Chinook

After one of the coldest spells of the year, the wind shifted and it's now 60 degrees outside. The ice and snow are disappearing before my eyes -- presently melted off everything except the laneways and the buildings. Water is running everywhere -- both under and over the compacted sheets of ice, but especially INTO my barn. There's a lake in the aisle in the front part of the barn, and water is pumping up into the stalls from the ground.

Praline went a-wandering this morning -- I was out late in the barn stripping stalls, and wore myself out, so I indulged myself in a late morning. This didn't fly with Praline, who came looking for me and her breakfast. I had to chip the gate out of the ice to put her back in, and grudgingly conceded the point that breakfast was, in fact, late.

Someone had let Leah and Annie out of their stall yesterday while I was at work. It might have been Alice, whose mission in life is to open what is closed and close what is open, and it might have been Allie, who was Leah's co-conspirator and let her out of the barn when she was in labor, so she could foal outside as she wished. Annie was not the least put off by the sheet of ice still on most of the barn lot, but was happily stretching her legs. She and Robin, the Great Dane, had an interesting encounter across the fence. Both were curious, but both were a little apprehensive, so it was a funny dance of advance and retreat. Annie was one of the tiniest foals I"ve ever had, and for a long time made a game out of waltzing in and out through the barn lot fence. She discovered yesterday that she is now too big to do that, and got herself thoroughly stuck. I heard a funny little bleat, and there she was, various body parts woven through three strands of electric tape (chronically not-hot -- a mystery to be solved soon), looking around to be rescued. She stood quietly and let me unwind her, and has been respecting the fence ever since.

That's one of the best things about Morgans --when their curiosity gets them in trouble, they are almost all sensible about waiting for help.

I love watching the foals having their Big Adventures in the barn lot. Annie is fearless about deviling the Big Mares, and is not put off by the Snake Face sisters, Allie and Dancer. It's hard to believe such pretty mares can pull such ugly faces, but they do, and both are definite drama queens, so the dramatic gesture has to include some flouncing as well. Annie is unimpressed by the drama, and enjoys "buzzing" them while they are eating hay, seeing if she can get them stirred up. They are all bluff, however, as I caught Allie standing guard over a sleeping Annie in the barn aisle, nosing her gently.




The break in the weather is most welcome, and I hope to get all the wild things in the barn out to run while I clean their stalls. The hill to the arena has been too slick, but by the end of the day the ice should all be gone, and there will be some rodeos and horse races in the arena for sure. we are all enjoying the taste of springtime, even when it comes with knee deep mud, and are looking forward to the arrival of the real thing.