When is your favorite time of day to ride?
For many of us, we ride when it fits in our schedules. But say you can set your own schedule — when does riding happen? I would probably ride exclusively in the evenings anyway if I could. The light ranges from good to spectacular, the horse has been turned out and eaten earlier enough that he’s not got an empty stomach but isn’t too full/too close to having eaten to ride, and for me, exercising before a cocktail, then dinner, and lastly bedtime is a nice way to end my day. I am also pretty much a night owl, and more awake later in the day.
(I thought photographing the mesh ears at sunset would show them better, but nope.)
Yup those lazy golden evenings are the best!
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Truly!
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I love the evenings but I’d kill to not have to ride in the heat ha. In a perfect world where I wasn’t working, summer time and winter time I would probably ride around noon-ish (the hottest part of the day here is at 5!) and during the spring in fall enjoy the evenings.
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Oh it’s hot here at 5, too. I ride like at 8.
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I love riding at dusk and dawn. The golden late summer/fall evenings are my absolute favorite though.
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Love fall weather for riding! And the quality of the light changes and it’s so pretty.
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As much as I hate getting up early, I always enjoy watching the sunrise at the barn. Oklahoma has spectacular sunrises and sunsets!
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That makes it worth it 🙂
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I really love a mid-morning ride! About 10am is perfect – late enough that I’m not up at the crack of dawn to get to the barn, but early enough that I still have the rest of my day ahead of me when I’m done. Not too hot, not too cold, perfect. 🙂
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I ride around then on Saturdays, but in July and August it will be too hot here then
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As much as I hate getting up early, I actually prefer a morning ride. I get to start my day off on a good note, and the barn is usually quiet and peaceful as long as it isn’t a lesson day. I also feel like I have SO MUCH day left to do things when I do a morning ride, with no rush to finish at the barn and get home.
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I am just not a morning person! But it would be nice to have the quiet mornings.
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I like early morning rides. It’s quiet, Cosmo is fresh. Although at the new barn there is a very still morning time where the air is heavy, in the afternoon (or as soon as I get off) a breeze picks up that is really nice.
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The evenings are less humid and breezier here, too, usually.
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I love first thing in the morning when the sun is starting to come up. Especially in the fall or early winter, It’s just beautiful and crispy. But… Late evening or even 11pm… 2nd choice.
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Fall mornings are pretty glorious
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I definitely prefer to ride later in the day though sometimes a nice cool morning is the best.
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Cool mornings are lovely! We don’t have those here in the summer, lol
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Mornings, which right now it when I typically ride anyway. In the evenings since our arenas face east – west you are blinded any time you face towards the west. However since the sun rises so early right now, by the time I am at the barn between 8 and 9 the sun is out of the way.
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Very good point about the orientation of the arena, ad the sun affecting your visibility–that’s a strong factor
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I like riding in the morning (less heat/good way to start the day)…but I have a hard time getting up early…so I’m not super consistent haha
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I have a hard time getting up early, too, but I also have a dachshund alarm clock
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I much prefer riding in the mornings. Unfortunately I start work at 7 so unless I want to be up before 4 I’m destined to ride in the evening.
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Work is definitely a necessary inconvenience
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About 2pm, plenty of time to get all my boring adult responsibilities done and out of the way, to spend the rest of the afternoon with the horses!
That’s in a perfect world of course, like, if I lived in… Texas or something… I imagine riding at 2pm would be deathly lol! NZ is quite temperate so that’s a good time 🙂
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2pm would be okay in October here, lol! NZ looks less extreme 🙂
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My car was covered in condensation this morning when I went to work and my glasses fogged up when I got out of my car. It may be slightly cooler here in the morning, but the humidity is brutal. I am going to try and start riding again (after a 3 month break) and see if Dexter is any more sound. If not, I’ll finally call the vet out, but he’s been moving around a lot better in his pasture lately, so here’s to hoping. I will probably ride as close to dark as possible (after 8pm). Since he’s at home, I also feed him his dinner, so I’ll have to figure out how I’m going to feed him, let his food settle and not stand outside when it’s 100 degrees for two hours.
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The humidity in the mornings here is why I prefer late evening riding.
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