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?