Sunshine, Pony Trims & A Long-Overdue Ride

A sunny sunrise greeted me this morning, although every window was fogged over with dew when I woke at 6:30. I somehow managed to fall back into a restless sleep until 8:30, when I finally got up, made a coffee, and published Friday's vacation post.

Happy birthday to Dale as well as Uncle Ron's 80th today! XOXO

S was up making his own coffee and hitting Big Brown. Matt joined him, while Shaina stayed in bed with a migraine. I had a headache myself, although thankfully nowhere near what she was dealing with. We visited for a bit before I headed outside at 10 to let the horses out.

S gave himself a little trim at his own personal barber shop before heading back to the gate repairs. Matt helped him there and then headed out to the hay field to practice his golf shots. I'm sure hitting golf balls out there was a good way to challenge his skills!

I put side pork on for brunch after first doing some serious photo housekeeping. I needed to delete enough photos to make room for the latest update, which is always a painful task when you've accumulated thousands of pictures you don't want to part with.

Lunch was delayed while S moved the church tiles around and graded the area, with Matt supervising—or at least watching on. Shaina was back in bed trying to shake her headache, while B waited for the Paetz's to drop Clover off.

Eventually everyone arrived and we finally got to eat.

Then the afternoon turned into pony maintenance day.

B caught Jimmy so she could trim his feet, while Shaina bravely got up despite her headache, caught Mac, and took him inside. S returned to grading the road, and Matt helped me catch Hank.

Of course, Hank decided to be a little rascal today.

Eventually I got him caught, with Matt running in to get Shaina some water after she became sick. I tied Mac up at the hitching post, and between working on Jimmy's feet, we managed to get Hank trimmed too.

I was the official head-holder and treat dispenser, while B did the back-breaking work on the short little fellow. It's definitely a two-person job when you're working that close to the ground!

Shaina and Matt headed home around 1:30, while B and I finished up with the horses. She and Clover headed to town around 3:30.

S had finished the grading, so he and I met on the deck for a cold drink in the 23°C sunshine. It felt pretty darn good.

I decided it was time to give the house paddock a rest and merge the herd, so we opened things up and let everyone move into the middle and far paddocks together.

And wouldn't you know it—easy peasy herd merge.

After all the worry about how the herd would behave, they simply wandered off together as though they'd been doing it forever. I'll happily take an easy horse decision when one comes along!

S settled in to watch football, while I hoped a hot tub might help my headache. I headed out and he joined me soon after. The sun was shining brightly, but the temperature was comfortable and the soak felt wonderful.

Back inside, S returned to his football while I showered and worked on the blog.

B returned around 6:30 with Clover and encouraged me to go riding. I didn't need much convincing. I got changed and headed out, and B had already caught Switch.

We had a lovely ride through the winery, something we haven't done in quite a while with the new owners and their dogs. It was so nice to be back over there again. The skies did however look like rain may come.

I came in for BBQ salmon burgers S had made while B took the horses back to their paddocks and fed everyone. She discovered Beibs was lame, so she caught him while I helped carry the feed tubs back in.

Once everyone was settled, Clover, Harley and I started a new show, Sterling Point, set around the Muskoka lakes in Ontario. B soaked Beibs' foot while eating her supper before heading home with Clover just before 9.

We settled in to watch another Bear Grylls before S nodded off, and I went back to Sterling Point. Outside, the winds had picked up considerably, and around 10 p.m. the rain started. It came down steadily for a while, leaving us with another couple of tenths by the time the night settled in. After such a beautiful sunny day, the weather certainly wasn't finished with us yet!

After the heat, Stampede, vacation, catching up, and a week of being pulled in a dozen directions, today felt like a return to the good stuff—horses, gardens, sunshine, a long-overdue ride, and a quiet evening at home.

Sometimes a 23°C Sunday with a good ride is exactly what you need.