The Five Fs of February

Or, My Anti-Ode to Winter.

Oh February, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways…

Frigid

Naturally, number one. Unless you live down south where 60-70 degrees are just your normal, the rest of us have finally hit that breaking point where a decrease in riding time and an increase in cold, heating bills and layers of clothes have finally resulted in an altered state of being. Which brings us to…

Flickr: Tony Austin/CC

Freakout

Will that brand-new turnout blanket survive the week? Will the staff be able to make it to the barn safely–and not find that your horse has wiped out on the ice? And how can I be sure that the heated water buckets aren’t going to explode and burn the barn down? In winter, everything is more complicated, and it can make you go a little crazy.

February clothing of choice
Flickr: Tom Simpson/CC

Fat

Unless you work at a barn (or you happen to be a lot more motivated at the gym than I am), horrible weather makes getting out and exercising a lot less appealing. Yes, I could just bundle up and grit my teeth…or I could drink coffee and eat cookies while reading my favorite horse blogs. No brainer.

Florida (and Aiken, but that doesn’t start with an F)

Not everyone winters in Wellington. Not everyone winters in Wellington. Repeat this mantra to yourself when you log into your social media accounts and you see a long stream of photos that do not include snow or Carhartts in them.

At least even Denny Emerson has to deal with the elements:

Fatigue

For winter weenies like myself in Maryland, February is the one month where the weather just truly sucks. For everyone else in more northerly climates, it starts to seem like the temperature will never rise above zero again, and that memories of daylight after 5 pm were just a dream. Stay strong, Horse Nation!  And F you, February.