Blah, blah. Winter doldrums.
Today I was motivated to get outside and do some work with the horses. Until I got outside.
All of the lovely snow is now covering all of the lovely ice once again, making taking the horses out of their paddocks a bit too treacherous for my tastes. I should be sitting on Duncan by now, but alas, it is not to be.
Waiting for spring is really a tiresome task.
So, I have transformed the upstairs spare bedroom into an exercise room. I am not sure that it will often be in use, as I have a strong aversion to exercise, but I have the pilates, yoga, tai-chi and other videos in place and ready to roll.
It is interesting to me that most people don’t think of riding horses as exercise. Of course, most people have at best been on a trail ride where they passenged, which leads to this misconception.
It is actually a pretty demanding hobby, especially in the riding disciplines which I have chosen. A good ride will leave me breathless with legs that feel suddenly made of jello and burning abdominals. Of course, like most people, I tend to get lazy and complacent, so I take riding lessons when I can - a good instructor will virtually kill you with a good mounted workout. So, perhaps I am a good instructor, my students often take breaks during lessons, stating that they are tired… hooray for me.
There is a whole market out there for rider’s fitness workouts. Videos, books, seminars all dedicated to developing core strength, balance and killer leg muscles in the rider. Not to mention the stretching and limbering that riders need to do to stay fit and able to do the above mentioned exercises.
So, since I can’t ride just now, I have decided to give those dusty videos a look. Some have never even made it out of their original packaging. Sad, but so very true. I should be ashamed. I have the expectation that my horses develop into athletes, but lack the same commitment to myself.
Other than doing chores (which necessitates exercise, wanted or not) I am a winter couch potato. I have read more books about every topic under the sun (or lack thereof) this winter than I have taken actual steps I think… too lazy to do an actual tally.
The setbacks here on the farm (waterers freezing, fencing needing repair when naughty pony escapes and rearranges is, tractor down) have led to some depression issues which in turn lead to lack of motivation. Books are a nice escape.
I am hoping that spring will boost my morale some, and that the damned barn will finally be erected - the building site has been prepared for almost two years, the materials are mostly on hand and taking up space in the shed. Dad wants to do it ourselves to save considerably on labor, but two people can hardly make a barn themselves. How do my reader friends feel about having a barn-raising this spring? I can provide organic, free range chickensfrom the farm down the road for a barbecue. Free home-grown asparagus to all attendees! Come one, come all!
In the meantime, I think french toast is in order.
anonemoose said:
Please count moose on your barn raising crew provided I don’t have to work that day.
moose
January 15th, 2008 at 6:46 am #
Billie said:
Hurrah!
Are you up for stacking hay in the heat of summer as well? We always feed the helpers!
January 15th, 2008 at 9:57 am #
anonemoose said:
Well, I tried commenting about an hour ago and it seems to be off in never-never land. So I’ll try again.
I’ll have to take a rain check on the hay stacking. I have another invitation to spend time on a farm this summer. I think it involves work.
Are the water lines doing okay in all this cold?
moose
January 19th, 2008 at 9:29 am #