Pages

Monday, February 10, 2014

More Winter

There are really not a lot of things to do with a horse when the entire world is under 4-6" of slush and snow.

Let me back up. It's been a cold winter here, but very dry. Our ground is frozen solid and has been for months. Then we finally broke the dry spell with some crazy snow. Now the snow is melting, but the ground is too frozen to absorb anything, so the sludge just sits there and floods and it's cold and awful.

Sexy sporthorse body
That saddle I talked about buying? Yeah, Courage tried it on in the crossties of the barn. It looks like it fits him pretty well. I haven't gotten to even sit in it, because the only "safe" footing that isn't frozen mud topped in ice covered in slush is the road. Asphalt.

I just don't think it's a good idea to take a horse who hasn't been able to run around in weeks, tack him up, and walk down asphalt and expect anything useful to happen.









Out for a walk
That said. Courage seemed pretty quiet yesterday. I meant to bring him into the barn for a thorough grooming, but the driveway had been plowed. The road was clear.

Off we went.

We headed down the road on a loose rope. He was unbothered by the prancing Arabian stallion, passing vehicles, the runner, the dog, or the garbage cans.

I'm crossing my fingers for better weather this week, but if we don't get it, it's possible we will resume riding on the road. Nothing like exposure to create a nice broke horse, right?

12 comments:

  1. Love the new saddle pad on him!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ugh! Hopefully this weather gets better! Love the pad on him!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The pad and saddle look awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Weather suuuuuuuucks here. We have Lake Mittleider where we usually have a jump arena. And there was, no joke, a 6" deep creek running down part of the track, just from snowmelt. Ugh. Can haz spring nao??

    ReplyDelete
  5. When it's wet here, we do a ton of roadwork. It's not very exciting, but it's better than not riding at all!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good pony! I say put on your safety vest and saddle up!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I don't envy your weather right now!

    ReplyDelete
  8. He is such a superstar-legend OTTB!
    Keeping everything crossed for you re:weather-riding&saddlefit

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good choice about the asphalt! Better safe than sorry. It's so hard not to jump up in the saddle. I think we all have cabin-fever at this point!

    ReplyDelete