Spring has sprung and hopefully we won't see any more snow until Christmas! The first flowers are out, and sometimes the sun even shines. Apparently we just survived the darkest winter in recorded history. It sure felt like it.
With the warmer temperatures comes the mud. Not usually a problem for city dwellers, for us horse riding folk this is a sticky, boggy, yucky, smelly time of year. Especially if the mud is in a horse paddock and contains a large proportion of "organic matter". Luckily, Finn is always happy if he can wade through the muck to get a horse or pony for his Mama, who is waiting on relatively dry gound by the gate. And this Mama needs to remember to put a change of clothes for the kids in the car. Because, sometimes the mud is stronger than Finn.
He got stuck and fell over when he tried to pull his boots free. Ironically, Fritzi, who Finn was looking for in the paddock, wasn't even in it! The first thing Finn said to me when he saw me was: "Mama! I saved your lead rope from getting dirty by holding it high over my head!"
At least the boy has his priorities right. It was my good new lead rope, too.
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Although it was cold (just above freezing) it was sunny with no wind, so I parked Finn in the sun while I took a hoof pick and peeled layers of mud off his pants and the inside of his fleece jacket and winter coat. Couldn't do much about the mud inside his boots, t-shirt and underpants, but Finn thought it was the greatest thing ever anyway. Boys and dirt - the eternal attraction.
Then he got to hang out in the "Longhorn Saloon", a cozy little place where the riders drink coffee, eat, chat, play darts and feed the fire in the wood burning stove (Finn's favourite activity). When his pants where somewhat dry he rode Fritzi, bareback. Fritzi didn't mind getting a little dirt on his back, heck, he lives in the stuff 24/7.
But March didn't bring just mud. It also brought Mogli.
As you might remember, I had a horse sharing agreement with the owners of Bella, the black and white pinto mare. When Bella was put up for sale in January the owners of the barn told me I could have a lease on one of their Quarter Horses once Bella was gone. Well, I didn't wait for Bella to be sold. I have always wanted to ride a well trained, calm Quarter Horse, and Mogli is exactly that. He is 17 years old and, although retired from the show circuit (he is a reining horse), still too fit and agile to just stand around. You snooze, you lose. Mogli inhabits a room with a view where he spends the night and his mornings. I usually ride him in the morning (about three times a week) when the kids are at school/Kindergarten, for various reasons.
First, Mogli spends his afternoons out on the pasture (in the summer), or in a bigger paddock (in the winter). Which he thoroughly enjoys and then looks like this.
Oh, no, Mo.
(But luckily Finn and Lily love helping to clean a dirty horse, although the dust can get in your eyes pretty badly, right Finn?)
Then, it is kinda hard to keep an eye on the kids while I'm sitting on a horse and riding in an arena. And while I'm all for giving them some freedom to roam and be kids, they do get in trouble sometimes. The other day, George the friendly stable hand had a big pile of straw on the left and a big pile of hay on the right in one of the barns, with a path in the middle for his wheel barrow. When Finn and Lily were done playing George had a big pile of straw and hay mixed together with no path in the middle.
Or, while I was riding, Finn the Firebug was in the saloon, making the place hot and hotter by putting log after log in the wood stove. Until he burned his thumb by touching it against the inside of the stove. The skin turned black and cracked open, and with incredible presence of mind the boy stuck his thumb in the nearest body of water. Which happened to be the dogs' dirty water dish by the door. Not the most sanitary environment for an open wound. Oh well. The dogs didn't mind and Finn survived. It didn't even put too much of a damper on his wood stove affection.
Lily, on the other hand, is just happy to play with the dogs, catch a ride on Mo or watch me in the arena. She snapped some nice pictures of us the other day, not bad for a 5-year-old!
Mo did very well in this trail parcours, and while some reining horses can be a bit hot headed, he handles everything you put in front of him with calm and confidence.
I think we all have something that makes us happy. Where we are completely in the moment, where we would not want to be anywhere or anyone else, where we feel relaxed and at peace with the world. For some it's maybe hiking up a mountain, or gardening, or playing piano, or experiencing runner's high.
For me, it's this.
Thank you, Mo.
