Blankets Off Day

I woke up shortly after 5am to images of the 8.8 level earthquake and tsunami in Japan. I ran some errands, then decided to go help at the barn. I needed to do something physical outdoors to get settled after the horrific news.

One of the moments of truth in a barn with old horses – which are usually in good supply in a therapeutic riding barn – is what the senior citizens look like on that first almost-spring day after a hard winter when all the blankets come off. Of course, they’ve been checked over all along and groomed on warmer days. But looking at them over in the confines of a cold and dark barn doesn’t tell you as much as you can see at the moment when spring is a near reality. That day tells you not only how the horses look physically, but whether they have come out of the winter looking forward to another season.

Today was blankets-off day at the barn, and they all looked wonderful. The 30 year old thoroughbred mare and gelding both looked perfectly healthy, the 25 year old pony that had needed nutritional work was carrying great weight and the about-40 year old draft horse was fuzzy and untouched by the winter. Two of the younger horses, most over ten, may even need a diet.

But the star of the show was the 40 year old quarter horse.

This old guy was already amazing, with the straight back and the pure reddish color of a much younger horse. But today, after a long and tough winter, his chestnut coat positively glowed and he was carrying perfect weight over his side and rump. No one would guess that a good number of his grinding teeth are gone, or that he relies on a special mix of grain to keep eating.

Visitors always notice that he acts like a big dog, sniffing their shoulders or their hair if they stand near him. 

No one ever guesses his real age. 





I came home wet and muddy. The turn out rings are half swimming pool under the soft top layer of snow. But being at a barn full of remarkably healthy old horses was a nice reprieve from the  bad news out of Japan.