Della Side Walking at ETRA

I have completed a couple of sessions now at the riding centre.

The same clients come each week. The first session was taken up with getting every one's stirrups to the correct level, the right person on the right horse, and so on.

We did manage to go on a trek outside, along the bridle path, which was very pleasant, out in the fresh air. It was necessary to stop a few times, to get some riders comfortable, and used to their horses, but in the main it went very well.

The clients on the Tuesday session that I help at don't need to be held whilst they are riding along, so this makes it easier for the side walkers, who are able to avoid the puddles and obstacles on the ground. We just have to hold them when going in and out of the barn, (going from light to dark environments can sometimes spook the horses), we have to be prepared for this eventuality.

I have had a different client each week, and each one has thoroughly enjoyed their time, in their own unique way. One client is blind, and sings a tune to themselves, and smiles the whole way round, There are children and adults and each get something from their experience.

The ponies/horses are very placid and take all the noises and sudden movements in their stride.

Our little troop of 4 horses being led by a pony handler, with one rider and two side walkers either side, and the instructor behind with a megaphone, is a merry little parade, chatting and squealing and laughing and singing.

The hour session is over very quickly, after we have finished the trek, we come back into the arena and have a little trot, depending on ability. All too quickly the clients are led up to the dismounting block where they reluctantly bid farewell to their pony/horse, until next week.

The helpers have a 15 minute break before the next clients arrive. Someone has usually made cakes or cookies, and there is tea or coffee to drink.

I leave each week, feeling that I have helped to put a smile on some one's face, and that thought puts a smile on mine !

Sunshine and NO showers!!

This past week, the third week of February has seen clear blue skies and sunny days with relatively mild (10 degrees) daytime temperatures! We make a point of the fact this it is February as you could be mistaken for thinking that we were in early April - it has been so mild for several days now and the spring flowers are blooming (despite the early morning frosts!).

We have taken full advantage of the drier weather conditions, exploring more of the local beaches and trails, taking trips out to nearby towns and places of interest and generally topping up our Vitamin D levels!!

Winter Olympics 2010

Not surprisingly, everywhere we go at the moment we are seeing and hearing the latest news from the Olympics. The gas (petrol) stations have a tally of the number of medals Canada has won thus far displayed outside the forecourt, cars have miniature Canadian flags attached to the windows and blowing in the breeze, the TV has wall-to-wall coverage and Olympic fever has well and truly taken hold.

The opening ceremony was impressive and clearly there has been a lot of time and effort invested in the Winter Games. There were concerns that there would not be enough snow as the temperatures have been more like Spring than Winter but, having managed to helicopter in truck loads of the stuff(!), all is good on Cypress Mountain where some of the events are taking place and at Whistler it is full steam ahead!

GB won their first (and only) medal yesterday - it was an individual Gold (not been done for over 30 years so quite an achievement), won by Amy Williams in the Skeleton event, way to go Amy!

Canada continue to add to their tally and we wish them well - Go Canada!!!!

The Pacific Rim - Part 4

Not ones to let a little liquid sunshine dampen our spirits, the increasingly wet weather which followed the glorious sunshine we enjoyed on the West coast did not spoil our plans to make the most of our trip. After a leisurely and lovely breakfast of muffins, pastries, cereals, organic yoghurt, coffee and fresh juice overlooking Cox Bay , the Pacific and yet more surfers(!), we headed for the Wickaninnish Inn, a luxurious resort housing some spectacular sculptures and local artwork. There is also direct beach access to Chesterman Beach where we walked, beachcombed and admired the beauty of our surroundings.
Having blown away any cobwebs, due in part to several glasses of very good organic Malbec wine the previous night(!), we made our way to Ucluelet, a small harbour town. On arriving, we were lucky enough to see several sea lions frolicking in the harbour and catching and eating what to us looked like huge salmon!!

Riding the waves

Surfing is a serious business here on the West coast - the first morning we were here (and every morning since), the surfers were on the beach, stretching and limbering up before heading out into the surf to catch the waves.....late afternoon they are still out there making the most of the last few hours of daylight - we could not help but be impressed by their commitment, determination, skill and athleticism - they were a joy to watch!

Touring the Pacific Rim (Part 3)

The Pacific Rim National Park is made up of 3 units which are the Broken Group Islands, the West Coast Trail and the Long Beach Unit.
Our stay centred around the Long Beach Unit. Long Beach itself is the Park's most accessible and popular unit. It encompasses 13.715 hectares - of which only 7,690 are land. The unit has several beaches, but the longest is the aptly named 10-kilometre Long Beach, famous for great surfing and strewn with driftwood and logs galore!Some of the beaches are covered in black and sharp lava-rock formations. Others are smooth like silk or covered in an ever-shifting blanket of tiny pebbles. Tides make beachcombing here a delight with every beach becoming new again twice a day every day with a new supply of starfish, shells, kelp and driftwood to explore.


Our accommodation was beachfront at Cox Bay. The power of the open Pacific is awesome, especially when it is just outside your front door!! The beach at Cox Bay is simply stunning as are the panoramic views.

Touring the Pacific Rim (Part 2)

Highway 4 continues until the road splits into two choices, with the northern one heading towards Tofino.
Route to Tofino

This stretch heading north takes you through the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.

The park is an oasis of surf-swept beaches, coastal rain forest, cultural history and marine life. Dense rain forest hides the road from the beach for most of the journey along a narrowing neck of land that ends at the town of Tofino. At the tip of the Esowista Peninsula, Tofino is a working harbour town.

Tofino's fascinating history is rich in First Nations' culture, early European settlers' stories and the hippie lore of the 1960s.

