It finally decided to act like Winter in New England. Last week we had an overnight storm which left us with slushy snow and freezing rain and early this week we’ll have overnight lows in the single digits. I suppose it had to happen, but I’m already longing for the tropical temperatures we had over Christmas.

I did manage to get in two rides this weekend. There’s only a bit of snow left and since it was in the high 30s, it wasn’t too icy.

I pulled the horses shoes in early December so, in the winter, I only ride when their bare hooves have enough traction to keep us safe. No borium, but also no shoes lost in the mud and the chance for the nail holes to grow out.

Freedom got the first ride. After a week off he was jumpy — we had two epic spooks in the woods; the kind where he vanishes from underneath me and reappears four feet to the right. I’m not sure what caused them. I was too concerned with staying on.

It could have been triggered by all the activity at the start. We had kids on bikes, dogs, and several runners who all entered the trail head at roughly the same time as we did. Thank goodness we have permission to ride on some of the private land where we are sometimes the only ones out there.

Today was Zelda’s turn. I have to figure out how to fit my spurs over my winter boots because Zelda gets naughty without them. I could feel how much she wanted to buck so we did some trot sets on a dirt road a short ride from the barn.

Coming back we caught a beautiful sunset that was reflected in the pond. I’m encouraged that the days are getting longer — sunset today was at 4:24. That’s a whole 9 minutes later than it was on the winter solstice. Definitely an improvement.