Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Did I miss spring??

This past weekend and the week days following have seemed more like summer than spring for sure, especially since this is Maine! I wore shorts on Easter and it reached 80 degrees. Saturday it was in the mid seventies and Friday was also in the 70's. It has been an incredible "spring" so far. It seems that we have skipped "mud season" all together which is usually a messy and yucky season here in Maine for when the snow melts and the ground is frozen and therefore the melting snow has no where to go but mix with mud and stuff. It is not a fun time of the year. But since we have relatively small snow totals this winter, thing have dried up nicely.

On Saturday I took Possum out and he was already slightly sweaty just standing in his paddock. He is slowely but surely shedding out his winter coat, but it doesn't seem like it's happening fast enough. So because he as naked he was flithy from laying in the mud and such. Three quarters of his paddock has been fenced off so that the grass can gross and the rest of the paddock can completely dry and not get all tracked up by the horses. So it's pretty muddy in their little section. I spent over half an hr grooming him and using the shedding blade and making him as pretty as he can be this time of the year. I tacked him up and headed down the road since it was my mission to go out on the trail on such a beautifuul day. Both of us were happy to be outside and moving in the breeze. We did our warm-up and trotted for a bit and then walked since it was so warm, and then we started cantering. It was so nice in a light seat just cantering along and we worked on our flying changes. We cantered for probably a good four minutes before I pulled him up and we walked the rest of the way to out next dirt road. I made myself look around at the pretty scenery and take big breaths of the fresh air and just soak it all in. Listening to his hoofs hitting the ground, feeling the swing of his belly and watching his ears pricked twitching in one direction or the other listening to the sounds of the outdoors.

He definately knew where he was and swung onto the other dirt road. A road that we are famous for galloping up. It goes gradually up hill the entire way and is about a mile long with sweeping turns and grades. I made him trot for a bit and then canter. He was grabbing at the bit telling me he wanted to just go. I was nervous because we hadn't been on this road since the late fall and I havn't inspected it for soft ground or added rocks and such. So I let him out, but kept a firm contact on him. His strides ate up the ground and his hindquarters powered him up the hills. Just to feel such power is amazing, it takes your breath away. The trees were whipping by and with each bob of his head it seemed like we were going faster and faster. I kept a sharp look out on the road for rocks and soft spots and piloted him around the hazards. Pretty soon the road was coming to an end so I pulled him up and let him trot a few before finally walking. He was pretty wet and breathing hard. I let out the reins and let himm walk out until the dirt road ended. The trail then becomes pretty steep and very rocky and was especially wet this trip. I let him pick his way around the rocks and take his time while he also caught his breath. When we got to eh top and the barn was in sight across a large field I let him trop a bit before the ground got too wet and soggy and I made him walk. We walked the rest of the way home and he was thoroughly soaked fromt eh heat and his still long coat. I stripped him down and decided that since it was stilla round 75 out that he would get his first official bath with soap and everything today. I tied him to the wash rack, dug out my horse shampoo and a bucket and sponge and a curry and got to work. He put up minimal protest so I think it felt good for him. When I was done I scraped the water off as much as I could and let him loose in the sun to eat scraps of hay and dry out.

I watched poeple riding for about an hour and then caught him and put him back in his paddock. It was just so nice to be outside in the warm air, with no bugs yet and enjoy my horse. SO Sunday I didn't ride since it was Easter and I had laundry to wash and family members to visit. Yesteday I didn't get to the barn and not sure if Iwill tonight since it's kinda rainy. But I might go up just to clean him up again since he's still naked since the weather has been so mild. But that's about it for rides lately. All the other rides have just been mediocre rides in the ring outside with nothing really exciting to post about. have a great day everyone, and hopefully i'll have more exciting thigngs to post about and hepefully some more pics as well.

6 comments:

Laura said...

Wow - what a great ride you guys had!

We are getting the same weather as you guys, it seems. It is fantastic! I hope the mud stays away this year - nice to have a break from it... :-)

I washed Rusty's tail on Friday since it was all gross, but skipped the full bath this time around.

Anonymous said...

Okay completly off topic how many hands is Possum?

sidetracked said...

He's a smidge under 16 hands, so technically 15.3 and three quarters. Why do you ask?

Leah Fry said...

What? You mean he didn't immediately drop and roll and ruin your hard work?

We're having nice warm weather also, but windy.

Anonymous said...

Just curious you don't see a lot of jumping bean appys - he sure looks like he loves it too.

Unknown said...

I have been reading about your nice weather on Facebook and am so jealous. It's STILL hovering in the high 40's here during the day and into the 20's at night.... grrrr... and snowing....