Chocolate Horses

           

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      Most of the time, having horses is a lot of fun. This is the first time, however, we have had horses through a severe Winter storm with freezing rain and then fourteen inches of snow.  I wasn't really sure whether to leave their entry to the barn open and let them play as the blizzard continued or to feed them early and put them in their stalls with the radio set to classical music, as the snow and ice was loudly hitting the barn's metal roof at intervals.  I chose a compromise.  I let them play in it together until it started to get deep, and then I fed them in their stalls.  They must be fed separately as two of the four will eat the feed of the remaining two more polite horses.  Then, I closed the stalls for the night and went on to care for the other animals. In the past month or so in the cold weather, they all have grown very thick Winter coats. One of the younger ones looks more like a wooly mammoth than a horse !  They also have long fetlock hair (legs) which I am having to brush and trim.

           In the morning there was fourteen inches of white powdery stuff with a half inch crust of ice.  I did notice the ice overhang on the barn roof sides, but in order to open the upper half door of the stalls to let them out to the pasture, I would need to stand under the gutter and all that ice for just a moment. As I did, a large heavy block of ice and snow fell from the tall pitched roof hitting me on the right shoulder and then slicing my hand and index finger through a thin glove.  I let the horses out and proceeded to muck the stalls with vinyl gloves over my cut hand.  Normally, I remove dry horse manure to a wheelbarrow I call the "muck truck". Then I sweep out any urine and pine shavings, which I only use in one corner of the stalls. (Because they don't defecate anywhere else)  The pine shavings are then scooped out and placed in the muck truck also.  Then, every day, I mop the entire concrete stall floor with a small amount of pine cleaner and water.  Since the bucket was frozen solid today, I could not do this.  Instead, I placed a couple of tablespoons of Pinalen on the floor and used a half a shovel full of snow.  I swept it around as it cleaned the surfaces much better than I had anticipated. Then I swept it away, also into the muck truck.  I refilled waters buckets, and gave them all hay despite the fact that some had been left overnight.   I was concerned about how they might behave in the pasture. Horses need to avoid any areas in which they might slip and fracture a leg, as it is most often fatal as it will result in their being euthanized.     I was very surprised to see that they were all quite sure footed in the pasture and that they truly enjoyed the Winter wonderland.   After the cleaning and feeding was done, I went inside to have an oatmeal breakfast and to better investigate my shoulder and my hand.  The shoulder is bruised and the hand is cut and a little swollen. I put Apinol on it, and continued with my busy day.

         This afternoon I returned to the horses early to see how they were doing.  They were eating the snow. Interestingly, the water buckets were at the same levels as they had been after I filled them in the morning. They had flattened a great deal of the snow in their pasture, and were truly enjoying their romp in it.  The alpacas on the other hand, chose to stay inside their stalls and to venture out only to urinate.   By then, the rest of the snow on the barn roof had slid down to the ground, and two of my sons were needed to shovel the snow near the barn exterior stall doors so that I could close them when it was time to put the horses away for the night. As we shoveled and I unburied the muck truck, the smallest horse rolled  as if to itch in the powdery snow.

        Before dark they were all back in their stalls and ready for another quiet night.  I think my shoulder will ache in the morning.  Tomorrow I will check hooves and perhaps place a protectant on them since it's likely to be wet for a couple of days. If the wind picks up, I may place their fly masks on them to protect their eyes.   Still, I enjoy caring for these creatures. They are grateful for everything I do for them. They come when I call them by name, and sometimes they will play with me. I think the best way to spent the early morning and late afternoon is with chocolate horses on Valentine's Day.