Winter Riding and Herding

Today I had to talk myself into horseback riding and sheep herding practice.

It's been weeks since I've ridden -- a combination of limited daylight hours, good weather and motivation. My winter horseback rule is that it must be in the 20s and little wind (which at our place is less than 10 mph). Sun also helps.

That happened today.

Yet I was unmotivated until I brought the horses in from the pasture. As I removed a few burrs from Jet's mane, I ran my hands over her thick coat. That was enough to motivate me.

I hacked Jet around for 15 minutes. She seemed to welcome the adventure. I took in the snow, the sun, the wind on my cheeks. Then I looked at Lily.

I decided to ride her bareback, then had second thoughts when I went to get on. I ate a lot of cookies yesterday and was wearing my heavy winter coat. But she stood quietly while I not-so-gracefully mounted.

Then, she happily went to work.

Apparently the horses are like me. They need a little nudging, and then are happy about the work once it's underway.