McDonald's Run Line Up

OK.  McDonald's Run is in two days (near Norton NB), and here are the details.
Day one is a "CTR" 30-35 miles at an average of 6 mph.  Doesn't sound like much...try it.  You will be SURPRISED at how fast you have to go (because there are places you have to walk) in order to average 6mph.

We have 5 horses/riders entered in this ride.  We have learned from past experiences that five in one group riding a CTR is too many, so we have broken out into two teams.

  TEAM ONE

Troy/Wind.  Troy will be mentoring/sponsoring Marie and Willow in this ride.  This will be Marie's first CTR!  (Will add a picture of Marie and Willow as soon as I can find one).  Their strategy will probably be to go fairly fast for the first hour or two...neither horse is an Arab and they will probably want to take advantage of the cooler weather in the morning.

TEAM TWO 

Team Two will be lead by the well-experienced Spirit.  He will be ridden by Shelley.  This is Shelley's first CTR!

Kathleen and Ali are also part of Team Two.  This diabolical duo just continue to do better and better.  Ali's heart rate recoveries have been very impressive in training rides lately.

 And the final members of Team Two are Paris and Lynn.  This is Paris' first 30 and this team's primary goal will be to get her through it safely and enjoyably....we want her to have fun and enjoy doing these rides for many years to come!

Day two is a Judged Pleasure ride.  These rides have no specific speed that needs to be obtained and are about half the distance of the CTR.  There is no "prize" for going fast.  The judging for these rides is based on things like clean and appropriate tack, trail etiquette, etc.  The plan is that Wind will be ridden by Tammy and Willow ridden by Carrilee.  The rest of us will keep the mounts we had the day before and just put some slower miles on our buddy's before loading them up and bringing them home.
We will report back after the ride to let you know how it all went....Lots of times strategy and reality are  ummm....different!

McDonald's Run...Coming UP!

Thought I would put together a little slideshow of some video and pictures we had from last year at the ride site of McDonald's Run (Go pro fogged up on me so I didn't get much trail at this ride) just to help get everyone in the mood for a fun weekend ahead.  I also found a new iphone slide show that lets you do neat things with your pictures, so that's what I used to put this together. ( WARNING: If you are not an ACTRA -Atlantic Canada Trail Riding Association -  member, you may find this video a bit boring...not much action...so suit yourself!)   Here's a little stroll down memory lane....

Marie and Willow's Adventures in Conditioning for Ride Season

From Christmas day 2012 to sometime in June 2013, this shows a little of what both Marie and Willow have been doing to make sure they're ready for ride season. Marie's cross-training is skiing, snowboarding, soccer, karate, running, haying and helping to take care of the horses. Willow's is learning new skills such as pulling a sled and walking a teeter-totter as well as lots of walking with Marie's Mama, cantering in the fields with Marie, riding with bicycles and realizing that she does like swimming now.

The song is Colin James' Ride and Roll. 

Marie has tons of people she appreciates for supporting her adventures: her Dad & brother & Mama, Mister, her friend Nicole who rides with her, her Nan who thinks she's spectacular, Hants Shore Karate Club, and all the crew at Tidal Treasures Stables who help in so many wonderful ways!

Setting up Camp at Ride Site - Parrsboro NS, 2013

There's a lot of work that goes into setting up a camp when you arrive at a ride site.  At our last ride, we took some pictures and videos of fellow riders setting up camp.  This ride is called the Glooscap Ride. It is held in Parrsboro, NS, hosted by Bertha and Gary Harrison.  It is a beautiful ride site and a beautiful ride.

This is Bertha Harrison...our host!  She's a lot of fun and pretending to be stressed as there is a LOT of work for Ride Managers and a lot of loose ends to keep track of !

Here is a short video comprised of mostly the ride site on Friday night and Saturday morning:

Update on Me and Ali

Ali and I have come a long way since we got him. He had very little muscle when we got him, so I spent the winter learning how to help him get into shape. I learned that I had to be patient and that lunging can be boring and cold in the winter, but it pays off in the end.

 

I took him to the outdoor when it was not slippery.

 

 

The boring stuff has turned into more fun stuff once spring came. I now ride him on the property myself and across from the barn on Leland's road myself, and I love it.

 

Ali and I entered our first competition in May, the 25 mile SAD ride- it was a goal I was proud to reach. This ride was difficult because it was his first ride, and I found he had a lot of energy built up, but out on the trails he was a dream.

