End – and begin – as you mean to go on

Sorry for the month-long silence, if anyone missed us. After a great goal-reaching November, December was less fulfilling. Not bad, mind you; just more difficult to stay on track because of weather and commitments and company.

The first two weeks of December were clear and beautiful by day and cold by night. The ground got progressively harder until it was frozen solid, affecting how much we could safely do. When it finally warmed up it rained (a lot), I was busy hauling Brian to basketball practices and games, and then my folks arrived for a week. Except for that last week, I did manage to maintain our minimum standard of no more than two days off, but I don't think Lance once broke a sweat, so he ended December like so many do – FAT. ;-)

It was from lack of work, though, not from Christmas cookies . . . or these. Early in December at our Oregon Dressage Society chapter Christmas party, I got a bag of German horse muffins. Lance is a BIG fan; I think I could train him to do ANYthing with enough time and those treats! Here he is mugging for them:

At least I can get good "carrot stretches" using them – ha!

"Is this where the horse muffins are kept???"

Back to my title. Yesterday we were finally able to saddle up and head down the local lanes on a beautiful, sunny day,

and this evening we schooled for a bit in the arena while the supermoon rose, thereby both ending one year and beginning the next as we mean to go on. Hurray!