In which winter does have a use: it's a good time for riding lessons

The calendar supposedly calls this "autumn," but here in the Swamp

we are in the middle stages of the Winter Rain Festival.

With cold rain pouring down, it's time to move some of our play under a roof.

And still, we smile

We all have different issues to tackle this season, and it's a little easier to tackle them with moral support from the Usual Suspects.

Margie is a greenish rider on Magic, a talented endurance horse.

Tightening up those wonky steering cables

Margie and Magic just finished their first season of distance riding.  Now, it's time to return to the arena and fill in the training holes that got skipped over in the rush down the trail.

Patty and Flower have been out of lessons for more than a year.  Patty's knees have given her pain for a while, so she's been spending a bunch of time with our favorite physical therapists, plus she's still coping with the aftermath of that poorly-executed flying-without-wings incident.

"Shoulder back, butt forward!"

And then there's me.

Crooked!

 My muscles and connective tissue on the "surgery side" are still weak and crunchy from the abuse they sustained during surgery and recovery.

REALLY crooked!

Getting back on the horse and back on the trails so fast after surgery certainly made me happy; it didn't necessarily make me symmetrical.

"Geez, lady, you're so crooked you make ME crooked!"

Muscles and tendons on the "bone side" of my body are uninjured, but the natural joint is weak and uncooperative.

Finally: rider is more straight, allowing the horse
to bend a little better.

 It's gonna be a long winter.

Bend! Bend! BEND!  Sigh.

 Fortunately, I still have that stolen trailer to get me out to my lessons and the trails.

Photoshopped.  But, cool idea, right?

Happy Winter, all y'all.