Horsemans' Seasons of the Year

Yesterday was a perfect riding day. You know the type of day, around 60-70 degrees, not too humid, bright blue sky. I have to have more surgery on my ankle this month, so will be in a cast, again, until mid-July. This is so depressing! April 1st was suppose to be my first day "back-in-the-saddle" after my initial surgery, though I did cheat, and sat on Trick for a few minutes last month! What this means is that I will, hopefully, be able to start riding in the hottest month of the year in New England, at least in my opinion. It got me thinking about what seasons are the most enjoyable to ride,so I came up with a list of the months and a description.
January--too cold and icy
February--even colder and very icy
March--Muddy
April--perfect
May--perfect
June--perfect with blackflies
July and August--too hot and humid with mosquitos and deer flies
September--perfect
October--perfect,cool weather with beautiful scenery
November--near perfect,cooler and sometimes rainy
December--cold, and busy with hoidays
According to my description, this leaves 4 months of perfect riding weather. Tom and I ride every weekend, unless it rains, so this means we ride 16 times in the year, for about 2 hours per ride,so 32 hours. Each of our horses costs $200 per month, so according to my math, it costs us $150 per ride. We horse people are so crazy. Maybe I should just rent horses for trail riding!!

In the Woods

I was working at my desk trying to catch-up on paperwork. My desk is next to a window with a view overlooking my backyard. It was a lovely day outside, and paperwork is such a bore, that I kept looking out the window, longing for warmer weather. Suddenly I see something moving in the woods. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was Mark riding Trick. There is a short trail that goes from the back of my property to the edge of the back paddock. Of course, I had to get a couple of pictures. What a great excuse to go outside on a nice sunny day in March. Its even a beter excuse to do paperwork next week!

Snow Balls on Mudslide

Spring must be in the air. On Sunday, Mark started working the horses. He started by ponying Eva while riding Trick. Both horses were very calm. I think it helped that there was still snow on the ground-it took a little more energy to move forward. Eva, especially, was not happy about the situation. She'll be 19 in June, and has been the Queen Bee around the barn for many years. It's as if she is thinking "I'm too old for this nonsense". Around and around the ring they walked, this direction and then the other. A few circles, and figure eights, and I saw the "look" in Mark's eyes. "Mom, maybe I'll hit a few balls". He "stick and balled" off of Trick for a few minutes, and then decided to saddle-up Mudslide and hit a few balls while riding her. I was getting that "longing to ride" feeling, just as Mark suggested I get on Trick. I haven't been on the back of a horse, since my accident in August, and my ankle was hurting, but I just HAD to get on top of a horse. Mounting from the right side, I managed to get into the saddle, and though I couldn't put weight into the left stirrup without pain, I rode a few steps. Wow--did that feel good! Once the horse loving blood gets flowing in your veins, there is no stopping. I had planned on waiting until April to ride, and promised my surgeon I'd see her first--but---can't wait till next weekend!!!

Tess/Pachita in VA 3 months later

Tess/Pachita at New Holland

March 2010 Stony Bridge Farm assisted in the rescue of a polo horse at the New Holland Auction in PA. She was called Tess. After a short rehab, she was adopted by a very nice family in VA. A groom saw Tess and recognized her as Pachita. Pachita had belonged to a high-goal polo pro. I guess she didn't turn fast enough, so he dumped her at the auction. Another perfectly good "unwanted horse" with a lazy, irresponsible owner. The Unwanted Horse Coalition, a division of the American Horse Council, describes an Unwanted Horse, as follows:

HORSES THAT FAIL TO MEET OWNERS EXPECTATION
>UNATTRACTIVE
>NOT ATHLETIC
>UNMARKETABLE
>WRONG COLOR
>BARREN/INFERTILE
>COST TOO MUCH TO CARE FOR

NORMAL, HEALTHY HORSES OF VARIOUS AGES
AND BREEDS

HORSES THAT ARE OLD

HORSES THAT ARE INCURABLY LAME

HORSES THAT HAVE BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS

HORSES THAT ARE DANGEROUS

UN-ADOPTABLE FERAL HORSES

I don't know about you, but the descriptions I hate the most are those under the heading "Fails to meet the owners expectations" Maybe not their expectaions, but an ugly, barren Paint mare with a lot of white is OK for me!!

Planning for 2011

We experienced 2 days of temps in the 50s last week, so Winter blankets got to come-off. Everyone rolled in the mud almost immediately. It reminds me of how I feel at the end of the day when I take off my workboots. AHHHH! It seemed that no sooner were the blankets off and the horses were all muddy, when we got a terrible rainstorm, with thunder, lightning, and high winds. Mark and Tom dashed outside to get the blankets back on the poor horses. Even though I was born and raised in New England, I still have this odd belief that on March 1st, the weather will get warm and sunny. Well that date is only one week away, and I guess its time to be realistic--it ain't getting warm anytime soon. So, what do you do during your winter "down-time". This assumes you don't travel south in the winter. I try to catch up on paperwork,research, and correspondence I also try to spend some time enjoying my hobbies other than horses. Mark has reffed a couple of arena polo games at UCONN. He's also taking some classes at the local community college. He must be planning to someday have a job that is non polo related, like something that pays real money.

Dressage Anyone??

We have had an unusual amount of snow this winter. The top rail of the riding ring is 5 ft. off the ground, and there are 5 rails. With 3 feet of snow in the riding ring, it looks like I'll be changing my discipline to dressage!