While the opening of the Oklahoma training facility in April is usually greeted with enthusiasm, there’s at least one person and a lot of felines who mark the return of the horses and the humans with mixed feelings.

In the off-season, the barns belong to the cats of the three colonies who call the Oklahoma home, but when activity picks up, they go into hiding, and their year-round caretaker, Michele Jennings, knows that she probably won’t see them again until the fall.

“There’s so much activity in the summer that they’re not out when I’m here during the day,” she explained.

Mostly feral, the cats are neither aggressive nor mean, but they’re not your typical housecats. They’ve lived outside for most of their lives and are spooked easily by humans, keeping themselves well-hidden and obeying their ages-old instinct to protect themselves.

Some of them, though, will make an exception for Jennings.

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