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Description
I've been sick for the past week and a half. I'm just now beginning to get over the cold, but it certainly wants to drag on. I didn't get to do much art. Instead this is something that I was working on quite a while before I got the cold. It's beginning to look a lot like winter... which in southern California terms means a lot of rain. Where Mikayla lives... she gets snow, so for it's nearing the end of autumn. I'm not one for drawing people all that often, so it's quite difficult to get them just right. I think this ended up looking quite alright.

The first time it snowed there hadn't been much of the white mess left when the sun rose into the sky. It had moistened the ground, leaving deep mud where the remains of grass had failed to take in all the moisture. The last of the birds were fleeing across the sky heading south in hopes of warmer weather.

Today hadn't been much colder, but it was enough to add a jacket to your outfit if you were only going to be walking around and the horses were beginning to act up from the weather change. The horse's winter coats were coming in just fine. On Talal the white hairs of his coat were becoming more sparse as his thick dense fur darkened the bulky roan. Just because winter was beginning to settle in upon them, didn't mean that there wasn't work to be done around the stables.
Everyone was busy. If you didn't have a horse to work with, a stable to muck out, or gear to clean there were indoor arenas to rake, fences that needed to be checked, lessons to be given, leaves to be raked, and roofs to be checked. Mikayla had already heard of two houses in town whose roofs had become frigid from the cold, cracked, and caved in from the few inches of snow. It wouldn't do her any good if the stables or the indoor arenas' roofs caved in.

It was midday when Mikayla came back from riding the fence. Talal's warm breath could be seen clearly in the sharp air. She was walking Talal to his paddock when a crackling voice came on the walkie talkie clipped to the back of her belt.

"Tomorrow we've got a storm heading up our way." beep

Mikayla unsnapped the walkie talkie. "How big?" beep

" Big. It's the first major storm of the season Ma'am. Forecast says it'll be lasting the whole week, several feet of snow." beep

"How soon?" beep

" Tonight, tomorrow morning at the latest" beep

"Alright Monty. I want John and Andrew to finish checking the roofs. I need Joshua and Dylan to move two weeks hay into the stables right next to the main house. You, Siobhan, Trevor, and I are going to start bringing the horses from the paddocks and the summer barn into the stables next to the main house. Stallions first, geldings interspersed between the mares and their foals." beep

"Yes ma'am." beep

Mikayla let out a soft sigh and changed course, taking Talal to the winter stable instead of his paddock.

The winter stable was a large building that connected the main house to the staff's quarters. The building was well ventilated and insulated with thick walls and a large heating system for all the stalls.
The original owner realized within the first year that living on a mountain meant snow was always heavier and earlier in the winter. A bad setup could mean the death of your herd, especially if your door was snowed in to the point where you couldn't get out to the animals every day.
So he'd made a large stable that connected to the side of his house. It had been rebuilt a few times by later owners. When Mikayla's father bought the property it had been in a complete disarray and the doors were falling off their hinges. The winter stables had to be completely remodeled. That's when they added a safe ventilation and heating system, an inside arena, stalls for well over 80 individual horses, pens for various stock, a loft to keep a large amount of hay, a feeding room, and finally expanded it to connect with the staff house. It had taken them over 8 months to finish it, but once it was done it was magnificent.
Then her father had bought a small flock of about 5 suffolk sheep and one ram. Mikayla, a young teenager of 15 had been incredulous at the thought. They worked with horses, not some dumb, twig-legged, fence pushing, fleece bags! Her father had been quick to change her opinion of them. They could be used for warmth and food if the weather snowed them in for all of winter, they kept the more skittish horses calm, and when it came time- their wool was sold for extra cash.
They had yet to have need for the sheep, other than to be part of a 'trial' for the stablehands that had probation officers when they first came to work for Mikayla's father. The flock had expanded a little, but each year the new year-old sheep were sold to keep the flock small and no inbreeding risks.

Overall it worked well and the routine was an easy one to fall into.

With luck, moving the horses ended up with no issues. The stallions were kept on the opposite end of the stables where they could hardly be bothered by the mares. The mares and geldings were quick to establish their small pecking orders. A few scraps and scratches, but that was to be expected.

