It was a glorious day for riding. 39 degrees and sunny with 8 inches of snow on the ground.

It was time to take Freedom out and make him tired. I succeeded.

The snow was lovely. Great stretches of glittering white expanse, covered with glittering crystals. The shadows were a lovely deep blue. It was deep, though and once we got off the main trails, into the fields, it was hard work to get through it.

That didn’t stop Freedom. We had some nice canters through the snow. The only sound was snorting and the swish of the snow around his hooves. For trotting and cantering we stuck to the paths that were beaten down by the skiers and snow shoers, but we also headed off across the fields. Although only one skier had gone before us, Freedom chose to follow the tracks. Apparently unaware that this path wasn’t any easier.

After an hour we turned back. It’s fun in the snow but I didn’t want to overdo it. Freedom tends not to show his fatigue while in the moment. I certainly would have been exhausted from plowing through the snow.

We have several more days of warm weather forecast and I’m planning to get out and ride every day while the snow lasts!