#16 - Snow Angel(s)

The sun had just begun to rise over the winter trees as Sara Gallagher walked into her luxurious barn. Her horses nickered to greet her, heads poked over their wrought iron stall doors.

“Hey kids! Ready to go outside?” Sara asked them, laughing as her stallion Prada bobbed his head up and down in response. The pastures had been covered in a thick blanket of snow overnight, and Sara was glad she put Prada and Gucci for the night. She usually preferred to let them have free choice over their pasture or stalls, but with the forecasted winds she had wanted them safe inside for the night. They definitely didn’t mind; Gucci was curled up in the straw of her stall as Sara walked over, and Prada had definitely been laying down, given the amount of straw stuck to his black tail and bay coat. Sara laughed, and went to get the horses’ morning feed. 

After all three of them had finished their breakfast, — Sara had brought oatmeal down from the house so she could eat with her horses — she opened up the doors to their pasture. Prada started to trot out, then stopped short at the sight of the two-plus feet of snow. 

“You’re fine sir. Go play in it!” Sara patted him reassuringly on his muscular neck, and he snorted once before plunging out into the white powder. Sara opened Gucci’s door, and she followed Prada outside without hesitation. Sara hopped onto the fence and watched her two Loshenka frolic through the winter wonderland. After they made a few laps around the pasture, stretching their legs and kicking up their heels, they came over to Sara, perched on the fence. 

“Are you enjoying yourselves?” She asked, giggling as Gucci shook out her mane, throwing snow onto Sara’s purple jacket. Sara playfully grabbed a handful of snow off of the fence, and lightly tossed it onto Gucci’s palomino coat. The mare looked at Sara with such a strong expression of disgust and betrayal that Sara burst out laughing. Her laughter was cut short when Prada gently grabbed her coat in his teeth and pulled her off of the fence, directly into a huge pile of fluffy white snow. 

“Oh, it is on!” Sara exclaimed, shooting to her feet and collecting a snowball. The two Loshenka nickered and took off, inviting Sara to chase them, which she did, giggling all the way. Once the mare and stallion had enough of running, they stopped, allowing Sara to catch up to them. Out of breath, the girl collapsed in the snow, laughter shaking her body and warming her cold cheeks. Realizing she was in the perfect position, she began moving her legs and arms, making deep arc-like impressions in the powdery snow. Her two horses laid down a little distance away from her and began to roll, their coats quickly turning white with snow. Sara stood up and brushed herself off as the horses got to their feet, shaking off their thick coats. 

“Look guys! We made snow angels!” Sara said, grinning at her two companions. She pulled one of her gloves off, careful not to get snow down her jacket sleeves, and fished her phone out of her pocket. 

“Here, go pose with your masterpieces!” She directed the horses, who continued to stand exactly where they were.

“Eh, good enough.” She snapped a picture to savor the moment, then hurriedly put her glove back on.

“It's cold. I’m going inside.” She told the horses, who followed her into the barn. They all had fun, but that was enough snow and cold for one day.