a very special day

Today our newest family member arrived on the farm. The horses were beside themselves with excitement. You've never seen such gorgeous movement - floating, extended trots in unison. Here's a shot as they glimpse the new family member.




Here he is! Rafer's breeder leads him to the paddock to see the horses. He was amazingly brave and confident.




Rafer's breeder introduces him to the herd!



The meetings continued all afternoon. By bedtime it was clear that little Rafer had bonded with Cody, and they're sharing a stall and paddock tonight, happy as can be.

more cold in the a.m.

We had a respite here the past two days, and I had a revelation. 45 is almost tropical after 8.

This morning it's 22 and I'm already thinking of the stiff fingers and difficult to open plastic buckets of vitamins/minerals and flax that face me in the feed room.

I was thinking, though, that while there is a moment of dread over bundling up to go out into the cold, once there something changes and it becomes magical. There is something almost physiologically good about weather extremes.

In this intense (for us here in the south) cold, there's a purity of air and breath and thought that happens when I stand outside. My head clears, and my airways, and suddenly I can feel my body in a way I don't feel it when the air is warmer.

It's hard to imagine the heat of summer in this moment, but that opposite extreme has its own visceral sensations: heaviness, sweat, the feeling of almost melting into the heat and humidity.

The extremes defy distraction. They force us to be present and aware.

Which makes me think how much we lose when we buffer ourselves so successfully against the season's changes and extremes. How whole and complete we might be if we followed the wheel of the year and actually participated in its turning.

a couple of shots from weymouth

These were the ones that managed to get snapped before the battery died.

This pair of painted ponies at the barn kept me from missing my horses too much. I went down each day and said hello to them. They are stunning here but even more so pulling a carriage!



This was my desk this trip. I did very little work there; instead, I set myself up in the chair across the room with my feet resting on a folded comforter. It worked well. It was nice to have the desk set up, though, and my horse helped.

very cold

Last night we hit 8 degrees Fahrenheit. I went out this morning at 9 to feed and it was 14 degrees.

The horses came in for their feed same as usual, and licked the tubs clean. I hauled some hot water from the house to add to their water buckets so they could drink cold water as opposed to icy water. The troughs out in the paddocks were frozen solid on top, so I cleared the main one and will let the sunshine help out with the other two.

They are in the front field now with a bale of hay spread in piles in the sunniest spots, and will keep blankets on until it gets to the high temp for today, near 40. I like to give them a break from the blankets.

There will be no riding today, that's for sure.

lesson

I had a 2-hour riding lesson with Keil Bay today. We're focusing on forward motion, impulsion, and softness. I need to do less of the work, and he needs to have more fun.

We did lots of baby steps toward these goals. By the end of the lesson he was softening to the bit with the tiniest squeeze of my little finger and we ended with a sitting trot that was quite lovely and relaxed. He's moving well and my head was so clear when I led him into the barn to untack.

He got peppermints and I drank a water bottle. We were both happy as could be.