It’s that time of year again – the leaves have fallen off the trees and are brown and crunchy on the ground like over-cooked potato chips. Jackets, gloves, warm boots, and the like are broken out of their summer hibernation and re-acquainted into familiar outfits.
It always amazes me how the horses don’t really seem to notice the change, certainly don’t seem miserable and offended by it; they actually seem to like it – running around, tossing heads, and doing some winter welcome dance they have secretly been rehearsing. I am especially glad that Stella, being on a new arthritis medication, has more happy pep.
Begrudgingly, I dragged out the ladder this morning to take down the fans in the run-in. I continued my “goodbye to summer” ritual by running the extension cords under the mats for the trough heater and hanging up extra hay feeders.
I suppose it’s not all bad; the nice weather sometimes pushes us to “go, go, go”; in the cold winter, it is natures way of telling us to take a little break; slow down and little and take some deep breaths. Perhaps sleep a bit more, snuggle a bit more, and recharge for the springtime ahead.
Hot cocoa in front of the fireplace, anyone?!
(See video of the horses frolicking in the first snow fall this year, on Thanksgiving Day! “Turkeys in the Snow”)