I Finally Rode My Horse

Sunday managed to reach temperatures out of the 20s and even into the 30s, so I finally got to ride. May hadn’t been ridden since Christmas Eve, so I did what every adult amateur does. I hopped on and went for a trail ride. Or rather, I got on and then avoided all 4 riding rings at the barn.

Thanks to the onslaught of rain we got before temperatures dropped into the teens and twenties, all of the outdoor arenas were frozen solid. They were full of ice chunks and solid hoof prints. Also due to the long stretch of frigid weather, the indoor was incredibly dusty. So the long hack seemed like our only real option.

Luckily, we were joined by another rider who hadn’t ridden her mare since before the holidays. The mare is a warmblood cross who the woman has owned since she was a barely broke 3 year old. Ever heard of horses that are “born broke” well, our trail partner is one of them. We got to tell fun stories about our spunky mares falling asleep before cross country and then taking the lead when we made mistakes.

After our trail ride, I did end up taking May into the indoor to try and get a little work done. All in all, we ended up doing 40 minutes of walking and maybe 10 minutes of trot and canter total. Just enough to stretch the legs and get the blood flowing. May got a cookie and sucked down some water after our ride, so it must have been just enough for her. I am hoping to enjoy the next week of warmer weather before things fall frigid again.

In non-horsey news, we updated our basement, ripping out the old, dirty carpet and replacing it with some laminate flooring. The basement is the main entryway into the house from the garage and driveway, so it needs to be horse-stuff proof! Happy it’s done, can’t wait to add some storage solutions!