Dog Days

NEWSLETTER Volume 2, Number 8, August 2005

The French call August the “sacred month,” a month of vacation, of taking time out from the routines and demands of the rest of the year. August is a month with many names, the most common is that it is the month most closely associated with the expression “the dog days of summer.” I know that the expression is connected to the alignment of the stars and especially the ascendancy of Sirius the dog star, and my dogs certainly convey all the behaviors associated with hot weather living. But it is also a special time with the horses. Here is north Idaho we get into a groove of hot, dry August days, and, usually, blissfully cool nights. Our lives tend to evolve around the temperature and the sometimes blistering sun. The horses tend to frisk and play in the cool of early morning, but snooze or graze in the shadier spots of the pasture or in their shelters during the afternoon. Barn chores are planned according to the time of day, with heavy work accomplished in the morning or left until late evening. Indoor barn chores like tack cleaning are reserved for the afternoon hours. The horses drink copious amounts of water, flick their tails at flies, and find their own ways to address the heat. My Arabian mare, Savannah, loves August, this is her kind of weather when she can revel in the heat! Shadow’s black coat soaks up the heat, his weather preferences run to January, and he prefers a good shady resting spot during the hot times of the day. A summer visitor we have this year, a creative Palomino gelding, plays in the stock tanks, splashing water onto his chest to cool himself down (then usually rolling in the mud he has generated). We try to plan our trail rides around the weather too, seeking out the trails that take us deep into the woods where we can find shade for ourselves, and the horses. It seems that everywhere I drive around the county there are foals sleeping in the sun or playing in the fields. This season’s foals are bigger and more independent by August and I love to watch them exercise their bodies, reveling in the strength and athleticism of the equine form. It is indeed a sacred month.

August is also a transitional month. September may be the official start of fall, but I know that by the end of August my horses will have started to shed out their light summer coats and to put on thicker hair in anticipation of winter. My barn is stuffed full of hay, and the nights are noticeably lengthening. I will miss the dog days when they’re gone, but as always I try to learn from the horses and to flow with the rhythms of the seasons, enjoying each time for its unique pleasures while preparing just a little for the transitions to follow.

Anna Banks, Editor womentalkhorses.com
editor@womentalkhorses.com
Moon Hill Ranch, Idaho