We're walking on sunshine!

Well, not exactly, but "We're walking on low level cloud with sunny intervals" doesn't have quite the same ring, does it?

The point is, after days of lashing rain and wind, we've had a still, bright day, and Max and I went for our first walk out in over a week. I didn't ride because he was quite sticky in both hinds, so thought lots of hill work today and tomorrow we'll try riding.

Max is feeling very well, and was an amiable and frisky companion. Tried carting me off a couple of times, so we worked on moving in a more measured way, not pausing to snatch grass, and he came along beautifully after a bit of coaxing. I was really pleased with the way he was moving, and told him how handsome and well he looked. We stayed out together for about an hour and a half, stopping to look at the views, and having the occasional snort at pheasants and a bit of tree that had fallen across a familiar path.

He's out in his medium weight rug now. It's meant to go below freezing tonight, and though I'm sure he could cope, he's lost a lot of his winter coat already and I think the night air will be pretty chilly. Also, I'll be at the yard early in the morning to take it off him so he won't overheat.

Really difficult to know what to do when the weather is like this, and I'm regretting bundling him up now that I'm home... There were a few of us wandering around the yard this afternoon mumbling about "which rug" to each other.

As Max and I walked, we had a little chat about the potential operation coming up, what it would mean for Max and what he could expect. We had a classic Max moment as I told him about how far away the vet hospital is, and that he'd be in the horse box for about an hour, and that he might have to stay overnight.

Max had been walking happily at my shoulder, but the mention of "overnight" made him stop dead and stare at me. It really does seem to me that he's taking in my chatter when he does things like that.