and yet she persisted

With all the customization and ‘personalization’ of literally everything on the internet these days, I never really know if I’m seeing the same “news” as everybody else… To be honest, sometimes I think my google news feed is just like, “wow you check your weather app a lot, seems like you are into weather, let’s fill your ENTIRE FEED with headlines about weather!”

i spy three horse butts, none of them red. doozy, where are you??

Which. Like. No, google news feed. No, that’s literally what the app is for. I check the weather app to see what I need to see about weather, I’m not just generally curious about it LOL… But here we are, in a brave new era of the stupid internet.  

ooooh, there you are! Lil Ms Mafiosa likes to always face the entry way LOL, and it’s no coincidence that all the rest of the horses are crowded onto the opposite side of the hay ring haha 

Or maybe I’m wrong, maybe everybody is in the same boat. Which means that even if you weren’t in the path of this last weekend’s most recent storm, perhaps you heard about it anyway. 

outdoor ring almost entirely clear of snow on saturday, the day we went to loch moy!!

Fortunately, while areas north of Maryland — particularly up thru New York and into New England — got slammed by the recent nor’easter, we just got a respectable new snow layer that was quickly and easily cleared from the roads. No state of emergency, and no unending weeks of arctic blasts. Just normal snow. Fine!

then….. monday, blargh

After last month’s extravaganza, this barely merited a shrug haha! Well… except from the horses, who need no special invitation to be a little extra lol… I swear they know when a big system is blowing in, bc basically the whole farm was up in a tizzy! Gotta love it!

storm blew in with a lot of rain to start, and the horses were all a bit cray cray. 
here’s doozy just breakin dem’ boys hearts!

Anyway, tho, the storm hit overnight Sunday, was mostly cleared up by midday Monday, and by Tuesday we were off again to our now bi-weekly lessons** with dressage trainer C!!

(**At least that’s the plan haha, y’all know how it goes… But we actually have a standing day + time now for the first time ever, so maybe it’ll stick!)

nonchalantly trying to act like the whole lot of them *didn’t* just bolt up the hill behind me haha
i’m calling shenanigans!

And I tried to remember to take a lot of pictures in order to force myself to write about it… since the writing helps really cement the experience into my memories, but the photos are what really drive the writing. You know how it is.

anyway. onto the lesson!

This winter has probably been the most consistent era for seeing trainer C in years. Even so, tho, it’s still been a bit inconsistent just bc of the weather. Like, we missed a lesson last month bc of the big storm, and honestly with all the ups and downs anyway it’s always even odds whether Doozy has been working regularly leading up to the lesson. Which means it’s a bit of a gamble what horse shows up haha!

i always feel a little unworthy of being the first to leave tracks in this incredible ring…

We’ve been super productive the last couple weeks tho, so Doozy showed up ready to shine this week, yay! Well. Ok haha, let’s temper that a little bit. Bc she still is who she is. There’s often another horse schooling in the ring at the same time as my lesson, which is totally fine, tho naturally Doozy is often distracted.

random unrelated shot of us from home, only related in that — hey, it’s me on a horse!

Plus, this week we also had the manure spreader out in the cornfield above the ring doing its thing. Except, with the ~23*F temps, “doing its thing” happened to also involve putting off so much steam from the warm manure that you’d have thought the whole thing was on fire. Which, naturally, Doozy did think LOL.

back at the dressage barn again… doozy thinks she’d rather just move in and live there rather than go back into the cold wind

Much like our lesson with Dan last week, it was therefore a persistent issue throughout the ride of trying to keep Doozy’s attention, to keep backing her off the ledge of wanting to lose her shit.

handsome mare <3 i’m always trying to recreate one of my favorite shots of charlie thru these doorways

And I’m proud to say that we were successful! Like, sure, she had a couple moments here and there — especially the first time the steaming spreader passed close to the windows just as we turned our back to it. She had a fairly big spook into canter at that moment… But like, fine, right? Seems to me like a reasonably normal thing to spook at. What mattered is that she recovered, and then kept a lid on it (tho also kept an eye on that spreader) afterward. We’ll take it!

ugh. mare. c’mon, open your eyes!!

