Dashing through the Snow

MEET THE FOLKS AND THE HORSES THAT TURN A WINTER'S DAY INTO AN UNFORGETTABLE MEMORY

- ELIZABETH EDWARDS

On a calendar-perfect day this past fall, I stand next to Susan Zenker and watch as she begins to whistle in the eight horses she owns with her husband, Craig Fitzhugh. The horses—most of them, anyhow—pull the wagons and sleighs at the couple’s Fantail Farm, set on 120 hardwood-covered acres in Benzie County. When they aren’t working, the free-range horses mill in and out of a magnificent century-old barn filled with hay on land owned by Zenker’s mother, where we are this morning, several miles away from Fantail Farm. Free-ranging, Zenker tells me between whistles, is much healthier for the horses than keeping them cooped up in stalls.

Zenker’s whistles float down a two-track that leads into the forest. But there is no sign of the horses. Then she calls, “C’mon you guys!” Mildly exasperated, she turns to me smiling and says, “It’s the middle of the morning—they are saying to each other, ‘What does she want? She might have a snack … ’ ”

Sure enough, a few moments later, the horses emerge from the trees, a magnificent mass of muscle, waving manes and iridescent coats. Haylee, an American Brabant and the herd boss, leads the way, while Levi, a North American Spotted Draft, tries to pass her. Close behind are Haylee’s sister, Hannah, and half-brothers Finn, Fergus and Shaymus—all American Brabants. Chuckles, the sole Percheron, takes up the rear while tiny Roscoe, a pony horse (and the farm’s mascot), is lost somewhere in the milieu of his nearly 2,000-pound herd mates.