Winter Walk-off 2012

For Winter Walk-off 2012, hosted by Les at A Tidewater Gardener, I am going to take you along on a walk I take almost every day with two horses in hand. The pony is recovering from a condition that requires that she be hand-walked, and rather than leaving Prince to scream and run I take him along too.

The pasture looks brown at this time because the fescue (endophyte-free) has not yet peaked
above the level of the brown stuff, but there is grass in there for them. I don't know what the
grass outside the pasture is but it's the most extraordinary green in late winter/early spring.

Sunday afternoon DH walked the horses while I manned the camera.

We head past the pastures, following the track that leads down to the creek. On either side of this road are rough mown fields with saplings and blackberry patches, one of which is home to a wild crabapple tree that is a glorious beauty in April. There's also a pond that's only a third full because we've had a dry year and many wildflowers. Sunday evening we saw a Barred Owl take off from one of these fields and then fly from tree to tree. I'm glad to see them back after they were ousted by a pair of Great Horned Owls over the winter.

At the end of the pine tree tunnel there is a choice of going right or left. Either way you go you will end up in the same place, but the left is a more direct route to the creek. Straight ahead and to the left is a slough where we often spot wood ducks and turtles, and there are swamp tupelos and Hibiscus moscheutos in pink and white. The slough has just recently filled in with water again, which is highly unusual for this time of year. The only time I have seen it dry before is a couple of years during summer drought.

The right hand option goes through sapling forest that is filled with light even in late afternoon.

Whoever owned the land before us sold the timber and in some places there are mounds created by logging.

With the red maples flowering overhead and the leaves just beginning to bud, the young river birches are what catches the eye at this time.

The woods are filled with deer paths. Like a lot of people we see deer almost every day. One day when I was walking the horses next to the creek I looked up to see two does in the trees, motionless, not 10 feet away. I'm not sure if the horses saw them or had seen them long before I did. Horses are very astute at detecting motion, even at a distance.

Here the path runs parallel to the creek, lined with a mix of Northern river oats, possamhaw (Ilex decidua), and hawthorns.

Mature American Hollies

and ghostly white Sycamores stand
sentinel at the creek's edge.

The walk from the house and around the loop and back takes about a half an hour. I walk the horses 1-2 times a day depending on the weather. In the evenings we take the horses back up the road past the pastures to the paddock behind the house. The green hill beyond is the neighbor's pasture. The fact that that pasture is spring green already and not sere brown is a testament to how mild our winter has been. I am grateful that the winter has been dry too, as it's made walking the horses a lot easier and more interesting. There are still some mud pits though, and some chainsaw work to be done before it's a good idea to ride the horse or pony under the branches that lean over the paths.

Thanks for joining me for this year's Winter Walk-off.