Thursday, January 14, 2010

still winter, still cold and still riding :)




On Tuesday, Zoe and I were joined on our outing by OYY Ivan's new owner - Jennifer (she is a new RAC'er now !). Jen has not ridden in years.. but she's back in the saddle now. This is her first foray out of the indoor.. so we're not going too far. It's cold and Jen still lacks the muscle to trot far.. :) That is usually a phrase I use to describe a horse.












It's great when you can sell a horse to someone you come to like .. and Jen is excited to be a horse owner again after so many years.







I am going to miss Ivan when he leaves to his new home.




I am sure Jen will get the hang of posting soon - and she will continue to report all good news :)



I am proud to say now - with the addition of handsome Ivan and Jen - I have 6 horses registered in the RAC that were born here, several that came from here indirectly (grand-children and changing owners). Not counting Keri and Zoe's mounts ! Pretty neat.



Yesterday, Zoe and I wanted a good brisk trot so we decided to take Keri and Elektra out for the 12 mile loop. That's the route that inclues the mile long hill which is perfect for a good canter (or gallop if you are so inclined). Elektra is going to be out and about on the road to build her hiney up for her summer shows. Keri has come to really like Elektra as a riding partner.




I know I mentioned this once before in a past post - Keri's donkey ears compared to Elektra's way of traveling... )





We trot past the turkeys - who are out pecking at pinecones it looks like.



It gets colder the further we go - so lucky the roads are such that we can move out.














It starts to flurry - the scenery is pretty, but what happened to that warm front everyone was talking about ?






I have asked several people lately -- is it colder this year or am I just not the tough old gal I used to be ?







Here's a great stretch for a rider.. as a Jack Benny-ite, I am a bit more stiff than Zoe.. but along with those neck bends for your horse, this is one that will help keep some flexion in your body too. Mainly - we do it just to pet the horse while we are in stroll mode :)


Both of us commented, the two cold winter riding target areas remain our cheeks and our toes. Those cozy toes (that's what the stirrup covers are called ) that I posted a few days ago - to answer a question do have room for toe warmers... so I do need to get those on order. Hope they are as perfect as advertised.



After my trotting video - I wanted to do a canter one... it's kind of weird holding the camera up to your eye and cantering... you can see I faltered a bit - but this time - a slow canter.. next goal.. fast canter and gallop :)


Enjoy ~

9 comments:

  1. I'm ooober impressed!!! Holy cow, that video was amazing! I could never get video at the canter on Reese - 'maybe' in the arena, but certainly not on the open road! So fun!! What a lovely canter Elektra has for such a young horse. Zoe has done such a great job with her - love her way of traveling. So the footing isn't slippery? It's hard to tell....

    p.s. We are having a warm up here, 30's all week...maybe it will trickle your way! =]

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  2. Fabulous! It was almost like being there, Betsy!

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  3. Awesome to hear another *Ben baby has found a great new home. Thank you to you and Zoe for the hard work you have put into his offspring; it's so gratifying to see them proving themselves as willing and capable riding partners! Welcome to RAC Jennifer!

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  4. How sweet life is! And you should proud to have so many of your horses registered in RAC...hopefully I'll get Angel over her "thing" and you will see her on the trail this year. I believe the winters are getting colder as you ain't getting softer. You have simply come to appreciate some of lifes creature comforts; like those cozy toes with hand/toe warmers installed!:~) You did an awesome job of holding that camera still...I would have ended up with a black eye.

    Welcome Jennifer, and congratulations on ownership again! It will all come back with practice. If you continue to ride with Betsy and Zoe you'll be surprised at how quickly those muscles will strengthen.

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  5. That all sounds wonderful. :)

    I don't know if I could keep a camera steady while also trying to stay balanced at high speeds! Then again, *I* lack the muscles still... :)

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  6. Wow, how on Earth did you get such a steady video of cantering?, I am really, really impressed!! And very much looking forward to your future feats of galloping, or heck, while you're at it, maybe swimming (when it's a little warmer that is) :-) You've got incredible video taking skills on horseback!! Looks like you had a great ride!! :-)
    Best,
    ~Heather

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  7. Holy cow Betsy! I sat here grinning while I watched that video and thought 'I am such a wuss!' because I would never dream of cantering on a road like that! (Let alone holding a camera to my face while doing it!)

    Question; how do you determine when the footing is okay for a canter and when it's not? I can see that the road is not totally clear in that video, but I can't really tell what the footing's like at all...just that the horses are sailin' along just fine. I am pretty nervous to ride Sage out on the road...they seem slippery. :(

    And you'll have to keep us posted on how the toe warmers work...

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  8. Heather - we did quite a bit of swimming last summer - and SO fun because the rivers were all at flood levels :) no video - but maybe this year. Brie -- I guess if it looks OK we go for it. If the horses slip- we stop :) Lynn-- I guess I have mentioned before - we love our Ben babies and would love to make more :)

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  9. Betsy, just watched the cantering video for the third time...I love it! Seemed like it lasted forever, a really nice steady canter, and ditto on your job of the holding the camera steady. What a pro you are! Thank you so much for the fun!

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