Mostly Coping
Yesterday was something of a between-day. We enjoyed a break because no new snow fell and the winds had yet to kick up significantly when I walked the trash bin down to the road last night. At the start of the day, Mia seemed to be functioning normally and all the horses appeared to have dealt with the overnight cold just fine. Mix wanted to show off her frosty whiskers.
I wanted to take a picture of her cute frozen eyelashes.
Even though the temperature stayed below zero all day long, they warm up enough in the daylight to melt all the frost off themselves.
I filled my day yesterday by plowing about six inches of light powder from the driveway before pulling snow off the roof over the front entrance. Plenty more snow remains to be moved today but if it gets as windy as predicted, I may just wait one more day.
As the sun was about to set, it glowed through a haze of snow blown airborne across our horizon.
I was on my way down to re-attach the mailbox to its post after it got knocked off by the wash from the township snowplow blade. For the moment, what wind we were getting was coming from the west-northwest which is ideal for the orientation of our barn. Under the overhang, the horses can enjoy the relative calm.
With no wind chill complicating their ability to cope with the extremely cold temperatures, they seem to accept the conditions better than we do. I wonder if it is because they have no other choice, while we keep going back inside warm accommodations as much as possible.
Do they keep hoping for a day when the bite of bitter cold loosens its grip? If there is such a thing as horse sense, I hope they do.
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Is there a way to open the stall area so that they could wonder in on their own and get acclimated enough so that they put up less a fuss when you bring them in?
wtbell
December 23, 2022 at 1:47 pm
In a word, yes. We did that very thing several times this summer, under close supervision, in hopes of helping them feel accustomed to, and safe in, the stalls. That was before Cyndie’s injury left me the herd’s sole caretaker.
Luckily, they are doing well against the severe weather so far and not exposed to the wind. We are looking forward to next week’s warmup in temperature. It will feel glorious for them and me.
johnwhays
December 23, 2022 at 2:12 pm