I was told several times “it never snows in Victoria, even in December you won’t need snow boots” so I wore my converse for the entire weekend and ended up with very wet, cold, SNOWY feet! But the weekend was worth every minorly frost bitten toe: When I first arrived in Canada I didn’t really… Continue reading A weekend in: Victoria, Vancouver Island
This is my final Cowgirl Diaries post! My six month long crazy Canadian cowgirl adventure went faster than I could have imagined and I learned more than I thought possible. Below is a round up of really cool things (and not of cows or horses) that I did during my travels throughout Alberta and British… Continue reading The Cowgirl Diaries: A Roundup (geddit?)
My final ranch was a curly horse breeding, training and lesson ranch. I mentioned curly horses in my Calgary Stampede post and really enjoyed learning more about this fascinating breed! Curly horses are bred with a special fur that is hypoallergenic meaning that people who are usually allergic to horses can be around curlies with… Continue reading The Cowgirl Diaries: A cowgirl vaults and discovers Maple Snow (Kelowna and the Ookanagan)
I left my final Cowgirl Diaries ranch 11 days before my flight out of Canada, giving myself enough time to explore a little more of British Columbia and really travel. It was early December and I desperately needed to see snow so, after a short stop back in Vancouver to drop my luggage, I caught… Continue reading A weekend in: Whistler, British Columbia (Even if you don’t ski!)
As 2016 draws to a close (and as I’m still putting the finishing touches to my final Canada posts!) I’ve made a list of my top 16 travel moments of this year (in no particular order, it’s too hard to choose!) 1) Bear spotting in Canada 2) Going to a rodeo! 3) Gondola… Continue reading Top 16 Travel Moments of 2016
After my first cowgirl experience in the Rocky Mountains I rewarded myself with four days at the mall. After my second cowgirl experience I decided to reward myself with a week in a different city: Vancouver. Transport I arrived in the city after a 16 hour greyhound bus journey (which was actually really beautiful, I… Continue reading The Cowgirl Diaries: Why do they call it rain-couver? A sunny week in Vancouver, BC
I’ve already written two posts about rodeos so far, but this is the Cowgirl Diaries after all so I figure it can deal with a few more rodeo mentions! With rodeo season almost over, I jumped at the chance to attend a much smaller and more authentic rodeo than the Calgary Stampede. The Medicine Lodge… Continue reading The Cowgirl Diaries: A cowgirl learns to two-step (Medicine Lodge Rodeo)
This ranch was a quarter horse breeding ranch, which gave me an opportunity I hadn’t had before: Working with and training green and unbroken horses. Round Penning Firstly I was given a three year old gelding, called Chief, to work with and was taught all the fundamentals of round penning. Round penning is a training… Continue reading The Cowgirl Diaries: A cowgirl breaks horses, herds cows and cuddles puppies (Alberta, ranch no.2)
After a week of indulging my travel bug it’s time to settle down to one of the main purposes of this trip: Learning some cowgirl skills! I’ve been riding horses almost all my life, but growing up in England I obviously learnt to ride English rather than Western. When I did my first two Workaway… Continue reading The Cowgirl Diaries: Ranch No.1: A Cowgirl learns reining (and Rocky Mountain trail riding)
The title of this post gives away the most exciting part of my next adventure through Canada: I saw a bear! After leaving Calgary and the Stampede (see previous posts) my next destination was the mountain town and national park of Banff. In order to attend the championship rodeo in Calgary however I had to… Continue reading The Cowgirl Diaries: A cowgirl and a bear (AKA Rocky Mountain Road Trip: Banff & Jasper)
The World is Calling me Home 