and were like "OK so I know this sounds weird but I swear Reggie asked me to take his rainsheet off" :D

He fits Bridget's blankets already! I was a bit worried I didn't have anything for him, but I had one in the trailer from some long ago Bridget adventure. Can we also appreciate that he was OK with me putting a blanket on him? And despite some thoughts of removing/eating it, he left it alone all night? In my defense, our climate is mild and blanketing seemed like a problem for future, more mature Reggie, rather than the current situation with two destructive babies sharing a paddock and their own pony cottage ;)

Our third lesson was immediately the next morning and it was still monsooning. Reggie got his wish and I finally took the rainsheet off for our lesson but now the rain was touching him and he short circuited a little. He was really struggling with the blowing rain (honestly I wasn't a fan either), but hello, experience we needed to have. We again put the surcingle on, this time adding a second line clipped to the top ring. The clinician looked after that line while I looked after the other, playing around with letting it fall over his back or behind his back legs. Eventually I took on both, longeing on the circle with one line off the near side of his halter and one coming off the top off the surcingle. I liked that as a gentle way to introduce us both. I'm still just longeing as I normally would, but we both can get a feel for having an extra line around and no big deal if either of us loses the plot, I can drop the one connected to the surcingle with no risk. That line IS currently problematic for him but he's sensible enough about it that I'm feeling confident to keep going without a coach or helper present. Eventually when we're both comfortable I'll have a line on each side of a cavesson and do things 'correctly', but this felt like big steps towards ground driving and eventually riding.

sorry for the non exciting images - I had big plans and the nice camera with me but the weather was awful for our lessons and I didn't want to ask anyone to stand out in the rain to play photographer.

An added bonus to the absolutely miserable weather was that Reggie couldn't wait to hop on the trailer and go home. No loose horse PTSD or shares in Folgers coffee or a carrot farm required this time LOL. The downside to the miserable weather was that the highway had a tree fall on it and we were stuck in traffic at a standstill for 30 minutes or so while the crews came to clear it and restore the power. I won't pretend he was quiet to trailer or happy to wait - impatience is basically his middle name right now, so there was some pawing and carrying on back there. But, nothing overly silly and again the expectations for a 2 year old travelling without a friend to his second clinic ever are not high :)  Anyway, the delay just made getting home to a hot shower (and dry barn for Reggie) even sweeter. His buddy Buck was over the top excited to see him again. It's nice how they are still the absolute best of friends but not unmanageably herd bound. I love my mares but I do feel like geldings get the win for generally being more amenable to changing social situations.

reunited at home and some sunshine coming back

We've got another clinic tentatively scheduled in 2 months, making it mid October. I'm thinking if ground driving with Reggie is going well, we'll let Buck have a turn. 

let it be known I have now harrowed my arena because I have plans of actually doing some ground driving homework

Staycation

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

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

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

Happy vacation summer camp ponies

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

so pretty and peaceful

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Day Off

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

Sophie on mowing duty

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

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

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

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

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

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

They care not for my attempts at cleanliness though

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

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

A Weekend And A Half

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

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

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

Spoiler, the pictures turned out fine

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

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

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

These two were goals

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

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

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

Summer Plans Cont'd

There has been a bit of a shift in priorities in 2025. I mean, it's probably pretty obvious there hasn't been a ton of riding or Sophie related goals going on for one reason or another. It's been a bit of a conscious decision to focus on getting myself sorted and prioritize being in a better place mentally and physically. 

It took a while, but late in 2024, I finally got around to taking myself seriously and following up with a doctor until I got results.  I'm now finally back running (slowly and badly) and able to do almost all the things I used to do pain free. It's really nice to be able to confidently set fitness related goals again. I feel so much more like myself. 

The yellow pony got the memo about time off anyway. In 2025 we've done ulcer treatments, she had a muscle strain in her off hindquarter, and we needed a new saddle. Then, last weekend, she ran headfirst at full speed into a tree. The one tree in a 2 acre field. The only obstacle. She ended up with a banged up face and a several day nosebleed, which was worrying. A minor for a horse nosebleed is still a fair bit of blood - our vet jokes this is why she can't go back to cats and dogs, her tolerance for chaos and gore is is set far too high after years of horses.  Fingers crossed Sophie's on the mend now - still a bit quieter than normal but otherwise seeming herself.