A really big difference maker in this ride, I think, was remembering what Dan said about my tendency to really move around a lot in the saddle, to kinda swing side to side with the movement of Doozy’s stride. He was adamant that I sit still and firm in *one* spot, to let Doozy come to me. And go figure, he was right.

look at the camera!! doozy!!

It really made a difference helping Doozy stay with me when she felt distracted or worried, but it also made a HUGE difference when we practiced our leg yields, which trainer C had us doing almost the whole ride. She started us off in walking leg yields, quarter line to rail, and then right away had us doing them in trot too.

sigh. the original, there can only be one <3

She set us off on a nice little pattern, too. Riding leg yield quarter line to rail, then immediately onto a 15m circle, which naturally lands you back on the quarter line to repeat again. And she also had us leg yielding from rail to quarter line, and again with the 15m circle to immediately rinse repeat again. For all of Doozy’s hemming and hawing, she was shockingly good for this!

you’ll do, tho, sweet biscuit <3

We did a similar pattern in canter, too — cantering a 15m circle, turn up the quarter line, transition to trot, leg yield to wall. Rinse repeat, or change directions etc. A very pleasant little exercise that I think we’ll adopt as it’s just enough to keep Doozy occupied and busy, while still requiring we be connected and on the aids quickly — but not quite so intense an exercise as to get the horse feeling stressed or anticipatory.

grateful to have this silly critter in my life!

And maybe a nice addition to the next edition of the Brit Bot, assuming that gets resurrected once we’re back to riding out in more open spaces again. (And Kat I promise I haven’t forgotten about your tests either!!)

So overall a nicely productive session — mainly in that it was yet another ride rife with #distractions and #feelings but yet we persisted and got on with it and (eventually) overcame haha. The real trick will be making that happen in the chaos of a warm up ring when I may or may not have step by step instruction… But that eventuality is still a ways off, so for now we’re satisfied enough!

fire horsing forward

It’s still winter around these parts… But at least the weather is normalizing a bit. It’s only freezing out?? We’ll take it! It hasn’t been quiiiiite warm enough to meaningfully melt any of the snow, tho hopefully that’ll come this week.

somehow only very few new pics, so enjoy this nice shot of Ms Fire Horse Herself, She of Big Emotions, from the last snowstorm

In the meantime… It feels like time to get back on the proverbial — and literal — horse. 2026 has already been a lot of things to a lot of different people… for better, but unfortunately often for worse too. 

We’re imminently approaching the Lunar New Year — the Year of the Fire Horse — tho, which is apparently a time to embrace our independence, challenge authority, and trust our instincts to strike off down new paths, while not shying away from pivoting or adapting as needs arise.

bc…. the current snowstorm is still with us LOL… gotta love mares tho, look at that tidy little path out to the pasture, clearly demarcated by breadcrumbs manure piles

To me, that leaves a lot of freedom and openness to interpretation. That linked article says,

 “It’s a time for big change and big emotions,”

Which… feels somewhat strangely dichotomous considering so many folks are feeling cooped up, restrained and stir crazy, kept inside by a vast array of perilous external forces… Literal, figurative, take your pick. But maybe that’s also the point, the actual sign of the times?

pathway marks a direct line straight to the round bale lol

Anyway. I dunno about you, but “big change” sounds good to me. Well. Ok, let’s back up a sec. I’m actually a bit more of a Wood Ox, personally. More of a ‘dependable planner’ type, admittedly change-averse in my own day to day operations… LOL. 

But it’s a sentiment I can get behind if we’re talking about the general times!! 

well. **almost** a straight line— clever ladies dogleg over to the heated water trough on their way in and out

Because as it is, there seems to be an increasing feeling of general restlessness and malaise with everything going on. Shifting seasons aren’t likely to fix all (or even any) of that… But maybe the improved conditions can inject some much-needed energy and motivation into the collective psyche, right? Maybe??

speaking of injecting much-needed energy… this gadget continues to be useful in the face of persistent cold!

For my part, I finally dug the trailer out of its snow cave, zapped the truck battery back to life, and hauled Ms Mondeuse over for a dressage lesson with trainer C. Sure sure, we’ve barely ridden at all in recent weeks and the animal is straight up feral. But. Eh. Who cares. We’re following our Fire Horse intuitions, not getting bogged down in the rigid details, amirite?

older pic, lately have had the best success with hooking both positive and neutral cables directly to the corresponding bolt nuts on the battery. ymmv.

