How much riding are you able to do in this weather?

[Butkin]

We are thoroughly depressed as snow/ice/snow is getting us down. Only been able to ride my hunter twice in over a week and he is losing fitness just when I want him on top form for the last few days of the season.

DD's pony went to Pony Club on Wednesday and that was a big success but no chance of her hacking out in the forseeable future.

Our connemara was blanket clipped just before the snow and hasn't been able to do anything!

Luckily the young lead-rein pony has been packed off to a show producer with an indoor school so at least he is working his little butt off - money well spent.

hello butkin

I've attempted a few hacks with varying degrees of success, once or twice we've come home on snow stilts because I forgot a hoof pick

then there were the floods, they were fun! but ground too mushy to canter with any confidence

so apart from my 2 x 1hr lessons and some half hearted 'schooling' not much, maybe 5 hrs a week?

We've hardly been able to do a thing for weeks. What with freezing fog, snow, driving rain and now the worst mud we've ever had. Apart from anything else, there just isn't time what with having to take water from home twice a day (all troughs and pipes frozen solid, then they burst when they thawed) and struggling through mud with barrows to keep the fields clean. Our schooling area is a sloping paddock (pretty useless but all we've got) so it is far too slippery even for lunging. If we go out we have to go straight on to the road so I haven't felt safe doing that in slippery conditions and I didn't want to take dhorse on gritted areas as he is barefoot and I know rocksalt is evil stuff (my mum used to be a school caretaker and the rocksalt they had for the playground had dire warnings all over it). He's got great feet and I don't want them all split to pieces.
It's not too bad for dhorse actually as he is 3.1/2 and growing like a weed so it won't harm him to be turned away a bit. He is only having a bit of gentle work now and again just so he doesn't forget his lessons, and cos he gets bored . I feel more sorry for my sister who has been told by the vet to do gentle but regular work with her pony to help fuse his bone spavin. She is worried he isn't going out often enough.

Actually, I have to confess it is partly laziness as well, as today ds had an inset day, it was lovely and sunny and I could have taken him riding. But when I looked at the shetland I wondered how it was even possible for her to have so much mud on her, let alone how long it was going to take me to scrape it off and thought better of it .

No what you mean about cleaning. We were in disgrace at Pony Club when instructor noticed that DD's ponies' tail had stuck to the mud on his (unbrushed) legs!

At least Pony Club gets to use the indoor school twice a week so he keeps ticking over although bit unfair that he isn't ridden other times although out every daytime.

but today it feels like SPRING is coming!

does small dance