Finally Warm Enough to Ride

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Nearly 40 degrees
After more than a week of arctic weather, today felt like a gift.

Today the high was nearly 40. That’s a nice contrast to the -10 that I woke up to on Sunday morning. Between the frigid weather, the blizzard and a nasty cold I was starting to forget that snow and horses can also be fun. Since rain is predicted for Friday, getting a few rides in is essential.

The wind carved patterns
Much of the snow was untouched. The wind had carved patterns on the surface and a few animals had wandered through but we laid the first real tracks.

I chose Zelda for the ride. First of all, she has no shoes, which makes her a bit more sure footed (even though Freedom has borium and pads, I think that in deep snow, barefoot works better). Freedom also gets a bit feral when he hasn’t been ridden for so long. Zelda was frisky initially, but trotting through the deep snow cured her of that pretty quickly.

Self portrait
Zelda worked hard on the ride. We did a bit of trotting and cantering but breaking trail when there’s a foot of snow is tough work. I just love the patterns in the snow. It looks almost like sand dunes.
Serenity
The landscape was serene and peaceful. We saw a couple of people snow shoeing, but mostly we had the trails to ourselves.
Winter light
I love how the sun lights up the shed. The warmth is such a contrast to the cold blue of the snow.

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