Slow winter

I must admit, we are having a very slow winter. We've had tons of snow during December, which was great. After Christmas thaw came. The snow melted during the day and froze at night leaving us with our yard, fields and paddocks covered in ice. This continued for 2 weeks and it was not even safe to turn our horses out. Snow finally melted and the weather started to resemble early spring. This drove our horses wild. They went out running and bucking - playing like crazy. Finally they could blow off some energy that was building up for the past few weeks.

We didn't ride much, in January we only went for two trail rides in walk mainly. Yesterday I rode Juliano bareback with a string. Our ride was amazing - calm and in harmony. One could say 'normal' but Juliano was full of energy after two weeks of doing nothing. I could feel that energy but he didn't use it against me. He had every right to buck me off but instead he was obedient and calm. We've done some patterns in all 3 gaits, transitions, sideways, circles and after 20 minutes of riding I took Juliano out to the paddock. He rolled, run and bucked. I than played with him at Liberty a bit and he ended up with his head under my arm yawning. Great way to end our day.

Later my friend told me he didn't go out in the morning. I'm sure he wanted to run and buck but he managed to control himself when I was riding him. He is truly a great partner.