Sometimes people wonder what do I do when I am out at the farm for hours, especially in this cold weather. The other day was a wonderful example. 

            It was a cold March day and I got to the farm around 9AM. It was cold but the sun was trying to come out. I came to feed the horses. As I got out of the car, the chickens were making a lot of noise looking for their food, so I decided to give them some of their corn feed. They all came running – it made me smile. 

            Next came G and Gretel, a blind horse and his side kick donkey.  I went to the red barn into the feed room. As I opened the door G was already nickering to me. I got his feed all made up and grabbed Gretel’s food and walked into their stall to feed them. G heard me walking and was feeling his way to the feeder. I made sure I got their first so I could dump the bucket of feed for him. He was looking good. I scratched him behind his ears until Gretel started nickering as she was waiting patiently for her food. I put the food in her bucket and gave her a rub down, too.

            Next is the herd. This means putting a hay flake for each horse. Half the herd was in the coverall and the others were just outside in the corral. I started out by putting a few hay flakes out in the corral. I loaded up the wheelbarrow and brought the hay out to the corral. I made sure it wasn’t too icy where I placed the flakes so the horses wouldn’t fall or slip.  

            Now comes my favorite thing to do – observe and listen. I put the wheelbarrow back where it belonged and walked over to the end of the coverall so I could watch the horses enjoy the hay. The peaceful sound of horses chewing their hay can rival no other sound. 

            If you have never stood and observed a herd of horses, you need to understand that there is a hierarchy. Every horse has its place, with the leader on the top. They communicate through body movements, as big as a charge and as little as a flicker of an ear. The leader of our herd is Babe and the low horse is Pie.

            As the horses were chewing, the steam came up from their breath in the cold air. Red was checking every pile of hay to make sure she wouldn’t miss the best pile. She finally settled on sharing one with Chica and Freckles. Pie decided she wanted to join the group and slowly walked toward an open spot between Chica and Red. Chica moved to the side a bit to invite her in, but Red didn’t want to share. She took a step toward Pie to try to push her away. To my surprise Pie held her ground and took a step toward Red and snorted at her. Red looked at her, backed up and gave way for Pie. This was a big deal for Pie, as she stood up to one of the higher horses. Red ended up turning around and walking away. 

            Red walked over to a pile where Teeto was enjoying the hay. As she started to approach, Teeto looked at her and then proceeded to push some hay toward Red as to invite her to dine with him. Red accepted the invitation and the two of them ate in peace for a while.

            Now my attention was drawn to Freckles as she was leaving the pile she shared with Chica and Pie and walked over to the pile were Babe was. She slowly approached as Babe started to shift her weight. At first, I thought she would push Freckles away, but to my surprise she pushed a pile of hay toward Freckles to let her know it was ok to come and join her. They both stood for a while eating their hay until Freckles decided it was time for her to get a drink of water. The watering system is at the other end of the Coverall. She started walking toward it and Babe ended up following her. Once Freckles got to the watering system she didn’t start to drink. She waited until Babe was there and let Babe drink first. Once Babe was done and walked away, Freckles moved in and started drinking. Having their fill, both Babe and Freckles walked back to the pile of hay they shared.

             The horses would move from pile to pile, some would look for a pile with no other horses, some would join a group of horses. Standing in the sun, watching the horses, the only sound was the chewing of the hay and the occasional sound of the chickens. There is no way to describe the relaxing environment that fell over the barn. Holly walked over to me to see what I was doing. She would come closer and closer until I reached out and scratched her neck. When I stopped she would put her head over the fence and put it on my shoulder. We would go back and forth like that a few times.  At that moment I felt part of the herd. 

    Suddenly the chickens started to make a lot of noise so I looked to see what was going on. One of the chickens had found a rabbit’s food/leg and had it in its beak and was running away from the other chickens. As it put the rabbit foot down another chicken would swoop in and grab it and the chase was on. This went on for about 15 minutes until one of the chickens hid under the tractor. 

            Now it was quite again and my attention shifted back to the horses. I watched as Holly and Whitey both rolled in the snow. Then Whitey decided it was time to check me out. She walked over to me and wanted to get her neck scratched. She is starting to lose her winter coat, which I hope is a sign of warmer weather to come. As I was scratching her I was getting covered with her hair. When I stopped scratching her, she would put her head over the fence and on top of my head. I played with her as I did with Holly and after a while she had enough and walked away. 

            I stood there observing a little longer and in no time two hours had passed.  There is no way to describe the beauty of a horse and the herd.  There is no way to describe the smell of the horses, the hay, the cold ground, the wind, or the chill in the air.  

            It is a lot of work and I don’t often have time to just enjoy the beauty of these animals. But it makes me understand why I do this labor of love.  If you ever want to come and experience this beautiful, simple piece of life, fill out a volunteer form.  Spring is coming and there is lots of work to do.  There is not greater gift that giving of yourself.

Thank you for reading this.

Monika