And it was good! Tho you’ll have to take my word for it bc obviously we don’t always have friends tagging along taking pics and video of every little moment LOL (sigh). 

all the better for gettin where we wanna go!!
(yes, this is the only actual picture from our lesson LOL)

And ok, maybe it wasn’t, like, classically “Good” in terms of getting stuff done, being productive, furthering Doozy’s dressage prowess, etc etc etc. More like small-g “good” — keeping horse between rider and earth despite unplanned dance moves; staying patient with a sense of humor when the mare can bolt on a balanced 15m circle… etc etc, you get the picture! 

replaced the pastern wraps we’d been using with new navy DSBs snagged with a recent gift card

It maybe ain’t much lol… But I’m here for it anyway. Getting my fix, focusing my time and energy on the things I love doing. 

Spring is coming. The Fire Horse is coming. And if the Chinese lunar zodiac is to be believed, Times of Big Change and Big Feelings are also coming. 

flashback pic of my mare and her sweet glare <3 <3 <3

For as tiring and relentlessly oppressive as this winter has felt, it has to end eventually, right? 

“i’d like to speak with the manager”

Not naming any names or anything… But there miiiiiight be a little red mare out there gettin ready to write a strongly worded letter about this whole w*nter situation lol…

the look of a mare who is running out of patience with the whole “sn*w” mess

“wtf is it actually snowing again right now???”

“this is bullshit”

“if i slip and fall and die, i’m taking you with me.”

meanwhile. in baltimore city. 
nbd, just scoopin’ up some actual literal icebergs in the middle of rush hour traffic!

Stay warm out there, kids!

imbolc

That weird rodent up in Pennsylvania might have predicted more winter, but we still passed an important milestone this week: a previously-unknown-to-me Gaelic holiday Imbolc!!

#trashhound

February 1st is apparently some sort of ancient pagan festival celebrating the beginning of spring — marking the halfway point between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. 

trying to hide how excited she is about actually getting to go do something again!

Presumably all these weird winter holiday variations all have shared ancestral roots — or at least, in the case of good ol’ Phil, shared observations of the natural rhythms of seasonal change. 

“reading the news”

And while I wouldn’t exactly look out the window and think, “Ah yes! Spring is coming!” there ARE some undeniable signs.

biscuit has been so bored she was literally thrilled to be back in the dusty ring lol

Sunset is noticeably later now — something that makes a HUGE difference for me personally, and probably a lot of you too. 

apparently so starved for grass, even dead half rotten grass

The horses are also getting more serious about mid-winter shedding. Doozy started getting a few loose hairs around the solstice, but it’s really picking up steam now. Which, as usual with this sensitive little mare, is a good reminder for me to keep an eye out for under-blanket skin funk.

sunset is later and later every day!

Coat Defense powder is my go-to for trying to stay on top of funk prevention. And actually, one of the barn managers makes a DIY version with tea tree oil that is absolutely luscious! 

behold! we aren’t the only crazy ones!

Anyway. Other signs of a shifting season: The horses definitely seem to be hunting for ANYTHING approximating grass. Which I guess could also just be a reflection of having the ground hidden from them for a couple weeks… But still. I like to believe it’s a sign they can smell the earliest signs of growth. 

friesian frens are best frens <3

Tho, the downside is Doozy seems more preoccupied sometimes with hunting grass than just chillin at the round bale. It feels inevitable with TBs that they tend to grow a little lean by the end of winter, and Doozy’s definitely on that path. 

Nothing crazy - imo she looks fantastic (and was possibly admittedly a *little fat* at the height of summer grass anyway), but ya know. Something to keep an eye on!

so intrigued by this dark mucky substance peeking thru the white

We’ve laid relatively low since the storm anyway. Obviously the new year kicked off with a bunch of exciting lessons, and hopefully we’ll get back to all that soon! But, eh, all in good time — and temperatures, amirite?? 

Maryland is finally returning to more seasonally appropriate weather, which means this snow might be gone soon-ish too. Here’s hoping!

mmmm maybe more grass!!!

