Category: winter

gifs · winter

Lucky speaks for all of us

Amanda2 Comments
(this post is brought to you by the mistake I made in checking next week’s weather which will be JUST AS COLD, FFS, VERMONT, ENOUGH ALREADY)
Friday afternoon it should reach the high single digits, which means I’ll head out to the barn and try to do some walking, at least, with a quarter sheet. Long slow distance, right? Or at lest getting and keeping him moving.
Saturday it should be warm enough to properly school!
Then it plunges back down again, most likely, with lows in the double digits below zero most days next week. Siiiiiiiiigh.

gear · product review · winter

STABILicers Ice Cleat: My New Favorite Winter Gear

Amanda1 Comment

Vermont is currently covered in a thick sheet of ice, as I whined about and as Lila Gendal showed on Eventing Nation. Sections of interstate highway were closed down as multiple plow trucks went off the road trying to get sand down. I had to be out and about for about an hour and a half as I re-arranged work details between our two buildings to accommodate the hazardous travel conditions.

This is a very long way of saying that Saturday, for the first time, I tried out a Christmas gift from my parents: STABILicers Ice Cleats. They are like studding your winter boots up for XC. I have been thinking about something like them for a while, since I walk to work on the average day, and of course spend a fair bit of time outside at the barn.

I could not possibly be more impressed with them. They were straightforward and quick to get on – required a bit of muscle to stretch the rubber, but not too much. It added perhaps 2-3 minutes to my morning routine. Then I walked outside…and didn’t slip. Not once. I want to stress that our driveway is a solid sheet, several inches thick, of ice. I stood while chipping ice off my car and was completely stable. I walked down sidewalks, up fairly steep hills, and across roads that were similarly thick sheets of ice without the slightest hint of slipping. In fact, I walked up a sidewalk perfectly normally and a few minutes later watched two men take tiny minute slipping steps down that sidewalk and still fall a few times.

I could instantly feel the grip of the cleats in the ice, and the added traction was amazing. I almost forgot about the ice entirely, and just walked normally. The rubber didn’t threaten to slip off my boots at all. I did take them off on coming back inside – I’m fairly sure that they were sturdy and sharp enough that they would have dug into our hardwood floors!

So two thumbs way, way up – these were a relatively inexpensive and absolutely clutch addition to my winter gear.

winter

Cranky Toddler Time

Amanda4 Comments

Last night, we had a great longeing session: Tris worked beautifully, and had some really nice reaching fancy trot. I left excited about our plan for work for the next few days.

I woke up this morning to a thick sheet of ice over everything, and more freezing rain coming down hard. I spent the first 2 hours of my day sprinting around settling work things and am now settled in at work glaring at the rain out the window. The odds that it will ease up in such a way as to make a trip to the barn possible are…not good. It will rain hard all day and the temperature will drop with sunset, about when I would head to the barn.

(for the record, Saturday is a regular part of my work schedule – so I’m not sulking about being at work – more at the weather that has made everything in my life more complicated.)

Mentally, I feel like at toddler throwing a full-blown tantrum in the middle of a grocery store. I love Vermont, I feel beyond lucky to live here, but I almost wish we would just get one or two really big blowout snowstorms, so I would be forced to take 4-5 days off and then have a more consistent schedule otherwise. This stringing together two or three good days, only to be foiled by the weather for two or three bad days, is getting really old.

dressage · winter

Getting in a short ride

Amanda3 Comments

Last night, I was bound and determined to ride. Though he had been worked at other times, I hadn’t sat on my horse in a week, and I hadn’t schooled him under saddle in a week and a half. I watched the weather all day, left work on time, changed into warm barn clothes, made a snack, and I was at the barn in a reasonable time frame.

I checked the thermometer there: 18 degrees. Cold, but not insurmountable. I tacked up with a quarter sheet and laid out a line of poles on the quarter line.

Actually riding was colder than I thought. We walked with a good forward energy and rhythm for about 10 minutes, over the poles each time around, and I mostly steered through my seat aids while keeping my hands in my pockets. Which was actually a good, useful exercise, as it forced me to pay careful attention to my aids and not over-correct. I have a tendency to ask for him to turn off my leg, over-ask, and then boomerang him back with the other leg, resulting in a weird wobbly line. Last night I played Goldilocks and he responded well, getting a good turn off the track, marching forward, and even changing direction a few times all while I kept hands in pockets.

