horse-shaped kites

I don't usually use stock images since I take one million photos at the farm all the time but, this is basically what yesterday was like for me:

Seriously.

My new schedule at the barn has me feeding and bringing the barn horses in on Wednesday evenings (thank you daylight savings time). An easy task usually as 7 of the 11 horses live outside. All I have to do is bring the mares in and one gelding (which can be a slight challenge sorting him from the other boys). But there was a crazy weather system coming through our area promising a 45 degree drop in temps over night and wind gusts over 50 mph (they were already gusting at 45 mph when I arrived and it was raining sideways). We all agreed it would be best to bring in the other 4 geldings in Riley's field so that they were protected from the elements. Normally, we'd just stick a medium rug on all of them and let them hang out in their shed, but it was wayyyy too hot at 6pm to do that. Certainly none of us were going to head out in the middle of the night to do a blanket change, so inside it was.

Except... the boys have become quite feral living outside. We've bell trained them to come to the gate for dinner and stupidly, I decided I would feed them inside and bring them up to the barn in pairs. I really should have fed them as usual because they lost their minds when I tried to catch them (because I wasn't feeding them). They were all completely wild, the wind was howling which got them even more worked up and things were escalating quickly. I decided to take the biggest trouble-maker out of the field first, thank goodness he let me catch him because he had been bucking, galloping and squealing like mad just prior. He's also the biggest of all of them and I figured if I could get him up to the barn (it's about a 100 yards to the barn) the rest would be easy. Ha! He was a fire-breathing dragon and was spooking at everything. I know him well enough to not tolerate his shenanigans, so we had a discussion about manners. Then I went back for trouble-maker #2. He was actually worse than the first and literally dragged me up to the barn. He has a way of completely tuning you out, to the point that it seems as though he has no idea there's someone on the end of the lead rope (which makes him more dangerous in a way). He spooked all over the damn place while I held on and dug my elbow into his shoulder so he at least knew I was there. Next up was Riley and he was also a hot mess. Every time a gust of wind came along he'd break into a trot, neck craning around to see where the danger was coming from. With him, I just gave him more slack on the lead as he is very respectful of my space and I didn't want him to feel confined. Lots of pats and talking. When we got to the top of the driveway, he saw the cows (again) and did the biggest spook I've EVER seen him do (it was hilarious). Then he spooked at the mounting block, which had been moved to a new spot (horses???) and I finally got him in to the barn. Last of all is Emily's new gelding and despite one rather large spook when we first started up the hill, the more I talked to him and patted his neck, the more he relaxed, he too, spooked at the mounting block, but I finally got everyone in, safe and sound.

To be clear, hot horses on the ground don't worry me, I know these guys really well, but it was a perfect storm for something bad to happen yesterday. I am rarely fearful handling a single horse and we can generally bring them up in pairs, but it wasn't worth the risk at all. For the first time in a really long time I was actually worried one might get away from me.

I am a true believer in the theory that it's better to be safe than sorry and even though I didn't want to make a million trips up and down to their field, I knew that bringing them in (selectively -- as some handle being alone better than others) one at a time was the best course of action. I was at the barn alone and safety always comes before anything else. I feel bad for my friend who has to turn them out today in 19 degrees (with the same wind)!! Hold on tight!

How do you guys handle situations like this? Do you take risks, or err on the side of safety?