Mischief Managed

Saturday night we got about 30 cms of snow. It was a lot but it was light and fluffy and easy to deal with. While I would prefer that the snow to be done, I had to admit that it was pretty.

I do love my woods

Guinness loves his ball, although a few times
it was lost in the snow. 

Sunday was a lovely sunny day and I was able to get some snowshoeing in. 

Today though was a whole different story. It was predicted that there would be snow followed by freezing rain and then rain. Which is a worry given the flood last week. The morning was snowy but I let the horses out to enjoy the outside while they could and took Guinness for a walk. 

hard to tell but it's snowing here. I still love my farmhouse
no matter what weather I have to endure. 

Around about 11:00 I realized that the horses were hiding in the stall so I went out to shut the doors and lock them in. Irish decided to prance around and generally act like a fool. 

Irish: Nooooo, don't take away my freedom. 

Carmen was conflicted. 

Carmen:  I don't want to be separated from Irish but I really don't want to be out in this. 

After Irish was done voicing his feelings I got a lead line over his neck and brought him inside. 

The sleet/rain started around noon. I went out to clear out my drainage paths. The snow was heavy and the freezing rain was face peeling.  But I was fortunate and the rain stayed off the coast and was not as heavy as predicted. 

Late in the afternoon I brought out the horses to groom them and clean up the stalls. Carmen watched me do Irish and I could see that she really wanted her turn. They are starting to shed and she finds that she feels itchy. 

When I went to get her I fumbled with the halter while she tried to help by shoving her head in it. When I first brought Carmen home she wasn't so sure about being groomed. Now she loves it. She will show me her itchy spots and when I say 'do you want me to do it' she will stop and wait for me to get it. 

Flexible Carmen showing me her itchy spot

Now normally I just ground tie Carmen and she never moves. These days though I am finding her curious. My work with getting her to 'face her fears' has made her want to inspect every single thing that is new. When I brought her out she inspected the little shelf I have to see if there were any treats. There weren't. But there was a blue plastic square (it belongs on the bottom of a water bucket - it keeps the cord inside. It had fallen off and I threw it there to deal with later). She sniffed it a bit and then settled in. 

Carmen: I am ready. You may begin. 

After I finished grooming her she gave a shake like she had finished rolling. That feels better. I left her there and went to clean out her stall. She stood there looking around but not moving.  I went to walk by her with a half bag of shavings and she turned to follow me. 

Carmen: Oooh let me see it. 

Me: ummm. okay. See it's shavings. 

She grabbed it with her teeth. 

Me: NO! Don't spill it. 

Carmen: I need cookies. 

Carmen: Snow days are boring. 

She sniffed the shelf again and suddenly she grabbed the blue square. My jaw dropped. 

Me: wait, what are you doing? PUT THAT DOWN. 

Carmen mouthed it a bit and the spat it out as I walked toward her. 

Carmen: it tastes stupid. I am hungry. 

To be safe I put the square in the tack room. 

Carmen: Yay, the feed vault. Now we're talking! 

Me: Just hang on. I'm working on your dinner.

ooh. I like dinner. 

I have to confess that I am enjoying this curious, mischievous Carmen. It's such a nice change but tense, worried Carmen.

I'm wondering what this will mean for our under saddle work once things thaw.

The Glamorous Life of Horse Ownership

When we tell others that we have horses it always seems that they picture an idyllic pastoral scene with happy horses and sunshine.

And it's not that that never happens.

It's just that winter is another story altogether.

yeah. Not this. 

so much this

Taking care of horses in winter is hard. 

It basically consists of being obsessed with weather apps and trying to not trip on frozen poop. 

It's trying to decide if the horses need a medium weight blanket or a heavy weight blanket. And deciding that changing them twice a day seems to be a bit too much and could the temperature please stop fucking with me. 

I need a vacation

I actually have a good system worked out- I have my hay box with the slow feed net so that they can have access to forage all day. I also put some 'free hay' out in the field so that they have to walk and not just stand at the buffet like an older couple on a cruise. 

They can go in and out of their stalls at will. I only close them in during storms. Today is one of those days. The forecast was for snow, followed by sleet followed by torrential rain. It's the rain that is most concerning because the snow can cause the water to back up and flood. Like this wonderful day a few years ago when the barn flooded. 

early morning with the snow starting

I let the horses out to have some outside time before the weather turned really bad. Of course they both flatly refused to step outside. 

Irish: I am appalled that you would even consider this weather acceptable. 

Which is frustrating because Irish gets really annoyed at being locked in his stall. He's also really annoyed about the weather and won't go into it. Clearly, it's the principle of the thing. 

I left them to it until  I could hear the ice hitting the window. I went back to the barn and got their stalls organized. Irish immediately began running around. 

Irish: noooo, I don't want to go in- I want to be out. I'm a hardy steppes horse! 

Finally I got a lead around his neck and brought him in. Carmen ran into her stall with relief. Carmen is okay with being inside as long as the hay feeder keeps getting filled. Irish will likely forgive me. 

In the meantime Guinness thinks that the weather is fine and doesn't understand why I'm not enjoying it.