When I arrived to feed yesterday, Freedom was on full alert. He barely noticed my arrival, which is unusual around dinner time. I decided to investigate. Freedom followed me until we got to the tree. Then he kept the barrier between himself and “danger.” It didn’t take me long to figure out the problem. Wild […]
When I was a kid, most horses got the winter off. Indoors were a rarity and while I can remember riding bareback on fuzzy, fat horses, no real work was done. The theory was that the mental break did them good and, as long as they kept moving, the rest helped their bodies too. These […]
My pockets are full of hay. And mint wrappers. And half eaten candy canes. And the occasional half of an alfalfa cube. They mark me as a horse owner. I have to quarantine my barn clothes because it’s dangerous for me to reach into a pocket and embarrassing to see the trail of detritus that […]
Tonight we are expecting temperatures to drop to about zero, with gusting winds that will make it feel even colder. I’m not really ready for winter. Yesterday it was 40 degrees and sunny! This evening I bundled up the horses in their blankets, fed some extra hay and made sure they had plenty of water. […]
It looks very peaceful on this late afternoon at the barn (I hate it when it’s dark at 4:45!). But looks can be deceiving. Just a few minutes before, there was pandemonium. I broke one of my rules. Instead of bringing Freedom into the barn to put on his blanket, I threw a halter and […]
Lily, the white horse abandoned at the New Holland auctions in March has been adopted by comedian Jon Stewart and his wife Tracey, who are opening an animal sanctuary in New Jersey. It’s a happy ending for the elderly mare who was found after the auction closed tied to a post, covered in paint stains, […]
Zelda didn’t want to get caught for the farrier this week. It’s fun to watch her run. The earth shakes, and not just right where your standing. You can feel the tremors in the barn. At least it’s fun for the first five minutes. Fifteen minutes later it wasn’t quite as much fun, although I […]