April is NOT the cruelest month, February is.
Not to disparage TS Eliot (one of my favourite poets) or poetry in general and yes I see the symbolism of why he designated April as cruel but for I respectfully disagree.
You see, I have had horses at home since 2012 and I'm starting to see patterns. The one that is driving me nutty is that February seems to be the time that they break stuff. It is also most typically the coldest month so fixing things outside leads to blue fingers (the air turns blue as well). I think it's the lack of regular exercise and just general winter doldrums but it seems that horses look for things to destroy this time of year.
Yesterday I went out to bring them in for supper and saw that they had snapped off one of the fence posts holding the hay net.
Great.
oh gosh darn it, you frisky horses and your hijinks I said. Or something like that.
I hauled it inside and checked over the two innocent looking equines. they looked fine and as surprised as me.
Irish: We were just standing here minding our own business when it just snapped. Seriously. Lucky we weren't injured.
Carmen: I could have gotten a concussion. I think I'll file a JOHSC* report.
Irish: I mean, how hard is it to be pole? You just have to stand there. Must have been depressed if you ask me.
I untangled the hay net muttering to myself. My fingers were getting too cold to move and my eyes were watering.
I rigged up the hay net to one post but was not happy with it. Today I was home so I kept an eye on them. Sure enough, within a couple hours they had it ripped and hay was everywhere.
I brought it inside to see if I can repair it. As I threw it grumpily on the floor I said to Ed, I think that when we are rich we will board the horses for the month of February and go south.
I expected him to try to cheer me up but instead he said ohh I really like that idea.
 |
| keep your eyes peeled for exploding posts |
----
*JOHSC = Joint Occupational Health and Safety
:) I like that idea, too, but I'm thinking take a couple with us and board them in a warm locale so I can ride. We're having a bit of a heat wave right now, but it feels colder than before...maybe because of the rain and wind. February is generally a muddy, cold, dark month for us.
ReplyDeletetaking the horses would be the best of both worlds.
DeleteLove the pony commentary. It's totally along the lines of what I imagine mine are saying too! Fingers crossed the last half of Feb is a little kinder to you!
ReplyDeleteI suspect that yours are even saucier than mine!
DeleteI completely agree. I hope that things get easier and start going more slowly.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice!
DeleteHaving horses at home is a lot of work. A LOT of work. Brett was swearing at the muck cart that broke during chores this evening. It's always something.
ReplyDeletePoor Brett! I feel his pain.
DeleteSomething always breaks. At least February is half way over.
ReplyDeleteI am always happy that Feb is the shortest month!
DeleteI *lol*d at "how hard is it to be a pole...must be depressed." Hilarious: ) Our gate post is broken, snapped off at ground level, now being propped up by metal spikes and a diagonal piece of wood until we hear back from the one who installed our gate. I've lived here almost 10 years and Winters still surprise me. I learned this month not to pour hot water on a frozen gate latch. You already knew that right?: )
ReplyDeletebeing Canadian we'd pour the water anyway- if it can't take it then it can't be used in Canada. ;). Fortunately the post wasn't part of the fence but used to hang the slow feed hay net.
DeleteUgh! Why can't these problems space themselves out? I've had everything breaking this month too, and I'm not even dealing with snow. Although, I think of the problems I had when I lived where it did snow, and I'm glad I don't have to deal with them anymore. I remember being flat on my back in bed with the flu and hearing a loud snap outside. I rolled over to look out the window and saw that the horses had chewed a wooden fence panel clean through and were trying to climb through the hole to get to the hay. I was the only one home, so I had to go out in the snow in my pajamas with a fever and hammer in a fresh fence panel.
ReplyDeleteI am forever jealous of people who take their horses to Florida for the winter to show! I don't want to show, just want to be warm and escape the horse silliness in the winter (Apollo is always super spicy in colder weather).
ReplyDeleteThere are days when I probably have an entire cloud of blue hanging around my head.
ReplyDelete