Go West, young rider!

The next chapter. The final chapter? Manitoba to the West Coast. It feels a bit unreal still, but I'll soon be touching down on Winnipeg and getting ready for the next 3500km of this Trans Canada journey. I'm sure once I have my hands on my horses and my feet on the ground it will start feeling more real.

This summer has been an epoch for me. It's been busy, stressful, conflicting, and ultimately a dream come true: I purchased a beautiful piece of land for myself and my horses to live out the rest of our days. Getting the place set up for the horses for the winter and moving out of our rental has been some.of the busiest and most stressful days of my life! I don't think I've ever lift so many things! But now the boys are settled in, and I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends who can take care of them for me while I'm away: it's a huge weight off my mind knowing they will be happy and well fed for the 6 months I am gone.

My Canadian horses have arrived in Manitoba, and we are being kindly hosted by the legendary Tara at Cloud 9 Ranch as we get set up... And then hopefully in the next few days we'll be putting hoofs to the ground and turning our noses Westward! I'm really looking forward to the Prairies: grasslands, new birds, open spaces, and hopefully plenty of grass for the boys! And then the epic Rockies and the unknown challenges of making our way through the mountains.

The start of such a big journey is a liminal space: excitement for the future, sad to be saying goodbye to home. The thrill of the unknown and the fear of all the things that could go wrong. But mostly it's the hope of a long exhale when we get hooves on the road: the slow mornings, the routine of the horses, the long distance and straight roads, all the friends we will make along the way.

So follow along for updates from the road over the coming months ☺️ For images and videos, please see my social media pages on Facebook and Instagram (search for Roadhorse).