One Foot In Front Of The Other

Reading through everyone's blogs this week, it seems like a lot of us are feeling the winter blues. The weather and the lack of daylight hours are so tough.  My heart is breaking too, for all those in California who are dealing with so much more than short days and poor weather.

I can't believe how tough everyone is, though. So many of you not just buckling down and getting it done, but also doing things like upping your gym schedules, volunteering extra time and money to help others, and coming up with dedicated plans for continued education and self improvement. It's really kind of a kick in the butt for people like me who, if left to my own devices, would be very tempted to hide by the fireplace with a good book and ignore the outside world for the next couple of months.

So, over here, we're taking your lead, but kind of just by doing the one foot in front of the other thing. Here's a pic of me riding last night:

Fake positive voice to G: "Of course it's not too foggy or dark to ride outside tonight, honey! Come on, it will be fun!" (that little reflection you see is Bridget and I, lol)

Our ride in the outdoor was strictly a fitness ride, since I have no idea if our circles were perfectly round or our transitions evenly spaced. The arena is huge, and I've ridden in it forever, so I have a good idea what sort of bend I need to stay on a big circle in there, but beyond that, yeah, I got nothing as far as where exactly we were in there beyond some vehicle noise and lights on some adjacent roads giving me intermittent clues. B can see fairly well in the dark, so I mostly just trust her to keep us out of trouble! I can tell you fitness rides via trotting and cantering along in the dark are remarkably easy in some respects, it's actually very simple to pay attention to your horse's footfalls and the tempo remaining consistent without other distractions.

B hanging out in the fog earlier in the week.

All of this brings you my resulting (small) contribution this week to your equine knowledge: When it's so dark and foggy you literally can't see anything, it's entirely possible to get seasick while riding. For real, in 30 minutes I went from 'Wow, it's so much easier to ride and feel what's going on without visual distractions" to feeling all spatially disoriented (normal, I thought, for the circumstances), then suddenly, I felt pretty ill and needed to stand still for a bit. Learn something new every day.