I’m pleased to report that my new off-track-Thoroughbred, Happy, and I are well into our third month as a pair and things are going well, despite what has been a brutal winter. My red horse has finally claimed me as his person. It took a few weeks of a skeptical expression of, “Hey, it’s you again. Why are you always here?” before he seemed to make the connection.

The light-bulb moment (and, yes, I’m anthropomorphizing) happened during our first farrier visit. It was dusk and my farrier, Chris, and his colleague were determining Happy’s sole depth, foot shape, heel status, and going over our now-till-spring foot care strategy. Right when the sun was falling behind the horizon, pulling the temperature with it, Chris began the process of boxing a shoe on the grinder, which produced an impressive light show