The Weather Report: Can’t Please Equestrians
Unless it’s 70 and dry… but not too dry…
Ask any equestrian what the perfect weather is, and they’ll tell you: 70 degrees, dry footing, light breeze. Easy, right? Except… it can’t be too dry (because then the arena turns into a dust bowl of doom and hooves start to get dry and brittle). It also can’t be too breezy (unless you like chasing flyaway saddle pads and leading dragon kites in from the pastures). And the moment Mother Nature shifts even half a degree in any direction, we’re back to complaining.
40 Degrees: The Arctic Horse Olympics
Anything under 45° and suddenly we’re layering more than a toddler headed to daycare. Horses are fuzzy, riders are frozen, and every trip to the barn becomes a question of, “Do I want to ride, or do I want to keep all my fingers?” Bonus points if your horse adds a little “freshness” to keep you warm.
90 Degrees: The Sweat Apocalypse
On the flip side, the moment the thermometer creeps above 85°, we regret all our life choices. Horses turn into sweat fountains, tack sticks in places it was never meant to, and every ride feels like a survival challenge on the Discovery Channel. Plus, there are flies. Ohhh, the flies…
Rain: Nature’s Way of Canceling Your Plans
We beg for moisture to keep the dust down — until it rains. Then the arena turns into soup, pastures resemble slip-n-slides, and we spend 45 minutes trying to get mud off our horse’s legs just so they can go back out and roll in it again.
Wind: The Great Spook Amplifier
“Oh, a nice breeze would be good,” said no horse owner who’s ever had their horse teleport sideways because of a leaf. A “light wind” for humans is a “horse-eating monster alert” for our four-legged friends.
Snow: Pretty for 0.5 Seconds
Sure, it looks like a postcard when the first flakes fall. And the photos are great. But then reality sets in: frozen buckets, icy driveways, and horses with snowballs big enough to win Olympic curling in their hooves.
The Unicorn Weather Window
And so we circle back: 70 degrees, sunny, dry but not too dry, breezy but not windy, moist enough for good footing but not muddy. Basically, the kind of day that exists for about four hours a year — usually when you’re stuck at work.
Horse people love to complain about the weather, but the truth is, it gives us stories, excuses, and plenty of barn humor. Still, we’ll keep chasing that mythical 70° day… and when it comes, you’d better believe we’ll ride until the sun goes down.
