January lanes
A cold, cold day for riding out yesterday. No ice on the puddles, and water still running down the lanes, but the north wind and the damp air making the day all windchill and ache. The fields empty save for flocks of fieldfares, and the hedgerows all twigs and melancholy. Last week's storms have left their mark - a shock to ride past the fields at S. and see a great mass of roots and the seven hundred year old oak lying on its side.
I was out on Mischief, the elderly schoolmistress, a narrow chestnut mare. She's one of the few horses in the stables who remains sound. A heavy frost followed by two weeks of solid rain has made the fields a treacherous combination of stickiness and slipperiness. T. was saying that they have nineteen horses being kept in, most with mud fever. The two horses I most often ride are both out of action: Welly is off work with cracked heels and Boots is off work with a minor sprain.
I was out on Mischief, the elderly schoolmistress, a narrow chestnut mare. She's one of the few horses in the stables who remains sound. A heavy frost followed by two weeks of solid rain has made the fields a treacherous combination of stickiness and slipperiness. T. was saying that they have nineteen horses being kept in, most with mud fever. The two horses I most often ride are both out of action: Welly is off work with cracked heels and Boots is off work with a minor sprain.