My Horse Is A Mood Ring

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. ThoughtCo: How Do Mood Rings Work? Helmenstine, Ph.D., 2019.
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Note to self. Winter riding is gonna suck pond water. Note to self. That’s okay. Note to self. The plan is to buckle down & wait for the warm.

Whenever we have a frustrating ride this winter, I need to remind myself that winter is not our season. Yes, riding at all is a privilege, blessed, etc. You know what I mean.

Item one. Rodney has never liked cold. You get a different horse depending on the temperature. Ah, yes, this is the 50-degree Rodney. This is the 70-degree Rodney. It has nothing to do with being senior. He has been heat-lovin’ from the day he arrived. [Piling on the Therapy 2012]

Okay, you northern folks, cold-ish. Cold for us.

Item two. With some horses, you can tell whether tension originates in mind or body. Previous Horse might have been in a mood, but his body would be loose. Or his muscles might be tight from work, but his brain was still online.

Rodney, not so much. Rodney has never believed in the mind/body duality. If he is anxious, his body is tight. If his body is stiff, he gets anxious.

Combining item one with item two makes for a long winter of working a horse who lets cold weather go to his head.

The other day, we had ended with some nice work. This was, of course, due to my brilliant, progressive training plan. It had nothing to do with the fact that the sun came come out halfway through and kicked the temperature up 10 degrees.

Sigh. On the up side, it means he takes hot Southern summers in stride. As much as one can.

So, we will plug away. Rodney will maintain fitness. I will maintain saddle time. Maybe we will make a smidgen of progress. Then we will emerge like a sun-warmed butterfly in the spring.

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