Home Sweet Home

I'm now back in Alberta after 2 weeks in Ohio. It was a pretty intensive trip work-wise, but I did get some fun pony time which I have posts in progress about.

For the two weeks I was gone, there was some very nice weather for January both in Ohio and back home (which meant temps varied from -17C to +14C). However, once I get back here, this happens:

The last official numbers I saw were 22cm (9") of snow, but certainly more in some places
This is a photo I took at the barn, all of that fell since Saturday. 

-27C = -17F for you Americans.
That "Extreme Cold Warning" at the top...
 means windchills will get below -40 before the day is done

I went out to the barn yesterday to see Kachina. She looked good after her two weeks off. I brought her into the indoor arena and opted to just do a ground work and grooming session. Partly to see if Kachina had any crazy to let out, partly because I had accidentally left my helmet at home. It ended up being a really good day. Kachina was pretty relaxed in the indoor. I had her loose at liberty for a while and she wandered around calmly, rolled a few times (which she usually doesn't feel comfortable enough to do unless she has a buddy), and followed me around. 

We did some work on getting her to move away from me on cue. It used to be that she would move her hips easily but was more resistant about moving her shoulders. I've spent a lot of time working on shoulder yielding and that has improved hugely, but apparently it was at the expense of her hips moving. I would ask her to push her hind end away and she would walk forward or backwards instead. I stayed with her and kept asking and she started to figure it out. 

I also had to attack the ice balls in her feet. It's a constant work in progress to get Kachina to be polite with her feet. Sometimes she's great, but she's not consistent. Yesterday, when I was picking a back foot, a cat caused a loud crash directly behind Kachina. Kachina did a full body flinch/spook, but she didn't even try to take her foot out of my hand. I was so proud of her! She got big pets and treats for that! 

I'm hoping to get back in the saddle today after work, but the bitter cold will make it a short ride. I'm hoping to get in a few rides this week though because I have lessons to prepare for! Lessons plural! Full story to come.