Today I’m taking it easy.

It’s cold.

I’ve been working hard.

and it’s my birthday.

I’m feeling very fortunate to be working from home today so despite having to work I can still enjoy a nice take-out birthday dinner with Zac.

So far this winter has been relatively mild but it all changed at the start of this week. Usually my birthday is celebrated with either a wicked snow storm or brutal cold and this year is no different. We are looking at single digits this week into next.

To get through the cold snap I have been bagging some extra hay for Tiger and Nahe. Their breakfast and dinner is served as a nice hot soup. When it’s super cold like this (and the benefit of working from home overnights) I will visit them around 1/2am to deliver their extra hay bag and an extra scoop of alfalfa pellets soaked in hot water. As we learned a bit from last week the forage stays in the hindgut longer to be fermented in the cecum. The complex fibers in forage are what enables the horse to stay warm during these cold nights. Since I’m home and awake I am given the ability to walk out a few times to keep the meals small and spread out….One of the perks of having horses at home.

I’ve also been spending a lot of time outside building. I recently established a new Facebook page to showcase the jumps and other projects I’ve been working on, you can visit at https://www.facebook.com/SScribnerWoodwork/. My latest project has been for a local farm and I’ve been building them several jumps and poles to use during show season. I’ve been also been working out my own plans for a round bale hut and I’m excited to possibly turn that into a reality before too long.

As much as I love the projects I’m also finding that the coming cold may cause me to take a break. I am comfortable down to about 34 degrees but below that I become a popsicle.

During my downtime I do my research on these new monthly topics and spend sometime designing new standards or other projects that I hope to create.

For today, however, I will sit back, turn another year older, work, enjoy some good food, and love my animals. Life is good.