Goals, and weather

I recently had 10 days off work for Christmas vacation. So I set a goal of riding four times during this extended break.

I did my first solo ride on Monday, Dec. 28th. This means that I rode Sinwaan from his barn, out on the shoulder of the road, around a large country block of 5.8 miles. He did well. Better than I expected. Oh, he had his moments, but overall I can't complain.

Since I was also doing the feeding and general care of the animals during break, I learned a little something about Sinwaan. His issue is not that he is barn-sour. No, he is herd-bound. Armed with this new knowledge, it is easier to deal with his antics when riding out from the barn. It is so basic and simple I don't know why I didn't figure it out before. Leaving 'his herd' he has anxiety (even when riding with other horses), and once we make the turn back towards home he tries to pull my arms out of their sockets, wanting to go faster faster back to his fellow equines. So we have some new things to work on.

I planned to ride on Wednesday with a friend at Madam Dorian, however Tuesday night the snow started falling and made it too dangerous to trailer out on Wednesday, so we cancelled. I could have done another solo ride that day but with all the stress I was dealing with I decided I better not. (I had gotten dressed for riding and then had a small breakdown and stayed home).

I attempted to ride on Friday, even had the saddle on and was cinching up (in the rain) when suddenly big gusts of wind started blowing hard and whipping all about, and a big black cloud covered the sky and I decided, nope, not today. I am crazy enough to ride in cold temps, or light rain, but not that crazy. (I am a mother, after all) I feel fortunate that it all happened as I was tacking up, and not after I was a mile into a ride out on the road.

Sunday, Jan 3rd, I finally got in another ride, my second of vacation. Not nearly enough, but I'll take what I can get. Another solo ride, this one another success, a little bit of acting up from Sinwaan but overall nothing to worry over. I would never put a beginner on him, but it's nothing I have not been able to handle. He seems to be doing better with each time out, esp. now that I am understanding his issue.

Hopefully my friends will once again be able to join me this coming weekend and perhaps we can make the ride a little bit longer than the usual 5.8 mi.