Adventures

 I've been busy since I last updated! 

We took Sophie to Vancouver Island for her big adventure last Friday. She was excellent for the trip. It's only about 20 minutes of driving on each side but the ferry is a solid 1.5hr journey. If you add in the time loading/unloading on the ferry and waiting at the terminal the horses are on the trailer about 3 hours. She normally hauls well, but I still never quite take it for granted and am ready for the unexpected.

She went into heat/full mare-y mare mode when she arrived, but that's why she's there - it's very hard for us here to get out and do a lot of different things and pony finds new things exciting and distracting. There's one outdoor venue we trailer to, one indoor, and generally the same horse or two to see at each and a fairly quiet and predictable routine. For more anxious and busy minded ponies like Sophie I think a little more exposure to the outside world is a good thing. 

It sounds like cowboy trainer is happy to drag her along to some of the events he goes to, so she'll have practice tying the trailer in a busy place and going in a warm up arena. It sounds like an upcoming adventure might be to a barrel race night, which, honestly, I am happy isn't me. Mostly, though, she's there to hit the trails and generally just get more miles in the real world - I'm not expecting to get back a pony with better flatwork or anything like that, hopefully just one that's a little more confident in new situations and ready to get out to a couple of shows or bigger clinics or group trail rides this year without finding it too stressful.

I'm not sure when we're picking her up - maybe as soon as 2 weeks, maybe as long as a month. It just depends on schedules and how the trainer feels things are going. Let's hope Sophie's the same good girl there that she always is and processes all the new things in a really positive way.

Bridget has been having a really tough time with Sophie gone. I'm not sure how I'll ever wean a foal - I felt horrible when we pulled in the driveway that evening and Bridget realized Sophie was not with us. Days later, I pull in the driveway and she is still looking for the trailer and Sophie. She's not super dramatic about it, just her quiet Bridget self saying hi to me then wandering off to whinny towards the driveway or my truck to check I didn't bring Sophie. It almost makes me feel more guilty! B never makes friends or overly cares what other horses do, so I half assumed she'd be relieved to have a break from managing Sophie (who is just the biggest pest ever).

Trail riding with friends

I miss Sophie too, but there is a lot to be said for feeding and mucking out one pony - especially Bridget. With them being in the same paddock for so long now I forgot just how easy B is. My husband clocked how neat and tidy Bridget keeps things and is ready to sell Sophie, lol. It's become undeniably obvious the big mess of holes and trampled poo we were faced with every morning is entirely of Sophie's making, along with the random destruction of items and the frequent bonus poo in the water tub. 

B's off for her own adventure in a couple of months, but for now we're just going to enjoy a week or three of quiet evening trail rides. I want to hit the ground running with Sophie when she gets back to continue the outings and positive progression with her, so this feels a little like the calm before the storm.