I picked up the reins on the buckle for the trot, and we worked on forward and stretchy, with poles each time around, and then picked up the reins a little bit more. Nothing dramatic, nothing even like a frame, but I wanted to encourage him to reach for the bit even with a very light contact. He did beautifully, stretching down and staying forward.

After about 30 minute total of work, my feet were very cold, even with winter tall boots and two layers of socks (one of them Smartwool). I was a bit confused but I’d gotten some good work in. In all, a quiet, laid back, yet productive sort of ride. I was pleased with my plan and my execution of the plan.

I topped off Tristan’s mostly-frozen-already water bucket, threw him an extra flake of hay, and tidied up my things.

When I got back in my car, I checked the temperature again: 8 degrees. It had dropped ten degrees in the hour+change I had spent at the barn. No wonder my feet were getting cold! I immediately felt even better about my decision to plan a light stretchy ride without much aerobic exercise.

Then I went home and crawled under many blankets.

adventures with the vet · winter

The Eye(s) Report

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After getting the call that Tristan’s eye was a bit puffy and swollen, I canceled my quiet evening plans (I had recipes all picked out and everything!) and headed to the barn to check on him.

I quickly learned two things. First, his eye really wasn’t bad at all.

Though, before we start, I’d like to make something clear. As with any medical situation with a horse, you should know two things. First: know what your horse’s baseline is. That means following Pony Club guidelines and knowing your horse’s average temperature, respiration, heartbeat, and other bodily norms. Pay close attention even when they’re totally fine because that’s how you calibrate your instincts. Second: DO NOT mess around with eye injuries. Don’t. Don’t ever look at your horse’s eye and say “hmmm, that’s definitely weird, but I’ll let it slide for a few days and see what happens.” Many injuries, even bad ones, will hold in stasis for a few days while you observe; eyes can go south in a matter of hours and you do not want that on your conscience.

I am making a judgment call about not scheduling the vet because I have nearly a decade of experience with this horse and the things he does. I have treated a wide variety of eye problems with him specifically, and I have both a very good baseline and a clear timeline of progression. If his eye gets worse in any way, the vet will be out faster than you could finish reading this post. Okay? Okay. On to the pictures.

A little puffy, a little weepy. He was acting totally normal, and blinking a hair more rapidly with his left eye than with his right when I moved my hand near it. The white you see is the reflection of the flash – there was no cloudiness or other abnormality in person. The tears coming out were clear and thin and draining easily.

For comparison. He’s alert, which means both his eyes are open and looking at me as much as they are capable of. You can see that his left eye is a bit squintier than his right, and you can see the track of the discharge from his left eye. But you can also see that it’s really not that far off normal.
The barn will keep an eye on him today, and if he’s basically back to normal per their observation then I won’t go out tonight. If there’s any remaining puffiness I’ll head out and triple-check, and tomorrow morning will probably be our make-or-break for the vet. Based on his usual modus operandi, though, I strongly suspect it will be 99% cleared up by the end of the day today.
The second thing that I learned at the barn last night was that I was totally right to have decided against working him.
About 7 degrees per this thermometer, which is a) inside the barn and b) on the outside wall of the heated tack room. So that should tell you something about actual outside temperatures!

chores · longeing · winter

Winter Mocks Plans

Amanda6 Comments

First – Hannah put up some terrific photos & video of the GMHA sleigh rally – go and check them out!

After a gorgeous day on Sunday, I arrived at the barn to do chores on Monday morning to find the vilest weather possible: mid-30s and raining. All the snow and slush had frozen solid overnight, and the water was pooling on top of the ice. It was impossible to walk with any speed. The assistant barn manager and I spent nearly an hour chipping gravel from the frozen pile at the back of the barn, shoveling it into a wheelbarrow, and then scattering it in front of the barn to try and create a path with some traction to get to the paddocks. About three quarters of the way through, the rain picked up and started blowing sideways and we reached the joint decision not to turn them out anyway.

But it was a damn fine path nonetheless.

I put Tristan’s waterproof sheet on him, grabbed some hay, and put him out in the shed paddock you can see in that picture anyway. He hung out in the shed, and I checked on him every 20 minutes or so to make sure he wasn’t too cold or wet or generally disgruntled. All the other horses got a turnout rotation in the indoor to stretch their legs while we did their stalls. Tris managed about 2 hours outside before he asked to come in, and he got cozied up with a cooler in his stall with some hay for a little while – and then he got his turn in the indoor to keep the baby company.

