On Sun, Feb 03, 2008 at 05:20:47AM -0800, Nancy Sturm wrote: > Okay! I've had it.
me too :) we're having a winter thaw and yesterday i took stjarni out on a much-missed trail ride (it'd been maybe two weeks...) it was in the forties when we left, mostly slush and water on the ground, the forest floor about half-covered with snow. stjarni was in a great mood and we zipped along, doing a lot of tolting, a little flat-out galloping (just a couple strides, i chickened out and said "whoa" :) and generally just enjoying ourselves. the woods were *so* beautiful, a lot of pale sky seen through winter trees, opal-glass pools of frozen water, the white snow and the soft dark earth between. of course we stayed out too late and lost the trail and bushwhacked through the trees, and then had to cross the ring which had started to freeze over again -- i just dropped everything (reins, stirrups) and tried to sit neutral while stjarni picked his way through the mess. (i do think he felt more secure last year with the borium than this year with the bare feet, fwiw.) no slips, until i had turned him out and had to walk back across the freezing ring by myself, and i just have to laugh at myself for that, going out this time of year in non-serious boots and sans yaktrax, even if it *is* in the forties when i leave and the ground is almost totally clear down here in somerville :) --vicka
