Lungeing

[nemo_]

Sorry! another snow question: After not riding for two weeks, i have decided to brave it. The problem being that we don't have an arena (indoor or out) so will have to ride in the snow, however my pony can get quite fizzy if not ridden for that time and seeing as our hacking is open fields i don't want to go out straight away. I have a field i can lunge him in, just for 5 minutes to get the bucks out of him, is this a really bad idea? I can clear some of snow in the field ... might be a stupid question?

 

[JenHunt]

is the ground underneath soft or icy?
is the snow wet and easy to make snowballs from?
is it more than 3 or4 inches deep?

if the answer is yes to any of them then its not sensible. if the gound is hard but not icy and the snow hasn't compacted then he won't slip. If the snow is dry powdery then it won't ball up. if it's not too deep then it won't be too tough on his legs.

put boots on him (inc knee boots as an extra precaution if you have them) and take it easy - a long walk is better than nothing! have fun!

ETA - I rode out in this at the weekend....

 

[nemo_]

OK Thanks! Ground isn't icy and snow is powdery so from what you have said it sounds ok

wont be for very long and so we can go on a nice (sensible!) long walk