In the meantime, we’re working on embodying yet another little teaching nugget from the recent yoga classes: focusing on ‘wise stewardship of energy.’ 

In other words, trying to be mindful in how we use our time and energy, rather than operating in mindless autopilot. Recognizing that even tho Doozy has apparently limitless vast reserves of stored energy (lol), it’s up to me to help channel her in productive ways, especially when some of her normal outlets are less available bc of conditions etc. And maybe also especially when my own energy levels are decidedly less than hers… Let’s call it a work in progress LOL!

friday foto finish: bundled biscuit!!

Unbelievably, it’s still January… How? Nobody knows! Fortunately, tho, in another 3,846 weeks two days we’ll be into February. Still winter, obvi. Probably still gonna be cold and gross… But maybe an improvement anyway? We’ll see, I guess lol…

pre-storm: the most bundled up hobo east of the mississippi! 

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re within huge proportion of the US that got slammed with an epic cross-country snow storm last weekend. It was … a LOT.

a very dire forecast indeed for this part of the world

Tho, interestingly enough, the forecast was remarkably consistent (and appropriately serious) pretty well in advance. Everybody knew it was coming, and everybody most people planned accordingly.

big daddy, most impractical of commuter vehicles, actually proved useful parking amidst the city drifts!

Members of the barn staff and care team — including the primary paid force of guys who live on site, and the flex folks who cover days off and some weekend stuff — were all able to juggle days and shifts etc to ensure the main guys got enough time off before the storm. 

the barn guys did such a surgically precise plow job, tho, the civic should be free soon!

They had a plan, folks were rested and ready, and it all went super smoothly! What a crazy feeling to be hunkered down, snowed in, off the roads bc of ‘state of emergency’ restrictions, and completely at peace with the knowledge that Doozy was absolutely fine!

anyway. ponies. WILD ponies!

This is probably one of the first times in my life as a boarder that I wasn’t among the core group of folks gettin shit done when circumstances required it. What a luxury! 

Instead, I basically got to just… stay out of the way, let the guys do their thing, and otherwise just wait for the coast to clear to show up and play with my pony!

just look at that sweet face and tell me she isn’t the most precious??

Now, granted. Doozy is a VERY different type from Charlie. Sure, she’s still spoiled rotten and considers 3 days of no grooming to be a shocking dereliction of my duties. Absolute neglect, no doubt. 

But Charlie, that sweet silly gelding, may he be resting in peace… if he didn’t get his daily grooming, homeboy was as likely as not to take things into his own hands and stick a leg thru an actual fence while trying to scratch dat itch! Ahem.

ooooooh they heard the peppermint crinkles LOL, **Incoming!!**

Doozy is… not that kinda girl lol. Tho naturally she was quite happy to finally get groomed again anyway — especially under her hood!

speed racer, look at that blur!!

With things as they are outside, tho, everything is slowing wayyyy dowwwn on the productivity scale. Tho I still want to make sure Doozy gets regular opportunities to move out and let off some energy!

lol. just kidding… ‘twas more of a mild lope

Turnout in the indoor with her favorite little bebe morgan field mate seemed like the perfect activity! Nice soft flat footing in a safe environment!

for real, tho, check out those stems!

Naturally, neither mare seemed to really know what to do with themselves. They weren’t super stir crazy (probably bc it’s tiring enough just trudging thru the snow to the round bales), so there wasn’t much in the way of galloping zoomies, bucking or squealing… 

Doozy let out a few little bucks and bolts, but mostly just kinda lazily ‘self lunged’ LOL! To be honest, both mares seemed far more interested in inspecting the two tractors that were parked behind the camera to stay out of the snow… 

sweet spoiled mare would like us to please clean up all that nasty icy mess!

All in all, not a bad way to get a little enrichment! Conditions aren’t likely to meaningfully improve any time soon — with temperatures staying well below freezing for at least another week, and the possibility of another storm coming too. 

Not ideal, but them’s the breaks. It IS Maryland tho, so who knows, maybe all this nastiness will be followed by a week of sunny 40*F weather and everything will be back to normal in no time flat! A girl can dream, right?

How did you make out in the storm — still digging out or basically back to business as usual? Or maybe you’re one of the lucky ones and missed the snow entirely?