Every morning I get out early to take care of Star and Vanilla. Soaked beet pulp and grain is fed to Vanilla and Timothy pellets with a wisp of grain to Star with a few apples or carrots and some whole peanuts… (She likes them and there is no sugar.)

I like the peanuts too! Ha ha.

Then I bring out warm water after bringing in the icy buckets… After that, I pull out and fluff up the hay in the feeder for easy eating.

Then there is cleaning. I get out my old faithful manure fork and loosen the manure from the frozen ground. Placing what I can get in the winter manure pile off to the side. A shovel follows as I collect the round horse poops that like to be chased about before falling into the shovel to top off the pile. The pile sits to one side and steams on cold/cool mornings as it decomposes to create new earth.

Cleaning up manure keeps me humble. It is a ritual of caring that I have done for a good 55 years; Yes, I am getting older but still take on the cleanup as a quiet meditation… Bedding is added as needed and I head on to my day with the satisfaction of clean, well-fed, happy animals…