It's Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature

The week of Expo, the Big Fat Lying Weatherman (BFLWM) predicted a humdinger of a snow storm. The headline in our local paper read:

“Potent storm could bring foot of snow to Nebraska”.

It made good press because besides our little expo, the boy's state basketball tournaments were scheduled to start that week, bringing families in from all over the state. Around here, when its a slow news day, the press likes to report on the weather.

Do you know what we got for snow that week?

Nothing.

Nada.

Zip.

Feeling a bit cocky that our Expo went on despite the predictions of doom & gloom weather and I posted the following on Facebook. As you can see from the comments, I was warned.

Yesterday, without much hype or warning from the BFLWM, we woke up to about 4 inches of snow on the ground; the big, wet, sloppy stuff hanging from the tree branches. Having no place I really needed to go and no plans to cancel, I did take a moment to appreciate its beauty, hoping it would go away very quickly. But Nooooo! As if one day wasn’t enough, Mother Nature is giving us some more of it today. Windy is NOT happy. After a couple weeks of consistent riding, she is missing much of her winter coat. I’ll probably go out and blanket her this afternoon. Poor girl.

Yesterday, despite the snow storm, I hooked up the trailer to fetch Windy. She has been with Brenda Messick for two weeks, getting a spring tune-up, specifically working on collection when trotting and loping and lateral moves. I was thrilled with how far she had come last week when I went for a lesson and if I thought a week made a heckuva a difference, two weeks has been incredible.

In her indoor arena, Brenda demonstrated some of what they worked on this past week and then it was my turn to ride. Even as I am typing this, I am not sure I am going to post the video or not. When I rode my mare, it was like driving a new car with super-duper power steering or driving a stick shift for the first time. I can't explain it. It takes only the lightest touch with my hands or legs and Windy responds. I felt like I was learning to ride all over again. Once, on the video, Brenda asks me to post. I seriously did not remember how to even start the rhythm and certainly couldn’t hit the correct diagonal as I was trying so hard not to bump her with my leg or pull out on the reins.

What Windy has gained from these sessions with Brenda is a softness that I have yet to find with my hands. My horse is now light years ahead of me on the learning curve. And I am thrilled! I am looking forward to continuing lessons with Brenda. I still have so much to catch up on; so much to learn.

You can find Brenda's blog at Horses Are Our Lives.