Une Passionnee de Welsh Cob.

Sunday 26th October.  Denis very kindly drove me in the morning to point out a cross country short cut, which involved this small river crossing, but avoided a long detour.  

View looking back towards La Durantaye- the little black dots are Canadian horses..

I had arranged with trotter owner Francis Carrier to let myself in to his smart stables at Pintendre, where a warm and well bedded box was waiting for Lady. I slept on the floor in the community room, and gave Marc who runs the stables for Mr Carrier a shock in the morning!  But he recovered sufficiently to treat me to breakfast at a restaurant down the road before I set off.

I was now not far from Quebec, where I had originally planned to cross the St Lawrence, but partly due to my delays, I decided to make for the bridge at Trois Rivieres further south.
Riding along a quiet road beside the Etchemin river, which we crossed at St Henri..

A police car drew up as I was riding along the rather over grandly named Route de President Kennedy. Was I in trouble?  But it was only a friendly policeman who kept horses and was just curious.  I posed obligingly for a photo.
I had occasionally seen far off patches of white in the fields over the past few days, but it was only when a flock of honking geese landed nearby that I realised I had been seeing geese resting on their flight south..

I was very pleased to have found a place to stay overnight at St Lambert de Lauzon with Welsh Cob enthusiast Maude Brouard and family.  This was particularly gratifying as I was able to see her lovely Welsh cob mare Menai Cardi Princess, bred close to me in Wales by well-known cob breeder Peter Jones of the Menai stud.  Here is Maude with Princess and foal...

Supper at home with the rest of the family before retiring to bed... 

L to R:  sister Sarah who speaks fluent English, father Jocelyn who is on the committee of the Association des Poneys Welsh &Cob du Quebec, mother Sophie and son.