Yet again the temperatures at the barn have reached near frigid lows. Yes, we passed below freezing (quite literally) and have maintained a sub-human temperature for more than a few days already with no break in the near future. By the way, have you heard that Salt Lake City is actually a desert? Amidst the bone chilling, tooth aching cold our equine friends have taken it upon themselves to fully embrace this temperature disaster as a meaningful lesson on what happens to ponies brains when it is this cold. For you non-horse people, it is similar to taking a small hyper-active child, feeding him/her 18 gigantor pixie sticks, washing it down with a liter of cola then giving them sparklers (and matches). Do you have the disastrous mental picture yet? If so, let's just say that small child weighs, I don't know, 1,500 pounds. If you don't get the idea yet, sorry.
The funny thing is, to those of us that dedicate more time to our horses than our loved ones, this is a mentally torturing time spent debating, "should I ride and risk a near-death experience on a horse higher than Whitney Houston or should I not ride and feel incredibly guilty for not 'working' said horse (the entire time thinking about all the recent progress made flushed down the toilette)" And yes, we really do think that way.
As sick as it is, most of us can only rationalize not riding for two days at the maximum- then the guilt and withdraw kick in- much like in Trainspotting. So today would have been day three of being clean (from riding that is). I headed to the barn, fully expecting the frostbite to reinforce my decision to turn-out my horses and not ride (again). Then the twitch started, followed by the minor shakes. No sooner had my eyes begun to shift into a wild eyed must-have-crack look, was on sitting on my horse bareback riding around the arena. And yes, when we go off the deep end, we often chuck all safety equipment designed to keep us on the horse such as: saddles (to sit on) and bridles (to steer said beast with).
Wouldn't you know, my higher than Whitney horse was near-perfect today. Don't get me wrong, I have learned to stay on bareback during bucking, but honestly, it was one of the best rides I've ever had on Malachi. The connection, fluidity, and impulsion we had today was incredible. We successfully stayed on the bit (in a halter), had great bend in our circles, did shoulder-in, and a crap load of leg yields.... yea, I know, damn near amazing. Horse therapy. Somehow, one great ride and all the other crap fades away with into the dusk; you leave the stable thinking, "It's cold, but hell it was worth it".
The funny thing is, to those of us that dedicate more time to our horses than our loved ones, this is a mentally torturing time spent debating, "should I ride and risk a near-death experience on a horse higher than Whitney Houston or should I not ride and feel incredibly guilty for not 'working' said horse (the entire time thinking about all the recent progress made flushed down the toilette)" And yes, we really do think that way.
As sick as it is, most of us can only rationalize not riding for two days at the maximum- then the guilt and withdraw kick in- much like in Trainspotting. So today would have been day three of being clean (from riding that is). I headed to the barn, fully expecting the frostbite to reinforce my decision to turn-out my horses and not ride (again). Then the twitch started, followed by the minor shakes. No sooner had my eyes begun to shift into a wild eyed must-have-crack look, was on sitting on my horse bareback riding around the arena. And yes, when we go off the deep end, we often chuck all safety equipment designed to keep us on the horse such as: saddles (to sit on) and bridles (to steer said beast with).
Wouldn't you know, my higher than Whitney horse was near-perfect today. Don't get me wrong, I have learned to stay on bareback during bucking, but honestly, it was one of the best rides I've ever had on Malachi. The connection, fluidity, and impulsion we had today was incredible. We successfully stayed on the bit (in a halter), had great bend in our circles, did shoulder-in, and a crap load of leg yields.... yea, I know, damn near amazing. Horse therapy. Somehow, one great ride and all the other crap fades away with into the dusk; you leave the stable thinking, "It's cold, but hell it was worth it".
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