Sunday morning and the wind chimes are not saying a word today... no wind-- since the temperature upon awakening was 18 degrees... I am thankful for that. Botanists say that trees need the powerful March winds to flex their trunks and main branches, so the sap is drawn up to nourish the budding leaves. Perhaps we need the gales of life much in the same way, though we dislike enduring them. I believe I have had enough of that old yankee fortitude building.. I am ready for the gentle breezes.

There is a Spanish story about the borrowing days - a shepherd promised March a lamb if he would temp the winds to suit his flocks. But after gaining his point, the shepherd refused to pay over the lamb. In revenge, March borrowed three days from April, in which fiercer winds than ever blew and punished the deceiver.

March borrow it from April
Three days, and they were ill,
The first was frost,
The second was snow,
The third was cold as ever't could blow.

Yesterday must have been that "third" day.. with winds as cold as ever't could blow. We did venture out for a quick ride on the snowmobile trails. In the woods, we were warm- on the roads.. my eyes were watering with the frigid wind and I truly thought the wind would blow me right off my horse! The wind was definitely the "rude and boisterous tyrant" to quote Thoreau.

Here we are heading up the nicely groomed and packed trail. We reach the top and the woods open up to offer a gorgeous view.. worth braving the cold !?

Time to head home... load the stove and warm up ! We have to cross the snowmobile bridge, which is a perfect opportunity to prepare for our April RAC contest...

Enjoy your last days of March ~

What is this strange phenomenon ? something we have not seen since our first snowfall~ grass !! Although it has been cold, the wind and strength of the sun is steadily melting the snow... and we are seeing- in addition to lots of manure piles-- spots of grass here and there. The snow melts from beneath and now the fence, which I raised several weeks ago, is too high. An encouraging sight. However, this was on Thursday. Friday we woke up to this- A heavy wet snowfall covering all the evidence of spring. The robins are back in full force though and this kind of wet snow will not last long--- wishfully thinking.....

We managed to get out on the roads for a few meandering rides during the week riding horses that are already under saddle increasing their saddle hours. Oyy Ivan is being worked in the indoor and he is now under saddle, loving every minute of it. He is still young so he is being worked slowly and lightly. He is so willing and I am incredibly impressed with his attitude and intelligence. He is out of Ptesan-Wi, who has given us some super foals over the years, and Homefire Curlies' WCC Benjamin. I have mentioned before how pleased I am with the offspring of Ben and this spring, 3 of the 6 foals he sired are under saddle (2 of them have been sold already).. all exhibiting the same intelligence, trainability, willingness and great movement. Ivan is so cute when he is being tacked up-- as you hold the bit in your hand to warm it up, he reaches for it, anxious to suck it into his mouth as if it was a kind of treat! Ivan has a nice forward big walk and a smooth fluid trot. Can't wait till he's older and ready to do more!

OYY Elektra is also being worked these past weeks in long lines. She is coming along excellently. She is being worked in the indoor as well as ground driven down the driveway and road. Her sire - OYY The Mighty Quinn - is an very athletic fun mount and I am sure Elektra is going to be too. She's a tall girl, at almost 3 years old she is 15.2 hands and lots of growing left to do.

This past Sunday, my daughter and I went for a shorter ride than usual. We had visitors coming to the farm in the afternoon, so we changed the itinerary. The sun was out again and the scenery inspiring.. a super ride out.

Due to the sun shining, on this ride-- our shadows accompanied us the entire way :)

One of my favorite routes to trot down. This road used to be a dirt road with almost no houses and no electricity. Lots of trails off to the right and left. I love the way the trees cast their images across the road.

Here is the opening of one trail we love -

If you look closely, you might be able to see the blue saplines criss-crossing which adds an interesting obstacle for our horses and us... ducking under each one as we go along. Today-- too much snow still so we stick to the roads.

And--- if the need arises -- how handy to find this along the ride !!

Enjoy your day ~

The Moonset this morning .

The full moon in March is the first full moon of Spring. It is also called the "worm moon" as the warmer days of spring bring thawing of the ground and the birds begin their activity of searching for worms. I am not sure if that is the case here in our area... too much snow still. If I was a worm, I would not want to come out yet. Night time temperatures are still hovering around 10-15 degrees. This first full moon after the vernal equinox is what determines the date of Easter. Seems to be an early Easter this year--- Easter egg hunts in the snow !!

