Riding in the new year

I have long mandated to myself that each new year start out on the back of my horse, even if it's only a bareback walk up and down the driveway. This year didn't begin that way, but I'm finding that I'm okay with that. I got to ride on Friday (when I zoomed in on Mt. Hood, above) and am going out again this afternoon, have clinics and maybe even a few small shows to look forward to this year, so I didn't have to be horseback on January 1 to symbolize anything to myself.

The clear(ish), cold, dry weather we currently experiencing is limiting Russell and I to walking on the relatively even gravel road; everywhere else is frozen into a broken-concrete-like state. But while walking we work on shoulder-in, renvers, travers, leg yield and half-pass to supply and gymnasticize, so I feel we are still progressing. And it feels good. :-)