brrr...

Freezing fog. Damp, cold. Little beads of ice frozen on Major's whiskers after our ride. It never got above freezing. I know some people are riding in snow and ice and I salute them because this is cold enough for me!

I was supposed to ride with a friend to do a bit of training, but unfortunately her horse came up with a swollen leg and needed some cold hosing and wrapping, so I went out on my own. Took a few different trails, had a pretty good time. Coming back up a new trail (new to Major) it is wide and uphill so we cantered a bit. The first time was actually a nice canter, I think because he wasn't sure where the trail was going to come out. Once he saw where we were, he became a bit of a brat. So I turned him around and we cantered away from home too. Nice sliding stop, turn around, and back the other way. Just like the other day: repeat as necessary.

Since we'd taken the first part on the lake trail pretty quickly, I slowed down in the forest and did loops around, no particular direction, some trotting. One spot Major was awful: started cantering, didn't want to slow, and not in safe footing. So steered into some bushes then into the field, where he slid about 4 feet in the mud I'd been trying to tell him was there! We also worked a spot called Beginner's Hill twice. It is a great hill with three levels to walk/trot/canter up. A bit slippery going down, but the main problem is that he doesn't misbehave on the hill! He trots and canters up nicely, nothing out of control. And I know I'd have to do it about 20 times to get any of his energy out. It is a good workout, so one day when it is good and dry I may just do 20 loops, up Beginner's Hill, down the other side, around and repeat. Did I say 20? We may need about 1000 times doing that.