Snow Day

“You’re lucky you’re fluffy. I should’ve brought another layer.” Sara says as she tightens Prada’s girth, pausing to blow into her un-gloved hands. The brown stallion looks at her and nickers, as if to say That sounds like a you problem. Sara laughs, and gives his lucious thick coat a final sweep with her hand. “Ready to head out boy?” He nods and prances, impatient to get onto the snowy grounds outside.

The wind whips Sara’s and Prada’s hair around as they come to the top of a hill. “I should’ve brought a map bud. I have no clue where we are. Maybe we should just head back.”

Prada tugs at the reins, and Sara laughs. “You want to try to figure out how to get to the lake? Be my guest.” She places the reins on his neck, and he picks up into a trot, looking around attentively. They travel along the ridge of the hill for a few strides, then Prada takes a left and slows his pace to carefully pick his way down the hill. Arriving in an open field, Sara feels him coil up beneath her. “You want to run?” she asks, picking up the reins so they don't fall and get tangled in his legs. Before she even has both hands on them, he takes on into a long-strided canter, eating up the snowy field, and quickly approaching the forest bordering the far side. The pair slows, as Prada expertly weaves through the trees. Sara laughs as they brush under spruce tree branches that cover them in powdery white snow, her cold forgotten with the pure joy of exploration. 

“Oh my,” Sara exclaims as Prada pushes under an overhanging branch and stops, revealing a stunning frozen lake. “Well, I guess you found it!” Prada prances in place, throwing his head to express his displeasure and standing still. Sara slides down from the saddle, unclipping one side of the reins from Prada’s bridle to form a makeshift leadrope. They wander around the lake, Prada stopping here and there to grab a mouthful of whatever vegetation managed to grow through the snow, Sara pausing occasionally to take a photo of a flower or of Prada himself. After exploring for a while, Sara reclips Prada’s reins and loops them over his head, and boosts herself up into the saddle. “Ready to head back boy?”

He jumps into a trot, and they head back to the stable, the journey home being much shorter than the wandering path they move to find the lake. Sara untacks swiftly, and makes some warm bran for Prada. She serves it to him, and smiles as he nickers excitedly at the prospect of food. She stops in the office to make herself a mug of hot cocoa, and grabs a candy cane for herself, and one for Prada. “Here you go boy,” She says, hooking the bucket of bran to his stall. He looks at it, then tries to stick his soft gray nose into her pocket, searching for the candy cane. “No, that's for your dessert you goob!” Sara laughs as she lightly pushes his nose away, and sits down in the corner, sipping on her hot chocolate while Prada starts eating his bran. Sara finishes her hot chocolate before Prada is done with his bran, so she gets to work brushing out his long silver tail. “You had fun today?” Sara asks, and Prada nickers happily. “Me too.”