Paco in the snow 2-4-2011

It has continued to snow here.  Now there are some three feet on the ground.  I rode Paco on Friday and Saturday.  On Friday, we rode out into the snow.  It was deep, up to his chest.  He walked eagerly through the deep fluffy snow.  It was all the way up to his chest.  We didn't go terribly far.  He was so good and curious and eager. 
On Saturday, we rode out into the woods on the trail.  It was so fun.  He was great.  Very happy, excited and, again, forward and eager.  We sank in pretty deeply in some spots, but he showed no fear and was fine with horses right behind us and in front of us.  He continues to surprise me with his willingness and smarts.  We have so many fun adventures ahead.

Ride in the snow tomorrow?

Am hoping to go ride Paco in the deep snow tomorrow.  It snowed about a foot and a half yesterday.  Pretty much the whole state had a snow day.  It was quite beautiful, really, and still is.  I don't know why I didn't get out more in it today - I could have snow shooed or cross country skied.  Tomorrow, I have a client in the morning and then will head to the barn.  I am excited and a tiny bit nervous about riding out in the snow.  I haven't ridden much the past few weeks because of snow and cold weather.  Those just sound like excuses, though. 
When I go and play with Paco, I am always happy that I did.  I think my real struggle is with getting myself out the door, sometimes.  Are these Vermont winters getting to be a bit much for me?  or am I just being a woos :-)  I was on the tired side today because the dog woke me up at 4 am.  She wanted to go outside - she goes through phases of needing to relieve herself in the middle of the night.  I had a hard time falling back asleep.  I had awoken from a dream in which I was sitting on the side of the road and holding Paco around his neck.  I was also singing in the dream.  I wish I had written something down from it right when I woke up, in my memory it was a pretty song, but there is no way I would be able to recreate it now.   
G'night... hopefully I will have stories to tell of fun adventures tomorrow.

And the months go by...



Paco the clown during quarantine



Pretty Paco with his mane up to keep him cool on a hot day

So I named him Paco, and we have been on such an amazing journey these past several months.  He was quite sick when he arrived to quarantine, and thin, and his hooves were bad, but he patiently waited to get better and loved the wonderful attention that he received.  He stayed in QT for nearly two month and was about a two hour drive away, but I went down to visit with him and play with him once a week while he was there.  After looking around at a bunch of the barns in the area, it became clear that he wasn't going to be well enough to be introduced to a barn for a few more months, so we set up a stall and paddock here at home.  It was a big undertaking, but it was lovely to finally have him home.  The picture below is on the day he arrived.  We were so happy to have him home with us.  I am going to continue to write about our experience and our learning and growth.  To see a video of what we are doing now, you can go to Paco in January 2011 - after about a month undersaddle.