September is one of our favourite months at Caplor.
There can still be warmth in the sun and long afternoons out in the fields, but there are little reminders everywhere that the seasons are beginning to turn. Cooler mornings, softer evening light, shortening days and the first hints of autumn appearing across the farm.
For us, it’s also an important transition point in the year.
Good horse management is rarely about making dramatic changes overnight. It’s about observing what is happening — with the horse, the herd and the land — and gradually adapting as their needs change.
Working with the seasons
One of the great privileges of keeping horses in a farm environment is seeing just how closely their lives follow the natural rhythm of the seasons.
Our grazing changes throughout the year, and that's something we embrace.
September can still provide wonderful grazing and we're fortunate to have plenty of grass across Caplor. As we move through autumn, however, the way horses use that grazing and what individual horses need alongside it begins to change.
For some, very little additional support is required. Others may benefit from supplementary feeding earlier in the season, particularly older horses or those who find maintaining condition more difficult.
There isn't one date in the diary when we declare that summer management has finished and winter management has begun.
Instead, we watch.
