Haying on Horse Time: A Helping Hands reflection

Before Sunday, May 31, I could not tell you when the last time I left the house before 7:30 a.m. was. Working at the Monitor has already pushed me to get in my car at 8 a.m. But a story’s a story, and stories don’t happen on my time. Neither do horses.

Listen, I go to a college known for its equestrian program. I have friends who get to the barn at 5 a.m. to ensure the horses are well taken care of. I am aware of horse time. I respect horse time. Horse time is just really early for me.

I left my house at 7:30 to get to Live and Let Live Farm’s Rescue and Sanctuary in Chichester by 8 a.m. I’d be joining volunteer Carol Ritchie for the Sunday morning feed shift and the Sunday morning Facebook Live. Afterwards, we’d sit down for an interview, then I’d get to wander around taking pictures.

Ritchie met me in the parking lot in front of some paddocks, her hay truck ready to go. She was covered in hay, and something told me I was about to be, too.

Getting into the truck, I fought the urge to buckle up. We were going maybe five miles per hour and were only driving for a minute. It wasn’t even enough to jostle the loose hay scattered on the truck bed. The knife on the truck bed, used to cut the blue twine that holds the bales together, didn’t even move.

I am always amazed by just how big horses are. Admittedly, I’m pretty small, but still. I didn’t come up to the shoulders of the animals I met that day. The fences that keep them in were taller than me…which made getting the hay blocks over them a bit tricky.

Luckily, the bales were broken into “flakes” that were marginally easier to toss, and most of the fences had big enough gaps for me to just shove them through. I just had to aim for dry spots away from their water. Apparently, horses like to put their hay in water. This is not something they should be doing, according to Ritchie.

I was quickly covered in hay, my earlier suspicion proven correct. I was wearing a coat that I knew I won’t need again until the fall — and when I do wear it again, I will have forgotten why there is hay on it. Still, it was fun. Rewarding. Seeing the way the horses come up and greet you, I got why people do this.

At the end of the day, even if I’ll be picking hay out of my coat in the fall, I had fun.

Even if horse time is still way too early.

P.S. Don’t tell my editors about the half hour I spent playing with the kittens.