The Color of Determination

1.9'' short of Boston's snowiest winter on record has some people determined to break the record and survive a record-breaking winter. I like snow and all, but I'm ready for spring.

Last year around this time there was a pretty significant amount of snow too, and I represented my frustration with the following picture:

Last year, that was a tiny bit of an exaggeration. This year, it would be an understatement. In fact, I have the following picture as proof:

Barn, or igloo?

Oh yes, yes it is in fact a barn

So... That metal gate in the front, the lowest part of the fence? Well over four feet high. With these redonkulous amounts of snow riding has been rather limited. I did almost no riding in February (and December and January, but that was due to another matter entirely), but now it's March and I am determined to make some progress!

Last weekend a barn mate and I took a hack to a local indoor for lesson, which also happened to be: A. JJ's first time riding off property (as in, at another facility. We've done plenty of trail rides)

B. JJ's first real ride in over three months

C. JJ's first time in an indoor

D. Our first lesson in well over six months

E. Just all kinds of craziness

We arrived early in order to have plenty of warm-up time (i.e. JJ chillax time). After a few minutes I started to realize what I was seeing from JJ: the exact same behavior he displayed when I first started riding him last March. Anxious, nervous, energy. The desperate need to DO something. So, while I hand-walked him around the indoor to let him check it out, he acted like a classic jumping bean. Another horse cantered around the ring and JJ attempted to join the "race" each time he passed. If I asked him to stand still, he pawed, danced, or kicked out with a back leg. The desperate need for a job. As soon as I hopped on (which was a challenge in and of itself, given his inability to stand still in his new surroundings), he began to settle almost immediately. I kept his mind busy: change of direction, change of gate, little leg-yielding, and he listened like a dream. By this time, though, the lesson was over. Ha!

So, now I'm determined to get JJ really going for this season. How? Where can I ride? Well, it turns out that very close to the barn there's loads of space plowed for free - ROADS! Not ideal, but it's a start. My current "workout" looks like this:

I learned a very valuable lesson today:
Sometimes monsters disguise themselves as empty trash cans.

Another lesson tomorrow - we'll see what happens!