Horsing around in Virginia

I’m back in Virginia for a month of farm sitting. My charges include: 3 horses, 3 chickens, 3 guineas, 3 indoor birds, 1 guinea pig, assorted barn cats and one 7-month old puppy. Phew, that’s a lot of critters. They’re all great — even the exuberant puppy — but I do feel like I spend a lot of time picking up after them. I’m amazed at their owners for managing it when they have jobs.

Nikita & Lucy "play"



I’m riding one of the horses most days so he will stay in shape for the owner. His name is Cal — short for California Dreaming! At 17, he is a senior citizen in the horse world, but he is sound and fit so I take him for long hacks most days. In Virginia, you can access a lot of trails on public and private land, but I don’t know my way around very well so I stick to the roads. I can go for miles on dirt roads and there isn’t much traffic. Plus, most folks understand enough about horses to slow down when they pass you. I even had a delivery truck stop and turn off his engine to make sure we passed each other without incident.

Even following the roads, I got lost one day. My theory was that if you kept turning left, you’d eventually end up back on the road you started with. It didn’t work here; none of the roads here go in a straight line, so the block I’m trying to go around has about 6 sides. After at least an hour, I hit pavement — this is not a good sign. I don’t really want to turn back (in case I’m close to home) but horse shoes on pavement can be very slippery and dangerous. Luckily, I find someone in their yard and ask him directions. Turns out I am almost back on the road I started with and it’s just a short section of pavement so I forge on. Round trip, it took almost 2 hours. Later, I drive it in my car to see how far we went — more than 8 miles! Way to go Cal.

This trip to Virginia is a bit of a test — to see what it’s like in the summer and help me decide if I want to move here. It has been incredibly hot, and that’s not just my Canadian body saying that, the weather man agrees. Actually, the entire East coast (including Ottawa) is being hammered by a heat wave. My friend keeps telling me this isn’t normal. I sure hope not; my car says it is 41 C (106 F) in the shade. Yikes!

Thank goodness I have riding and barn chores to do. Otherwise, I would probably never leave the air-conditioned comfort of the house. Even with the a/c temperature set fairly high, the heat and humidity hit you like a brick wall the minute you stop outside. I think the pros and cons debate will continue for a while — do I give up the bitter cold winters for hot humid summers?