Every morning, when I get to the pasture, I find two animals there, Chloe, our pony and Fate, our new and young border collie-in-training. And every morning, the two, who have gotten to know one another, touch noses and seem to me to have a meeting of some sort.

Perhaps they plan their trajectories. Fate says she’ll veer to the left, Chloe will go graze on the right. Perhaps they plot strategies for getting the sheep away from the horse, where they will cluster for protection from the dog.

Perhaps they trade techniques for moving quickly on flat ground, or warn one another about woodchuck holes in the pasture. Maybe they are talking shop about the farm – how bad the flies are, how dry the ground is, how they have to put up with feckless humans, who behave illogically, emotionally and irrationally. In any case, I like the meeting and happened to have my camera out. Never leave you camera behind on a farm, this is my sacred mottoe.