Accidents Happen

I didn't mean to ride today.

It was 9degF when I left for the barn and 10 is my unofficial cut-off.  I don't think it's necessarily "too cold to ride" at lower temperatures, but in my experience that's the point at which horse and rider muscles just never really warm up enough to make the effort worthwhile.  So I figured I'd check on Tucker and then go hike.

But I felt pretty comfortable when I got to the barn and Tuck was in fine spirits and I've had a horse-light week, and I just could not resist.

So this happened:

Love that frozen water.

When I talk about "the dirt road on the other side of the mountain," this is what I mean.

I assume this was a hunting shed at one point, although as far as I know it's been out of use for ages.  I keep threatening to move in.

Ye olde New England stone wall.

One nice thing about living in the land of rock-farming is, if you have to hop off to retrieve your helmet cover after it was rubbed off by a low-hanging branch, you can always find a way to get back on, even if you are riding atop your horse's blanket and you utterly lack a vertical leap:

Handy mounting rock.

Here is me:

The white sky isn't an exposure problem this time; we're waiting on some snow.

We passed the goats on the way back to the barn.  The goats are no dummies; they were not leaving their house.

Helping himself to the scraps.

How cold was it?  Whisker-freezing cold.

Like my super-classy replacement keeper?

I'm pleased to report that I was actually a little too warm while riding!  Even though we only walked for the whole hour we were out.  Gear is the best.  Horses, a close second, although I'm sure that sitting on a 1,000lb furnace didn't hurt.  Folks have been talking winter-riding gear lately, so here is what I had on today, from toes on up:

 - Smartwool socks
 - The North Face Chilkat boots
 - Cabela's silk long underwear bottoms
 - Kerrits Sit Tight N Warm kneepatch breeches
 - REI short-sleeved silk long underwear top
 - Smartwool mid-weight zip-neck top
 - Arc'teryx Mota jacket
 - Mountain Horse Tridurance mitten/glove
 - Homemade (though not by me) loose-knit scarf
 - Charles Owen skull cap, I forget which model

I also had a sweater that I opted to leave in the car.  These boots are a bit warmer than the Ariat Broussards that are my winter-riding-with-stirrups staple, but those have performed pretty well in similar condition with a silk liner sock and possibly a chemical heat pack added to the mix.

My thighs were slightly cold -- just enough that I noticed it but never approaching uncomfortable.  I suspect adding my rain pants over top would have solved that; full chaps also do a great job in this situation.  I do, as I said over on Liz's post, feel that proper winter breeches are a sufficiently significant improvement over regular-breeches-plus-base-layer to be worth the investment; I did it the other way for years and years and would never go back.

This coat hits just above my knees when I'm standing; had I planned to ride, I would have brought my other Arc'teryx jacket, which is a similar weight and design but cuts off at the hip.  I was really pleased to discover that while my Tipperary helmet fits a little too snugly to accommodate the hoods on these two jackets, my CO is very compatible -- so my last major winter-riding problem has been solved!  I suspect the CO may be a little warmer anyway on account of this not being a vented model.  My favorite thing about these coats is that they are designed for my linebacker shoulders and long monkey arms.  The sleeves on the shorter coat end in a nice tidy cuff, but the long coat's stay wide and mostly cover my hands, so between them and how warm the gear kept my core, I actually took the mittens off for most of the ride.

The downside of quality gear is that it is expensive to buy.  But I would echo Liz on this one: good stuff will last for years and years.  So if you're going to be out and about in all weather and you can swing it, I think it's absolutely worth the investment.  Mine all does double-duty -- it's my everyday wear as well as my sportswear -- but I suppose not everybody thinks crazy-striped Smartwool is the height of fashion, so mileage may vary on that.  You can also acquire really good stuff at a deep discount at the end of the season or via sales, not that helps anyone right now.  I am the world's laziest shoppr, but the Cabela's long johns are literally the only item on my list for which I paid full price.  (Even the skull cap was acquired through a send-us-the-helmet-you-fell-off-while-wearing-and-we'll-give-you-a-break-on-its-replacement discount program.)

Finished up with a nice hike with the dog:

And now home again to wait for the snooooooooooooooow!