Every spring in our part of Canada, the snow melts away, the temperatures start to rise, and everything looks as ugly as it ever would or could. The ground is still too cold for the grass to turn green and there are no leaves on the trees. In fact, many of the leaves from last fall are still scattered about, surrounded by mud and the doggie land mines no one bothered to pick up through the winter. The soil is still frozen solid about ¾ of an inch down, so everywhere you walk the footprints smear like a layer of chocolate pudding on concrete. The sky is always cloudy and grey. The days are still annoyingly short. Let’s be honest, nobody ever took the gallery pictures for their farm website in March.

On the other hand, those of us who have spent our lives outside can still get excited about the days getting marginally longer, the odd day when the sun heats up our backs and that dank worm casting smell in the paddock. Combined with Canada Geese in the pond and the odour of the melting manure pile, it says that summer will soon be here. It also means that the fair-weather riding students will soon be returning like migratory birds, and it’s time to give the place a good spring cleaning.

In and around the barns, winter has a way of allowing things to build up. Sometimes it’s because they’re frozen to the ground, and sometimes it’s because the weather is just too inclement to put things back outside where they really belong. It’s remarkable how items gradually accumulate in the corners of the arena or the walkways or the wash stall – and how quickly and easily the whole place looks infinitely more organized by just putting them away (or at least out of sight). Outside, it’s amazing what will turn up when the snow starts to melt. Many a hoof pick, halter or wheelbarrow that had been assumed stolen or lost forever, will appear out of a snowbank (like Otzi the Tyrolean Iceman), only a few steps from the barn door.

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