31 July 2010

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HORSE Magazine



Winter: is it really the worst time for riders?

Friday 9 October 2009

As winter draws near, it's all to easy to forget why I got mixed up in all this horse business.

My memories of long hacks on wonderfully warm summer evenings have nearly all frosted over – replaced instead with visions of muddy fields, red noses and a constantly wet horse to groom.

Painfully dragging myself out of bed every morning, in the freezing cold and pitch black, my weary frustrations are only intensified by the prospect of frost-bitten fingers and aching toes.

And every morning I ask myself – as I'm sure most horse people do – why aren't I still in bed?

But when I arrive at the yard, I'm greeted by a relieved neigh and a familiar hungry face.

And no amount of cold can ever stop the resulting warm feeling from spreading over me. I'm glowing like I've just eaten a bowl of Ready Brek.

My question is answered, each day, in that single moment.

I'm not lingering in bed because I have a horse who is waiting for me, and he is always, without fail, delighted to see me.

Although the winter months may seem like a curse upon the entire equestrian world, it has its perks.

Putting on my horse's rug and slipping my hands underneath it to feel him all cosy and snug. Tucking him up in his stable, protected from the bitter winds and cold rain outside, a bucket of food at the ready. There's a certain understated blissfulness about it, day after day.

Whatever the weather, my four-legged friend needs me. And when it comes down to it, there is nowhere else I'd rather be.


Grace Kennard undertook a work experience placement at Horse