Cabin fever frenzy and the Great Warm-Up of March 2015.

Last night Jess's owner, R., and I rode together, as we usually do now on Tuesday evenings.

Well, sort of.  She didn't actually ride.  The horses were all a little bit up, and she lunged and lunged while looking for an opportunity to get on.  It never came, and she left without having ridden.

Riding with someone more scared than I am makes me feel like a pro.

That might not be the nicest thing to say, but I do like feeling proud of myself for having ridden when someone else is letting their fear keep them from it.  To be fair, though, last night was rough.  Each and every horse in the indoor arena during the time I was in there acted bananas at some point or another.  They've all got some serious cabin fever, after two weeks of snow and cold and snow and cold.  And I do understand where she's coming from, because once upon a time, I was scared too (although maybe not ever that scared).
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Cold. Snow. Repeat.

It definitely doesn't look like I'll be going out to the barn anytime soon.  Not only is it very cold (teens yesterday, very low 20s today and through the weekend), but the snow is also working to keep me grounded, as my car doesn't do so well in the snow.  Wednesday night a small snowstorm dropped about four inches of very wet, heavy snow on us, and then it got very cold, making the roads very nasty in the evening.  They must not have been much better the following morning, as I woke up to find that most of the schools in the metro area were closed.  It started snowing again around mid-day, and although it was a light snow, continued snowing throughout the evening and (I think) overnight.
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Sneaking a ride in and thoughts on confident riding

Between the weather and how busy I was last week, I haven't ridden much, compared with a couple of weeks ago when a few days off coincided with a February heat wave, allowing me to ride five times in a week.

Last night, though, I did ride.  I've set up a standing "riding date" on Tuesday nights with a fellow boarder.  I wasn't able to keep our date last week, because of how much I was working, but we rode last night.  It'll be our only good day this week, as we have some snow moving in this afternoon and staying for the rest of the week and weekend, so I'm glad I got some riding in.
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A long, busy week with no riding

After all the riding I was doing during our heat wave, I haven't ridden at all in the past week.  First there was the snowstorm last weekend, but then there was also all the babysitting I was doing during the week.  I babysat for one family all day Monday because their daughter's school was closed and they still had to work, and then another family had to take their two-month-old preemie to the hospital because of a cold that was interfering with his breathing, so I watched their three-year-old for six to eight hours every day on top of my afternoon nanny job.

I was essentially working 9 to 12 hour days most of the week, with freelance work to do at the end of the day.  I'm behind on my freelance work as a result, and will be spending this weekend catching up.
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Colorado's heat wave

I have more exciting news to post later, but for now, check this out: Colorado's record-breaking warm weather lately has been making headlines:

Did Your Corner Of Colorado Break A Warm Winter Record?
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7 days, 5 rides, 2 happy horses

Out of the past week, I rode five days out of seven.  This was a pretty big accomplishment for me, especially considering I've been riding once every week or two (sometimes if that!) for months.

Some of those have been short rides, and all of them have had simple goals.  Panama and I are both out of shape, so I've been setting our goals accordingly.  I rode Rondo only once (and also rode Panama during the same visit) -- he was ridden twice else, by V. and my other leaser, H., and he's in good shape, so I'm not as worried about him.  Pan is looking fat, however, partly because I'd been riding so little and partly I think because their corral has been getting extra food.
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Binge riding my horses

I apologize for not having posted in a long time.  I have been very busy and haven't been riding more than about once every week or two, which is not enough for either me or my horses.  I have a leaser now who rides Rondo every weekend, and she is great with him, but Panama has gotten fat and out of shape -- and so have I, although to a lesser extent.  So it's time to rethink my habits.

It makes it easier that right now we're enjoying some unseasonably warm weather, with temperatures in the 60s and low 70s.  As a result, I rode Thursday, Friday, and Saturday afternoons, and am now sore and tired, but happy.
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