Seniors, such as myself, who leave Canada and the northern states of the US to spend the winter months in Florida are known as snowbirds. We are often blamed for cold weather in Florida. This year the north is being blasted with severe, record breaking cold; a Polar Vortex! When my husband David and I arrived we knew what the reaction would be, from our neighbors here, to the cooler weather that had arrived in Florida.
“You brought this down from KAnuduh!”
We Canadian snowbirds have to take the blame. But , lets face it, even a cooler Florida with some rain is preferable to the desperate cold that is gripping the north. Today at the barn the locals were looking for scarves to warp round their necks and horse blankets to drape around their shoulders. It was 18 Celsius. That’s 60 Fahrenheit for goodness sake. Ok. Fair enough. If you are accustomed to life in a semi-tropical climate then this would seem pretty cool. And….it was raining…..and cloudy ……and there were some gusts of wind so, it could be classified as damp and cool.
Biasini and all of the horses have light sheets on at night. I bought a collection of sheets ranging from a lighter weight cotton sheet to a quilted stable sheet to a lined turnout blanket good to -10Celsius. So Biasini has sufficient wardrobe to look after him whatever the weather offers.
When the sun was still shining we were riding in the outdoor arena. What a luxury for those of us who, at home, have been in the indoor arena since the end of October.
Today with the rain we rode in the covered arena which has a roof but is open on all the sides. I only needed a light shirt and I was quite comfortable. Tomorrow we will start training in earnest with my Florida coach Lou Denizard. I have no reservation in saying that Biasini and I are more than happy to be here in the “cooler ” Florida.
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