Christmas Day ride

December has been a fickle month as far as weather-- from a powdery snow storm of several days to balmy foggy drizzles. Made for extra work plowing and sanding and also rendering it impossible to ride as often as we'd like. My daughter and I did manage to fit in a fun ride on Christmas Day. We decided to head toward town.. thinking- there would be no traffic on such a holiday. The sun was in and out.. but a great day for being in the saddle.

We started down the driveway - and trotted left toward the highway. We had predicted incorrectly-- lots of traffic, all cars full of wrapped gifts- I suppose enroute to their various family get togethers. Our mounts- the magnificent duo- Keri and Teasel trotted eagerly.. Keri was anticipating her sidewalks I think.. you know how she loves to trot down the sidewalk ! But, as you can see here- the town has not cleared the concrete pathways yet.. so we were stuck in the break down lane.

Past a cheery Santa ~

Closer to town, Keri was relieved-- a sidewalk !! She perks up her ears and happily trots.

Cross the bridge over the Black River, which runs through town all the way to the Connecticut River.

If we had thought to bring some money with us- we could have stopped for a morning shot of caffeine..

The Springfield Shopping Plaza was a ghost town, so we looped around to head home on Fairgrounds Road, a new route for us. We have never traveled that way home before on horseback.

Past the Riverside Middle School, a pretty church, following the Black River the entire way on our left.

Here's the Armory - home of the National Guard. Due to the unusual mix of wintry precipitation and warm temperatures today- the roads are flooded in spots. Reaching the end of Fairgrounds Road, we are nearing the backroads which will bring us back home.


The dirt roads are very icy- but both our horses are sporting their winter shoes with borium studs-- since we both love to ride in winter- and very often travel the back roads. The horses appreciate the extra stability and safety of the studs.

Just about home ~ I have said before , the first mile out on my road presents us with the most "obstacles"-- well this is the last mile today since we are coming in the backway-- but we still meet the varied seasonal potentially scarey "stuff".

Back in the fall- this was the site of the Ghoul which all our horses seemed to like so much-- This time a large holiday family greets us.

Another wonderful ride out !! Keri and Teasel returned to their respective pastures for a nice roll in the snow and we are looking forward to the next adventure.. probably not until New Year's Day.

Enjoy your day ~ and Happy Holidays from Top O' The Hill Farm.