On central coast CA, north of Santa Cruz, we
had a nice rain earlier.....about 3.5". Tiny little shoots of grass,
clover and filaree popping up...soon there will be grass for horses and
cattle. This morning it's overcast...not sure if impending rain or just
"coastal overcast." It's supposed to rain by tomorrow, but unless it
changes, it may start sooner. We have one basic trail, with three options
about half-way through, that can be ridden in wet spells. Mostly
decomposed granite and chalk rock, both safe footing when wet. It's hard to
decide whether to attempt continuing to condition horses for winter desert
rides or just kick back for the winter. Indecisions,
indecisions....
We were cheated out of our annual vacation
by one of our horses that cut his knee wide open. Nasty wound and
extremely expensive to have treated. Could have bought two new young
horses for the same price as it cost to patch up one 20-year-old horse, but
what can one do? We've had him for 15 years, have ridden endurance all
around CA on him, and he's family. It's going to take months to heal, and
he'll be scarred for life and totally unsuitable for endurance. I had
already retired him anyway, but he was still a wonderful pleasure horse,
flagging horse, pony horse, etc.
Maybe we'll catch up on our vacation when
he's farther along in the healing process and go somewhere where it isn't
winter.
I'm not too terribly far away from you Barbara,
in Lodi, CA amongst the gazillion grapevines on flat land. It rained really
hard here, but it's still pretty warm outside by many others standards on this
board. The thermometer on the back porch reads 43 as I type this. The sun is
shining and it would be a great day for a ride. But I haven't ridden all week,
trying to catch up with my work from being gone for Grand Canyon. But I have
nothing to complain about!! :) Jackie
From a ridecamp reader and contributor
who is fascinated with weather in other parts of the country (and world),
would folks who send in descriptions like that below please identify their
state and general location within that state? I enjoy sitting here
when it's pouring rain and reading about someone in the SW who is enjoying
the sun. Conversely, I enjoy a warm, sunny day and reading about a
blizzard in the Midwest. I just love weather!
Hi, It
has cooled down a lot here in the last week,way colder than usual for this
time of year. We have had a lot of rain and some snow. I took my gelding
out for a nice ride yesterday, it was damp out and in the low 40's with a
slight breeze. We probably went about 10 miles with a lot of steep hills
and mud, so it was a different and difficult ride since we havent seen mud
for about 7 months. Anyway he worked up a good sweat, drank from puddles
and seemed fine. When I got home I rode him in the field at a walk for
about 1/2 hr. (took the pup, shes learning about horses). Put him
up. Came out to feed about 2 hrs. later (4:30) and he was still a little
wet with sweat and was shivering in the hind end. His muscles were not
hard but he just seemed to have a little chill. As soon as he started
eating he seemed to quit shivering. My question is how do I handle this. I
really dont want to blanket him. I have one more ride I wanted to attend
and dont know how to handle the cold. Thanks
