Winter Came

 And I don't mind.

Like many of you, we're having colder than average temperatures and a bit of winter. Living here can be incredibly depressing in the winter with all the gloomy, rainy, darkness, so I'm currently THAT person.

Sophie always looks like she's smiling, at least. 

 The one who is beyond happy to have a taste of real winter. We got a nice dump of snow a couple of days ago, so the roads are super hazardous. To give us our due, I have lived both on the prairies and the coast and the snow we get here is more similar to that icy melty snow the prairies get in the spring - it actually is really is hard to drive on (not arguing the fact the drivers here are...less than capable... in general though ;)  Anyway, with the roads being unsafe (because obviously we only have one snowplow in the area and everyone seems to drive a 2wd car, lol) it's been pretty quiet and relaxing. Kind of nice to have a built in reason to not have to do all the things.

I almost didn't turn them out into the bigger field the first night because I was worried about Sophie playing too hard and slipping, but she was sensible for once.

The horses haven't been up to much of anything, because I need to ride on a road to get to the arena (which is covered in snow - on top of some too deep sand that's not draining properly - anyway). This weekend I might see if I can venture to the indoor, but that will just be a Bridget ride. It's only available to book on weekends, and longeing is not allowed in there. There is no way I'm hopping on Sophie after a week off without giving her a chance to burn off some energy first!

Bridget declining to leave her stall :)

Instead of riding this week I've been putting in some extra hours at work, which means I'm banking days off for future horse adventures. There are a couple of clinics coming up in March that could be doable. April/May is going to be a bit up in the air with Bridget's appointments and expenses, so it might be nice schedule and budget wise to get some clinic time in ahead of that.

Or, I may wait. It's made for a very uneventful blog, but I've kind of enjoyed this intermission I've had this week, and even in general the more laid back pace the past couple of years while I wait for Sophie to mature enough to be my next riding and competition horse.