Ok, we had an icy/snowy winter. Awfully wet Spring and Mid-Summer. Now the heat and humidity (high dewpoints) has settled in. The horses are sweating just standing still in the pasture.

SO I really haven't gotten to ride much this year. Basically once a week for my Dressage lesson and a few one day weekend rides. I am yearning for a nice wooded ride without some sort of whacky weather. I usaully get to ride every weekend and a few days out of the week. But it has been muddy since January and some of the trails here have even closed due to erosion.

If fall doesn't pan out I may need therapy to get me through the winter!

Has anyone else had icky weather? I just drool over other posters mountain views and desert pics.

It hit 99 here today and is supposed to be 100 tomorrow and Sunday. Humidity is down to 10-15% . It was a wet spring and has been a hot summer. 

So it's hot out in the sun. We just ride in the evening or in the shade this time of year. My daughter and I took the two mares out for an hour last night around 7:00pm.  It was tolerable.

Luckily I can go from 4400 foot elevation to 7000 in 30 minutes and easily be at several trail heads at 8000+ in 1 to 2 hours drive. If I have all day to go for a trail ride. The difference in elevation is easily worth 20* difference.  So 100* becomes 80*

And most of those elevations still have snow. Last weekend  July 25th

It is hot as hell here in SW Mo... but we have been riding some in the VERY early AM...It has been ok if you don't mind taking frozen (not for long) water and wearing those coolie things around your neck or head... I can't wait for fall and good riding weather since we've missed out on so much this spring & summer.

Don't trade the LQ on a pool now, you only have a month or so to use it!

Happy Trails (in your minds...ha)

Central illinois weather sucks....but that's nothing new.  The humidity is so bad nothing dries. The trails are soggy and full of mosquitoes.  I just said to heck with it and I've been riding....and sweating or drowning, or baking, or getting chewed up by bugs.  But yes, I will agree that the weather has been very rotten this year.  It was 95% humidity here....then it started spitting rain, then the sun came out.  Talk about a sauna!

Amanda

Painted Horse, do you take borders?? Hee Hee. I'm ready to leave Kansas behind for a few months; I just need to win the Lottery first!

Sounds nice to have low humidity and such gorgeous mountains. We have almost 80 percent dewpoints here this morning which make the humidity rediculous.

The bugs are eating everything up - leafhoppers for the garden and mosquitos, all types of bloodsucking flies and ticks on the livestock and me. I keep telling myself only a few more weeks until September when the weather usaully turns nice.

My farrier told me a cute story last week. He said the horses buck and leap in the fall because they are celebrating the riddance of flies and ticks. It made me smile.

It is 7:30 at night and my temperature guage reads 97.7.  That's in the shade!  We got some rain the other day and we did the "dance of joy" for it, since it was the first in several weeks. 

I have friends in England, Scotland, Ireland, where it rains a LOT-they just ride in it and through it.  I went to a horse trial in Scotland where it rained the whole weekend.  Not a single person cancelled because of weather-they are just used to it!

Eventers don't cancel their rides either.  And many dressage shows are in covered arenas although the warmups are uncovered. 

Just a weather report from the high desert north of Los Angeles.....

10:50 in the morning, altitude approx 3000 ft, 94.0 degrees and 12 percent humidity.  Taking my mare out to do some trail work, and was soaked in sweat by the time I got her saddled and bridled.  BUT... the sweat dried, we mounted up, and all was good! ( I would like to see some green trees once in a while though! We are riding the Angeles forest next week up to Bandido Campground, and I hope I can haul enough water!)

Steve

riding weather has been good here- then the fires ruined it! the smoke has been soo bad that you don't dare go out and exercise yourself or your horse. Finally has cleared up here though. Then these last couple of days have been too hot to ride.

It was 101 with index of 112 here all weekend.  First weekend we did not ride at all. Usually OK early and late but its just too dang hot right now.

The heat has released some sticky sap from weeds or trees in the pasture and all the horses are covered in salt sweat and sap...........yuk.

Gave my youngest a bath late yesterday so he could go back out an roll in it.

painted horse.. your pic looks like my goal of where I want to live before I die..

Right now I'm working for my retirement in some place like that.. I just hope I'm not too old to enjoy it when/if I get there!.... Any one got land for sale in a mountainous state? 

Ya, good ol summertime!  I keep telling my son to cherish these days, they'll get us through winter

We've had our share of storms, but until this past week, the heat hasn't been much.  I can take 90, just keep that humidity down!  We've ridden alot, but only camped a couple times.  This past weekend, we went to our favorite park (within weekend driving) and there were only 2 rigs there!  That place is usually packed, but the heat forecast scared them away (I guess).  It was super nice out, had a great 4 hour ride.  (Jubilee/Jim Spurgeon/Peoria IL)

Hmm, now the forecast says lower than normal temps/fall like!  YEAH, we leave for LaCrosse WI this weekend.  Hope the weather guy is right!

Yeah, I think we've had a mild summer in Southern Illinois.  I can definitely handle riding when it's high 80s or low 90s.  Plus, it's about 10 degrees cooler on the trails where we ride because it's so shady - probably 90% of the trail is in the shade..  We rode one day last summer and didn't think it was too bad, but when we got in the truck to go home the temperature gauge indicated 103 - we couldn't believe it because it didn't seem that hot on the trail..

Our friends in TX aren't having the same luck tho - you can't even avoid the heat & humidity by going out early - and if you do venture out, watch out for the cracks in the ground as they might swallow your horse (as someone previously posted).  Whew, glad I don't live there anymore...

We just got our 3 horse LQ trailer, so we're trying to make the best of it.  We went camping in the worst of it so far...102 heat index by the time we got back from the ride and finished breaking camp.

Been conditioning the horses to handle it.  The gaited pair (TWH and MFT) don't seem to mind too much.  The older mares are good for one ride, but then we have to go swap them out for something younger and fresh.

The A/C in the Exiss has been a lifesaver in the late afternoon heat.  I'll normally get up and ride early in the morning on a solo ride, then the two of us will do our ride together by around 9, get back by noon...give horses a cool bath, scraping and backbrush, then go in the LQ and soak up AC...watch a movie, take a nap.

Around 7, I we'd go for a sundown ride on the bluff...not too long, but by 9 PM, we're both pretty used up, and the horses are ready to stand around and eat hay.

We manage.  In heat like today, we stay put.  Might ride something at sunrise, but not for too long.  Humidity is just stifling.

We live in East Central MO and are about 5 miles from Cuivre River State Park, our home trail.