Friday, February 5, 2016

another nightime ride in the snow

Yup. Super descriptive title is super descriptive. We rode. At night time. In the snow.

Craaaazy, I tell ya.

'should i be amused? am i supposed to find this funny? bc... no' - isabel
Our smaller upper arena still doesn't have lights, so even tho it gets better draining and sunlight (thus allowing the snow to clear out faster), it's not really helpful in the evenings.

So that leaves us to the bigger lighted arena that only gets a couple hours of direct sunlight a day and therefore still has way more snow in it.

the slush is still over a foot deep in some places
The plan (before actually stepping foot in the arena) had been to spend a good long while just stretching and working on slow and steady at the walk and trot. Because that's pretty much what mare needs right now. And I planned to finish with a good ol' fashioned hand gallop around for a couple laps. Because that's pretty much what mare wants right now.

Balance folks. It's all about balance. lol

bali came to play with his lease rider too!
But alas, upon actually entering the arena and assessing conditions, the whole plan got tossed. Because it was honestly really just plain old unpleasant footing. Deep, slippery, fatiguing for both of us. Ugh.

Lesson ponies had worn somewhat of a 'track' along the rail, with the new cushy footing mixed in making it a little easier for the horses. But any deviation from that track meant working through heavy slushy deep snow.

mare also wants to bite bali's face off, but that's another story
So we made it a fitness night instead, since mare desperately needs to move around a little. Nothing crazy, mostly just walking. I didn't even fuss too much with contact - just asking her to plz be balanced and not kill us both (usually by also asking that she at least try to approximate something like a marginally correct level of inside bend).

We trotted a little bit for shits and giggles, and threw in a couple laps of canter too just to try it. At first Isabel wanted to break and was very unhappy with the footing. Until she realized that she was RUNNING FREELY ZOMG!!! haha. Then she just kept going and going (and going) and I actually legitimately thought we might die, so we quit it after maybe 3 laps.

'ok so that running part was at least a little fun' - isabel
And so, dear readers, that accurately summarizes the current state of our riding affairs on week night evenings. It's... blech not that pleasant. And not in the least bit productive (tho I'm stubbornly hiding under the umbrella of 'conditioning' haha).

But we at least pretended for 20 min, and it's 20 more min of moving around than Isabel was likely to do on her own... so... winning?

C'mon Spring, we're ready for ya!!

38 comments:

  1. I admire your dedication. And Isabel sure looks happy! The most exercise my horses got was from lifting up their legs so I can pick their hooves.

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    1. ugh seriously if we didn't have this upcoming (shit) show i probably wouldn't be trying to hard...

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  2. That sounds about like what we're doing now... except include "walk endlessly up and down hills in the mud". BLECH.

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    1. yerp pretty much.... at least you get to do it in daylight? not sure if that makes it any better or not tho...

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  3. Geez, is this more snow or the same leftover snow?

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    1. it's the same leftover snow.... fml. it's gone from most places by now - esp south facing slopes and areas with vegetation. but this arena gets like... 3 hrs of direct sun a day. not sufficient :(

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  4. Ugh but at least the mare got her zooms...

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    1. i wish i could even say that's the case... more like it just reminded her of how badly she wants to run haha

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  5. Replies
    1. ha pretty much, with bonus added slippage lol

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  6. Our arena is almost 100% thawed (it's on the top of a hill with good drainage), but now the footing is CUPPY and deep! Trainer's going to try to drag it today I think because we have a gymnastic lesson tomorrow! Certainly working these ponies in the snow is good for their fitness (and mine too)!

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    1. our upper arena is getting better too, thank god. still pretty crappy conditions but better than nothing...

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  7. Replies
    1. eh not really the word i would use for it... but it is what it is lol

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  8. Blugh. I'm pretty happy if I get to ride once a week at the arena I trailer to, but some days I dream of boarding my horse at some heated indoor - just for those couple of months of pure shit weather. Then I wake up and drink more wine.

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    1. ugh i'm right there with ya. more wine is sounding pretttty good right about now lol

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  9. Bali has a lease rider...so, is he staying at your farm?

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    1. i wish... no he's actually had a lease rider (or multiple) for almost the entire time he's been with us. right now he just has one, and while that does help subsidize his costs for care, it's not quite enough given that he's not particularly useful in the lesson program. if he had more leasers (or if this particular rider increased her # of lease days) that might make a difference... but i think the program directors are already pretty settled on finding him a new home... it might just take a little while!

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  10. You said! I'm so ready for consistent warmer weather.

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    1. meeeeee toooo. hopefully soon! the real kicker in our region tho is that it *is* warm(ish) out. the temps have been extremely pleasant (think, long sleeve tee + down vest). but there's no ground to ride on. le sigh.

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  11. Those ears in that last pic... lol!

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  12. You win! I can't even muster up the energy to go ride my mare in the pouring rain.

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    1. ugh i probably wouldn't be riding in the rain at this point either, blargh. the temps here have been super mild tho - the lows this night were around 39-40*F, so really actually quite pleasant riding temps. if only the snow would just GO AWAY lol

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  13. blerg. winter. Way to make the best of it!

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  14. Isabel is doing the cutest pose for the camera in the last pic! I like riding in the snow, as long as there aren't any icy spots :)

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    1. unfortunately icy spots abound right now....

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  15. 20 mins is better than nothing for sure!

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    1. sometimes i think so... sometimes not! but we try!

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