Trail riding anonymous

She stands up in front of the entire group and admits to her addiction.."I am Anna Sawicki and I have a trail riding problem, I can't get enough! "

Okay, so some people think I'm crazy, others couldnt' care a less about reading my horse dialogues and some think I have a problem. You know what I think, I'm a very lucky gal.

I don't need to lie down on some strangers couch for $100 per hour to pour out my problems. I just jump on my horse and find the nearest trail. No pills, no doctors..no headaches, just the smell of my horse and the sound of nature. Really, someone should bottle it up (no side effects included).

It was only two days ago when Nancy and I had a great four hour ride and today we topped our trail ride with five hours of riding. No bears this time, and no swimming, but we did offer to use our 2 horse-power to help a blueberry picking couple who managed to get their truck stuck in a ditch. We noticed them from afar and decided to ride on over incase they needed some help. But, by the time we got there, someone had already come along with much stronger horsepower to pull them out.

So after stopping at Nancy's for a short bit, Chelsea and I rode back to the barn in hopes to catch a few lessons happening with Carla and Lisa but no one was doing any lessons at the time.

Chelsea and I had a great lesson from Shelly last night though (gotta look like I know what I'm doing at the next show! haha)


When do we go riding again, well I bet it won't be too long ;)

Ride with the wind
www.equinenorth.net

It's the stuff dreams are made of..

There really is nothing like the outdoors on horseback in Northern Ontario bush during the summer...Today, Nancy Hack and myself (Anna Sawicki) and our two horses, CC and Chelsea Buns went on a 4 hour trail ride in the back boonies. We rode up and across the larder lake highway and down the highway a bit up to a sand pit that had a small pond. We took off our saddles and headed to the water. Well my horse didn't go in, but Nancy rode her horse in and cooled off!

After a small break and cooling off, we saddled up and headed on the trails and back towards home. The ride was nearly over when suddenly, CC pulls her head up high! She sees something and sure enough, there's a bear standing on it's hind feet checking us out in the tall grass!! Well, I age about 12 years in one nano-second! Then wonder what we should do as the bear was close enough to charge if she had cubs with her.

CC took over instantly! A real trooper, she decided I'll save mom (Nancy) and use Anna and Chelsea as bear bait. CC pushes us onto the road closer to the bear while she safely tucks herself her behind onto the side of the road, furthest from the bear!

In the meantime that CC is trying to feed me to the bear, Nancy starts talking real loud and I join in quickly and we put our horses at a trot. That seemed to work and we weren't bear bait afterall..so we continued our ride back home.

I rode back to Nancy's before heading back home for a drink of water as I was out and the heat was just crazy today! Then we headed back to the barn at a slow walk while Chelsea decided to eat every few steps. All I could think about on the way back to the barn is.."this is what dreams are made out of"..really..you should try it.
Ride with the wind
www.equinenorth.net

TPHC 2nd show - Photos

Here are a few photos submitted by Carla Vine during the English part of the TPHC show which was a great turn out! Please, if you have photos you'd like to submit, send them to annae@nt.net

If you are in this photo and want your name posted, please email it too annae@nt.net

Carla Vine on Romeo

More to come soon!

TPHC 2nd Horse Show

Today's TPHC Horse Show was successful once again. The English division had a great turn-out with up to 18 riders in some classes!

My mare, Chelsea was just awesome today! We placed two 6ths, a 5th, 4th, and a 3rd. Many of the riders did so well, Joanna, Carla and darn if names slip my mind! I had a great time and can't wait for the next show! Why is it though, that after a show, all I want to do is go to bed! haha.

Shelly Loach was our coach this time around ..thank you Shelly for a great Job. Also big thanks to Rena and Sharon..two hard-working volunteers for the western Division!

Sorry, I had no one to take pictures this time around. I know there are some of you who took pics out there..if you'd like to share, please send to < a href="mailto:annae@nt.net">annae@nt.net and I'll post them on the site.

Ride with the wind at:
www.equinenorth.net

And He Had a Dream -( Man rides his horse across Canada)

No one knows better about dreams coming true then Kimball Foord, the man riding across Canada, HORSEBACK! Kimball says he wants to cross our great nation the way they did 150 years ago and what better way to see it then at 6kph!

Kimball started from Guelph, Ontario, on May 6, 2006 and is heading west to finish in Vancouver, British Columbia, estimated to be sometime in the fall. His trusty ole riding partner, Cody, is a 7 year old American quarter horse. And a handsome fellow with a lot of character I might add!

On his way to Winterwood in Englehart, he met up with Dennis Peddie of Cougar Ridge Farms in Thornloe and he joined Kimball for a ways on his ride! I bet that was fun Dennis!

On June 14, 2006, Kimball made a pitstop at the very barn I board my horse, www.winterwood.info. Kimball and Cody will be resting their weary legs in the comfort of Winterwood with a great meal and some great company.

After my visit with Kimball and Cody, I am just green with envy! To be able to just say "ok Cody (his horse), that's it..let's ride across Canada and do it!

During my drive back home I kept thinking how I wished I could do something like that, but I just kept envisioning my horse ending up in a full 360 and into the ditch at the first transport going by at 100km! haha ..Not to mention all the things that get in the way to prevent me from just getting up and riding across Canada, like life..Kimball, you are a lucky individual..not only do you get to see most of Canada, and meet some great people, you get to do it by horseback!!

Ride with the wind...
Anna

TPHC 3rd Trail ride

Well today, June 11th, was the 3rd TPHC trail ride held out at Echo Lake in Earlton again, but in a different area. I missed the 2nd ride which I heard was full of excitement! ;)

No pictures to share from this ride, but there were 16 riders and it was an awesome ride. No mishaps..well except for a little unexpected detour ;). The weather started off kinda crappy with some showers and a bit cold, but it cleared and didn't rain at all during our ride.

We rode 3.5 hours over some great terrain. There were many steep hills so my girl sure did get her exercise. Carla Aultman had her new mare there. Not only does she look awesome, she was great on the trail.

We gathered together for well deserved snack while our horses munched on hay and rested their tired feet to talk about our ride.

Hey congrats to Dan Aitchison, he won the door prize!

See you all at the TPHC horse show next weekend!