A pretty good week, but hectic!

I am looking forward to two things:

1. When I have more time to sit down, decompress, and blog
2. When this ARCTIC weather passes (it's currently 15 degrees out)

I have been running around quite a bit this past week, hence my lack of posts since my lesson last Tuesday. However, I have been at the barn almost every day since then. On Wednesday, I decided to longe (lunge?) Henry as it had been a while since we had worked on his voice commands, ground manners, etc. He is muscling up really nicely, but he does have a LOT of energy... He was quite good in walk/trot/halt both directions, and then... sort of exploded in the canter :X He wasn't trying to be bad, I don't think; just a lot of energy and feeling fresh. He took off around the circle a couple of times and then stopped short, after which I sent him forward into a walk or trot. After each little outburst he was on his best behavior (for a few minutes), and I even got some very nice canters when I asked. Aside from his bout of spunkiness, he was a peach.

I didn't make it out to the barn on Thursday, and then Friday a BIG STORM came. Yeah, the same one that dumped snow on Las Vegas. I was let out of work early and headed straight to the barn, because I knew that I wouldn't get out there later at night. I knew the temps were supposed to be dropping well under the freezing mark, so I pulled out Henry's *clean* blanket and I'm sure he appreciates it. If the temperature ever gets back to the mid-30s I will let him go without since his coat is nice and thick, but these bitter cold days with snow and wind are a bit much.

Saturday there was a holiday party at the barn, so my boyfriend (who is on break from school) came with to eat cookies while I rode. Henry was awesome. I used a quarter sheet to warm up with and I can definitely appreciate when he is warm and loose. His trot was great right off the bat. We worked on everything from our last lesson, including turn on the haunches and trot lengthenings. He was a very good boy :)

Yesterday we worked on the same things, as well as trying to get some good canter-walk transitions, but I was sort of distracted the whole ride, so it was tough going. There were two other riders in the ring, and one of them gives running commentary on her ride. She talks to her horse, saying things like, "Come on, pick yourself up a bit! That's good, good balance, keep it together..." etc etc ETC. It gets very old, very fast. It's also tough to concentrate when you are looking over your shoulder all the time to avoid head-on collisions with other riders, who don't seem to think it's their responsibility to do the same. It's frustrating but a good learning experience, I suppose. Trying to keep your composure, turn on a dime, and really practice your transitions (i.e. WHOOPS we need to HALT NOW!) keeps you and your horse sharp!

Tonight I am working late, so Henry will get the night off. FHOTD wrote that she never rides when temps are this low, and I think that's a good standard. If I could get out to the barn I would probably give Henry a good grooming and some hand walking. Hopefully things will be warm enough tomorrow night for my lesson...

Aside from all the usual work and barn trips, I am trying to catch up on some volunteer work for my local GMO, write and send holiday cards, and I have been making chocolate covered pretzels for holiday gifts. There's not a lot of extra money this year, so a homemade delicious gift is the best I could do, and so far the reviews have been great!