Adventures

I’ve spent a lot of today getting ready for camp. My last camp was only back in September, but it’s like my mental checklist has been erased or misplaced or something.

I think the fact that so much lives on Toby is throwing me off. With the Buddymobile, I had to take a lot of things on and off. Toby is luxurious and spacious in comparison. I kept thinking ‘where is that?’, then I remember – already packed.

I nearly forgot the dressage squares I now need being the proud owner of a fancy pants dressage saddle. It’s been a very long time since I took two saddles to camp. Let’s hope it makes a difference to my riding. Otherwise we really will look ‘all the gear’.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little apprehensive about camp. I know I will have an amazing time. With some wonderful friends. And with the Oversized Labrador and the Baby Sprocker. So where does the apprehension come from?

It was two years ago at the April camp that it became very clear that Buddy wasn’t right. That thought is always at the back of my mind. I’m not sure where our fitness levels are either. Is he fit enough for six lessons? Am I?

But there’s are normal questions. I know that whatever happens, I will improvise, adapt and overcome…

It was Bert’s first camp a year ago. That was a baptism of fire in my compact and bijoux lorry. It definitely planted the seed that I needed a bigger lorry. I made that happen too. Dear Toby came into my life at the right moment. A bit like Bert.

Of course, I wince at the moment filling Toby up. My old lorry wasn’t cheap to run either. Right now, I think we’re all wincing at the price of fuel. And everything else for that matter.

I could focus on the negatives and the downsides. Of course I could. I’m an optimistic realist. It’s pretty crap right now. But there is so much good out there too. I took Bert out for a stompy walk. I sat in the garden drinking a coffee and then did a bit of weeding.

Life is an adventure. Let’s see what happens on my next one…