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!!