Words- 843
Art copyright ~Rosela

Description
I've been sick for the past week and a half. I'm just now beginning to get over the cold, but it certainly wants to drag on. I didn't get to do much art. Instead this is something that I was working on quite a while before I got the cold. It's beginning to look a lot like winter... which in southern California terms means a lot of rain. Where Mikayla lives... she gets snow, so for it's nearing the end of autumn. I'm not one for drawing people all that often, so it's quite difficult to get them just right. I think this ended up looking quite alright.

The first time it snowed there hadn't been much of the white mess left when the sun rose into the sky. It had moistened the ground, leaving deep mud where the remains of grass had failed to take in all the moisture. The last of the birds were fleeing across the sky heading south in hopes of warmer weather.

Today hadn't been much colder, but it was enough to add a jacket to your outfit if you were only going to be walking around and the horses were beginning to act up from the weather change. The horse's winter coats were coming in just fine. On Talal the white hairs of his coat were becoming more sparse as his thick dense fur darkened the bulky roan. Just because winter was beginning to settle in upon them, didn't mean that there wasn't work to be done around the stables.
Everyone was busy. If you didn't have a horse to work with, a stable to muck out, or gear to clean there were indoor arenas to rake, fences that needed to be checked, lessons to be given, leaves to be raked, and roofs to be checked. Mikayla had already heard of two houses in town whose roofs had become frigid from the cold, cracked, and caved in from the few inches of snow. It wouldn't do her any good if the stables or the indoor arenas' roofs caved in.

It was midday when Mikayla came back from riding the fence. Talal's warm breath could be seen clearly in the sharp air. She was walking Talal to his paddock when a crackling voice came on the walkie talkie clipped to the back of her belt.

"Tomorrow we've got a storm heading up our way." beep

Mikayla unsnapped the walkie talkie. "How big?" beep

" Big. It's the first major storm of the season Ma'am. Forecast says it'll be lasting the whole week, several feet of snow." beep

"How soon?" beep

" Tonight, tomorrow morning at the latest" beep

"Alright Monty. I want John and Andrew to finish checking the roofs. I need Joshua and Dylan to move two weeks hay into the stables right next to the main house. You, Siobhan, Trevor, and I are going to start bringing the horses from the paddocks and the summer barn into the stables next to the main house. Stallions first, geldings interspersed between the mares and their foals." beep

"Yes ma'am." beep

Mikayla let out a soft sigh and changed course, taking Talal to the winter stable instead of his paddock.

The winter stable was a large building that connected the main house to the staff's quarters. The building was well ventilated and insulated with thick walls and a large heating system for all the stalls.
The original owner realized within the first year that living on a mountain meant snow was always heavier and earlier in the winter. A bad setup could mean the death of your herd, especially if your door was snowed in to the point where you couldn't get out to the animals every day.
So he'd made a large stable that connected to the side of his house. It had been rebuilt a few times by later owners. When Mikayla's father bought the property it had been in a complete disarray and the doors were falling off their hinges. The winter stables had to be completely remodeled. That's when they added a safe ventilation and heating system, an inside arena, stalls for well over 80 individual horses, pens for various stock, a loft to keep a large amount of hay, a feeding room, and finally expanded it to connect with the staff house. It had taken them over 8 months to finish it, but once it was done it was magnificent.
Then her father had bought a small flock of about 5 suffolk sheep and one ram. Mikayla, a young teenager of 15 had been incredulous at the thought. They worked with horses, not some dumb, twig-legged, fence pushing, fleece bags! Her father had been quick to change her opinion of them. They could be used for warmth and food if the weather snowed them in for all of winter, they kept the more skittish horses calm, and when it came time- their wool was sold for extra cash.
They had yet to have need for the sheep, other than to be part of a 'trial' for the stablehands that had probation officers when they first came to work for Mikayla's father. The flock had expanded a little, but each year the new year-old sheep were sold to keep the flock small and no inbreeding risks.

Overall it worked well and the routine was an easy one to fall into.

With luck, moving the horses ended up with no issues. The stallions were kept on the opposite end of the stables where they could hardly be bothered by the mares. The mares and geldings were quick to establish their small pecking orders. A few scraps and scratches, but that was to be expected.

Words- 843
Art copyright ~Rosela