Brrrr.......

It was very cold doing chores this morning....I bundled up and headed out at 6:30 to feed all 20 horses - which is quite a few when its only 2 degrees... As I was doing the chores, in my over-alls, boots, gloves, hat etc...marching thru the bit of snow with wheelbarrow filled with hay - and broke out into a sweat....who needs Curves??? I just need to spend about 20 minutes a day pushing the wheelbarrow thru the snow...ha ha....

All the horses were happy to see me, which is always nice...there are 8 horses in the barn, and even with the low temps - the 2 buckets that are not heated only had only a little bit of ice...I have 6 heated water buckets - which I love even if they give me just a little bit more work in the AM's - as I go thru and empty and unplug them for the day. It just doesn't seem to make much sense to have them plugged in all day when no one is in the barn. But it does add another 5 minutes to my crazy mornings.

The outside horses were in good spirits this morning too, so they were more than prepared for the cold snap this week than us humans.

I am anxiously awaiting time to ride. Gus leaves in 2 weeks to go to Kari's - and I will start riding him every day to get ready for the "clinic".. I dont want to spend $400 to go with a fat horse and a fat me.... Lee Barthel, who just brought her show horse before Christmas, is going to attend the clinic with me, so we can split gas costs. We decided to haul in each day vs staying overnight, as Germantown isn't that far away.

I spent some time looking at show schedules last night...and its hard to see which way the summer is going yet in January. I have about 6 NBHA shows that I want to attend for sure, and a barrel bash in the end of October. I want to go to more NBHA & 4-D format shows this year vs going to BHSA or open shows. With Sammy already running at the top of the 4-D division with little seasoning and exposure, I'm hoping to see some 2-D times by the end of summer. Shelley & I are going to ride share when we can, and Amanda Coyle has also expressed interest at ride sharing to some shows with me too. So hopefully can save on the gas bill when I can.

This is Kara's last year to ride as a "leadline" rider - as the ages is 6 & under. So will probably get her to as many of the BHSA pleasure shows for her to ride in that class. She will be riding Gus again. And I hope that Randy will be showing Gus mostly this year, and I will be riding Charisma. I'm hoping that Kara will be showing more interest in riding by the end of summer. I've been anxiously awaiting that to happen...I've done my best to tone it down and not push for her to ride....