Living in LoCo correspondents Marie Bertozzi and Laura Green bring us news from the equestrian world. Marie is co-owner of Cavallo Farm in Brambleton, and Laura, an MBA student at UNC-Chapel Hill, rides at Cavallo Farm.

Ahh, the holidays. Time off from work with the family relaxing next to the fireplace, perhaps dreaming of what it would be like to spend Christmas “on the farm” in quiet solitude with the animals munching happily on hay.

The horses must be fed on Christmas Day! (Photos by Marie Bertozzi)

But as most farmers know, the holidays are not as idyllic and tranquil as most people might think. Actually, holidays are work days when the owners work and the staff is off.

Christmas on our farm goes something like this: Be at the barn by 8 a.m. to feed, hay, water, break ice from the paddock troughs and turn out the horses. With two people, this takes approximately two and a half to three hours, as we have almost 30 horses and ponies on the property. We are slower than our staff, who manage to do these chores in two hours – but there are three of them, and they do it every day. That extra set of hands really does wonders!

We do not muck the stalls on Christmas nor on New Year’s Day, as the horses can survive those two days with unclean stalls, especially since they’ll spend most of both days outside in their paddocks. Our clients are supportive and agree with our decision to leave the horses au natural for two days a year.

After the morning chores, we head to the house to eat a big brunch and open presents. Once we have cleaned up, we begin preparations for Christmas dinner. Because we are here – always - during the holidays and because my husband is Italian, he insists on cooking. This year, we are having 12 guests for dinner in addition to the four members of our family. We will have a full table of good food surrounded by good friends and cheer.

One of the barns at Cavallo Farm decorated for the holidays

But before we get there, we must bring in the horses and ponies, inspect them for injuries, drop their dinner and close them up for the night.

Over the years, we have had a lot of Christmas excitement during turn-out and turn-in. For example, a certain pony - who shall remain nameless, except to say that he’s owned by our family - always chooses Christmas as the time to make a break for it and run away from whomever is trying to lead him to his paddock. We’re ready for him this year, but we do wonder what tactic he’ll use to try to escape.

Other exciting events included the time a boarder thought it would be festive to decorate her horse’s stall. We warned her about the poisonous holly and tried to persuade her to decorate her stall out of reach of her young horse. But when we came down to feed breakfast on Christmas Day, the decorations were gone and the horse needed a visit from the vet for Christmas. That was not the way either of them wanted to spend the holiday.

But Christmas on the farm is not all work. There is that bond with nature, the solitude of the long walk down the half-mile driveway where you can enjoy the day’s beauty and just hear the clip-clop of the horse’s feet on the frozen ground. There is that enjoyment of the land and the thankfulness for the things it provides us through the year.

Every Christmas, almost as much as every child, we wish for a white Christmas, because it is a special treat to see that even the horses find a childlike joy in the snow. They blow at it, run in it, roll in it and find that it can be exciting and liberating to enjoy something different about the day.

After the horse chores are done, and we are sitting around the dinner table with our guests, that is when the peace and the joy settle in, and we can really enjoy the special day that is Christmas.