Well daylight savings time ending has hit me like a truck, as it does every year. Those of us who have full time jobs outside of horses must squeeze in horse time in the cold and dark. The horses are fuzzy and don’t fit any of their tack, the barn cats are instantly in the lap of anyone who sits down for more than a few seconds, hoping for warmer paws. Picking out hooves by headlamp… it’s tempting to just get the barn chores done and go home. The horses would certainly be content with just ’round the clock munching of hay.
Yet, I have a lease horse this winter, and I’m trying to get to know him and form some semblance of relationship in these dark months. I get to the barn after it’s already dark, find the horse by flashlight and pray that none of the other horses interfere as we exit the field. I brush him, pick his feet. We hand graze in the small lit area of the yard, or I go to the outdoor ring to drag poles across the dimly lit sand to make pole mazes and trot patterns for us to navigate together. I’m not sure either of us are fully motivated to do much, but we are at least learning each other’s body language and personal preferences for interacting. Maybe by the end of February we’ll know each other well enough that we can begin doing more outside of the arena, when the trails will be navigatable by the setting sun. In the meantime, simple meetings in the cold dark of the year.
Find more horsey adventures in my first book, Standing in a Field With Horses, available on Amazon and Smashwords.
Maeve Birch Home 