Five horses in the barn, only one sound...

Yesterday, I noticed a gash on Harley's near hock. Looks like he got into trouble out in the pasture. When everyone was kicking up their heels, he must have gotten in the line of fire. So that meant no riding yesterday.  We washed it off and hoped the swelling would go down.

Today, Harley's hock was still a little puffy, but he didn't appear lame. Still, another day off would be for the best. Heck, it wasn't like we were missing out on any stellar riding! The snow is frozen and crusty, the wind blew steadily up the hill, and the temperature was only going to continue to drop. By now, it was coming up on 4:00 p.m.  Ruffy must have wacked he knee--she was lame, Gator is gimpy due to age, and Vance, well firstly, we don't know if he's ever been broke to saddle coming from a trotter track, and secondly, he's got ankles the size of coconuts, although he's still got a good trot in him! So there we were: 5 horses, and Rolex the only sound one. So we groomed them within an inch of their life, until they couldn't stand our fussing anymore. By then, it was getting colder and darker--time for dinner boys and girls.

To expedite things in the morning, John decided to distribute the hay tonight, and while he was at it, do his Ethan Frome imitation. Here he is, heading down the slope before it tipped over:

Yee--haaa!

Once at the bottom of the hill, we were treated to a beautiful winter sunset. Mother Nature was reminding us that winter isn't over yet. The mercury should hit single digits tonight, around 9 F. This  cold snap also means no sap running--but later in the week, it should be dripping at a fast rate as the temperatures rise up into the 50's.  Then it will mean, feeding the horses, and then going home to boil sap for the next 5 hours. All for that lovely sweet elixir--Maple Syrup!

Cold night coming our way