Snowponies!

Buy a print of this gorgeous "Up Close and Personal" photo
by Kellya on Etsy

There's something a little magical about horses in the snow. The soft blanket damps everything down in a blanket of quietness, and the hoofbeats that bring chills down my spine when they come running up to me to say hi are muffled. Steam curls from their nostrils like a steed in a fairy tale, and they always seem to be frisky when snow is new fallen. Storm came prancing and shaking her head with her tail bannered behind her today, and Abbey came running for the warm food they get when it's frigid outside. Keeping horses in winter can be a pain - chopping holes in the layer of ice over the pond, hauling water when that doesn't work, making sure their coats are curried so that they can insulate well enough (beats messing with blankets), and just keeping my own nose and toes warm.

When I was a kid I kept riding all winter long, and I loved it, even though I couldn't feel my toes when I was done. It was magic. Here in Tennessee we don't get that much snow, which makes it all the more mystical. Having a quartet of horses gallop through the swirling flakes to see ME, though, and knowing two of them are mine.... that's the stuff of fantasy. A lifetime's worth.