The weather has continued to keep us confined to the indoor arena. While I am very grateful to have access to such a facility, it definitely limits our riding options. This time of year it often seems we start to struggle to come up with things to do and work on. When that happens, it… Read more »
Horse Thoughts
Birthday Chinks
In addition to a gorgeous mecate and a few other gifts, Robin also got me a pair of custom chinks for my birthday. It took a few months for them to get made, but the wait was worth it. We got them from LW Leather, and they are extremely well made and comfortable. I was… Read more »
A Few Winter Rides
So far February hasn’t been quite the springboard back into an active barn habit that I was hoping for. Work is just nuts so far this year. We’ve been taking some steps to help get in front of the workload, but a lot of days I would have liked to have gone to the barn… Read more »
Just The Bear and I
Robin has been extremely busy with work this year, and that has cut down on some of our mid-week rides. But today I felt determined to get out there. Robin stayed home to work, so it was just Bear and I. We also had the barn to ourselves for most of the afternoon. So I… Read more »
Cruisin on Laredo
We had our best ride together since sometime early in the fall. After that I wasn’t riding him a lot due to Steen’s injury. Then we had our couple of run-away moments just before the holidays (apparently I didn’t blog about the second one). They were excellent learning experiences, but they definitely set my Laredo… Read more »
Thoughts on Strength
On Thursday, I set a new personal strength record. I pressed a 35lb kettlebell five times on my right side, and three times on the left. This was a “test” workout, geared to assess my limits and see if I’ve gotten strong enough to progress from the 26lb bell I’ve been using for my regular… Read more »
Feeling Good
Again we got out to the barn early in the morning. And it was pretty cold. This week it got really nice, but we were busy with work stuff. So this morning’s 11 degrees felt pretty chilly. Thankfully the pasture has improved some. It is still full of frozen lumps, but they are more rounded… Read more »
Getting Out Early
When we went to bed Saturday night, we knew there was a good chance Sunday would be not so nice. So I decided to just get up the next morning, have my coffee and breakfast, and then go to the barn. No matter what. It was a good thing I made that decision, because otherwise… Read more »
Soggy Sunday
We woke up to a chill drizzle but were determined to get to the barn anyway. Walking into the pasture it was misting lightly, and the horses were all sodden but not uncomfortable. Steen, of course, is largely protected by his blanket. His head and legs were soaked but the rest of him was warm… Read more »
Frozen Pastures and Energetic Horses
After Thursday’s all day rain and yesterday’s cold temps, we found the guys safely tucked against the big bails. The area surrounding the bails was the only solid footing in the whole pasture. The rest was a mix of frozen lumps of ground and frozen puddles. It was a slow, careful walk getting them out… Read more »