In Like a Lamb

Thirty-five degrees plus and sunny clear skies - I'd definitely qualify that as March "coming in like a lamb." I don't want to speculate on what that may mean for the end of the month!   After a marathon grooming session (Red is my earliest & fiercest shedder, having already started losing his winter hair about a month ago), I tacked up with saddle & bridle (vs. bareback pad & rope halter - that's for winter and I think it's at least mentally spring!) for an afternoon ride.  Unfortunately, the gravel road appeared to still be too covered in ice for good footing, and I know that these spring rides get a little out of control sometimes as my boys have LOTS of get-up-and-go and LITTLE ability to listen closely to instructions.  What it is exactly about the warming temps that shuts their brains off, I'm not quite sure - but I always have a wild ride or two in the spring!

Just 3 passes with the shedding blade & I had quite a pile of dead hair already!

Anyone need a sweater?

We headed just down the road to the neighbor's gravel pit and into the area that was plowed back in January when the loggers were working.  Now, there is about 6" of snow in the plowed area, but it is not icy and makes good riding.  I was glad to be riding in my saddle (though I'm quite sure I must have shrunk over the winter because I could barely get my foot into the stirrup) because he gave me a couple of good spooks.  We cut through the hayfield, and then onto Dave & Carol's property where I decided to point us through the belly-deep unbroken snow.  Red didn't agree that this was "fun," but he did it without too much fussing & only a few halts to munch whatever poked through the snow (including branches - he is 1/2 beaver, you know).  The snow was soft enough that we could get through it, but we were definitely dragging our somewhat-portly belly in places and it sometimes felt like we were swimming through the snow more than walking.  

The view down the slight hill into the swamp.  We can only make a loop through this trail in the winter when the swamp is frozen.

We got back onto the tractor-tracks and made our way around back to the hayfield, with one minor setback requiring quite a lot of convincing.  Red stopped dead at a little downhill, very leery of the deep shadows & peaks of snow when the tractor tracks dip down the hill.  I think he actually has very poor depth perception, and the contrast between the bright reflective peaks of snow and the deep blue shadows within the tracks messed with his ability to tell where the bottom really was.  He is of the opinion that we must always err on the side of survival in any situation which may be dangerous, so he tried two or three times to turn around & go back rather than descend the very small hill.  I did succeed in convincing him to proceed, and, amazingly, we survived!  

The view across the hayfield - those snow banks are still all too present! But they are finally softening...to a point :)

I was very pleased with Red's willingness to walk all the way home - no jigging!  It was a great day for a ride.

Home sweet home

The new babies at the farm!