Not long before moving from the suburbs to the country, our wee little Apple started talking about horseback riding. We held her off for a while as we didn’t even know where to begin with it, let alone the fact that I am (was) deathly allergic to horses. But since then, our equestrian has been born.
Once we made the move it was pretty hard to keep her away. Not only do our neighbours own a horse barn and we can see the horses out in the paddock from our front porch, but we are less than a kilometre from some amazing stables, Stratford-Fox Run. We first heard of them from a couple of teachers at our old school who board their horses there. So, we got in touch with them and started Apple off with a summer camp, to see if she even was able to ride. From the first day she has wanted to live at the stables.
From camp we went to lessons and now only a year and a half later, she is doing some in-house equestrian shows. We feel/fear her love of riding and jumping will take us to some shows out of house, but we are hoping to hold off on that for at least another year.
In school she has to do a project on fitness and when she first told her teacher she was going to be showcasing horseback riding, there was some question as to how much fitness was involved. Apple was quite convincing and explained to her teacher how there is stretching and posture and muscles used to stay on the horse involved. She was giving the go ahead and I was asked to capture her riding for her project.
As I don’t often shoot in horse arena’s there is a learning curve for sure. In the winter they aren’t as bright, adding to that it was quite a cloudy day. So, I think, not so bad for a first try and now I know what to do for next time, as I am sure there will be a next time.
And needless to say watching her ride so closely, I can see how much work it takes for both horse (this is actually a pony that Apple is riding) and rider to accomplish. We are definitely proud parents and on the good side, the more time I spend at the barns, the less my allergies act up.
And because we can’t ignore this handsome fella, meet Chubbs. He came sauntering over to see us after lessons were done. Nothing like a frolic in the snow for this guy.
Tags:
#farmhouse,
canter,
english ridng,
equestrian,
horseback riding,
horses,
jumping,
posting,
stables,
stratford-fox run,
trot
Today was race day for Hubby. I know I wanted to run the 10k this year, but since it was sold out when I went to get my ticket, I decided to go and photograph an amazing team instead.
Everything worked out in Hubby’s favour this morning. After our scorcher of a week last week, he was getting worried. Hubby does not fare well in heat. So when the clouds rolled in and the temperature stayed cool he pushed on. We met him at the 30km mark with a bottle of water, a towel and lots of noise makers. We got there really early so that we wouldn’t miss him, since the weather was so good we weren’t sure how fast he would be going. Two days ago he thought he would be lucky to come in on the 5 hour mark. When we saw him he was about ten minutes ahead of the 4hour pace bunny. He finished up at 3:56:51. An amazing time. We are so proud of him even if he is dying slowly on the couch right now.
We met a few people in our cheering section. One lady running needed a cell phone because she didn’t think she could keep going. Between me and the people she called she carried on. I am not sure, but I am wondering if she is the lady who collapsed in front of Hubby with only a kilometre to go. I sure hope not, I hope she got to finish.
I also met a lovely Mom and Dad cheering their son on. This was his first marathon. They were a great cheering section. He was running a few minutes behind Hubby. “Brodie from Boston”, we hope you got in a good time. Your parents were very proud. And I hope they found parking and made it to the finish line.
Categories:
Exercise,
Misc.
After a couple of blasé weeks on the workout front, I am happy to say I have started up again. Not full-tilt I will admit, but a slower start to help me keep going.
In addition to three walks of 2km, I was able to fit in two 3km runs. I also did a whack of gardening I had forgotten I had signed up for at school. Which was a workout alone with all the very tall weeds (my plot was the worst) I had to pull and then, haul all the way home in the wagon while hanging on to Apple. I also took the kids for a walk with the dog twice around the block (which is almost a km) , which is also a big deal since Apple apparently is the opposite of her Brother and LOVES to walk.
Not quite back to where I was, but I hope to include at least two strength training workouts next week and get my abs going again.
**disclaimer: I am in no way a Doctor or Physical Trainer. I am going to share with you my thoughts and ideas about how to get into shape again. I strongly advise consulting a medical professional prior to starting any workout routine as well as a professional trainer. I am in no way responsible for any injury you may sustain from trying any of my suggestions.
