dancing horses

dancing horses

Monday, March 1, 2021

Of Lions and Lambs

 It's no secret that I dislike February. To me it's a bleak month- too far from Christmas and Spring. The world seems cold and lifeless. I tend to put my head down and just get through it. I was really looking forward to the end of the month and the beginning of March. 

I miss the green

This has been a relatively mild winter and the end of February began to warm up. We had some rain early last week and it melted the ice in my ring. By thursday it was good enough to ride in. Deep in spots but pretty good. The wind was really brisk but Julia and I decided that we were going to ride anyway. Our thoughts were that we could keep it short. 

In the barn, Irish decided to take advantage of the open door and made a break for the 'grass' outside. He did it as I was leading Carmen past his stall so she freaked out but didn't knock into me. While Julia went to get Irish she clearly wanted to go but stayed on a loose lead while prancing in place. Irish was brought back in (Irish: I regret nothing) but Carmen stayed pretty tight. I looked at her being 8 feet tall and decided that lunging might be the way to start. 

Up in the ring she started off quiet enough and then exploded. It was kind of adorable- she never put pressure on the line but she was pulling all the moves- gallop, sliding stop, rear and then some airs above the ground. She was clearly having fun. I am not a fan of flying horse sized kites, normally it doesn't seem to serve much purpose. But this time I let her have her fun moving forward. After a few rounds she settled down into work. 

Pretty pony but LOOK AT MY RING! 
In February!? What madness is this? 

I took off her halter and we did some liberty games before heading over to the mounting block. I was impressed that she stayed with me instead of following Irish even when he passed close. The wind was so high she was definitely on high alert. She had done a lot of trotting and cantering on the lunge so we stayed at the walk. She was pretty good- a bit tight and wary but trying hard so we called it a day. 

Friday it poured but saturday was sunny and warm. (well okay, I know that 5 degrees is not exactly warm, but it's all relative and the sun felt so nice). Carmen was much more mellow. Our lunging was short and when I got on she was pretty good. The issue was me trying to keep her attention amongst all the distractions. Irish was definitely feeling the spring like weather. Julia let him out to canter and he got excited so down the long side she let him out and he opened up into a hand gallop. I swear I heard him yell 'yahoo'. 
It so good to see this old guy feeling like a 3 year old

Carmen got a little irritated with me insisting on her attention and did do a mini bolt on me. I sat up and then put her andalusian butt to work. We cantered a 15 metre figure 8 with a change of lead through trot in the middle. After a few minutes of that she was feeling much better about listening. It felt like a good ride. It was nice to actually school. Usually in winter I am just riding for the sake of riding and not so much working on anything new. 

Sunday dawned gloriously sunny but the wind was fierce. That morning I spent in the barn cleaning up the old hay and putting away the boards I use under the hay to allow circulation. The chickens were fascinated by all this. They were very excited by the underside of the boards. 



 However, by lunch time it had died down quite a bit. Julia came out again and we were very excited to ride. Irish was also super excited and ran away from Julia three times out in the field. He would let her get him almost into the stall and then take off (we lead him with the lead over his neck). After the third time I went out and put a halter on him and we had a discussion about manners. Honestly, every spring he gets a bug up his butt and he acts like a toddler. Carmen was much more calm. 

I keep trying to get a photo of the chickens going under Carmen
and her non-reaction but my timing is off. She really doesn't care about them

To keep the same pattern I did some ground work, then some liberty work and then I hopped on. The ride was lovely. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and it was warm (well 10 degrees, remember I said it's all relative?). It just felt glorious to be outside and sitting on my pony. Who was also really enjoying herself. We played with some leg yields and transitions. We finished up working on some turn on the haunches. It was tempting to ride longer but I didn't want to make her sore so we stopped there. 

March 1 came in like a lion with torrential rain and wind (snow is some areas). But that's okay. March is a month of promise and I am looking forward to it. Let mud season begin. 

her mane is definitely lighter this year




24 comments:

  1. Spring is coming! So nice to see all the chickens together like a big family!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is nice. The white ones can be bullies at times. I call them Katherine and Audrey Henburn.

      Delete
    2. DYING over the chicken's names.

      Delete
  2. Five degrees? Brrr! I can’t say I like mud season. I have two injuries already and lots of craziness. But the sun sure feels good! We were in the 50’s today. Crazy weather.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that’s around 41 Fahrenheit. 5 degrees in November is cold but by February it feels great. Especially with the sun shining. The sun has a lot of warmth compared to January.
      I don’t really like mud season but it’s a necessary transition to spring

      Delete
    2. Oh, celsius! Lol. I'm an airhead.

      Delete
    3. No worries. 😁😁😁

      Delete
  3. Sounds like a great intro back into riding for the year. It is amazing how warm 40 feels after some really cold weather!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I made the most of it. It never lasts this time of year.

      Delete
  4. I am also ready for mud season (surprisingly...who says this?!) and am looking forward to cleaning up old hay and hay scraps. But mostly SUNSHINE. So excited for more SUNSHINE. Do y'all have a cloudier winter season than your other seasons? Being on the coast, I'm never sure how your weather works compared to my landlocked weather.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is more cloudy here in winter. I can’t wait to scrape up the old hay and frozen poop.

      Delete
  5. lol march is actually one of my least favorite months just bc it feels interminable, and still has enough of winter in it (at least in these parts) to not be trustworthy LOL. but yes -- we're definitely excited for spring too! the weather has been so nuts this year, but i'm so happy that you've gotten so many mild stretches!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. March can be pretty mercurial but I still prefer it to the bitter cold of February

      Delete
  6. I keep waiting for the big snow that we never got! Of course, around here March is the month that we get every conceivable type of weather, sometimes all in the same day.
    Glad you are getting some good riding in to take away the blahs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We didn’t get much snow this year. But I’m trying to whisper that and not anger Mother Nature.

      Delete
  7. So fantastic to get some good riding in during the winter! Sounds like Carmen is ready to get back to work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah it’s been great. I hope she’s ready.

      Delete
  8. Carmen and Irish really seem to be enjoying themselves. We still have lots of snow and ice. I’m not looking forward to mud season but it’s a payment for the transition to Spring. Which I can’t wait for. This winter is getting old.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Irish was having a blast. Carmen was more mellow. This will likely flip as we get into summer.

      Delete
  9. The good thing about February if you dislike it is it's at least short!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love Irish! The winds have been brutal for here too.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving a comment. I love the feedback.