The Trouble with Wet Mud

The trouble with soggy mud
is the mucky sucking
that grabs your mud boots.

Getting the horse out of the stable,
one of my legs is stuck.
Stop that horse so she doesn't keep moving,
pulling my whole self into the slime, face down!
I stagger slowly, holding firmly to the lead rope,
pulling my foot up slowly, firmly, out,
with a smacking sound.

Good thing I wore the extra fat socks,
it keeps the boot on,
my foot winning in the end.

I'm walking her to the riding arena,
a boggy passage for us both.
Ride, but walk, no trotting for fear of slipping.
No trail rides, too slippy out there, too.
Definitely no cantering!

Is it too much trouble to go today in the rain?
I wait for a few sunny days in a row,
knowing the same old muck will be waiting,
though a little sticker as it dries.

No cantering for days,
maybe weeks, at this rate.
No challenging work:
lifting up the saddle,
laying it softly on the horse
(as softly as my weakling arms can do)

Jumping up into the stirrup, leg up and over
knees squeezing,
balancing carefully,
clinging tightly to the moving horse,
posting up and down with shock absorbing legs.
Hold on, hold on!

Oh, that there was a covered arena out of the rain, ground dry!
Do I have to look somewhere else for one?
Without Misty as my companion?

How could I leave her?
But I'm needing to ride in the winter.
Tears and rain drip down,
while decisions waver and fade.

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