Dramatic title much? Borderline click-bait? Oh well, I got nothing else.
Can we talk about something real quick? This:
Now, the cold is totally something I can deal with. It is not even that cold. If you put on a few layers and keep moving, it’s totally do-able. What I am talking about is that bottom right hand corner… that SUNDOWN AT 5:22PM thing. As someone that works a job that requires me to be at work until 5PM and a job that is 40 minutes, without traffic, away from the barn, this is kind of a big issue.
Who cares if it’s dark, just get your horse from the barn and shut up about it? Right? Well… no. My barn does year-round night turnout. From a horse management perspective, I do really love this. The horses go out around 4PM and come in around 9AM, which gives them around 17 hours of turnout everyday. And with either access to grass or round bales in the fields, it also means my horse can more easily keep herself comfortable, temperature-wise.
However, it also means that if it is pitch black out, my chances of finding my horse in the field plummet. And trust me, I have gone out there with an amazing flashlight and stumbled around a frozen field more than once trying to find my horse… only for all of the horses to spook at me when I get close to them and run off again. Sometimes I get lucky and can catch mine, and sometimes I don’t.
The point of this post? There are 13 more days until the days start to get longer, and I am begging each one to go a bit faster.
What limits your riding during these winter months?
UGH LOL I have this vision of you stumbling in the dark in the field looking for your horse. LOL Sorry not sorry.
I havent even made it out this week since Monday. We have lights in the ring BUT the actual getting to the barn in the dark after work is not happening this week. Just been so busy AND the deer ARE EVERYWHERE.
And now they are calling for snow this weekend here (not alot just enough to make it messy). Sigh. YES I just told Mark the other day that we only have a few days till the days start getting longer again LOL 🙂
Keep the faith. Spring is coming!
Luckily, it looks like we are going to miss the snow this weekend, so at least this weekend won’t be a total wash!
Wow that’s crazy. I don’t think I’ve ever had to deal with something similar. Does May not come when she hears you? When I first had Scarlet, he would run around his two-acre pasture laughing at me. So I managed to train him to come to the gate to get a treat when I caught him. Not that it will help you much with this current year’s winter, but maybe next year if you can get her to at least walk toward you it might help.
Sometimes she is totally into coming to me and being caught. Buuuut sometimes that lush Kentucky bluegrass is too tempting!!
I’ll start bringing some high reward treats (like peppermints) with me to see if it helps.
That might work. Scarlet is a total pig and treats are better than grass. But CA grass might not be as tempting as Kentucky grass. ?
I do actually envy you a bit. Our sun sets at 4:15. Which is why I wish the west coast didn’t do daylight savings because on at least 2-3 days a week I work until 5 pm. Especially if they’re 10 hr days, I leave before the sun and get home after. It really sucks. I suppose it doesn’t matter too much since I don’t have lights and can’t ride at night anyway, but the sun setting at 4:15 and then getting pitch black by 4:45 is just depressing lol. I also just don’t like riding in the dark, and since with weekends I can get a good 5 days of riding, Amber doesn’t necessarily need more. So I guess myself and no lights keep me from riding haha. I am in agreement with you though – I want the days to hurry up so they can start getting longer!
Yeah! The oddest thing about moving to Ky was staying in the same time zone, but the sun coming up a lot later and setting a lot later.
Oh that would be strange! My friend just moved up to Vegas from Phoenix and since AZ doesn’t do time change it’s been a change for her
Sundown is 5:22?! Lucky. It’s 4:50 here.
I guess I should stop complaining! hahaha
Ok, thats is a TOTALLY legit reason for bitching about the dark, lol
Uh yeah that is pretty cold for a weather wimp like me. The only thing limiting my time for riding in the winter is hours in the day and my body protesting and my brain being sea foam.