Want to join us on a winter ride?

I got inspired by Mugwumps "BraCam" and thought that I could try and make a video of Fame and me hacking out today.
I decided on the easy option though and just hold the phone in my hand while riding.
So do you wanna come with us?

Unfortunately hard wind and milder temperatures have made the trees lose all the snow, we don't have much snow  and we did not see much of the sunshine today either...but never mind, it was nice weather for a ride!

You'll just have to take it as is :-) ...no such fancies as music and headings, the post as editor is vacant at the moment.
So please join Fame and me hacking out today!
Here we are heading down towards the creek:

Horses are by nature afraid of ice, just as they are on any insecure footing like bogs etc.
It's logical - a horse in the wild that gets stuck or hurt the legs by all likelihood ends up dead.
Two years ago, a rider from one of the other stables rode out on the ice on a lake at wintertime.
The ice couldn't bear the weight, and the horse tragically ended up dead.

So you have to build confidence with them over time, and on this day we had weak ice which is the worst.
Fame was a good girl though, and we found a way over.
Had to keep both hands on the reins going down to the water though.

Looking back on the water, I saw something floating? Oh no, my glove....
Not exactly the right time for a bath. What to do?
I just had to turn Fame, and see if I could get hold of it.
It floated merrily downstream, but luckily ended up on one of the icy part in the middle, and I managed to fish it up with the dressage whip. Yes!
And up on the other side...with a soaking wet glove. Nice.
Couldn't keep it on, and couldn't put it in the pocket either.
I finally decided to hang it as a tree decoration until our return.

So my next project was to try and video at canter.
Bear in mind that I was riding bareback, and my horse is an agile spooker.
So, halfway down the video you hear me squeak almost falling off as she spooks over a small darkish pine tree, silly girl.
I apologize for the video quality as the wind made a lot of noise and the camera man did some shaky footing.
Fame was actually a good girl and kept a nice controlled canter apart from the spooking. I believe she was a bit puzzled about what I was doing though.

We continued up, and did some more canter intervals at a higher speed, and this time I decided to be a bit more sensible and keep both hands on the reins and my concentration on the horse.
As usual I jumped off at the top, and walked beside her on the way down.
When I hack out I normally ride her bitless, either on a sidepull or as here on a hackamore.
I have exchanged the chin chain with a leather strap though, it is a softer solution which works fine.

Finally found a stone and was able to get on Fame again  so I did not have to splash through the creek by foot.
Found the glove as well.
It was frozen stiff, but I managed somehow to get it into the pocket of my jacket for the last part of the ride home.

Thanks for joining us!