Week Nine: Staying Ready

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This wasn’t a polite snow. This was snow with weight. Wind that cuts through layers. Ice that laughs at heaters. And temperatures dipping well below anything reasonable for the next week to layer on an experience I’ve never encountered while 36 horses are under my care.

Before it hit, we went into preparation mode. Hay huts filled with weeks’ worth of hay. Water troughs filled, heaters checked and rechecked. Extra buckets staged. Tractors ready. Shovels by every door. And as buckets thawed, frozen, thawed again snaps needed CPR to keep functioning.

Inside, I did the same thing. Gym set. Elliptical, balance mats, weights laid out. Though after hours of hauling hay, breaking ice, fighting frozen hoses, and battling windchill, I’m fairly certain I already used up the week’s energy supply.

Managing these things doesn’t make us tougher.

It doesn’t make us more resilient. It simply keeps us ready for the season’s ahead. 

What next? 

The other part no one romanticizes;

The footing is unreliable. Water won’t stay thawed—inside or out. If you jog your horse, they feel fresh. If you don’t, they feel stiff and cold.

Soap freezes into a cloudy white film halfway through cleaning tack. And frozen manure humbles everyone equally.

As my personal reminder to everyone just keep in mind cold reduces muscle elasticity and joint range of motion. Asking for spring-level work in these conditions increases injury risk—for horses and riders. So the goal shifts.

Not from excellence to less.

But from performance to preservation.

There so much to be done at the walk. Frequent transitions. Lateral work at the walk. Interval-style warm-ups that let bodies and nervous systems come online without tipping into tension (check out our Winter Riders Boot Camp Daily Missions if you need inspiration). When footing isn’t safe, mental work replaces physical load. A thinking horse stays warmer and calmer than a tense one, if your familiar with working equitation or working ranch style horses they have tons of online walk and walk trot patterns (courses) you can look up and set. You can even do them in hand with your horse! Again, if you need any inspiration here I’ve got you covered. Just shoot me an email!

And remember some days, the right answer is not riding at all.

Staying Ready

Winter storms have a way of clarifying things.

Snow, ice, wind, and negative temperatures strip the work down to basics. Feed. Water. Shelter. Safety. Care.

Preparation doesn’t harden us—it steadies us. It keeps us from scrambling when setbacks show up. Horses feel that steadiness immediately.

And readiness brings gratitude with it.

When you’ve chipped ice before daylight, hauled hay in bitter wind, or stood watching horses eat contentedly while the storm rages, you smile in  the privilege of this life. If you aren’t the care taker of your horse just know that I feel the trust my boarders hand over to me,  their belief in me, and it carries me. Because there are days they cannot be out in this weather, and they have to believe. So if you aren’t not caring for your horse, just know that others out there who have chosen this life probably feel like me too. What a gift to have something you love to do, even if it’s hard. Weather seems to be our constant reflection - always changing and never the same. 

Weather is not a punishment—but a reminder that setbacks will come in any season, and we can be grateful it’s weather and not an injury. Plans will detour. Progress will pause. These moments aren’t failures—they’re small tests that invite us to study, learn, recover, and recalibrate no matter the season. To refresh the body. To reassess how we get to our goals. To stay connected to the work even when it looks different.

A Winter Anchor: Gold by Nick Skelton

When riding feels limited, I return to Gold by Nick Skelton.

It’s an honest book of a career that wasn’t built on ideal conditions. It was built on patience, setbacks, and the long view. On loving the work enough to stay when it was uncomfortable. A reminder that meaningful careers—and meaningful partnerships—are forged in persistence, adaptability, and deep respect for the horse.

If all you do today is keep your horses warm, fed, safe, and settled—you did important work. We will ride again. For now, this counts.

There’s joy in that—not because it’s ideal, but because it’s real.

“ Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all.” -Ernest Shackleton

Xx - P

#minfulnesshorsemanshipjourney #seethebeautyaroundyou #gratitudeforthejourney

Bonus: 

Podcast: History’s Secret Hero’s: The Skiing Comandos

YouTube: Arctic Accent with Alex Honnold 

Reading/Audible: Open Andre Agassi

Don't forget, I'm just an email away, let me know what inspires you too!