Our time here in Nova Scotia is coming to an end. The past 4-5 weeks have been a true gift of hospitality from Lance and Sarah that makes this dream a possibility. We've spent the last few weeks working on the horses, fine tuning some of our gear, and helping out making a new and improved Kassai horse archery track for the new season here at Seawinds.

It hasn't been a super easy time for us, even though the day to day has been idyllic. During our work with the horses we came to the difficult decision that our lovely JoJo does not have the disposition to prosper on the road. He is such a lovely boy with the sweetest soul and most endearing face, but after much effort we have to do what's best for both him and for the rest of our team, and that means leaving him behind.

What makes a horse unsuitable for the road? Well, there's the obvious, such as lameness, meanness, or fear of traffic. JoJo has none of these things: he is sound, friendly, tries hard, and is excellent on the road and the trails, crossing rivers and not batting an eye at cars on the road. A packhorse doesn't even need much experience under saddle, although they must be able to be saddled, tied and know basic groundwork, all of which JoJo has. However, what a horse does need for the road is a certain unflappability: a capacity to handle change, to not be overly bothered by new things, and be able to extrapolate from past experiences to handle new scenarios as they come along. And unfortunately this is where JoJo can't quite step up in the realistic timeframe that we have. I found that again and again I was flooding him with that I considered to be small logical next steps: for example, after a great desensitisation session with me tapping on the side of the panniers, an hour or so later I SCRATCHED the side of panniers, not really thinking this would be much different from a tapping sound; but he exploded as though he had never heard a sound from the panniers in his life. Many small, similar scenarios that led to him being flooded and unable to be talked down finally forced me to seriously consider what was in his own best interest, as well as the rest of the team. I am still convinced he could be an excellent trail horse if able to be taught at his own pace; however, we don't have the time that he needs to make sure he can be safe and happy. So he will be staying here at Seawinds and Lance and Sarah will work on finding him a home that is a good fit: somewhere he can be brought along slowly and consistently, with the time that he needs to feel confident among new things.

So what does that mean for us? Well, Ella, myself, Jack and Fredo (formerly Tennessee) will be leaving on our own as a foursome. It means Ella and I will do a bit more walking than initially expected, but seeing as we are professional walkers, that shouldn't be too much of a challenge. If we happen to stumble across a suitable packhorse, we will jump at the opportunity, but in the interim, we are looking forward to starting to make progress West. Tomorrow morning we're being picked up and transported to near Bathurst, New Brunswick, hoping to hit the road in the next few days.

Leaving our safe haven here will be hard, and leaving JoJo behind makes it extra sad. But the open road calls, so we'll be bidding farewell to Nova Scotia, the sea bound coast... And heading west!