At the risk of sounding immodest, I’m not completely convinced that our extremely mild Minnesota winter only coincidentally coincides with the fact that I decided to take a break from hauling Chicago for lessons during January and February. Dick (The Man Who has the Patience to be my Riding Instructor) thanked me when I told him about the hiatus, very possibly for reasons unrelated to cold temps and snowy roads, but I chose not to dig too deep. In any case, Mother Nature has served us a heaping helping of Never-ending March up here, with no menu changes in the foreseeable future.
The warm weather cycle of snow and sleet, melt and freeze, creates challenges for outdoor riding, so The Big Red Horse and I spend much of the season walking in the woods, wearing minimal tack, working on quiet cues for bending, straightening, starting and stopping. Our rides relax and reset my spirit, almost as much as the end-of-session apple and grooming do his.
Yesterday we went out while clouds still shaded the sky, leaving the trees lit up with a feathery frost that created a real live enchanted forest. My fairy tale steed apparently also appreciated the magic of our morning, as he whoa-ed and go-ed and flexed with only the slightest signal from me, earning himself a peppermint dessert to finish off that apple.
Life is good at Four Sticks Farm.
From Four Sticks Farm 