March did not come in like a lion this year-- but it is leaving us with brutal winds and cold. They do say "as the days begin to lengthen, the cold begins to strengthen". Yesterday, we did manage a wonderful sunny ride--- seems lately I have been memorializing our rides with overcast days. I took lots of photo's this time because there was all sun and clear blue skies. Outfitted in many layers-- we headed out as usual-- toward the hole in the wall, past the Apple Tree Farm with a view of Mount Ascutney and down to the four corners.. up a very muddy Trebo Road which in my lifetime was not a through road with only 4 or so houses on it. It can still be a challenge in mud season.

Pretty icicles along the way.








The horses were just as excited as we were to go out on their weekend scenic tour. We trotted side by side for a few miles. Past the house built by Pearl S. Buck, Pulitzer prize winner for her book-- The Good Earth.

The present owner breeds Morgans here.













When we got to the end of Trebo Road, we turned onto Route 103 which is the main highway headed toward the ski areas. We had lots of traffic slow down to take our photo's.

This round brick silo has some history and is very unique.

Lots of sights along the highway - This BIG house is called the Wright Farm. I always thought it was probably an old Inn because of the shape and size-- however, it's funny the discoveries you can make when on horseback instead of driving a car. You see more-- it's apparently the first court house and was built in 1766.

We are just entering what is called the "Stone Village" of Chester, Vermont. It was fun trotting down the sidewalk.

The Stone Village is a cluster of 30 dwellings which line either side of the street all erected by 2 brothers from 1834- 1850's all built from local granite. The quarry is located up on Trebo Road. We actually got off the road and looked in the woods for it, but never found it-- maybe we'll go back in the summer.

This is one building which is not constructed of granite-- another old Inn-- which has a floating ballroom upstairs ! It's empty and for sale for anyone wanting a hefty fixer-upper project ! Look at the beautiful front door.

Here's the old North Street School,

still with the bell on top. Don't you love the granite posts along the roadside ? Some of them still have the hitchrings on them for people to tie their horses when they came to town.

Photo of the stone church and another very pretty house along the way.

After passing through the Stone Village, we head past the Gristmill which is now home to a Wellness Center. The stonework here on the bank of the Williams River is gorgeous.

Cross over again onto the sidewalk and head into what is called Chester Depot.

It's called the depot-- because guess what ?? That's where the train station is-- I made Zoe pose by the station... even though she didn't want to--- we Vermonters are sensitive about looking like tourists.

The brown building in the back is where I buy my grain and other supplies. It has been in the Erskine family a long time. They have pretty much anything you could want or need and service with a smile :)

We turned back for home, just missing the train by seconds.

Another super ride... and so much fun to ride with sunshine-- the cold did not matter. We got some great trotting in and a couple of canters for a mile or more here and there. Of course, during the ride we spent some time discussing our next journey...can't wait !

~Enjoy your day and Happy Easter ~

We all know that April showers bring on the May flowers. What do March showers bring on for us ? Slush, ice, bad tempers and missed days of riding. The rain does melt snow efficiently, but so does sun and a light breeze—much preferable. Despite the disappointing weather, I do know spring can’t be too far off when my ancient cat starts darting around the house and riffling up the throw rugs.

A few months ago I purchased a nifty gadget called a fault finder. It’s for finding “leaks” in the fenceline. Electric fence is like a water line.. and every connection and little location of a short is a leak. If you have too many, obviously at the end of the line, your water pressure is going to be low—same with the electric fence. Even the tight properly done connections will leak some voltage. Bad insulators and anything touching the fence will cause a leak. This handy dandy device can find all the leaks. In the process of fooling around with it, I have come to learn the eccentricities of my fence. Even handier, is when I come to a corner or junction from where perhaps 3 or more different fencelines veer, I can immediately determine if I need to walk any of them. If a stretch of fence is healthy, by the visual digital read out, I know—I don’t even have to bother walking up that stretch… it’s working perfectly. Pretty neat ! The last few weeks I have been playing around with it a lot.

Building fence has always been one of my favorite projects. So I read about new technology in the field of tensile fence and I find I have to buy the product and build another fence in order to give it a try. I have a friend whose business is – erecting fence for customers. She is always up on what’s new. We can passionately chat about fence the way some people get together and talk horses. I know--- it’s kinda crazy.

