We arrived last night just before 8:00pm and it was raining. Actually raining, unlike what it was doing in San Diego. We left at about 10:30 am from Arroyo. I had a great lesson on Oslo in the "rain", as they call it down there, and Skippy had some good stuff in his lesson as well, but also some of his typical lazy moments. Still a good morning and I was the only one riding in a t-shirt and by the end of Oslo's lesson, I was the only one still riding outside! As soon as it began to "rain" all the horses were brought in from turnout and everyone abandoned the outdoor rings for the small covered ring. That was ok for us though, because it meant Skippy and Cashew could get turnout in the morning - our tough Canadian horses didn't mind that is was kind of raining! Steffen did ride Ravel outside for a while, so Oslo and I got to share the ring with Steffen and Ravel - that was kind of special! By the time we had left, everyone was in the covered ring and the turnouts, and outdoor rings were closed. Dad and I couldn't believe it. What would they do if they actually got a real rain storm, or better yet snow?!?!?! Haha, I guess they are just so spoiled with the weather there, that when it kind of rains, it is very disappointing to them.
The drive up to San Francisco went fairly well. It took us about 9 hours since trucks pulling trailers can only go 55 miles/hr in California on the interstates (and dad is Mr. Safety so he follows the speed limits!!). The horses seemed happy when they arrived though and each of them drank a full bucket of water (this is very impressive for Oslo!). It was definitely a bit wet and mucky though and for the first time in weeks we were actually a little chilly. The sun was shining this morning though and the weather looks good for the next few days (fingers crossed).
Mom arrived yesterday and met us at the show grounds late last night. It is nice to have her back and Oslo made sure to welcome her this morning with his typical "love bite"!
The show grounds here are much more "horse friendly" and there is grass everywhere - Skippy thinks he is in heaven! I am hoping Oslo is much more relaxed here since it has more of a natural feeling and seems like a more laid back show. The grounds are fairly large though, and it may be a bit of a walk to the show ring, so there are still a few mental hurdles we have to prepare Oslo for.
There are some B.C. riders here as well that we met this morning. Nice to have some fellow Canadians to visit with!
I am sure most of you have heard, but there is an outbreak of the EHV-1 (Equine Herpes Virus) in the US and parts of Canada. It started in a cutting horse show in Utah, so most people are not too concerned here since it mainly has been found in cutting horses. Barns and shows are taking extra precautions though, and we are trying to be very careful. This is a deadly virus, therefore we need to make sure the horses do not come in contact with any other horses that may have potentially been in contact with a sick horse. We had actually heard rumours that the show this weekend was going to be cancelled due to the virus outbreak, but there has been few cases in California and they have been limited to cutting horses. There are barns closing to outside horses though, and the bottom line is that everyone just needs to be careful. We may have issues coming home as well since some states have apparently closed their borders to horses (such as Utah and Idaho). This means we may have to take an extremely long way home, or have to quarantine the horses coming across the Canadian border, or both. We will just have to wait and see what happens regarding the virus and border crossings in 2 weeks, when we head home.
The plan is to get Oslo in the show ring this afternoon and take Skippy and Cashew for a ride as well.
The country around San Francisco is absolutely beautiful. Much more lush and green than San Diego. There is also a Starbucks close by, so hopefully I can sneak out every once in a while to use the wi-fi to update the blog.
I was checking the weather at home, and just to let you guys know, it is going to be at least 5 degrees warmer there than here! I hope everyone is enjoying it back home!
Linds
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