tidying up

We're having a heat wave here in RI. Yesterday was in the low 90's with high humidity, and then we had severe thunderstorms that caused a lot of damage throughout the state. At my barn, a few horses were left outside all night in the weather with no shelter and that just blows my mind. I've already heard of one horse (not from my barn) being struck and killed by lightening last night due to the bad storms. I'm all for 24/7 turnout but in bad (and potentially deadly) weather conditions, I'm sure the horse would much prefer the ability to get out of the elements!

Instead of riding in the heat, I took Cairo behind the barn and cleaned up the trails that I rode on the day before in the Western saddle. Broken branches were strewn across the trail and so I got those out of the way. I didn't move the logs, though, because they're fun to jump ;) or in our case, step over gingerly.

Here's a photo of Cairo in the woods with me:

Anyway, today is supposed to be even hotter and more humid, and then there are more severe thunderstorms forecasted for the afternoon/evening. I hope everyone brings their horses in tonight!

Lucy didn't even go out today because it was still quite stormy this morning, and with the heat index so high, my barn owner recommended that the horses stay in. I set up her fan for her in her stall, and I made sure she had plenty of fresh bedding and water, and of course a big pile of hay. She looked quite content with her forelock blowing in the breeze generated by the fan, rhythmically munching on her hay. I kissed her goodbye and went to work.