I have all high tension fence, although many believe it to be too risky to use with horses—I have never had an injury due to the tensile fence. The snowbanks that build up heavily over winter cannot seem to destroy it. Huge trees downed by storms (or a misguided chain saw operator) don’t phase the fence either. Cut the tree in half and the fence springs back into place. Building the corners is the most tedious part – if you can use a big tree—that saves time and energy. Once you have your corners established—the fence goes up quickly and nearly effortlessly. And now, they have such wonderful gadgets and tools to make your fence building life so easy…. Well not everyone finds fence as exciting as I do !!!

OYY Hendrix has begun some additional leading lessons up in the indoor. Mom “Reverie” (registered name Zoe’s Day Dream) is tied at the hitchrail along the wall while Hendrix performs his little drill. I made a short video of him during the last session—which of course since I was documenting it on film… he was not as well behaved as usual. His aunt- OYY Dream A Little Dream – seems to think Hendrix belongs to her, so naturally when she spotted him—she began to relentlessly call, run and buck. Very distracting.. she was making enough loud fuss so it seemed as though 40 horses were stampeding out and around the indoor. Hendrix acquired his name because the morning he was born, it was raining hard… and the Jimi Hendrix song- Rainy Day, Dream Away- ran through my mind. Now that he and his Mom are in with the other foals (Iko and Jockomo) all 3 of them run and play like crazy. Their round bale is at the top of the hill, the shed is at the bottom. There is one narrow path trod down in the snow, so they have to travel single file… if the leader stops—they all pile up like a traffic jam. Comical. Here is the link to his short video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q2Fe4AK4NA

Enjoy your day ~

This year, my daughter and I have been using our Sundays as strictly PLEASURE.. planning for long rides with enjoyment as our main goal. No lessons, no training-- just a good long scenic ride. As all of you know-- we have been formulating these rides during the week.. putting together our road trips- driving them in the car to make sure they are the length we are seeking. Sometimes we'll come up with a plan and discover-- it's only 4 or 5 miles... while that might do for a weekday ride-- that's just not enough Sunday pleasure for us!! This past Sunday, we rode a route we had not done in years-- and part of it we have never ridden on horseback, although we have driven it a few times when we took Teena and cart to the local store and back for fun. This Sunday was not the beautiful sunny day it had been forecast to be-- overcast and the sky spitting some hail and rain every now and again.

Lilly and Keri were the mounts for this trip. It started as most of our rides do.. turning right out the driveway toward Chester- toward that old "hole in the wall". Along the way, we pass the beaver pond- I don't think there are any beavers in it anymore, but traditionally-- there are many potential "obstacles" like great blue heron flying up suddenly. Quiet in the winter though. I mentioned Uncle Reino's water garden which is further up the road-- this beaver pond was hayed as well by Grandfather Erland Raitanen. Years ago obviously it was not under water. Interesting how the land changes. My neighbor has stone wall boundaries that are well under water now here in this pond/swamp.

When we arrived at the hole in the wall, we took a left, past Tuff's tree-- and headed out toward Crow hill. The dirt road changes

over to tar - and normally this road is used as a short cut of sorts to travel between Chester and Springfield. Not many people out this morning. I think that is Flamstead Mountain in the distance. On the left are pastures of Crow Hill Farm.. beautiful farm set on the hill with wonderful views-- but today is not the best for Vermont post card type scenic vistas. We pass the barn of Crow Hill Farm.

And continue past more Crow Hill Farm pastures. Gorgeous in the summer.

Head down the hill, to cross the wooden bridge that heads into Chester. We did not actually go into town today.. but wanted to cross the bridge anyway.. quick backtrack to head out Green Mountain Turnpike. I don't know why it's called a turnpike-- it's a short washboardy dirt road that's always tough and dusty to drive in the car. Cornfields and pasture on either side pretty much the whole way. Uh-oh... road closed sign... no problem if you're on horseback.

Looking across at Chester Town Hall.

At the end, we turn left onto Route 11 to head home.

Right here, it appears there is no traffic.

There was actually quite a bit and we quickly tired of the swish of cars speeding by, so after a few miles, we took advantage of a short detour which comes back out onto the highway up the way. A quick reprieve-

Ahhh.. this is nicer- a lot more peaceful--

3 miles of highway is enough for me!

There are a few of these little roads along Route 11, that veer off the highway and then come back into it. They used to be part of the "highway" until the need for progress and a straighter, faster road. We still had to travel another mile or so of highway-- then back onto my road and home. All in all, it was a great ride-- the girls were tired- we were satisfied :) But along the way we were planning the next voyage.. better and longer.

Enjoy your day ~