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riding, parking
Dec. 22nd, 2003 12:06 amWhen I first took riding lessons, back in college with Francie, for some reason we only did it in the winter. We'd start taking lessons in November or so, and stop in March or so. The last time, it was because our instructor had a bad car accident, and had to move back to New York to be cared for by her mother. It was always something reasonable, but it was a pattern for about 3 years running.
These episodic encounters with equine instruction all took place in the winter (as noted above), and all in indoor rings. That is to say, in refrigerators. An indoor ring is protected from the falling stuff, but that's about it. The air is still and cold. When it rains or sleets (as it sometimes does in the winter), it reverberates from the metal roof. There are also dark corners that are known to harbor horse-eating monsters, which the horses wisely shy away from, usually at the last second.
Still, an indoor ring is...indoors, for all that.
I tried to go riding today. The weather was just lovely, for December (40's, overcast). But there's no indoor ring where I ride, and the outdoor ring was iced over. I might have gone trail riding, but it's a somewhat steep hill down, followed by a somewhat steep hill up into the woods, with definite ice at the bottom, if not on the slopes. My horse Cheyenne is a sure-footed little trail horse, him, but I have yet to meet a horse that doesn't hate the ice. So I didn't put him through a ride that neither one of us would have enjoyed. Merry Christmas, Chey-guy.
Instead, I hung out with the herd in the back paddock for a while, then hung out with the 18-year-old barn cat for a while, then went home and worked the snow-blower until dark.
We have a yard that slopes down to the street. Last year, we cut back the hill, and installed a stone wall about 8' back from the road. This gives us a place for people to park, and better sight lines getting out of the driveway. Except after the last snowstorm, when our neighbor helpfully plowed the end of our driveway into this parking area, creating a 7' tall snow-bank. (Not exaggerating.) There go the sight lines, and we've got guests coming over for Francie's mother's 75th birthday party the day after xmas, and many more ppl coming over for our New Year's party, and nowhere to archive the cars. So I took the aforementioned snow-blower, and cleared the aforementioned area in front of the wall. The crust was somewhat icy, but underneath it was rather porous and easy to snow-blow. This unit has a problem with fresh snow, which tends to be wet and heavy, and jams up the works. But this stuff was (relatively) esay. It only took until dark. Our front lawn (atop the wall) is now a mess of gray plow-spooge, dirt, rocks, and other crap atop the formerly-pristine white snow, but it's clear now, and we have parking for...3 more cars...if they're cozy.
Now I've got to get the area along the road leading up to the house. Technically, it's the neighbor's property, but they're not going to care. The tenants are moving out, and the house is slated for demolition to make a road for a new subdivision. I suppose that, by next winter, we'll have a lot more on-street parking for our guests by virutue of having a new street. Oh boy.
These episodic encounters with equine instruction all took place in the winter (as noted above), and all in indoor rings. That is to say, in refrigerators. An indoor ring is protected from the falling stuff, but that's about it. The air is still and cold. When it rains or sleets (as it sometimes does in the winter), it reverberates from the metal roof. There are also dark corners that are known to harbor horse-eating monsters, which the horses wisely shy away from, usually at the last second.
Still, an indoor ring is...indoors, for all that.
I tried to go riding today. The weather was just lovely, for December (40's, overcast). But there's no indoor ring where I ride, and the outdoor ring was iced over. I might have gone trail riding, but it's a somewhat steep hill down, followed by a somewhat steep hill up into the woods, with definite ice at the bottom, if not on the slopes. My horse Cheyenne is a sure-footed little trail horse, him, but I have yet to meet a horse that doesn't hate the ice. So I didn't put him through a ride that neither one of us would have enjoyed. Merry Christmas, Chey-guy.
Instead, I hung out with the herd in the back paddock for a while, then hung out with the 18-year-old barn cat for a while, then went home and worked the snow-blower until dark.
We have a yard that slopes down to the street. Last year, we cut back the hill, and installed a stone wall about 8' back from the road. This gives us a place for people to park, and better sight lines getting out of the driveway. Except after the last snowstorm, when our neighbor helpfully plowed the end of our driveway into this parking area, creating a 7' tall snow-bank. (Not exaggerating.) There go the sight lines, and we've got guests coming over for Francie's mother's 75th birthday party the day after xmas, and many more ppl coming over for our New Year's party, and nowhere to archive the cars. So I took the aforementioned snow-blower, and cleared the aforementioned area in front of the wall. The crust was somewhat icy, but underneath it was rather porous and easy to snow-blow. This unit has a problem with fresh snow, which tends to be wet and heavy, and jams up the works. But this stuff was (relatively) esay. It only took until dark. Our front lawn (atop the wall) is now a mess of gray plow-spooge, dirt, rocks, and other crap atop the formerly-pristine white snow, but it's clear now, and we have parking for...3 more cars...if they're cozy.
Now I've got to get the area along the road leading up to the house. Technically, it's the neighbor's property, but they're not going to care. The tenants are moving out, and the house is slated for demolition to make a road for a new subdivision. I suppose that, by next winter, we'll have a lot more on-street parking for our guests by virutue of having a new street. Oh boy.