 

 

We also rode together in the Parrsbaro JP ride, and are training now for the McDonald run ride coming up in a few weeks.

 

 

 

We don't always train and work, we have fun too.

 

Me and Ali built a strong relationship and trust in each other, which is sometimes hard to do with a horse. I know that as we keep working together we will learn and teach each other more, and become unstoppable!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Splish Splasin at the beach-Video!!

 

Take a look at the fun we had!

 

 

Hay Day #2

Hay is all in the barn - all 1800 bales - in two days!!  New record.  What a great CREW we have here at Tidal Treasures!  There were very few pictures taken on day two....I took a few, but not nearly as many as Shelley presented in her video a few days ago of day 1.  Anyhow, I took what I have and put together a little slideshow that is linked below.....now look at the mess of this house after two days of haying (groan)....
Hay Day 2 - slideshow

FAST FOOD

When you  live along side of the world's highest tides, it's a 30 minute drive to the closest traditional fast food take out establishment.  So, over time, our definition of "fast food" has "evolved"  Tonight, it was a trip to the closest "take out" and we splurged by buying the food (for a hodgepodge) already prepared and ready to go! Yum!  Expensive though for what we got, but then again...that's the way it is with fast food, isn't it!

Hay Day #1-

I know some of the text goes kind of fast-but this was put together after a loooong day of haying-so take a look-and another if you need to in order to read it, and "Hay" give a girl a break-  :)

Beach Day Snap Shots...

After an awesome morning of riding, the Tidal Treasure Crew decided to take advantage of a beautiful afternoon tide and head to the beach, horses in hand.

 

Carrilee and Willow

Marie and Mister

 

I don't know who loves the water more-Mister or Marie!

 

Carrilee and Willow go for a swim, both with lovely smiles!

 

 

Lynn and Paris-just look how far this girl has come!

 

Troy and Aziim

Shelley and Spirit

Marie and Mister in the background

 

Tammy and Wind

 

Gary and Falcon

 

Kathleen and Ali (swimming together-body surfing)

 

 

Todd helping Paris realize she can swim!! And once she realized she could, she loved it and couldn't get enough!!!!

 

 

 

 

And the horses were not the only ones swimming-were they Tammy...wink, wink! ;)

 

 

 

Heading back to the barn, tired, wet and happy-lots of smiles everywhere!

Wonderful summer day...(we missed you Pam and Tikki!)

 

And look who was waiting at the barn to greet us- Squeaks and Tabitha-

And Little Dozer and Kubota

 

 

We have some neat video of our beach day that we will post another time!

 

Happy Summer everyone!!!

 

 

Barn Babies

Meet our Barn Babies, about 6 weeks old.  From left to right...Kubota, Tabitha, Squeaks, and Little Dozer!  Radar had babies, and we have some sweet little barn cats!

Our New Teeter-Totter

Last year a bunch of us Tidal Treasures crew went to the Heritage Horse Show in Windsor and watched a trail class. We pretty much ALL wanted the platform used in the class and put it on our "wish list".
We even took a picture for reference:

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when training the youngsters to get on a trailer and they didn't all love it! Pam reminded Carrilee of wanting this platform to let her Tikki get the feel of stepping up, so of course Carrilee went home and asked hubby again.
Carrilee's hubby is no ordinary Hubby - he built one that could teeter if we want and could withstand the strongest Wind, pun intended! It's pretty heavy so it's located where built - at the Tidal Treasures sattelite farm. Even though Mister calls out "No, man! Don't do it!", here's what Carrilee & Willow did as soon as they saw it:

Willow's First Time on the Teeter-totter
Not sure if you can make it out but at the end I ask her "Who taught you to be so smart?!" That would be her previous owner who had her for ten years - Lynn Beazley. Thanks again, Lynn for another awesome moment for me and my girl.


Willow's First Ride Over
Nicole's First Time Over and Mister's First Time Over
Mama's First Ride Over

You can really see what a difference a balanced rider has when they go over the teeter-totter. Marie made it look really easy, she's very well-balanced here. When I took Willow over, she veered a bit to the left while stepping off. It's likely no coincidence that I tend to put more weight on my left, just a tiny bit according to the Port Lewis Impression Pad but I bet that's why she went left! This teeter-totter is good not only for fun but for working on our balance & soft, slow aids. When Willow walked over it by herself, she felt the shift and adjusted herself and kept straight - even a tiny bit of imbalance from a rider seems to make a difference. This is SO much fun!