Monday, December 29, 2008

Dashing through the Snow.....

Other than Christmas Day, our weekend was filled with many hours of being on ladders and scaffolding 20 feet in the air. Not my idea of fun since I am a major chicken when it comes to heights! Nevertheless,the work had to get done.

We are placing tongue and groove on our ceiling as part of the final repairs left remaining from our lightning strike last March . With school not back in session until the 5th , this was Tom’s one opportunity to get it completed before summer. Thanks to some very dedicated friends, we completed one side of the ceiling Saturday night at 8:30. It took 33.75 hours total and we were all exhausted. One more side to go.

While there was much work to do, I did manage to sneak out of the house for a few moments Saturday afternoon. The sun poked out and there was a break in the snow. I needed a horse fix. We have been getting plummeted with storm after storm, leaving no opportunity to ride.

While my good conscious told me to just go out for a short break to pet on a couple of horses , my bad conscious won out and I grabbed for a halter, caught up Rebel and climbed on bareback. My heart jumped with joy and I headed out along the pasture fence line for a trot around. As I rode along, Brego , Cass and Roman followed up behind like a parade wondering where we were going but not wanting to be left out.

Just my luck, I happened upon some fairly deep drifts out in the arena and couldn’t resist. Rebel willingly responded to my suggestion for a little more speed as we bounded through the drift, the snow sent flying, glistening in the sunlight and biting at my cheeks as it danced and sparkled all around me.

The other horses seemed to sense the new energy in the air and decided to make their own game of it as they ran around the pasture racing each other through the snow , jumping through the drifts. It almost seemed they were relieved for some excitement to arrive after being hunkered down with bad weather for the last several days.

There is nothing like bounding through a snow drift on a horse, and just for a moment I remembered what it felt like to be a child again, uninhibited exuberance to be riding bareback , invigorated by the cold air on my face and warmth of my horses neck against my hands, leaving me with a smile on my face for the rest of the day.

( unfortunately, no pics were taken since I snuck away leaving Tom to the work!)

No comments: