Winter is here.
I don’t generally love this season. It’s our busiest time, and we spend most of it right at home, starting performance horses. The days are shorter than the rest of the year, but they seem to be stacked full of checklist items. We have plenty to ride, our cows are calving, I’m gearing up for foals, breedings, shows and sneaking *cheerfully* past the holidays. Winter means slinkies, sheets, blanketing before going to the house, and volatile weather. It’s nice most of the time, but when it’s bad here in Texas, it’s bad.
I hear about some friends of mine up north, where winter is a predictable season — aka, frozen and cold. I don’t want frozen and cold. I don’t even like saying frozen or cold. Frozen and cold physically pains me. But there is a small part of me that envies the pattern it brings. Back when I lived in Colorado, there was still plenty to do, but the cold, dark days and blankets of snow and wind brought a certain semi-forced rest to humans, plants and animals alike. I remember what it looked like as the sun melted into the Rockies west of where I was, a sliver of red against a dark, brisk sky, promising temperatures in the teens as the wind howled. Horses would find shelter, wild animals were already buckled down, and I had to be content in my house all evening.
There is something very frustrating about this season for many. It’s breaking ice, fighting nature, trying to get things done during a dark, cold, short day that is hard enough to accomplish on a sunny, long, pleasant one. People who like to ride their horses are stunted by the weather and all the things we try to stuff in around the holidays and the new year.
But there is something quite beautiful about it, too. Winter is supposed to be a time for recharging, resetting and reflecting. Bears sleep in their dens, and toads burrow underground until the weather is consistently warmer. The trees and grasses that go dormant make the landscape look bleak, but gosh, when spring hits, we are all happy to be reminded of how beautiful green can be.
I need to give winter credit where credit is due. My hat is off to those of you with animals who have to grin, buckle down and bear it. Sometimes, I’m sure, for those in rough climates, finding the silver lining of the season is important. It’s nice to come in from the sharp cold into an inviting, warm house with something warm in the oven. It’s nice to shut up the barn with mangers full and animals content. It’s nice to hook in, be productive, get our colts started, cattle fed and babies delivered.
But come warmer weather, it sure is nice to fold up those heavy blankets and store them away for a good while, too.
