dancing horses

dancing horses

Thursday, December 23, 2021

Winter Solstice




    In the winter
all the singing is in
the tops of the trees
~Mary Oliver~

The shortest day of the year fell on December 21. Here it was a beautiful winter day. The kind of day that people who say 'I love winter' are talking about. We had a fresh fall of snow and it was light and fluffy. The sun was shining and the air was warm. As we get further into winter those days will become like hens teeth. 


There are days that, for me, feel more special if I get to sit on the back of a horse. Winter solstice is one of those days. It marks the transition from fall to winter. It also marks the beginning of more sunlight. 
I know that with winter coming riding is going to become scarce but the times I do ride are about having fun and enjoying my horse.  The snow provided the perfect footing in the ring and so I tacked Carmen up and off we headed to the ring. 


I'm not a fool and, mysticism aside, lunging first seemed like a good idea. And it was- there was a fair amount of snow falling off of trees that made life pretty exciting. Once I was on we simply puttered around the ring.  My only goal was to enjoy the beautiful day and soak up the sunshine. I drew lines where I needed to but otherwise we simply puttered around walking and trotting. I wanted to focus on my own clarity of intent and signals so that I wasn't making it muddled for her. 


After about 30 minutes I hopped off. It had been fun and I needed to get onto more mundane tasks. The weather since then has gone to back to horrible winter weather. The kind that make you long for life in warmer climes. The thing to hang onto is the knowledge that better days are coming. 

poor exhausted Carmen just can't horse anymore

13 comments:

  1. Sounds like you had a great day with Carmen. It's nice to get out and just take a ride and enjoy the day. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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  2. Hopefully winter won't be too bitter back east. Enjoy the mild days while you can!
    One fun thing to do in fresh snow is to ride the horse and have it write its name in the snow. Lots of turns, backing half circles, roll backs, turns on haunches etc. - it becomes a fun way to school!

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    1. I hope not. It’s predicted to be above average temps this year but that just means more rain

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  3. Good for you! Bravo!! Yes, that’s a good way to describe the current winter weather. Zillow is probably lighting up with southern searches about now.

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  4. yay for making the most of beautiful winter days <3

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    Replies
    1. Usually I’m working on those days. It was nice to be free.

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  5. Glad you were able to have a lovely snowy ride!

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  6. The snow looks beautiful though I know it's a pain, Here is to more light each day!

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    Replies
    1. It is pretty. If it didn’t lead to more work I’d love it.

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