Arctic Exercize

Tom trots 'round...


...and 'round...


...and 'round...


...and 'round...

It was 18 degrees yesterday in Philadelphia, so all of the carriage horses at 76 were tucked snugly in their nice, warm stalls inside the barn. It was so cold outside that there was ice on the insides of the wooden barn doors where the condensation from the horses' breath had frozen to it. And the horses put off enough heat that my glasses steamed up when I went in from the mid-teens temperatures after having free-longued Tom.

Regardless of the weather, though, the horses must get their exercize rather than being cooped up all the time, so I spent yesterday walking and longuing the 11 horses that aren't on turnout right now. It frigid enough, though, that even the most enthusiastic of yard-goers was ready to return to the warmth after only 10 to 15 minutes of exercize.

All this frozen tundra-cize must have worked up an appetite, though, because the boys were more than ready for their feed, supplemented by a nice warm bran mash. (Or maybe they're all just hungry as a, um, horse.)



Trump, Rex, Tom and Bill eagerly await their hot dinners.

This was the kind of happy day with the horses that reaffirms my belief that I have the coolest (and at times the coldest) job in the world.

Tomorrow we'll be back downtown, after being confined to the barn since Tuesday, because it shall be a balmy 35.