This old barn...and....

This is the original file as it appeared 'in camera' and the down load. The sepia color was a touch darker, but nothing else was changed.

I do love this place and next time I go by it, I need to have a long lens with the 720nm filter on it.

It is a farm that has been around for about 100 years, that is what the last owner had told me. The only access to this place was by an old rickety bridge. I wish I'd had the forethought to have photographed it years ago.

The bridge had survived all of the floods since it was built but those floods of 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2015 gave the owner pause I guess and she moved out to somewhere else. Last year, the 2018 flood took the bridge and as we like to say "disappeared" it. The LP tank to the house was found 1/2 mile away. However the barn never suffered damage other than what Mother Nature has done to it.

The place sits empty now. I don't see any animals grazing on the land and I suspect that any fencing that did exist has been washed away.
Last year huge wrapped round bales landed with the flood waters all along the river and into the Readstown Park, looking like monstrous marshmallows that had been dropped by a giant. [Wow, what a fun opportunity that would have been to photograph also!]

Anyway I digress.
I've taken a lot of photos of this barn and farm over the years and decided to try it in Infrared.

The blues that appear after a channel swap were really neat. The branches, trees, and grass around it had a very dull yellowish color to it which I didn't like.

I felt this needed a vintage treatment.

I like it so much better this way. I could have added some old film scratches but decided to leave well enough alone.

I need the zoom lens next time or a better angle to capture the old farm house and the barn in the same frame.

I feel sort of awkward pulling over and parking then walking along the side of the road with the camera. Perhaps I shouldn't feel that way. But I imagine someone driving by and wondering what that Crazy Person is doing!

Awkward. I'm facing my next challenge in photography Saturday morning. I was invited by a CrossFit friend to come and take photos of her family. I told her that I wasn't very experienced in 'people' shots and didn't have a studio or fancy lights.
The worst that can happen is that she doesn't use anything I take. So I put on my big girl panties and decided to try it.
Yes, I have done a few weddings, but I'm a basic person and like candid shots best.

We shall see how this goes!

Man made or natural shelters for equine?

I was asked by another blogger that I follow, "Do your critters have no shelter in the winter?"

To understand some of why my animals are able to stay outside during all seasons is to understand the lay of our land.

We are an extremely hilly landscape.  If a wind blows from any direction, our animals can simply go into an area or the woods to escape the winds and have them blocked.

They have constant temperate water available to them by means of heated stock tanks.

They have nearly a constant source of roughage to keep them warm.

Plus they have the freedom to run and play and move to keep their body temperatures regulated.

You can find our animals comfortably taking naps during the winter in the sunlight or in the middle of a storm.

Of course any of the animals who may be frail or ill will get brought into the unheated open on one end...shed that we have so we can monitor their health closely.

Believe me, I used to think how could they be warm?  Really?  I am cold, how can they not be cold?

Here is one of our mules after a particularly cold wicked day.  I put my hands up next to his skin and found it to be wonderfully warm and cozy.

He was not shivering, he was not cold.  

Anyway, what equine do need in cold weather is freedom of movement, wind blocks, or in our case deep ravines and forests...good forage and plenty of it.  
During the coldest parts of winter they have forage access 24 hrs a day.

I do not blanket them.  It messes up their ability to deal with cold weather and flattens their coats.  But that said, I have no problem with people who do blanket their horses or equine.  Horses with health issues do need the extra protection.

A well insulated animal in a healthy condition will get along nicely without being stalled or blanketed. A nice layer of snow laying across the animal's back also provides an nice layer of insulation.

Keep in mind these critters are of all ages.  In the photos above there are some 20+ ladies running with younger animals.  They were playing and warming their bodies up after a very cold night.

Or were they just having fun?

And lastly, one of our most insulated animals on the farm.  Easy to keep wonderfully entertaining, Lil' Richard.  This was his rear end after feeding him the other morning.

When the sun came out he rolled and discarded the snow on his back as the other animals did.

Let me say in conclusion that I know that my sister stalls and blankets her horses and turns them out in the indoor arena.  But she lives in an area where there is no natural wind blocks.  Plus she uses the blankets to keep the hair flat and for faster shed out as show season starts early.

So in answer to the question, do my critters have no shelter?  They have available shelter in the form of hills and woods.  After all, the horse has lived without man made shelter for many years.

I hope this helps!

For interesting reading try this article: Thermoregulation in horses in a cold time of year...