SO FLIPPING CUTE.

Baby Greta was so happy to be out of her stall she bucked and farted her way around the indoor, and Tristan even put up some antics, cantering around and following her and making some leaps through the air. I wish I’d thought to get a video of it!

When stalls were done, I settled in with a snack to watch a jumping lesson. Prince heard the crinkle of my cheese & crackers wrapper and opted out of focusing on the job at hand.

Whoops.
Then Tris got longed with his chambon and his rubber butt-thingy. I tightened up the chambon so that it would actually kick in if he flung his head into the air and after some cranky flailing, he settled in to some beautiful stretchy work. I really do like the chambon: it’s the sort of thing that doesn’t trap him into a particular way of going, but reminds him without harshness when he’s dramatically bracing. He was even starting to soften in the canter!
Tonight, the plan was to ride and incorporate poles at walk and trot, but when I checked the weather forecast this morning I discovered that we’re not predicted to get into double digits, and the wind chill is far, far below that. I’m still a bit torn but it looks like the smart thing to do will be to stay home, since it’ll be too dark to hack (my preferred too-cold activity) and we won’t get any productive work done in single digit temperatures. Booo.

topline · winter

Change of Plans

Amanda2 Comments

I had a work schedule laid out for Tris for last night and tonight. Last night we got slammed with the tail end of Hercules and the snow was still blowing hard sideways and it was 0. This morning I woke up more hopeful.

Noooooooope. Day 2 of huddling under blankets at home, reading, and playing with crafts and baking.
Here, have some updated topline photos instead. There is definitely some improvement in person, but I’m not sure it comes through in the photos.

blanketing · stupid human tricks · winter

Best Laid Plans

Amanda2 Comments

Yesterday was going to be so straightforward: a quick meeting at work (on my day off), followed by a short bareback hack in the new snow, followed by a productive afternoon cleaning the apartment and working on Christmas baking.

That began unraveling with the meeting, which ran long, and then turned into a second, longer meeting, during which I lost my voice several times despite sipping tea constantly.

Then I headed to the barn and found that my idiot pony had shredded his midweight sheet. He only wears it when it’s below zero, which unfortunately means he’s been wearing it a lot lately. Best theory is that he laid down in the night and upon getting up again tangled a hind leg in the surcingle, and ripped the buckle clean away from the sheet, along with a nice rip along the seam. It was torn in such a way that it couldn’t be stitched up easily and quickly by a conventional sewing machine.

No way is the average sewing machine going to punch
through that buckle.

I did get my hack in, though, down and around all the summer paddocks, and it was a beautiful crisp day. The snow was still so new it was clinging to the trees, and the air was clear and thin all the way to the mountains. We forged through fresh drifts and Tristan was happy and cheerful, though not thrilled to be working so hard on a restful walk.

Uncle Tristan babysitting.

Yak or pony?

Can you spot the bridle path?
Yeah, neither can I.

Looking toward the Monroe Skyline,
with Mad River Glen and Sugarbush
ski areas anchoring the ends.

After the hack we fitted him for a borrowed blanket from the barn, because it was due to start dropping in temperature as the sun went down and go as low as -10 up at the barn. It was that cold the night before and when the barn staff took his blanket off in the morning to go outside, apparently he shivered a bit until his coat was roughed up.

So of course now I am questioning myself and wondering if he should be blanketed more; if perhaps the threshold is no longer 0 but 10, and if I should get a stable blanket to add underneath his midweight, and aaahhh. He’s just not holding warmth as he used to, and he went into the winter with less weight than I wanted.

Winter legs – this was AFTER a good brushing.

In his borrowed blanket for the night.

After I left the barn, I stopped by a sewing and alterations store, and showed them the blanket. They said they could definitely fix it, and described a plan of action that made a lot of sense and would reinforce the area going forward. The only catch: even though it was really in good shape for a blanket, it would still need to be cleaned before they would accept it.

