Hello blog! I've missed you!

I certainly wouldn't have guessed that the last time I posted was in mid-December. But, really, no surprise; that's about when the ski season began and therefore, when work got very, very busy. Over the last couple months I've found that when I come home at night, the last thing I want to do is get on a computer. I started the blog to have something fun to write that wasn't connected with work, but work is tiring me out too much to have the energy left at night to write. I'm wondering if anyone else who has a day job involving words has the same problem.

The other unfortunate side effect of being busy at work is having less time at the barn. And winter in Vermont means that everyone migrates to the indoor arena, so it is tough to find time to ride that coincides with when I have an open hour or two and a whole lot of other people are not in the indoor. Pre-holidays I was doing pretty well with lessons, and trainer Caitlin was riding Bestie about once a week, which was working well. Post-holidays I've hardly ridden at all and haven't had the $$ to pay anyone else to ride.

I've pretty much resigned myself to grabbing the horsey time when I can. Last Saturday I rode Dude. I hadn't ridden him in ages, and had forgotten how much direction he needs, as compared to Ms. Sensitive. My legs were t-i-r-e-d after 25 minutes on him. I had ridden Bestie a few days before. There was a jumping lesson going on, and she gets very, um, aware, of all that activity, so we basically just walked the whole time. I lunged her today and she had a few moments of snorting and bucking. The fields have been icy so the horses are really just going out and standing around, and she clearly wanted to seize the opportunity for a good buck-and-run (which was fine after the one other horse and rider left the arena).

Dude and Bestie are both shedding and have been for at least a couple weeks. It seems to be happening quite early this year. I'm hoping it doesn't mean we'll have an early spring. We haven't had much of a winter yet, and I'd be fine with some good snows over the next couple months. I've got new cross country skis that I'm excited to use.

Dude celebrated his 19th birthday in late January. He's been part of the family since he was 8. Where does the time go?!