Glad I saw it in real time because it would not have been on my radar as to how this resulted

The trunk of that big willow tree is what she ran into. No idea why that seemed like an idea with all the other space around.

I tentatively had hoped to be back in the saddle for a lesson bootcamp next weekend with my old coach EC, but with the Tree Incident that's not going to happen. We'll have a catch up anyway - it's almost to the point we can start making plans for the boys and I'm very excited to have her on board for that.

As for the boys, they're very much themselves. They feel Very Large all the sudden. People with normal sized horses will laugh at me, but the last vet visit they weighed in at about 900 pounds each and my mind was blown. I think between Sophie and Bridget my default normal sized horse is scaled something like 850-900lbs and 14 to 14.2hh, so the 'babies' being bigger than that already was a moment :D I'd be shocked if either of them got over 15hh at the end of the day, but at 2 and a half years old I'm sure they both still have a lot of filling out to do. I'll be scaling up for sure!

Identifies as a giraffe

Random picture where I was shocked at how low the overhang suddenly looks in relation to the pony (it is 7', so it's just a funky camera angle... but still)

Tolerates being groomed but his friend LOVES a good spa day and tries to barge in. We reached an agreement where Reggie is entertained by holding the dressage whip and Buck respects out personal space.

I've got another weekend clinic spot booked mid July with our visiting clinician and the plan is to trailer in each day with Reggie. I'm really looking forward to it, it's a great bunch of people and a lovely positive atmosphere.

Independent trailer loading practice

I best bring a Folgers coffee can to the clinic anyway ;)

Between then and now, I've been drafted to be the photographer for a regional working equitation show. Exciting, but giving me a bit of imposter syndrome anxiety. This is not something I even pretend to do professionally, but equally it's a smaller show, I'm doing them a favor by stepping in, and it should be a fun opportunity.

This Time of Year

 Just some photos for you this week. I did have some adventures planned this weekend but the weather felt disagreeable and there's always another day.  After being spoiled with a cool and damp spring, summer suddenly arrived in the form of a very hot and humid few days. Everyone (ponies included) was melting. The humans were additionally sunburned and cranky.

Sophie also cranky. They spent Friday mowing across the street and she makes it A Big Deal every time. Mares, like why?  Luckily it is a big area and she gets tired of chasing them after a few initial laps. There is a natural ditch/hedge dividing it into two, so normally the boys stay on whatever side she's not occupying. 

Why not just leave her at home and save the drama, you ask? Because with true horse logic she HATES them but also is convinced she cannot survive with a city street between her and them. If we're measuring distances them across the street would technically be closer than their home grazing arrangements, but Sophie logic doesn't always logic:)

Sophie is normally the reason for the action shots of the boys tho ;)

"She sees us! Retreat!"

The vibe at home where they have their own space is much more chill. They're still pretty playful, but the roughhousing is getting less and less and they're acting more and more like grownup horses. Kind of sad in a way, but also not destroying everything they touch is nice.

This used to be part of my front lawn, but who wants to mow an extra half acre when you've got horses?

This time of year the vegetation is completely out of control.  I think in a perfect world we'd be mowing and weedeating twice a week but I don't have time for that.

My new coworker is so funny, she's like "I moved here last spring and thought everything looked so unkept and I was really judgey about people's yards and gardens. Now half my yard was been taken over by blackberries and I can't keep up and I think might just let it be wild"

Lucky for me welsh cobs are not fussy eaters and are not averse to trimming hedges and fence lines back, plus all those weeds and plants the books assure you horses don't touch.

Everyone had siesta afternoons this weekend. The boys were sweating just grazing in the field. I did get quite a few yard projects completed, but aside from the normal mowing and garden maintenance, it was mostly things that will be more exciting come winter (floodlights for the paddocks, a bunch of drainage pipe added, a few truckloads of gravel spread in the paddocks and some fencing replaced. When I put it like that it sounds busier than it felt!).