The day the rains came

Luba and I travelled yesterday to Pontypool to spend a few days with our friends, the Wright-Woodhouse's.

Another hot travelling day (was 28C and humid by 9am). We hit the road by 7am. This time, I fed Luba her sloppy beet pulp breakfast with 2 oz of PnW, then gave her a dose of BCAA, another 10 oz of PnW. Seemed like a ton of elytes, but we were travelling almost 4 hours and I am trying to follow Gayle Ecker's recommendation of 4-6 oz per hour of trailering on a hot day (I am working my way up. 3 oz per hour this time). Also gave her 60cc of Herbs for Horses Ulcer Therapy Plus since she does not eat or drink well on the trailer.

We stopped in Napanee for gas. Luba looked calm, but did not want to drink. So I syringed about 6-10 syringes of water into her mouth and then she started to nibble on hay.

We arrived just before 11am and Olivia helped me set Luba up in a paddock just beside Grace and Seneca.  We have to walk through a cow pasture to get to the paddock. Luba spent most of the day watching the cows and making sure she could always see her new paddock neighbours.....

where the heck did the cows go?

I can see Grace and Seneca, but where are the cows? I know they are out there somewhere. Hmmm.

breakfast in the morning sun

I gave her 2 more ounces of PnW upon arrival. She did not drink right away, but had a nice big lemonade pee and then winked, so looks like she is also in heat. :)

Went with Chrystal to one of her massage appointments. She uses a lot of Masterson techniques on the horses. The fella she worked on is a regular client - a hunter/jumper she works on every 2 weeks. It is amazing how quickly he responded. He had a super sore back - really dropped when she palpated his back. But an hour later, he was feeling much better. Magical hands, Chrystal has!

Later in the afternoon, we went for a little ride in the Fleetwood Creek Conservation area, just down the road from the farm.  It was the perfect little ride to stretch out after the travelling. Luba was very happy to be going down the trail and boldly led a good part of the way.  She wanted a rest after the walk up the short steep hill and then was happy to move out again. I kept feeling her glutes and tried to be mindful of how forward she felt. It is great to have some hills to train on.

 I gave her another 4 oz of elyte and a dose of BCAA before we left and then 2 more oz of PnW with her supper. She drank when we got back from the ride and had another good pee, though it was not as clear as the one she had when we arrived.  She seemed like a B for cap refill before we went to bed. Not sure how much she is drinking, so will keep up with the electrolytes.

We spent the evening sitting outside, drinking sangria and eating Olivia's amazing humus with neighbour Tracy. Rain threatened, so we came in for a round of Trivial Pursuit. Did you know that Madonna's mother was born in Quebec?

Just as we went out to feed the ponies and tuck them in for the night, the rains came. Hallelujia!