A Taxing Day

Well, Not Really

It was cold again today. To make it worse, it was windy.

My knees are really bothering me, I guess because of the weather. I fed the Boys, did a few little chores inside and then went to pick up my completed income tax returns. My refund was a pleasant surprise which allows me to breathe a sigh of relief for the coming summer when I do not have a paycheck coming in.

Then I hit the supermarket to pick up a few little things. The hamsteaks were on sale, so I opted to buy one for tomorrow's Easter dinner. Some salad fixings and a few other little things on sale and I managed to get out for less than I expected.

On the way home, I stopped at the lumberyard to price out fence rails--actually decking planks that will subsitute just fine as rails. Then I tumbled back into the house to warm up and eat some lunch.

Headed back out with the little trailer to get the lumber, which was, suprisingly, much less than it would have cost me at Home Depot--I think, and found the little trailer was absolutely perfect for carrying such things.

I am hoping the fence posts in my extra lumber pile are the right ones and not the split rail posts. If not I am going to have to make a longer trip to a fence place about 20 miles away to get some replacement posts. The fence around the ring is a mess where it adjoins the paddock. Apparently the Boys seem to think that those posts and rails are fair game for scratching posts, cribbing posts and just general mayhem. So far, I have three broken posts and have lost count of the missing rails.

Once back, I fed the Boys, did a bit more computering and then went back out to ride.

Since I had promised him all week, I took Chance out on a nice little hack through the woods. Despite the cold and the wind, he was his usual angelic self. He really is fun to ride out there. I can picture many happy hacks as the weather moderates. Perhaps too, he will be able to take me on some hunter paces and group rides.

Tucker proved why he is not my first choice for happy hacking, especially in the windy cold. I decided to be safe and school him in the ring. Good choice. About halfway through the school, I was working him on a long, stretchy rein and something startled Toby and Chance in the paddock. Before I knew what was happening, they took off in a mad gallop and Tucker bolted along with them.

Fun. There I was holding the reins at the buckle, bounding along in a mad gallop. Fortunately, it is fairly easy to stay on at that gait, but speaking of the gate, it and the fence were looming in front of us and I had no idea what option Tucker was going to take if I didn't stop him first. Would it be the abrupt 180 or a plowing stop or some kind of attempt to go over?

God was on my side and I somehow managed to collect enough rein to pull him down and around before I had to find out.

Whew. That added an element of excitement I hadn't quite planned. And convinced me I had been right in deciding not to take Tucker out on the trail.

We finished up with some canter/walk/canter transitions and that was that.

I decided enough was enough and gave Toby a carrot instead of riding him.