January was a bit of a wild month here, trapped in our homes for almost a week due to an ice storm. These level of storms are becoming more regular even in the Willamette Valley, this is the third since we’ve been in our home where we’ve lost power or been stuck for more than a few hours. I had grand plans for that time we were stuck, such as cleaning out the garage and starting a new training plan, but instead I mostly curled up on the couch and read a ton of books, just happy the power stayed on for us and no pipes burst. My barn owner is excellent and lives on site, so Tarma was well taken care of.

Even with the weather and a weekend off to attend the PNER conference (where I somehow decided to take on publishing the newsletter!) we managed a solid amount of work together. I say work versus rides, as there’s a lot of ground work and care that counts towards our goals. For example, Tarma wasn’t feeling 100% herself at the beginning of the month, which I think had several factors involved I had to puzzle out. She went off her supplements as she didn’t like her carrier, I had switched her to Purina Omelene from the Triple Crown Complete and she told me clearly this wasn’t cool. I’ve switched her back and now she cleans everything up. She’s got a new herd and a different pasture, now out with two geldings which as far as I know is a first for her. Due to the weather we were only riding in the ring, I didn’t want to haul out to ride in the ice or pouring rain and there’s only a few safe places to ride when it’s so dang muddy everywhere, and I think she was starting to get ring sour and bored. We have a lot of arena based work to do, but we’re a trails partnership first and foremost. After the ice storm I’ve been adding back in more trail rides or just strolls around the orchard, grazing walks in the sunshine or walking up the road a bit before or after ring work, letting her stride out as she prefers to do.

I also get itchy without a road trip or exploring a new place for too long, so a friend and I loaded up the mares and hit a new spot on the coast for a beach ride. I won on the weather but the beach we chose allows vehicles, and it was a busy day. We managed to keep both mares under their thresholds and had a few wonderful canter stretches for a beautiful day. I discovered I’m really not riding right or investing in myself, as both ankles were so sore and wouldn’t hold me for much longer, emphasized while posting during my last lesson, I just couldn’t manage as long as I should be able to. I’ve done PT for ankle tendonitis so I know the steps and exercises to do, I just need to keep up the consistency.

In good news, our last two arena rides were a lot less messy, with moments of lightness and self-carriage we’ve been struggling towards for a solid year now. My trainer says it’s some maturity on Tarma’s part, finally figuring out it’s better to bend and carry herself and slow herself down than me constantly managing her, which annoys us both. These are the moments that tell me we’re on the right path, however slow and struggling it is. I’m never going to make a Grand Prix horse of her, but it still remains true that we’re building the strength and partnership we’ll need for 100 miles of trail in a day.