The Perfect Canter...

The snow has all gone away now, well except for the few ugly lingering GA snowmen :-x (People in GA really don't know how to make snowmen) , but you know me the photo whore, have to always post a pic:-) Isn't he handsome in his blankey? Blue plaid, he wears his blankees like a champ too, never rips them or destroys them and can take one head on! (he lets me do up the front straps first and then put it over his head instead of doing the straps after I put it on) I pull the blankey on over his head and then first you see his lil' ears pop out then his cute lil' nose:-)
The horses really have been living in their blankets lately, it's been so cold. Yesterday was no different as it was WINDY and cold, I was lucky to get off work around 4pm so I guess I didn't realize or have enough time to comprehend how cold it really was and as the night went on the wind got worse. BUT not before I got the PERFECT CANTER. I lunged him in sidereins and he looked fairly relaxed and moving well enough so I did hop on for a few mins. We started out with some lateral and sideways work and he immediately went round and soft in my hands. Had a lovely trot going right, but since I was in my big heavy coat I felt like a blob and couldn't ask for much. Then we went left. Did some sideways stepping and round he went, so, so light and lovely, I asked for the trot but got a perfect walk to canter transition and just went with it:-) It was so niiiiice, he was up, balanced, collected and so controlled. It was the kind of canter that makes the world just seem perfect:-)
The vet was coming out to pull blood on Less and check over a few of the other horses so I really, really wanted the vet to see Less on the lunge line and just tell me what he thought soundness wise. Well remember the cold and wind? By the time the vet got there Less have stiffened up like a Popsicle and was no longer soft, loose and supple :-( I put him on the lunge and he was hitchy, stiff and lame :-p bleh, just my luck! My fingers had frozen up too and with my mittens on I was helpless and lost the lunge line, course Less thought he was still lunging and just stopped when I said ho. Good boy.
On a side note, Lester might be the new poster horse for the vet's new ad! He was the only clean horse in the barn so he used Less for his photo shoot- it was getting dark so I don't know how well the photos turned out though....