We’ve had a howling beast of a winter. Snow and snow and more snow and interminable stretches of sub-zero. But this past week we’ve finally gotten our first sweet whisper of spring. We’ve gotten up into the 40s. The sun feels warm and bright again; everyone’s waking from their long winter grumps. And on Monday? On Monday I rode outside.

The days have been getting longer and I got to leave work a little early, so when I got to the barn the sun was still peeking over the trees, glowing orange and promising pink. I gave Poe the most cursory brushing ever, chucked his saddle on, and we wove through shoulder-high snow drifts to the outdoor arena. The top of the three-step mounting block was peeking out from the knee-high snow, so I lead him over and hopped on. He marched right out into the drifts (which in half the arena were up to his knees too), ears pricked, happily checking everything out. I may have mentioned it before, but: I love this horse.

We weren’t out for long — after 10 minutes or so of wandering around in each direction I brought him to the indoor so we could do a bit of real work. We were in there for maybe a half hour, doing the same-old: connection, leg-yielding, a few canter transitions. The footing’s gotten pretty greasy in spots and he slipped a little while cantering, so we went back to just trotting. Plenty of work to be done there.

Yesterday Lennie and I started talking about the season’s competition schedule, which is both exciting and extremely nerve-wracking. I can’t wait for spring, but that first outing is coming up awfully fast…

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