The year is part of everyday life here

At Ronivaara, the turning year is part of how everyday life is lived.

Snow, light, pasture, rain, frost and changing ground shape the horses’ days, the work around the farm and the way we move between the yard, paddocks, pastures and forest.

The animals give the year its familiar rhythm. They are fed, checked and cared for every day. The same horses are here when deep snow covers the yard, when meltwater begins to run in spring, when the herd moves out onto pasture and when the first autumn frost settles on the ground.

Around them, the work follows the season.

Snow is moved where paths need to stay open. Spring brings fences, gates and pasture areas back into view after the winter. Summer takes the horses out onto pasture, and autumn turns the work towards the coming cold. Rain, frost, wear and fresh snow keep changing the ground beneath it all.

Ronivaara is the same home through all of it, while every season brings another way of living and working here.

Winter – snow, frost and the return of light

Winter settles deeply into Ronivaara.

Snow softens the sounds around the farm. On cold days it squeaks under boots and hooves. During the blue hour, the yard, buildings and snow can all seem to turn the same shade of blue.

The horses continue their everyday life outdoors with their familiar herds. Snow and frost change the paths through the paddocks and yard, and the conditions underfoot are part of every day’s planning.

There are ordinary winter jobs too. Snow needs moving from the places that have to stay open, and the yard and horse areas need to remain usable. The animals still wait for their food and care regardless of how much snow fell overnight.

This is also the time when the sleigh comes out. Behind a Finnhorse, its runners leave two narrow lines through the snow.

Later in winter, something starts to change before the snow itself does.

The light returns.

On clear late-winter days, the sun reflects from the snow and the horses may stand with their sides turned towards its warmth. The yard is still white and the frost can still be hard, but the days no longer feel the same.

Summer – the horses move out onto pasture

Summer opens Ronivaara outwards.

The forests and slopes turn green, the days stretch late into the evening and the Finnhorses move onto their summer pastures.

During the grazing season, the horses can spend day and night on pasture. Their everyday world expands across open areas, slopes, forest edges and places where trees offer shelter.

The herd has its own rhythm.

At one moment the horses graze close together. Later some move towards the forest while another stays behind to eat. Familiar friends find one another. Someone rests. Someone keeps moving from one patch of grass to the next.

For the people who know the horses, there are familiar details to notice: who chooses whose company, who is first to move and who is content to stay a little farther away.

Summer work follows alongside them. Fences and water need checking, pastures are watched and the animals are still observed every day even when their living area has grown much larger.

This is summer at Ronivaara: horses, grass, forest, long light and the ordinary work that keeps everything going.