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[RC] Winter Riding - IRMurphy

The first 17 yrs. of my horse-riding life were spent in Michigan.  The recent 
emails prompted me to pull up this list from my journals.

Things I don't miss about cold Michigan winters:

1.  Frozen horse turds - they were twice as heavy to shovel.
2.  Frozen stirrup bars and the painful feeling in my feet when I dismounted.
3.  Dragging the hose into the hose so it wouldn't freeze.  (Cleaning the 
carpet where the hose thawed and made mud.)
4.  Hauling hot water from the house to water the horses when the faucets 
froze/broke.
5.  Cleaning out the bathtub from the hay thawed from the ice in the water 
buckets.
5.  Shoveling out the barn door.
6.  Breaking the ice freezing the barn door shut (or car door, or fence 
latches, or tack room doors, or windows, etc.)
7.  Cleaning off salt stains from shoes, riding boots.
8.  Snow balls stuck in hooves.
9.  Warming cold bits.
10.  Wearing heavy gloves, keeping gloves together in right/left pairs.
11.  Blankets and blanket eating horses.
12.  Cleaning off the mud from the horses, tack, shoes.
13.  Pushing wheelbarrows through snow.
14.  Breaking through the ice on sawdust.
15.  Rust.  Rust on cars, rust on trailers, rusted metal sheeting on barns.
16.   Cooling out shaggy coated horses after riding.
17.  Stuffy, dusty indoor arenas.
18.  Hidden ice patches in the indoor arenas.
19.  Wearing 40lbs of clothing to avoid freezing on the walk to the barn.
20.  Static electricity from 40lbs of heavy clothing.
21.  Having to drive 45min. to get to the nearest indoor riding arena.

What did I enjoy?

1.  Pulling muck buckets on icy sidewalks. (moving anything was easier when the 
pavement was covered in ice)
2.  Riding through freshly fallen snow.
3.  Riding in the quiet of a warm (right around 32) snowsfall.
4.  Seeing hoof prints, foot prints, etc. in freshly fallen snow.
5.  Jumping snow jumps.
6.  Playing fetch with the dogs using frozen horse turds.
7.  Snow days.
8.  Horse whiskers with ice particles on them.
9.  Warm fires to come into after feeding.

Every local has it's advantages and disadvantages, these were some of my 
experiences from Michigan.

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