Midnight Ride

Well, it wasn't exactly midnight and it wasn't precisely a ride but it did involve the horses in the dark.

J has been putting part of a round bale out for the horses between the barn and the house about every 2-3 days. The snow on the south facing slopes had melted so they were grazing some and out of hay.
The first cattle guard is filled in with dirt and ice (much more solid than the one at the house that we dug out last week). The phone rang at 2:18 am. The police had called our neighbor because the horses were in his yard. In the dark he thought they were his and ran them back over the hill (further from our house). He then realized that they were all brown and his were paints, that's when we got called. I rounded up halters and some grain and J and I went out to bring them back. We caught 3 and let the other 2 follow (Spot, bless him, had stayed home). We had to lead them about a mile down a frozen driveway, up the main road and up our frozen drive. All this at 2:30 in the morning with it snowing and wind gusts of 50 mph.
We now have a "horse guard" across the cattle guard at night. Be careful if you come to visit.