At Long Last

The horses are officially residing in Canaan.

Their original herd, all bunched together minus Jean Luc when I picked up the "first load" of the day.
(3 horses + 2 horse trailer = 2 trips)

My commute to see them has shrunk from 50 minutes to a mere 10.

It's as if they were having a "goodbye" powwow.

Riding will no longer be limited to evenings after work between 5 and 6:30pm Monday through Thursday.

Grif and Q became "load one" after volunteering themselves (aka, walking to me quicker than Stan did lol)

Trails are accessible with little effort straight from the barn again, even more exist within a 5-10 minute trailer ride, and I have a field for my jumps on site (and a pond! - water complex possibilities pending...).

A very, very bittersweet farewell to this beautiful place we've called home for 6 years

I have ample riding friends who will not only keep me motivated to get out and put in conditioning miles, but who will also help me to keep all three horses fighting fit.

Reunited in their new pasture

And I even have an indoor to work in during the winters/inclement weather!

Listening to their new "normal"

Things will change when winter arrives, but the horses will have stalls for inclement weather (a very good thing in Canaan) and will have grain added to their diets 2x a day - a welcome addition for those winter months.

Enjoying mealtime together, another new normal

Early morning rides on the weekends before diving into other adventures later in the day is going to be such a pleasant return to "normal" for me.

I've missed the ease of fitting in a quick ride before heading out to mountain bike, rock climb, or whatever else I may occupy my time with.

In fact, I fit in a short training ride Sunday AM with Dan and Lauren (& Taiga)!

Only 4.5 miles, but we did it in 45 minutes with >1,000 feet of elevation gain!

A quick and hardy 1,050-foot, 2-mile climb. Q led for nearly half of it!

And then (!!) I had time to come home, complete hours of house chores, take a 2-mile run, and later, a 1-mile walk (the things you do to guarantee a tired husky puppy - this topped her out at 7.5 miles for the day).

I look forward to many more rides like this

It feels so damn good to be able to fit in horse time AND accomplish so many other things.

Post-ride ladies.

Words cannot even capture how over-the-moon excited I am to finally have them home...life feels utterly complete.