By Jennifer Paulson, Managing Editor

I don’t know about you, but I’m still adjusting to the return to standard time. Daylight-saving time really does add more hours to the day for a working mom.

Now that we’ve entered the Dark Times of fall and winter, weeknights are a mad dash to get home before the last seconds of natural light set behind the mountains. It seems like we pull into the garage after picking up the kids from daycare, and the sun sets while we’re unloading from the car, not to be seen again until early the next morning.

Daylight time for horse kids means time to ride or play at the barn in the evenings. Mom is more likely to let them stay up past the usual bedtime if everyone is having fun at the barn?at least that’s how it goes at my house. Standard time brings very early daylight in very cold mornings, which aren’t exactly optimal conditions for getting kids out of bed for riding or school, for that matter.

Outside of family, the time change also influences how we work at the office. During daylight time, we can run out for an evening photo shoot whenever necessary; and morning shoots aren’t as groan-worthy, other than the early start time. Standard time means icy morning light?I can’t tell you how many trainers have shuddered (shivered) when I asked them to remove their coat and gloves for the sake of a nice photo presentation. I usually have to bribe them with hot coffee and promises of a repeat visit to cover more material when conditions are more favorable. And when we do schedule an afternoon shoot, we work feverishly to finish before the sun sets.

How does the time change affect your horse life? Do you welcome the change? Or do you dread it? Or do you live in Arizona or Hawaii, where there isn’t a time change at all? (Lucky dogs!)