Luc hiding out behind the shelter.
So it finally happened. It got too cold for me to ride. The mercury dropped below minus 30 degrees without the wind chill, and my fingers and toes just couldn’t take it. I started out the day with every intention of riding. I got all bundled up and headed out to the barn, but then I got there and things rapidly started going downhill. It started when I opened the car door and got blasted in the face by the blowing snow. Not a very warm welcome. It continued when I got into the barn and found the arena door was frozen shut. Again. And while the barn manager was able to get it unfrozen in short order, I took it as a sign that perhaps it was too cold to ride.
Luc still needed to be fed, brushed and loved on, so out to the field I went. Despite the cold (which was bone chilling), the sun was shining and the sky was a beautiful bright blue. With the fresh blanket of snow, it was a winter wonderland. A lightbulb went off in my head. Wouldn’t Luc look amazing lit by sunshine and surrounded by the glistening snow? Photo shoot time! Naturally things did not go as well as I’d hoped.
To start off, Luc was completely uncooperative. I found him hiding out behind the shelter when I got there. And that is where he planned on staying. No amount of calling to him or bribing him with carrots was going to work. That’s when my sister Jen, Luc’s owner, got involved. She threw a lead rope around his neck and dragged him out into the field so I could get a pretty picture. Unfortunately, I was too slow. The second she took the lead rope from around his neck (I didn’t want it ruining my shot), he bolted back to the shelter – this time opting to hideout inside it.
Round two went pretty much the same way. I managed to snap a few not terribly great photos of Luc, and that was that. I would have considered one final attempt, but by that point I could no longer feel my fingers. I had to take off my nice warm down mitts in order to work the camera. Apparently when it’s too cold to ride, that doesn’t mean it’s too cold to spend 30 minutes outside without any gloves on!
Admitting defeat, Jen and I took Luc into the barn to feed him. That’s when the spinning started. His new thing is to pace frantically and spin in circles in the stall when he’s left alone inside. Even the addition of a new buddy next to him didn’t seem to do the trick. An hour later (that’s how long it normally takes him to eat his mountain of a meal) and he had barely touched his food. In an attempt to get him to eat (those vitamins are expensive!), Jen held his feed tub up for him. Forty minutes later and he was mostly done, so back outside he went.
It was a cold, and at times frustrating, day at the barn, but that’s just how it goes sometimes when you’re dealing with horses. Not every visit is going to be nickers and fabulous rides. At least there’s likely going to be an end to the cold!
