The everyday work of raising and racing horses, told from the yard
Foaling, covering, weanlings and the long stretch of quiet, essential work that decides what next year's yearlings will look like.
A week-old foal and a six-month-old weanling barely resemble each other, and almost everything that changes in between happens quietly, without anyone taking a photograph of it.
Less lantern-lit miracle, more six weeks of broken sleep and a torch that needs new batteries. Here is what the season is actually like once you take the calendar photos out of it.
A page of names and dates will tell you a lot. It will not tell you whether the horse actually walks well, throws a good temperament, or covers mares easily enough that the season doesn't become a logistical headache.
Winter is when the next season is actually built, quietly, months before anyone thinks about covering dates. Get a mare through it well and spring looks after itself far more often than it doesn't.