Well, we are now on week 7 of no lessons. And it’s cold. Very very cold. I realize it is hard for me to come up with ride ideas as I feel out of touch with how you and your horses are all doing, so over the next two weeks I will try to come out and supervise some of you ride. Supervision (basically me watching you ride, but not telling you what to do, or charging) IS allowed under the current rules.

This you may want supervision to do: jump a small jump? Lateral work? You decide. I will try to write some helpful tips on lateral work this week.  If you want to arrange some supervision, sent me a message ahead of time!

Please keep in mind how cold it is though! Horses have very large muscles that take a lot longer to cool down than our puny human muscles, and putting a horse out into the cold before their muscle have cooled would be unkind.

Some ideas for cold weather riding: Spend more time warming up at slower gaits (walk, and a relaxed trot), doing easy/loopy serpentines and circles. Do transitions and take lots of cool down breaks. Cantering heats up a horse more than walk or trot, so consider cantering earlier in your ride, and then doing trot work, and finishing with some walk work. Things you can do at the walk: turn on the forehand, shoulder in, haunches in, side pass, rein back, walk poles drop and pick you your stirrups, neck reining, and ?

If you haven’t cooled down from your ride, then chances are your horse won’t have either, so leave lots of time for grooming/cooling down after your ride.

Alternatively, stick to doing some ground work! Will your horse for forward and back off of light aids? can you get him to do a turn on the forehand or side pass? Will he stay standing while you walk away? Ground work is a great cold weather activity!

Stay warm everyone!