Riding During Winter

[c.harrison1]

It's getting chilly up here in the NE :( For those of us not going south this year, how do you manage to find time to ride when the days get really short? Obviously if you don't have to work the answer is easy enough, but for the rest of us that do work how do you manage it?

[alteringwego]

I get off work at 3:30 so I just leave work then regardless of whether I'm finished or not, get my ride in and then come back to work.
One of the girls at my old barn didn't get home till 6 in the winter because of sports practice. We don't have an indoor so finally her father put in lights around the arena so that she didn't waste an entire season of riding.

[ExJumper]

I ride after work, so I'm on between 5 and 8 pm usually. Barn closes at 10 so I'm out by then.

In the chilly north I just don't think it can be done in the winter without an indoor arena. Lights in an outdoor will help, of course, but between frozen ground, snow and ice, and gale-force winds, I just don't see much riding (training/jumping/show prep kind of riding) getting done without an indoor.

I'm in Wisconsin, so it gets COLD and the days are about a minute long. No one even tries to ride outside except trail rides on mild days, or little jaunts through fresh snow.

Even WITH an indoor it's often too cold to ride...

[findeight]

Don't see how you can in most of New England without an indoor, especially if you jump and/or show seriously.

I am sorry but, alteringwego, you can just leave work at 3:30 whether you are done or not? Shift work then?

Many of us have jobs where we could also do that but we'd have to keep going and not be welcomed back.

[Ozone]

I would pass out without an indoor :) Actually, last night when I went to ride (5:00PM) it was 30 out then so I rode inside instead of out! Tonight, I will ride out side regardless because the little kids take their lessons tonight - they usually stay inside for cold reasons! Bundle up!

I ride between 5:30PM and 7:30Pm usually.

[alteringwego]

Sorry- should have mentioned that I'm a school teacher so the kids are finished at 3:00 so leaving by 3:30 won't get me fired. My required workday is from 7:45-3:15. One of the reasons I chose this profession was for how it fit with my riding schedule.

[Dramapony_misty]

Keeping my horses at home (with only an outdoor and no lights), working full time, and a 1 hour commute each way...I'm pretty much SOL starting about now. :(

Weekend rides when I can. I can't afford to board the pony, but I'm looking at taking lessons at a nearby barn. I figure it will do me good to worry mostly about training myself and staying in shape so I'm good to go in the spring.

[c.harrison1]

OK this is making me feel better :) I always feel like I am running around like crazy tring to get the horsies ridden! I hate winter! So for those in the NE that have indoors, do you just end up riding inside all the time once the days get really short?

[touchstone-]

Sadly, yes. At a certain point of the year, I just give up and start riding indoors.

But I'll also check in as an early morning rider to remind you that you may have an easier time squeezing in some daylight a.m. rides than you will riding at night. Especially now that daylight savings time is about to end (I'm counting the days!).

Of course, the major downside of early morning rides is it gets *cold* in the winter riding before the sun comes up.

[Lucassb]

OK this is making me feel better :) I always feel like I am running around like crazy tring to get the horsies ridden! I hate winter! So for those in the NE that have indoors, do you just end up riding inside all the time once the days get really short?

I hate winter, too. I find it is super-difficult to get motivated to go ride after work when it's already dark (and cold!) before I walk out of the office... even though I *know* that once I get there, I'll (usually) be happy I made the trek.

During the week, I am mostly confined to riding in the indoor. Last year, it really helped that I arrived at the same time as another adult who had the same issues with motivation in the cold/dark months. We were company for each other and it really helped having a buddy say, OK, we can do this... let's get tacked up and we'll just let them stretch their legs for a few minutes." A few minutes would turn into a half hour or more because once we were ON it wasn't so bad - and we'd help each other work on whatever we wanted to focus on.

This year I am at a different barn and I suspect I will be the only one riding at night. It's an hour plus drive to the new farm from my office and I am concerned about how it is going to go, but the training is so awesome I am going to give it a try anyway.

[SOTB]

I ride between 7 and 8PM in the heated indoor, but it's still depressing! I'm in northern Illinois so it's been dark when I get there for weeks.....