Sometimes ideas for my blogs hit me at the oddest times. I just never know when inspiration will strike. This strange burning need to cataloge my thoughts for others to read.. or not read, or maybe roll your eyes, "saying there she goes again." Really though it is for my own amusement. A creative outlet for that side of my brain that is rarely used.
Today was one of those moments. Sitting on my porch in my quilted zip up mechanic suit, complete with thermals, winter socks, muck boots, my -40 gloves (which by the way ARE NOT) and my cool new little kerrits winter knit hat that Don says makes my head look like an acorn, boom inspiration hits. There was a reprieve in the rain, I look over the farm and notice the silence. The silence of the horses quietly munching hay in their stalls, the dogs curled up in their igloo kennel bed inside the barn. The cats are curled up in the hay. This is one of those rare moments when there are no people around. No boarders, lesson students, or trail riders. This is wintertime on the Jumping H. The quiet season. It is the season when the cold comes. When only the hardiest of riders come to spend time with their horses. When riding means grooming through caked dirt of the fuzzy winter coat just to remember what color your horse really is. The slugging out through the wet and the cold, feeding morning and evening in the dark. Waiting for that break in the weather when the ground isn't frozen solid to get in a 30 minute ride before hands and feet go numb just because you have a day of sunshine. Wintertime when you have to drain every water hose EVERY time because in NC it can be 65 degrees at noon and 25 degrees by 5 o'clock. Frozen water hoses suck. Wintertime when those fair weather horse lovers don't come to visit. This is the time that I reflect. I admit this is not my favorite season, in fact it is my least favorite. I would even go so far as to say I detest winter. I don't like being cold, the cold rain, the ice, snow or the mud. Especially the mud. Mud gets caked in places on a horse that you never thought possible.
It is in this season, Wintertime, the toughest season of horse ownership that separates those whose HOBBY is owning a horse and those whose PASSION is owning a horse. I admit I grumble and complain about the cold and wet and muck, but the reality is, I CHOSE THIS LIFE. I LOVE IT, even in the wintertime. You know why, because I am living the life I have always wanted. The life I have always wanted for my children.
Wintertime gives way to spring. Spring means that the grass renews itself. The leaves on the trees begin budding. The mornings are still freezing but by noon you have shed your coat. You get just a little more ride time between spring rains. Those rains don't suck quite so bad because they are warm. It is thawing time. Now don't get me wrong there is still mud... OH IS THERE MUD!!!! Not only is there mud but there is shedding season. For those non-horse people that means you goto the barn, still in your muck boots but you start out clean, you then leave not only with a fine sheen of mud dust but also enough horse hair to weave a sweater or 10. You spend the majority of your time grooming, a little of your time riding, to spend more time grooming. The up side is you are outside and you are not freezing. You are at the barn and not freezing. You are getting to ride your horse and not freezing. You can water your horse and the hose not be frozen. You can ride your horse and the ground is not frozen, muddy but not frozen. You are only wearing two layers of clothes instead of ten. Spring is the light at the end of a long cold, wet when it is not frozen, dark tunnel. This time of year is hit and miss for those fair weather "Hobby" Horse people. In the Spring time of the year there is almost as much work involved in up-keeping horses as wintertime without freezing to death.
Late spring into summer though the hustle and bustle of the farm starts in full swing. People come out of the wood work like bears out of their caves after a long winter hibernation. I admit I am out at the barn every waking moment I can be outside. My domestic duties towards my house go out the window and are relegated to those rainy days when I can't or don't want to be outside. The horses have shed 90% of their winter coats giving way to shiny glossy dapples. They are getting slick and sassy. We ride, ride, and more riding. There is almost always someone at the barn. Hobby and Passionate horse people alike converge to be with our four legged partners in crime. All through the summer and fall people come and go on the Jumping H. Lesson students, trail riders, boarders and anyone else who gets the notion they might want to ride a horse. This is the "busy season," but that's ok because you have plenty of help putting up hay completing barn chores or whatever other project you can dream up. From morning to evening there is always something happening on the Jumping H. The only quiet time you will find this time of year is the early morning hours. When the sun is just peaking up over the horizon. These are the times when I grab my cup of coffee after morning feeding chores and just bask in the beauty of what God has blessed me with in my life. I count them each and every day that this is the life I have been able to live. These are the quiet moments when I am rewarded with the fruits and harvest of the seeds I have planted. These are the moments that make all the frozen water tubs, muddy horses, feeding in the frozen rain not quite so bad. Don't get me wrong.. I still detest winter. I still grumble while I am dragging my butt out of a warm bed to go in the freezing rain or sleet to feed these beautiful majestic creatures that have stolen my heart.
It is all of those collective moments. When there is a reprieve in the cold winter rain, when I can look out over my farm and the frozen ground, when I am listening to my horses munching hay contently in their stalls out of the winter weather, this is when winter isn't quite so bad. God gives me those little moments. The reprieve from the storm, time for me to decompress and thank him again for the blessings in my life. The life that cannot always be sunshine and roses.
You can't truly appreciate the greenery of new life in the spring unless you have experienced the harsh frozen land that winter brings. You can't truly appreciate the warm longer summer days unless you experience the shorter darker colder days of the winter. As a horse lover you can't truly appreciate the slick glossy coats of these majestic creatures unless you have survived the winter mud and the shedding season of spring. It all comes full circle. Another circle of the seasons. Another year of living my dream and my passion. Do I expect everyone to understand? Certainly not! The reality is only the hardiest of passionate horse people will GET why I do what I do year in and year out. I have lived this life PURPOSELY since I was 13 years old. At 42 I am not about to give it up now. :)
The best I can offer my comrades in this crazy passion of ours is December 21 is the shortest day of the year and then the days get longer... minutes at a time but they get longer. To those of you who think I am 10 kinds of crazy for living this life.... It is ok I get it my advise to you, come see me in the spring. ;)
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