Just like July

Just like July

It is often hard to get a good day to ride in the snow over here in Northeast Ohio.  We have to contend with ice on the river, ice on the hill, ice on the driveway, ice on the trail, high winds, frigid temps and sometimes rain.  It seems like some winters we only get 5 days that we can have a good ride in the snow.  Well, Shari and I just had 3 in a row.

The first day was an evening ride.  For many possible reasons, Bella and Cole were both a little spunky.  It might have been because it was our first evening ride together in a few months, maybe it was the cold and snow and possibly it had something to do with it being close to feeding time.  We did some trotting.  Bella was bouncy, but not bad.  Cole tried to blast past her at one point--which is very rare.  Cole doesn't like to pass other horses.  Overall, they did all right, but we could tell that we had a lot of horse underneath us, and it demanded caution.  We turned back early because it was starting to get dark and walked all the way home.

The next morning, I met Shari at the barn.  She works close by, and they allow her some flexibility with her hours.  Since she starts so early in the morning, her lunch is right at riding time.  She rides and then goes back to finish her day--making up for the time she is spending at the barn.

Our horses transformed over night.  We had such a terrific ride.  Bella did spook at a rock she has seen many times that had snow on it.  That gave us a good laugh.  We trotted all the way to the second river crossing, turned around and trotted most of the way back.  They were awesome.  It was just like riding in July.

The lastg big snowstorm we had lowered a lot of branches, but this time we didn't stop to go under them.  We kept trotting and bent low over their necks.  Both horses thought that meant to go faster.  Duck rush.  It was funny. 

Just like July, but there were no bugs.  Just like July but there was hardly anyone else around.  Just like July, but there wasn't even any traffic on the road.  Not just like July--better than July!!!

After having that much fun, Shari had to do it again the next morning.  We got a little more snow overnight, and it was so pretty out!

The third day was a charm.  Well, so was the second day.  We trotted out.  This time, we let the horses go faster, and they really seemed to enjoy it. 

When we turned around to go home, we slowed down the trot and headed home.  At one very muddy part, I decided to slow Cole down for a moment to prevent mud rush.  He hates mud.  We do this often, and just catch up with whoever we are riding with.  Well, when we got in the middle of the mud, Cole jumped into a canter.  He had a serious case of mud rush, and he wanted to catch up with Bella.

I yelled out, "Problem."  Shari stopped Bella and turned her.  I couldn't get Cole to stop because I was concentrating on the branches I was ducking.  Duck rush didn't help.  When Cole saw Bella turn around, he slammed on the brakes.  I felt him sitting down under me as we slid up to Bella.  It was really quite funny.

We continued on our way home with no other issues except a little hyperness.  

It really was just like July, but better.