February 4th, 2010

A winter's day ride

I really enjoyed reading all of your comments regarding my rather messy closet.  I suppose the thing about a closet is that you can just shut the door and it's out of sight, out of mind.    I suppose, too, that a messy closet happens by way of the domino effect - one thing out of place leads to another.  Oh well, these things happen and besides, a good closet clean out is practical and satisfying.

Because my closet project was a rather large one, breaks were required and on Sunday, the 31st of January, Betsy Perreten, my stable manager and I, decided to go horseback riding.  The early morning hours were quite frigid, about 10-degrees F.  By eleven AM, it was sunny and bright and a bit warmer.  Betsy saddled up Ramon and Rutger and we hit the trails.  It was beautiful, refreshing, and invigorating.

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1 The horses seemed ready to go for a ride. Some of the streams that run through the property were frozen, others were not.

2 Here, the ice was thick and solid.

3 Betsy, garbed in her new red parka, leggings, and goggles, enjoyed the ride on Ramon, our alpha horse.

4 The snow still looked fresh on many of the fields and the sky was bright blue and cloudless. The trees looked cold.

5 Ramon was ready to trot across the middle field.

6 On second thought, maybe not!

7 The woods have suffered quite a bit this winter - storms with rain, snow, ice, and lots of wind - our biggest enemy here.

8 I am riding Rutger, who follows every step of Ramon with his own deliberate elegance.

9 There were many tracks in the snow. Betsy and I were trying to figure out whose tracks were which - Coyote? Rabbit? Squirrel?

10 The ride to the graveyard was especially tranquil and Rutger and I followed Betsy closely.

11 The fence surrounding the property is checked at least once weekly. I think I see a large plastic garbage bag that must have flown out of the dumpster and is circulating around.

12 The fence, looking very secure, keeps out hungry deer, which are quite devastating to the newly plnted trees on the property.

13 The actual landscape is quite barren in the winter harshness.

14 I love the shadows we cast on the snow in the bright sunlight.

15 Another frozen stream

16 Ramon, taking his time going down a slippery slope

17 Here he is using a bit of his fancy dressage training to traverse the hill.

18 This is the eastern field where I hope one day to graze milk cows.

19 Here is the signature sycamore tree of the farm.

20 These are young larch trees devoid of their needles - they are deciduous evergreens.

21 One of the young larch trees - we support new plantings with bamboo stakes.

22 This is a redwood sapling - another deciduous evergreen. I am trying them also to see if they do well in my landscape.

23 The road was quite frozen in spots, making walking a bit treacherous.

24 The magnificent signature tree - it has been photographed many times.

25 The ice formations on this large stream were magnificent.

26 More convoluted ice

27 This is the run in where the Friesians spend much of the very cold nights - they love being outside.

28 Another view of the shed - the floor is covered with a thick layer of hay.

29 The tree peony garden is wrapped in burlap.

30 The tree peonies look fragile in the very cold weather, however, they will come to vibrant life in April and bloom in May.

31 This year, I had the fall-flowering Franklinia trees wrapped in burlap to see if that would help them weather the winter.

32 The Franklinias are borderline successful here in Bedford - last year they did not leaf out until late May.

33 Our ride was almost over - here, you can see more of the burlap wrapping.

34 Ghenghis Khan came outside with Carlos to see the horses.

35 Francesca was a bit incredulous that the horses liked the new puppy!

36 Look at Francesca 'talking' to the Ramon!

37 She then stood up on Carlos' shoulders to further make her point that she was tired of all the attention the new puppy was getting, even from the horses!

Posted on February 4th, 2010 in My Pets, Photo Gallery | Permalink |

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