Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Layover

Blegh, I've got this long layover in T dot.  I've never been really patient and I'm already bored out of my skull.  There's only so many miles of airport hallway you can walk and only so many identical newstands you can peruse before you're actually keen to get on board the next flight-- mine will be to Houston, Texas.

Had a fantastic week last week, which I think I shall recap since I have oodles of time to kill yet.  My friend Skye dropped into Winnipeg for an impromptu visit from Toronto, where she is a jockey at the Thoroughbred racetrack Woodbine.  It was amazing to see her-- Skye and I basically grew up as sisters, trail riding around Birds Hill Park, playing polo, going to horse shows and basically living the life of Riley.  I've missed her a ton since she moved away, but she's been doing amazingly in her new career and has already won 6 races since getting her license in June-- the most recent win was a fantastic ride on a 46-to-1 shot last Friday.

I had a really fun practice last week, too.  Due to some neighbourhood hooligan vandalizing our truck (in a cinder-block-through-windshield manner), we were truck and trailer-less for polo practice on Thursday night.  Canelo and I decided to pony the horses the three miles to the field so we could practice anyway.  I'm sure I looked somewhat hilarious trying to juggle three horses, two polo mallets and a juice-box whilst cantering down the side of North Drive-- I don't know how Canelo makes it look so easy-- but it was a blast nonetheless, and the chukkers were smoking fast.  I can barely keep up with the play, I always feel like I'm a few steps behind now.  After realizing over the first two chukkers that I was pretty much aimless out there, I decided that if I couldn't figure out where the play was headed, I'd stick with someone who could-- so I glued myself to Isaias' side.  He, of course, thought this was hilarious-- but when a sudden back by the other team made him whip his horse around, I managed to be right there with him and get to the ball first! [I missed it, of course.  One step at a time!]  Now, I won't discount the possibility that Isaias was going easy on me-- he was giggling a suspicious amount-- but I felt pleased as punch nonetheless.

Had a really nice time at Robyn's cabin last weekend with Robyn and Steph.  It was a little chilly and windy so our venture into the lake was short-lived, but it was still a blast.  Really nice to just relax and hang out with the gang.

Yesterday was a little tough for me-- my last day of polo, last day with my parents and last day with Garrett before heading to Argentina.  On the plus side, it was a singularly beautiful early fall day, so I couldn't feel too down.  Had a couple of okay chukkers on Galleta and Borbuja and then a fantastic chukker on Zulu (who else?)  Then Davis, Garrett and I trail rode back to the pasture, which was really nice-- they're both getting so good we can just canter around everywhere and have a good time.

I'll be arriving in Buenos Aires around 9:30 AM tomorrow their time-- 7:30 Winnipeg time.  Betting I'll look quite the mess when I get in, but feeling excited!

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