Brrrr...

It's been just a bit chilly in VT the last week or so, but like any good Vermonter I'm certainly not complaining. We see this almost every winter, and the "Real Vermonters" are proud of their hardiness when it comes to cold weather. I think today is the first day the thermometer has read anything in the double digits (well, that's a lie, it read double digits many times the last few days...double digits below zero, that is...) for 10 days. And it's a whopping 12 degrees out right now.

We are also proud of our hardy winter ponies, although I know of entire barns in this are who haven't turned out for days because of the temps. Bollocks, says I, the horses shall go out! After all, historically horses haven't existed below the 30 degree latitude line before man started bringing them to places like Florida and the Southwest. Anhidrosis (the inability to sweat) didn't start popping up until horses got imported to warmer climates, regions they have never lived and aren't designed to live.

Stella is perfectly happy naked and has been all winter. She loathes the blankets, but I did break down and put one on her two days ago, when the mercury was getting into the negative 20's all on it's own, before wind chill was taken into consideration. Had there been no wind, I would have left it off, but it was pretty gusty, which can strip warm air away from the horse's body. She's been in it the past three days or so, but it'll come off after the weekend when it warms up.

In the mean time, this has also meant no work, for the most part. And not even really because of the temperatures: because I don't have access to a covered work space, footing can be tricky this time of year. I have been fortunate to have an ice-free round pen, but the freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw has made the footing precarious and inconsistent. Stella has found it a bit ouchy and worrisome since the last freeze, and her hesitancy to go forward comfortably tells me what I need to know.

HOWEVER, before the arctic chill came in, we made major progress. The bit, bridle and saddle all came out for the first time in over 15 months. Surprisingly, there was little fuss. Everything was familiar and the circumstances surrounding their use were different this time. It took Stella only a few minutes of chewing on the bit (a loose ring, french link snaffle with fairly thin cannons: I know I said I wanted a single jointed, but this is what I had and what I'll use for now until I find a suitable replacement, although she has been rather happy with it) before she settled with it. There were even side reins involved, put on the lowest hole. I have conflicting feelings about side reins (or any head device, for that matter), which will be explained in the next post, but she knows them and they were so loose that she never even got close to being asked to go in a "frame"...

More soon. Stay warm!