Fun Below Freezing

I woke up to the exciting news that it was 5F. And of course, in keeping with my habit of resolving that the horses have to be moved just as it's getting dark, I picked one of the coldest days of the year to decide that Rose's feet had to be trimmed.

I went over to the barn to set the scene - i.e. lay out some hay on the inside of the fence for George and Bridget and on the outside for Rose, as well as put the trimming things in place.

I also took out a broom that I was retiring from house use to barn use. As soon as Bridget saw me with it, she came charging over to investigate.

What is this peculiar object?

I dragged it along the ground, and we played cat and  mouse.

Trying to pick it up.

Maybe this way will work better.

Now here's a really good use for this thing.

As I was finally heading across the lawn to go trim, Chloe (who was at liberty again) saw me coming with a halter. The alarming prospect of a premature return to the field made her scurry away. I dropped the halter and ran after her. I didn't stop when I reached her, but passed her by and kept running. She ran after me, and we ran together for a little while, then walked together around to the back of the house, where she resumed grazing.

Then it was time to catch Rose.

A typical Rose expression and stance. Sweet and curious, but reserved and cautious.

Rose does not like these things to be rushed. Often, I confess, I am impatient and resort to the old throwing-the-rope-quick-around-the-neck trick before putting the halter on. Today I resolved to take however long it took to have Rose willingly put on her halter. So I went up to her and stood beside her and showed her the halter. She thought about it, said no thanks, and walked off. I walked after her, stood by her again, asked again. We repeated this a couple of times, until she didn't turn her head away from the halter and let me put it on.

I tied her up on the other side of the fence with a pile of hay to nibble and got started. She was very cooperative, and I got a lot done. I discovered a big horizontal crack on the inside of her RF, which I think may be an old abscess fissure, which is now showing up due to having worked its way down the foot to where there is a greater amount of torque forcing it open. I quit trimming before I was quite done, as I didn't want to push our luck, and then let Rose go exploring as a reward.

She was very keen.

Chloe came too.

I moved so much, what with running around with Chloe and working on Rose's feet, that I didn't feel cold at all - instead I glowed with my own energy. What a lovely feeling - maybe that's how horses feel all the time.

Jettisoned layers, shed during the course of trimming.