We’re in Vermont, and my horses are home. We don’t have an arena, so it’s hacking around the pasture and riding up and down the (dirt) road when the footing is safe. We’re going on our 4th winter of having the horses home, and it seems like every one has been a little different because of the weather. As long as it’s mostly snow, hacks around the field are wonderful for keeping a horse fit, even if it’s mostly walking with a bit of trotting.
The last couple of winters though, we’ve had to contend with ice, and for me that’s a no-go. It’s been frustrating because we’ll have brief warmups above freezing, which are just warm enough to turn everything into a slushy mess that then refreezes into footing that’s super dangerous. Or we’ll have a beautiful layer of snow, and one afternoon of freezing rain that ruins what had been a great riding surface. My mare fell with me on ice covered by snow when we were hacking in the woods a few years ago, and now I’m super cautious about any footing where there could be ice under the snow. The last couple of years, we’ve taken a full break for most of February and March because the footing was just too inconsistent. I do know people who will plow a track for riding, but I think you need a way to also drag it regularly to keep some texture to it so it doesn’t just turn into a skating rink. I personally don’t because it just seems too slippery for me (and why I generally give up on riding on the road after the plows are going through regularly-it just turns to a layer of ice with some sand over the top for traction).
Denny Emerson told me once not to worry too much about taking a true winter break because “if they don’t go into the winter a marshmallow, they won’t come out of it that way either,” and I’ve found that to be pretty true. If your horse is reasonably fit now, keeping up a good routine of even just walking through deeper snow will probably keep him relatively fit and ready for the spring.
