February Frump

             

February and I have a love hate relationship. Mostly hate. Here in Northwest MT, we always seem to get the end of January thaw ,which inevitiably reaches into February. Things become icey, sloppy, muddy and just plain ugly and gross, yet certain days are sunny and  nice enough (40’s) to make me yearn to get going with riding.

February likes to play games like that. It’s a month that demands patience  while it dangles the proverbial carrot of warmer days ahead just on the horizon, giving us glimmers of sunshine  and then  stealing it back to into it’s cold wintry nights.

February is not the month of love. It is a tease, a mocker, a leg puller.  The temps are bearable to ride in but the footing is treacherous and the arena is still snow covered. The horses have not begun to shed , although every few days I go out and check …just in case.
Nonetheless, I want to ride and  my patience with winter has run out.  I become restless , anxious and generally irritated because I know I still must wait. just a bit longer.

I am sequestered to indoor arena’s to act upon my urges to ride,  along with paying steep arena fees, while trying to manage riding for just an hour. An hour worth of riding is not much after I have have spent years training for endurance. An hour is just a drop in the bucket, but , atleast it's something.



On the horizon, pending the plans come together, I begin a new , but old , adventure with riding. I have threatened to do it for a few years now. I think I finally will.

Stay tuned