I’m sure everyone realizes by now that my last 2 posts were made from home. For about a week after arriving, posting was about all I was good for. So definitely too old for this sorta thing!
Despite still being exhausted I was very excited to be getting home. As I passed increasingly
familiar sites, my excitement only increased. When I finally arrived, as predicted, my dog lost her mind! After everyone was loved and presents were handed out, I sat down in my favorite spot on the couch and just wanted to cry.
No, I wasn’t sad it was over, well maybe a little, but my house looked like a bomb went off!! I have 3 late teen children, I’m not sure what I was expecting….
But all joking aside, it was an absolutely incredible experience and when asked if I’d do it again, there is zero hesitation when I say I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I still have so many questions! Ok, maybe not in a heartbeat, but maybe next year, it was exhausting!
Here’s a photo of Monique’s trip odometer when we arrived back at her house. Yes, that’s right, over 8,000kms! That also doesn’t include the 12 hour round trip from my place to hers and all the driving we did in other people’s vehicles.
Exhaustion aside, I got to see and experience so much! I saw farms that made me drool and those that made me want to cry. I saw gorgeous horses and a few not so gorgeous. I met kind, welcoming people and a few slightly less welcoming. I saw stallions that took my breath away and a few that just didn’t, I experienced scenery that belongs in a gallery and history, everywhere you turn there was a story waiting to be learned!
But the one unifying factor through this journey was the people and their fierce love of these horses. Owners and breeders, new and old; passionate about this breed and doing the best they can to help preserve it. It gives me hope that this will be nothing more than another dark period in our history before the breed rebounds and is once again recognized for the remarkable animal that it is. The alternative is simply unimaginable.
Also, for those of you who have asked, Jinx is doing fantastic with Christine and Jolie is growing out her baby coat and looking more like a little horse! I can't wait for the spring to see them both again!
I have to take a moment to give a special thank you to Monique Boucher of Avant Garde Canadians, who obviously is also the owner/operator of Avant Garde Photography and you can thank her for some of the stunning shots I’ve posted! She also provided me with this amazing opportunity and I suspect opened a lot of doors that wouldn’t have opened so easily had I been on my own with my cavewoman French!
I’d also like to thank the Board of CHARMD for allowing me to use their website as a platform!
But most of all, a huge thank you to all of you who took the time to share in my bucket list adventure and all your kind words. I hope you were entertained, and you should probably stay tuned…I have a sneaking suspicion the adventure isn’t over. I might just need a bigger bucket!