Tofino has been established as a tourist town for some time with visitors coming for the world-famous beachcombing, storm watching, surfing, kayaking, fishing, whale watching and hot springs. There are also numerous hiking trails, ancient rain forests, bald eagles and black bears (although the bears were not out at the time of our visit!!).

Touring the Pacific Rim (Part 1)

When the road between Port Alberni and the Pacific Rim communities of Ucluelet and Tofino was etched from the wilderness in the early 1900s, logs were used as a base to traverse boggy terrain. Today, the road is Highway 4. The "Road to Tofino" as locals like to call it, begins at Port Alberni, a city of 30,000 that is the hub of the Pacific Rim and the self-proclaimed Salmon Capital of the World.

We travelled from Parksville to Port Alberni, atop the mountainous backbone of Vancouver Island, where Highway 4 gets up close and personal with old growth rain forest.

Cameron Lake on Highway 4, is renowned for its excellent fishing opportunities. It's a long, narrow body of water and the day we visited the weather was fine and the calm waters of Cameron Lake mirrored the surrounding hills magnificently.

Sand Dollar Shell

The Common Sand Dollar
Echinarachnius parma


When we were walking along the beaches in Tofino, we came across these shells. It is very brittle and looked almost man-made, with the flower design on it. when we 'googled' it this is what we found....

What is a sand dollar? Children have been known to say that sand dollars are pressed sand that has been dried or even the money of mermaids washed-up from the deep. In reality, the fragile disk is the skeleton or "test" of a marine animal. By the time the test washes up on the beach it is missing its velvety covering of minute spines and appears somewhat bleached from the sun. It is hard to believe it was once alive.

Sand dollars are from the class of marine animals known as Echinoids, spiny skinned creatures. Their relations include the sea lily, the sea cucumber, the star fish and the sea urchin. When alive, the local species, Echinarachnius parma is outfitted in a maroon-colored suit of moveable spines that encompass the entire shell. Like its close relative the sea urchin, the sand dollar has five sets of pores arranged petal pattern. The pores are used to move sea water into its internal water-vascular system which allows for movement.

Sand dollars live beyond mean low water on top of or just beneath the surface of sandy or muddy areas. The spines on the somewhat flattened underside of the animal allow it to burrow or to slowly creep through the sand. Fine, hair-like cilia cover the tiny spines. These cilia, in combination with a mucous coating, move food to the mouth opening which is in the center of the star shaped grooves on the underside of the animal. Its food consists of plankters and organic particles that end up in the sandy bottom.

Due to their diminutive edible parts and relatively hard skeleton, few animals bother sand dollars. One animal found to enjoy them on occasion is the thick-lipped, eel-like ocean pout.

On the ocean bottom, sand dollars are frequently found together. This is due in part to their preference of soft bottom areas as well as convenience for reproduction. The sexes are separate and gametes are released into the water column as in most echinoids. The free-swimming larvae metamorphose through several stages before the test begins to form and they become bottom dwellers.

Since the sand dollar lives in sandy locations, anyone who would like to collect their shells should comb beaches as the tide recedes. The very best time for collecting is after a heavy storm, as many of the shells that have died are dredged up by the increased wave action.

Cheryl Page

Information for this article was taken from:

* Gosner, Kenneth L., Guide to Identification of Marine and Estuarine Invertebrates; 1971 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
* Robbins, Sarah Fraser and Clarice Yentsch, The Sea Is All About Us ; 1973 Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.

Live Sand Dollar

Going from strength to strength

February and our Poinsetta has yet to drop a leaf!!!!

This past week has been a mix of hectic days where we have juggled our volunteer responsibilities at the SPCA and ETRA with running the house, exercising the dog and responding to the never-ending emails contrasted with the quiet, relaxed watching the deer, seals, birdlife and pottering in the garden kind of days. (Yes, it is spring-like here thanks to the El Nino effect!). The never-ending emails are not a problem - especially when most are enquiries asking if we are available to house and or pet sit - these enquiries are all good, however, as we are now committed to a project in France we can only offer to retain contact details and hope to be of service in the future. This is good and bad. Good for us because we can relax a little, bad for us because we want to help everyone out and hate to say no! We have been overwhelmed at the level of response and encouraged too - having decided to start charging for our services (out of necessity rather than greed!), we wanted to test the water in 2010 to see how things would pan out. Clearly, they are panning out very well and the wife and I once again feel privileged to know that we can (albeit in the future), offer a service so much in demand!

Volunteering with Therapeutic Riding Centre, BC

Della recently saw an ad in the local paper asking for 'sidewalker' volunteers at the Therapeutic Riding Association.

This is a local group, which initially started as a back yard pleasure riding session for three challenged high school students. Over the years the group of dedicated volunteers built up the association, and became a registered society in 1989.

They are members of CanTRA, Canadian Therapeutic Riding Association, and BCTRA, British Columbia Therapeutic Riding Association.

I have been involved with Driving for the Disabled, affiliated to the RDA, Riding for the disabled, in the UK, and was keen to help out here if possible.

An orientation session was organised for Tuesday 26th January. 18 new volunteers turned up for the session, which was a really good turn out. We were shown the routine, from when a client enters the barn, whilst they are riding and then to facilitate them leaving the arena.

It was very interesting, and everyone was very friendly.

Safety is paramount.

I learnt that the horse's movement provides the same sensory input as the movement of a normal human gait.

The act of riding improves strength in muscles, especially posture, and this improves balance and co-ordination.

Self - esteem is improved as well as confidence.

The rider can also feel a sense of independence with this exercise in the form of fun.

we learnt what our responsibilities would be as a volunteer and what to do when we met the rider.

Safety and barn rules were explained to us.

I left the barn looking forward to the coming week when I would be able to meet the riders.

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