Cue a frantic dash to the laundromat, a high capacity washer, and the discovery that the washer had not gone through a proper spin cycle, leaving the blanket dripping wet, and the office at the laundromat had closed at 2pm – 10 minutes before I discovered the problem. Of course. I squeezed it out as best I could and put it in the dryer and stopped it every few minutes to rearrange the blanket so the wettest bits were on the outside. Eventually it got dry enough and I dropped it back at the sewing store.
I then returned home and made a batch of cookies for a work cookie swap, wrapped presents with Lawrence of Arabia in the background, and halfway through realized my cheeks and forehead were much warmer than they ought to be and I was dizzy and a bit disoriented. Great. Perfect way to end the day.

This morning:

So no barn for me tonight! Hope pony stayed warm in his borrowed blanket…

winter

GMHA Events

Amanda2 Comments

Note to self: stuff happens in the winter, too!

Here’s a great list of upcoming events at the Green Mountain Horse Association through the winter. I’m hoping to go to at least one of the Winter Warrior events (weather allowing) and one of the sleigh rallies. it’s a bit far to go all the time, unfortunately, but that January 8 evening on conditioning programs is calling my name.

Winter Warriors

Join us on December 11!

Sign up and put the following dates on your calendar to come and enjoy a ‘horse-lovers’ evening where we can exchange news, share stories, plan for the coming season and learn something too.

The GMHA “Winter Warriors” Club is free, and open to current GMHA members. Members are welcome to bring guests – no charge!  Those attending are encouraged to bring and share nibbles and drinks that we can all enjoy.  Meetings will be on Wednesdays in the GMHA Members’ Room at 5:30pm.

December 11: Breed Versatility: Pros and cons of different breeds for different disciplines       
Bring along: Photos of your horses (past and present) and stories of their accomplishments.

January 8: Conditioning Programs, Interval Training & Cross-Training    
Bring along: Ideas to share about how to promote fitness and minimize injury risk

February 12: Ask the Guest Experts: Panel Discussion    
Bring along: Questions on training problems you would like help with

March 12: Rider/Trainer Psychology
Led by Jane Rodd Ph.D. Bring along: Pen and paper to complete a fun psych evaluation to learn more about yourself.

April 16: Topic TBD by Members             

Come Sleigh with Us!

Join us for our annual Winter Sleigh Driving Series:

January 4: Sleighing Combined Test
January 5: Sleigh Rally
January 18: Sleighing Combined Test

vermont · winter

Winter in Vermont

Amanda2 Comments

A typical winter day:

8:15 am: Leave for work. Decide on the fly whether to pack riding clothes and drive, or set aside riding clothes and plan on walking home to change, grab a snack, and pick up the car. Check work email on phone, start swearing, decide to walk in case I get stuck at work until very late and there’s no chance of heading to the barn.

8:30 am: Arrive at work. It wasn’t that cold, right? Not too bad! The last 2-3 minutes were not a lot of fun but the end was in sight then, so totally do-able.

9:00 am: Check the weather forecast for the barn. Maybe it will be warmer and less snowy another day this week? Yeah…not so much.

1:00 pm: Start to feel caught up and on top of things, even caught up enough to properly eat lunch and read a non-work book for a little while. Victory!

1:15 pm: Wow, it’s snowing a lot. Like, a lot.

1:45 pm: Ha! It’s almost stopped entirely. Pfffft.

2:15 pm: Re-evaluate goals of making it to the barn, pending resolution of current work crisis.

2:30 pm: Crisis resolves, but it’s snowing again…cars look like they’re moving just fine down State Street, so if they can do it, I can, right?

3:00 pm: Hmmm…snowing harder…

4:00 pm: We’re good! It’s stopped!

4:45 pm: Declare surrender and shut down computer mid-composition of another email, pack up as quickly as possible, walk home in the dark; it’s snowing again.

5:15 pm: Changed, fed, car is dug out of the snow, even feeling motivated and hale and hearty. Text boyfriend dinner options.

5:16 pm: Run back inside one last time to retrieve another pair of gloves/warm hat/snack.

6:00 pm: Arrive at the barn. Realize that wasn’t the safest drive ever and reflect on the way in which you can tell the exact inch where town lines end and state roads crews take over. Oh well, there now.

7:30 pm: Finish ride, sweating underneath layers, frozen at extremities, close up the barn just as the sweat starts to freeze.

7:35 pm: Drive back to barn and triple-check all stall doors, all lights, and front barn door.

8:00 pm: Arrive home, start dinner, change into pajamas and, if really lucky, relax for an hour or so with a cup of tea and a book before bed. If unlucky…open up the computer and back to work!