Blue's getting a workout

I'm back to making an attempt to ride Blue three times a week again, as used to be my rule; I'm trying to get some weight off him, after all.

I haven't figured out why it is, when the horse is doing all the work, I'm the one that's so worn-out and grumpy when I get back from a ride. Oh, and my knees are so stiff! Cliff and his sister laughed at how I hobbled across the room last night when I first got out of my chair.

Nevertheless, riding is fun, and I'm glad this little wake-up call has gotten me out and about.

Cliff and I had agreed last night that we should take a brief motorcycle ride today, just because that's something a lot of bikers do (no matter what the weather) on New Year's Day. We re-thought the idea, though, while taking our morning walk and getting a feel of the frigid wind. Call us pansies, but why be miserable just because everybody else is doing it?

Oh well, Blue was due at least one more workout this week. So once it got above 40, I headed out. I've had more pleasant weather for horseback riding, but I stayed warm enough except for my toes, and they weren't bad until the last half-hour or so of the ride.

Blue had no problem with the cold; in fact, he was pretty sweaty by the time we got home. It's muddy on the bottoms... thawed on top, frozen underneath. So he got plenty of exercise just maneuvering the mud. That boy may be overweight and under-exercised lately, but he has plenty of get-up-and-go.

I've been turning him out to eat hay with the others for one hour each morning (with a timer on to remind me), then giving him a couple flakes of hay in the evening. I never give my horses grain, except for a treat sometimes.

Here, we're headed toward the Missouri River, which is just beyond that tree line. Not very pretty scenery this time of year.

This is as close as we got to the river; since the last flood, there's so much trash (dead trees and limbs) that it's impossible to get right up to the bank.

Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours on New Year's Day.