Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Winter Riding

Winter Riding


After having a warm fall--and a long one, too, winter has arrived.  We had 2 good winters in a row, so it
was unlikely that we would get a third, and so far, it has been crummy.  The temperatures have had
highs in the teens and lows in the single digits, and there is no end in sight.  In this kind of weather, it
is even hard to ride the horses in the indoor arena!


But we do.  Cole has settle down to work, and he seems to be not far off from where we were went
we quit riding in the arena last spring.  I still get a little nervous in there, at times, but I keep reminding
myself that he is 11, now.  He has grown up.  Overall, he has been living up to being 11, too.  


Dante is Mr. Reliable in the indoor arena.  Where I try to settle Cole down, Ellen tries to liven Dante up.  
He has performed remarkably, and he has been very consistent, too.  Ellen has to find new things to t
ackle to keep things interesting for both of them.  With Cole, just trying to ride his arena trot is usually
a big enough challenge for me.  I keep trying to extend the distance between the transition and losing
my seat.  As I improve, his trot becomes loftier--and then I have to try to improve, again.  At least he
keeps me entertained--and very warm.


Since Kevin doesn’t ride in the arena, he is more limited.  He has taken Starry down the hill a few times.  
I joined him on Christmas Eve, and we were able to trot back and forth on the bottom--in the snow.  
Since then, it has been so cold that I decided to stay inside.  He has continued to ride on the hill.  
I think he likes to get his money’s worth out of his snow pads.

The river had thawed when we had a week of warmer weather, but it is freezing up again--and may
stay that way until spring.  This is a hard time of year for us trail riders.

1 comment:

TeresaA said...

After a very warm fall winter has settled in with a vengeance! I hope it's short-lived.