friday foto finish: bundled biscuit!!

Unbelievably, it’s still January… How? Nobody knows! Fortunately, tho, in another 3,846 weeks two days we’ll be into February. Still winter, obvi. Probably still gonna be cold and gross… But maybe an improvement anyway? We’ll see, I guess lol…

pre-storm: the most bundled up hobo east of the mississippi! 

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re within huge proportion of the US that got slammed with an epic cross-country snow storm last weekend. It was … a LOT.

a very dire forecast indeed for this part of the world

Tho, interestingly enough, the forecast was remarkably consistent (and appropriately serious) pretty well in advance. Everybody knew it was coming, and everybody most people planned accordingly.

big daddy, most impractical of commuter vehicles, actually proved useful parking amidst the city drifts!

Members of the barn staff and care team — including the primary paid force of guys who live on site, and the flex folks who cover days off and some weekend stuff — were all able to juggle days and shifts etc to ensure the main guys got enough time off before the storm. 

the barn guys did such a surgically precise plow job, tho, the civic should be free soon!

They had a plan, folks were rested and ready, and it all went super smoothly! What a crazy feeling to be hunkered down, snowed in, off the roads bc of ‘state of emergency’ restrictions, and completely at peace with the knowledge that Doozy was absolutely fine!

anyway. ponies. WILD ponies!

This is probably one of the first times in my life as a boarder that I wasn’t among the core group of folks gettin shit done when circumstances required it. What a luxury! 

Instead, I basically got to just… stay out of the way, let the guys do their thing, and otherwise just wait for the coast to clear to show up and play with my pony!

just look at that sweet face and tell me she isn’t the most precious??

Now, granted. Doozy is a VERY different type from Charlie. Sure, she’s still spoiled rotten and considers 3 days of no grooming to be a shocking dereliction of my duties. Absolute neglect, no doubt. 

But Charlie, that sweet silly gelding, may he be resting in peace… if he didn’t get his daily grooming, homeboy was as likely as not to take things into his own hands and stick a leg thru an actual fence while trying to scratch dat itch! Ahem.

ooooooh they heard the peppermint crinkles LOL, **Incoming!!**

Doozy is… not that kinda girl lol. Tho naturally she was quite happy to finally get groomed again anyway — especially under her hood!

speed racer, look at that blur!!

With things as they are outside, tho, everything is slowing wayyyy dowwwn on the productivity scale. Tho I still want to make sure Doozy gets regular opportunities to move out and let off some energy!

lol. just kidding… ‘twas more of a mild lope

Turnout in the indoor with her favorite little bebe morgan field mate seemed like the perfect activity! Nice soft flat footing in a safe environment!

for real, tho, check out those stems!

Naturally, neither mare seemed to really know what to do with themselves. They weren’t super stir crazy (probably bc it’s tiring enough just trudging thru the snow to the round bales), so there wasn’t much in the way of galloping zoomies, bucking or squealing… 

Doozy let out a few little bucks and bolts, but mostly just kinda lazily ‘self lunged’ LOL! To be honest, both mares seemed far more interested in inspecting the two tractors that were parked behind the camera to stay out of the snow… 

sweet spoiled mare would like us to please clean up all that nasty icy mess!

All in all, not a bad way to get a little enrichment! Conditions aren’t likely to meaningfully improve any time soon — with temperatures staying well below freezing for at least another week, and the possibility of another storm coming too. 

Not ideal, but them’s the breaks. It IS Maryland tho, so who knows, maybe all this nastiness will be followed by a week of sunny 40*F weather and everything will be back to normal in no time flat! A girl can dream, right?

How did you make out in the storm — still digging out or basically back to business as usual? Or maybe you’re one of the lucky ones and missed the snow entirely?