Monday, February 1, 2016

all dressed up with nowhere to go

So the weather is toying with our emotions a bit. The temperatures have been quite pleasant and the horses are all feeling very much alive. But a thick crust of snow still covers every un-plowed surface. Like our small new upper arena. 

riding area is still totally covered, despite our best efforts to break it up
You might recall that most of the new fancy donated footing went into this ring, in the hopes that the footing will handle winter better. And actually, that absolutely seems to be the case for the one small cleared corner visible above. That section was soft and cushy early yesterday morning even when everywhere else was frozen mud.

Seems promising! Except, ya know, there's still all that crunchy heavy half-melted snow in the way of really using the ring to full effect... boo.

mare cleans up nicely
We've been passing the time by pampering the horses, deep cleaning the tack, and generally organizing supplies etc. In particular, Isabel's beard, whiskers, fetlocks, and bridle path all got clipped and trimmed. So at least if we do ever make it to any of these schooling shows, Isabel will at least look the part?

she is so sweet :)
Because quite frankly, I'm not sure we'll be able to act the part... Isabel has always thrived on a routine - and the snowstorm blew that routine to smithereens. Between not riding, and Isabel not moving around much in turnout bc of the sow, she's feeling a little WIRED.

She wants to GO GO GO haha, and is growing impatient with too much focused dressage work and not enough running around jumping all the things. And when I *have* been able to ride, it is usually in circumstances that require a little more micromanagement than Izzy would prefer. Like out in the snow, or in a claustrophobic indoor filled with horses and dogs (details to come later). It's been a bit frustrating for both of us...

striking a pose, since there's not much else to do
At least we've been able to ship out twice a week to nearby indoors for schooling or lessons... But god that gets old fast. Brita and I pretty much ran out of steam this weekend and really tried to make riding work in the snow covered small arena. With... slightly uninspiring results.

The BM apparently doesn't want to use the tractor to clear the arena lest is somehow mess up the new footing, and the snow has gotten too heavy and icy from melting then freezing then melting etc to actually dig it out ourselves.

she has the prettiest tail
We rode around in it for a while anyway tho, trying to break it up and speed along the melting process. But it wasn't really very fun. Isabel just wanted to race around unbalanced and was pissy when I tried to keep her more organized. Plus I think moving through the crusty snow was just plain unpleasant for her - esp as I noticed after that it had opened up some little scabs on her feet too. Poor princess.

Fingers crossed the warmer temperatures forecast this week can make some serious headway in clearing the rest of the snow. Oh, and lights for the arena would be nice too!

fuzzy cats and shiny tack. what's not to like?
Because in the meantime I'm just keeping myself occupied by playing with the barn cats and drooling over brown patent leather bridles (sadly the wrong size for petite Isabel), and trying not to worry too much about having a fire-breathing dressage dragon at our upcoming schooling show (provided that doesn't get canceled too lol).

Has the weather been interfering with your riding too? How have you been coping?

32 comments:

  1. Come south! Then all you have to worry about are severe thunderstorms. :)

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  2. Sorry to hear finding saddle time has been challenging, however you guys are still packing the adventures in - i feel bad for my lack of motivation/drive.

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    1. eh this season is hard for finding motivation - i keep finding myself thinking 'well what's the point of all that effort anyway?' bc it's so difficult to plan ahead beyond a couple days at a time... oh well. spring will come soon!

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  3. Normally for us, the winter means some reduced riding, even with the indoor. But, this year, with the warmer weather we've been able to keep at it. As a result, I have a much fitter horse this time of year than I'm used too. And not all of his energy has been used for good! :P

    On another note Emma, there's something I wanted to run by you in regards to Dark Jewel Designs browbands. Would you be able to email me at amelia.pitts@yahoo.com? :D

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    1. jealous of the indoor, but i still know what you mean. winter is just tough. exciting tho that the weather has been working in your favor tho! fit horses are FUN horses :D also, sending email now!

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  4. I feel your pain. I've decided to take the route of bury my head in the sand/snow, and weep to myself while I wait for this all to be over.
    That bridle is super gorgeous, and Isabel looks so cute!!

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    1. i'm kinda tempted into following you down that same route... we'll see tho. this week is supposed to be so nice, maybe things will clear up sooner than we think?!?

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  5. I feel you! A lot of us are in the same sort of situation this time of year. It was so great to be able to go to an indoor over the weekend and actually ride instead of walking around bareback in the snow!

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    1. that's the truth... bopping around in the snow is SO FUN omg! but it also kinda loses its novelty kinda fast. so glad you made it out to an indoor tho - super exciting!!

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  6. Our snow is the same here too--crusty on top and no good for even playing around in. Its either trailer out or forget it.

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    1. solidarity girl.... it's a crappy place to be right now but it is what it is!

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  7. You can come down here where nothing ever dies because it's too warm! Just don't do it in summer. The downside is that the mosquitos will be able to carry us away come May.

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    1. lol yea the humidity and heat here is plenty enough in summer for me to consider going any farther south lol. but damn this snow is annoying!

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  8. The snow finally melted down here but left everything so sloppy and wet! Even trailering to the indoor was an issue bc the barn owner was using it as turn out for the horses! Oh well…

    Hopefully the warm weather will melt your snow quickly and you guys will be back to "regular" work! (Its winter so regular is not very regular! ;) hehe)

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    1. ugh this season really is the worst, isn't it? glad to hear all your snow melted tho - gives me hope for us too!

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  9. We're looking at 50s & 60s up through this Wednesday B) so hopefully that melts the white stuff. If not, Isabel just needs to enjoy the pampering.

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    1. the forecast definitely looks promising - fingers crossed!!!!

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  10. There is no riding. There is only mud. Actually, it just might stay dry this week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

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    1. ugh we'll be in that same river of mud soon enough too.... but fingers crossed you get a couple good days this week!

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  11. omg patent brown bridle *drooly face*

    i hope you got some good melt going on yesterday, and it's supposed to be in the upper 50s and rainy so that will def help!

    and then mud season begins.

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    1. isn't that bridle awesome?!? i seriously had to talk myself down from buying it bc it very obviously won't fit the mare.... but i waaaaant it haha. but yea, hopefully this week's weather disappears all this nasty snow asap!

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  12. I just had a CRAZY idea, shoveling snow from horseback lol like some sort of snow clearing polo?

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    1. ha that would be... something lol. i'd probably die given isabel's intense desire to do everything right now at speed.... but hey, maybe if we had anything broke to drive we could plow it the old-fashioned way? (or, ya know, BM could just use the tractor...)

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  13. I don't care if it makes me sound like a snob, I will never board somewhere without an indoor. They are life.

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    1. that's not snobby at all - i have similar feelings and have pretty much trained exclusively at farms with great facilities. alas, isabel was an unexpected addition to my life and i am as yet unwilling to leave her (and obvi i don't get to decide where she lives...)

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  15. Even though we have an indoor the weather changing is really messing with Ries's brain. I've been trying to ride almost every day but he isn't quite ready for that

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    1. yea... i definitely think you're right in that they feel the weather changes differently too... le sigh

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  16. I really love that bridle on her. My horses are getting a vacation of late. I work 6 days a week and tend to sleep on my only off day. These months are the busiest for me...70 hour work weeks are nothing to bat an eye at. Looking forward to more horse time as the month goes along though.

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    1. omg 70hr work weeks are *not* my friend, i dunno how you do it! hopefully the horses are enjoying their little vacation tho and come back into work better than ever ;)

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