The aftermath

I took some pictures this past weekend of the snow piled all over the place. This is definitely the most snow I've seen around here since I bought my house (this is my 5th winter here). Of course, I had to include the ponies.

While you can still view ground in places, in others the depth of snow is difficult to judge. For instance, in this next picture, the chain link fence paneling shown (behind the weeds) is 6 feet tall:

In front of the front steps is a huge drift, as you can see just above Zeplin's neck:

Here is Miss Caly, prettily posing again. See the tree stump in front of her that the horses have been gnawing on?

At the bottom of my small hill, the tree trunks shot up through thick layers of heavy snow. The fencepost in this picture is probably about 4.5 or 5 feet tall, as well as the gate panel that you can barely see (to the right of the trees).

Off the side of the road to the left of Quimby here, the snow seems level. However, in reality there is a steep drop off at least 9 feet down from the road to the farmer's field. The snow was so deep it appeared to just be a gentle slope down to the ground.

There is still ice under the snow in places:

In the other direction you might be able to make out the road the horses took on their adventure Thursday afternoon. They were in front of the house to the right when I found them (see it way back in the trees with a few outbuildings?).

Yesterday, I took Caly for a walk down the road. Jazzy and Zeplin tried to follow in the pasture below, but they soon became mired in snow too deep to traverse. They had to turn around and head back:

Caly still looked good saddled, in spite of wearing fuzzy winter woolies.

I chose not to ride Caly because of the ice build up under her hooves. After walking Caly, I saddled Zeplin and took him for a walk, then pulled down the tailgate of my truck and used it as a mounting block. Unfortunately, my camera crapped out, and I have no pictures from my ride or of Mr. Zeplin saddled. Damn camera! I still haven't gotten it working again, so who knows when I will be able to take more pictures :-(

Zeplin wanted to take off as soon as I was on his back. I straightened him out, and down the road we headed! Quimby paced in front of us, looking natural as a snow dog. Some ditches that I knew were extremely deep were filled with snow. I wore two pairs of pants, two shirts, coat, scarf, hat, two pairs of gloves, and three pairs of socks under my boots. I opted for something to keep my ears warm rather than my helmet (I almost always wear my helmet). I remained warm except for my poor toes. They lost sensation early on in the ride. By the time I returned, they were painfully chilled. I rushed to unsaddle Zep and give the horses treats, then I hurried into the house to remove my boots and socks. The process of bloodflow returning to my numb toes hurt like hell! My abused feet were brilliantly pink, like the cheeks of an embarassed child.

That was definitely my last ride of the year. I need new riding boots that are well insulated before I even think about riding in the cold again!!