Too cold for much of anything outside, when it's -21°! Thank heavens the wind did not start blowing like originally predicted.
Feed and hurry back inside. Even inside it's been hard to keep this old house warm. I might be wearing gloves as I type later on. That will be interesting!
Horses look all decked out in this colder weather. Horripilation** adds a few pounds to their image, and I now understand where the term "frosted" comes from -- all those make-up and hair colorings called "frosted" were inspired by Mother Nature herself!
Why does Bo have more body hair frosted than the other horses?
How do you suppose they build up frost on the tail head, eh?
Pictures taken around 9 am, temps had risen to -10°. By noon, temps reached 0°!
**From www.medterms.com about horripilation: "Some biologists believe that goose bumps evolved as part of the fight-or-flight reaction along with heart rate increases that send the heart racing while blood rushes to the muscles to give them additional oxygen. A similar phenomenon, bristling, in fur-covered animals may have made them look larger and more frightening and kept them warmer by increasing the amount of air between hairs which traps body heat. But in people there seems to be no practical purpose for goose bumps except, of course, to make our skin crawl."
1 comment:
Funny-- I was noticing that the horses all gather frost right on the tailhead too. I was trying to figure out why.
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