Today marks the start of our winter season.  It’s not because we have enough snow to set ski trails.  It’s not because this is Thanksgiving week.  It’s because the horses are safely in their winter pasture.

We usually target the 1st of December for moving them down the road to the Taussig Ranch, but they didn’t mind having them arrive a week early.  There was very little grazing for them up here, and with the zero degree temperatures we’ve had this past week, open water was hard to find.

With Spencer in the lead and Randy and Hannah riding in the tailgate post, it took just under an hour to travel the 7 miles with our herd of 80.  The pace was a brisk trot for the most part, and nearly every horse entered the winter pasture looking sweaty and bedraggled.  Granite was the most dramatic of them all.  He is Spencer’s mustang, but Randy rode him this trip.  He's a great ride. Granite gets a long, curly coat in the winter, and you can really see the curls when he’s sweaty.  Poor guy looks a bit different than all of the others at the moment.

Hannah’s mustang, Crow, did his typical Stop, Drop, and Roll once she untacked him.  He didn’t go more than 20 steps into the pasture before he rolled and rolled covering every inch of his sweaty back with dirt and snow.

The pasture is just a few feet ahead. Freedom for the herd for 5 ½ months!