Well, it was only a matter of time before our fantasy winter with temps in the 30s and 40s came to an end. We had one warm day - Tuesday - when it rained all day. Then of course, on Wednesday the temperature plummeted, and our world froze. Everything at the farm is coated with a sheet of ice.
Since my horses have not yet learned to ice skate, this presented a problem. They spent yesterday morning stuck in the barn, while I waited fruitlessly to see if the sun might melt the ice sheet that blanketed the back paddock and pasture. By noon, that clearly wasn't going to happen.
So I got a long rope and a large barrel, and made a makeshift fence to keep them in a small area of the paddock just beyond the run-in shed. I sanded and salted thoroughly, and even even tossed around some old hay and manure for added traction.
They were able to go outside in this little area, which I hope helped their sanity at least a little bit. When JD got home from work, he improved my arrangement by making it a little bigger and sanding a bigger area.
But it was only 5 degrees this morning, and it's not supposed to get much higher than the 20s today. So my poor horses are going to be stuck for a while longer with a space not big enough to run around in. But the way I look at it, it's much better than going outside to find a tragedy.
Wish they could understand that, but there's not much else I can do.
I HATE ice - it's the worst thing about winter - snow I can deal with. Hope you get rid of it soon!
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