Cold.

I was mightily relieved this morning when I saw that the road was dry and knew that I wouldn't have to worry about ice. Driving to the stables the fields were frosty after the first mile and there was a lot of frost and a little ice at the stables. I made sure to drive slower and more carefully.

No ice or frost here first thing but it was cold as I sat outside with my coffee. This time I followed the progress of the blue lights of an emergency vehicle that was making its way from Tywyn towards Mach.

Having arrived safely at the stables I saw that I was riding Margaret again. I had wondered if it might be Cadno for a change but he was allocated to a less experienced rider (Cadno is a real gentleman) but then his rider never turned up. Usually I ride in a short sleeved top as I warm up quickly however today I wore a long sleeved top on top of the short sleeved one as it was pretty cold. I wear cotton gloves when I'm riding but I can't do the buckles on a bridle with them on. That was a hard job today as not only did the leather feel extra stiff but the ends of my fingers were burning with cold. I always warm up the bit in my hand first too as it can't be nice to have a cold piece of metal shoved in your mouth. It all got done in the end and I warmed my fingers up by sliding them under the saddle before taking Margaret out of the stable. The lesson went well. It was leg yielding again but it is important to be able to use our legs to either encourage bend or to ask the horse to move sideways and I guess we haven't quite got that skill yet. The horse mad child in me would love to charge round popping over little jumps.

After riding I went to Morrison's. I'm sure they've done some slight rearranging of the fresh produce section. I couldn't quite pinpoint it but it felt very disconcerting. We still have plenty of food in the cupboards so I only needed a few things. I called in at Charlie's and might have bought a few more Christmas decorations at 50% off. By the time I came out it was raining lightly and had got even colder so I went to Lidl but didn't bother walking into town.

At home I unpacked the shopping, threw my riding stuff in the washing machine, had a break and then did my Pilates and piano practice. 4 days in a row now.