Mississippi winters are no fun. My northern friends will probably roll their eyes and curse me for what I'm about to say, but I'd almost rather be in New England. I know it is brutally cold and there is snow, but at least the ground freezes and most places have indoors. Down here it's just soggy so we're just SOL.
The rain starts in November and doesn't end until sometime in May. The ground gets saturated. Worse yet, the soil is mostly clay so you don't just get muddy, you get caked in clay. It's like you and your horses are wearing concrete boots. It's no joke; neither Elliot nor I find it amusing. He gets cranky and tired of slipping and sliding. I get tired of pushing a wheelbarrow through six inches of mud.
There isn't really a good place to gallop or jump so conditioning is tricky. We do a lot of trotting down the road, which keeps the horses relatively fit, but is a little like playing Russian roulette. We go over a couple bridges and often drivers don't slow down much. Even the school bus tries to engage us in a good game of chicken. I forfeit every time.
I cannot wait to go to Ocala. We are counting down the days! Just under two weeks.
The rain starts in November and doesn't end until sometime in May. The ground gets saturated. Worse yet, the soil is mostly clay so you don't just get muddy, you get caked in clay. It's like you and your horses are wearing concrete boots. It's no joke; neither Elliot nor I find it amusing. He gets cranky and tired of slipping and sliding. I get tired of pushing a wheelbarrow through six inches of mud.
There isn't really a good place to gallop or jump so conditioning is tricky. We do a lot of trotting down the road, which keeps the horses relatively fit, but is a little like playing Russian roulette. We go over a couple bridges and often drivers don't slow down much. Even the school bus tries to engage us in a good game of chicken. I forfeit every time.
I cannot wait to go to Ocala. We are counting down the days! Just under two weeks.
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