Up here in Michigan it's way too COLD to ride. At three degrees and lower,to ride now would provoke frostbite. Fortunately, being from Michigan, I could careless about it being cold, just give me my horse. Today, this afternoon, my dear friend and trainer, Julie and I, went to the barn in a whopping 10 degrees(somebody say heatwave?!). While I didn't ride due to the both of us being sufficiently frozen, we did let the horses run. I took Cody and she took Jac, a gorgeous, sweet, fun-loving,gentle Thoroughbred gelding. We stumbled through the snow and into the arena where we set them free. Guys, Crazy horses just wanna have fun. They went NUTS. Well, Jac went nuts, 'my'  boy Cody stood in the middle of the arena, doing self-told Parelli training. In other words, he pivoted himself in a circle while Jac did laps like a champion. He bucked,he ran fast and he ran hard;he groomed Cody and had fun. Eventually Cody ran with him(I think like me he just needed to assess the situation and relax) . He had a blast too. After the boys came the girls, because, guys, crazy girls just wanna have fun too. 

I brought in Duchess, a pretty chestnut Paint mare with serious attitude issues. I can't stand her. At all. Julie grabbed her girl Rose, (Duchess's daughter, who I LOVE), she walked calmy to the arena while Duchess and I had War World 3 behind them. After we both tried to kill each other, I turned her loose. Duchess and Rose, while they are both lovely gals,are crazier than the boys. Rose is an Azteca. She stands 16hh,a bit taller than her dam. Rose is a gorgeous tank. Duchess is a lean, mean machine. Both girls decided they wanted to run, kick and buck where we stood. Thank the LORD Julie was there, with a carrot stick, to keep them away. After around 30,maybe 40 minutes each set, both the boys and girls were sufficiently worked. Julie and I did food and haybags then ran to the safety and warmth of her truck. 

In this frigid weather the horses don't get turned out often and we don't ride often, (frostbite and all, even we Michiganders are sensitive to the cold), so they are full of pent up energy. Working them like this, even just lunging, in my opinion, makes a world of difference. If I don't work Cody when the weather is this cold and he hasn't been out lately, he gives me lots of trouble. Days like those "I will survive", "Stayin' alive" and Mandisa's "Overcomer"  play throughout my head as I wonder what he has planned for me. 

It was fun. Spending the day with horses and Julie was awesome. I look forward those days often. Hopefully I'll ride again soon, (we're getting a heatwave, a whopping 23 degrees. Somebody pinch me!).