Because Johnny is all-around great guy, he accompanied me to the barn instead of staying inside and playing X-COM: Enemy Unknown all day (which was his original Valentine's Day plan). It was definitely too nice to stay inside anyway: 70 degrees and sunny! Wind gusts of up to 35 miles per hour? Psh, who cares? It was 70 degrees!
Since I'd jumped Gina on Tuesday and Friday and hacked her out in the field on Thursday, I thought I'd do some dressage work in the indoor arena.
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| Ten year old kid supervising the jumping Friday. |
It was maybe the worst dressage ride of my life. Why?
- 35 mph wind gusts
- Barn sounding as if it may blow down at any moment
- Saddle pads drying on rail flapping continuously
- Giant jolly ball that lives in corner of arena blowing around arena
- Barn owner showing up halfway through ride to replace broken skylights above stalls
- Barn owner's father climbing onto roof
- Barn owner's father dropping pieces of broken skylight down into barn
- Barn owner's fiance drilling...something
- Recently arrived stray puppies whining constantly
Gina was so distracted by these things that we basically accomplished walking, trotting, and cantering both directions before I called it quits. I cooled her out outside in an effort to her to relax a little; it was mostly a futile effort.
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| DANGER ZONE |
The weather is predicted to clear up from the icky sleet/snow by the end of the week, so hopefully Gina and I can redeem ourselves.
13 comments:
Sorry about a crummy ride, but this post totally had me laughing!
Sometimes the world teams up against you while you are riding. Or in this case, anyone related to the barn owner! lol
Sadly 35mph is just medium winds around here. Hate those days when nothing works out. But makes those good days even better. Makes you feel anybetter, it decided to ice and snow....charming...
lol that v-day card is adorable haha! bummer about the iffy ride tho, hopefully next time will be better!
It was so ridiculous, I was laughing while it was happening!
I know! I just kept thinking, "Okay, we're sort of conquering the saddle pads. Oh, what?! Now there are pieces of skylight FALLING FROM THE CEILING? OKAY SURE"
I am like 90% sure I am NEVER going to get adjusted to the wind here. Or, you know, it being 70 on Saturday and 25 with 4" of snow on Monday. WTF, Oklahoma?
You know, I am choosing to be optimistic. Like...at least Gina didn't have a total meltdown and kill me/herself/spectators?
That is too many things happening at once! I'd be spooking, too.
I'm sorry that I was still sick and missed this! (I think.) You should have ridden on Sunday. Temperatures in the 40s, less chaos at the barn (and more doors closed, so no blowing of things), and me and Roscoe. He and I had a delightful time working on bending, not falling in, leg yielding, circles, that sort of thing. And so peaceful. Mostly. I won't be at the barn again until I get back from Kentucky in a week-and-a-half, so you are welcome to ride Roscoe in my absence and work on all of those things with him. Borrow the fancy wide dressage saddle from work, put on his dressage bridle, and then you can blog about it! Great idea, right? ;-)
Yay for macarons! Glad you got in a V-day ride.
Pity about the ride, that would absolutely blow Kika's mind if she weren't feeling the desire to trot in circles (often)
V-day sounds pretty sweet though, teaming up & supporting one another as you do things you enjoy sounds like a great way to spend the day...now to find me someone to share such endeavours with ☺
I was sick in bed all day, so your Valentine's sounds fantastic :) Sorry it was a crappy ride though!
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