I think you have done a nice job on balancing the background without blowing the highlights on the horses coat

Nice, but you might crop a bit off the top and the right

great shot...gl

very very cool shot...gl

A little too dark IMO, you have lost all detail in the cow.

Although I'm not seeing anything blown out in the cow I do have to admit it is a bit dark. Probably has to do with the lighting when you shot this. I'd either add some fill light (which may or may not have a negative effect on the rest of the image) or see how it looks in black and white (the darkness of the cow compared to the midtones/lights of the background might make it work FOR you instead of AGAINST you). Hope that helps. All the best!

I tried B/W and it didn't work a bit I messed with the saturation a bit of the original (no cropping) and this is it. Maybe there was just too much of the black cow taking up the picture in the cropped one. Although in this one it seems the white snow is blown a little.

You're right, the snow does seem a bit blown out now. Hmmm. This might be one of "those images" that can't really be helped without some advanced (and illegal) photoshopping. My recommendation would be to go back to the version without the blown out snow. It was darker, yes, but it was still a good shot. I was just trying to help the darkness issue. :P

alright...so I went back in and messed with Levels a little bit different than I normally do and this one seems to be a bit better, but you may be right Steve about it being just one of those images. Thanks for your help.

You could also try re-shooting and use a different light source

yeah, I could....but I'm sure it'd be hard to get his tongue like that again. I don't even know if the guy has his cows out yet for the year. Guess I'll have to take a walk tomorrow and look

lol, but that's what happens when you don't have fingers.