This summer we’ve been pinching ourselves here in Central Kentucky.

Usually by mid-August we’re resuscitating brown lawns (if we haven’t given up on yard care altogether), enduring scorching temperatures, hosing off horses midday to cool them down, and relishing in air conditioning, all the while beckoning autumn and its cooler days. By this time in recent years, horse owners in this area usually have begun stockpiling hay for the fall and winter based on anticipated shortage due to drought.

Instead we’ve experienced regular rainstormsÑeven delugesÑleaving flooded pastures and drooling horses (from the abundant fresh clover) in their wake. My little yard in suburbia looks like a jungle, and the Thoroughbreds of the Bluegrass grazing in lush fields nearby appear fatter and sassier than ever. It has been a pleasant and beautiful season so far.

Our mild summer has had its flipside, of course. The wet-dry-wet-dry cycle can be a major pain in the tush, causing hoof cracks and lost shoes galore