Still Cold and Snow Covered

I Long for the Green Grass

It's a rare winter here in New Jersey.  Usually, snowstorms melt after a week or so. We still have the snow from just after Christmas topped by the recent snow of this week.  The temperatures have just not risen above freezing for weeks.  Well, that may be a slight exaggeration as I think it may have been a few degrees over freezing today, but not by much. And, as noted, with the snow cover, it still doesn't warm up much.

The Boys were hanging out by the run in shed in the arena this afternoon.  The sun was shining there and, at least in the shed, there is some sand to stand in instead of snow.  They kind of wander about during the day, just picking spots to hang out as there is really not much else to do.

On the other hand, the fence line between the riding arena and the paddock has another section of rails down, so I have to suspect that when I was not watching, a game of horse volleyball or knee bite or nose nip must have been going on.

When the top rail goes, I suspect "nose nip" or "lip wrestling."  I do not leave halters on my Boys when they are out, mostly because both of these games become "halter demolition" which has the same rules but destroys halter straps to an alarming degree.  The object of each game is, of course, to grab your opponent by nose, lip, or halter and hang on until he cries "uncle" or promises to give you all his carrots for the next week.

Knee bite starts only when the upper fence rails are knocked down in the earlier games.  Then, you try to bite your opponent in the knee. The first horse who falls down trying to either evade a bite or take a bite loses the round and pays whatever penalty is agreed on at the start of the game.

Either way, the real loser is the fence.  But watching your owner put the rails back in place is an endless source of entertainment, particularly if she mutters all kinds of colorful words during the repair.

Hey, at least it's something to break up the boredom of a winter day.  Maybe not as much fun as dumping the wheelbarrow after she's filled it, but worth a few minutes entertainment, anyhow.

Not much else for a horse to do when there's nothing green to nibble on.