It's old news that the Midwest got blasted by arctic cold weather last week. It was caused by a polar vortex, the link has a good explanation of what that is. It was actually caused by weakness in the weather pattern. If you don't respect weather, it can be deadly. People and animals, lost their lives. Thankfully, at our place we survived just fine. However, I don't know a soul that isn't glad it's over.
Our dumper of incorrectly forecasted snow, was followed up by frigid cold. Many places closed prematurely, only to close again for what felt like endless days. This new week brings us warmer temps and rain, on top of melting snow, creating ice. Everywhere. We are still trying to weather it...
We stay stocked up on animal necessities, and try to do the same with human perishables. I don't think I left our property for close to a week, and turned into a cozy hibernating bear. One of the warmer days I went to a (re) rescheduled appointment, and my truck said -27F (air temp). Brrr! I probably should have stayed home that day too.
Our horses did amazing well last week. Most days they waited to go out until afternoon. I think they appreciated the slightly warmer turnout, even if only partial day. They were always happy to be able to come inside. We didn't use any blankets, even on Harmony. She has one, but so far hasn't needed it. Side note: blankets sure became a hot topic on Facebook...!! Our horses tolerated being stalled for two full days without loosing their minds, without any turnout. Those were a couple poopy days!!! They did get to play musical stalls and walk the aisle in-hand. An indoor arena sure would have come in handy!
This is our first winter here, much is being experienced for the first time. We were so thankful our barn stayed above freezing, and that the cold didn't faze our waterers. For us humans and dogs, the heated saloon was soooo welcoming during chores! Speaking of dogs, our grand dogs had a terrible time with the frigid cold. Just being let outside to go potty brought on legs cramps and frozen paws. Poor babies.
I've been preoccupied doing a photo challenge, and haven't been taking many other photos. So I'll just close with an unrelated photo of us out on our sleds the *one day* between frigid cold and rain. It was our first time riding in two years. I was so happy it doesn't bother my torn rotator cuff!! It was a fun afternoon of exploring new trails (to us) that are minutes from our land. Sooo nice just to be outside!!
3 comments:
Ya know...that’s just waaay to cold! We never got that bad the worst I think was -13. So we were having a heat wave compared to you. We rarely blanket our horses and they don’t seem to mind,they’re pretty hairy. We did blanket a few days during the really cold temps because it was so windy. Grady hates his blanket and gives a hard time about putting it on everyone else doesn’t care. Glad you got out of the house for a while, I was going stir crazy here. But on the plus side some closets got cleaned out👍🏻Believe it or not today it’s in the upper 40’s, so maybe the ground hog got it right this year🤞
From polar vortex to rain? Sounds like mother nature has schizophrenia!
Dreamy and scary, all at once. I don’t blanket either. The horses need that fluff. Cold and rain, IMO, are much harder on them. The rain slicks down their hair and you can see the warmth emanating off their bodies. Blankets can push down the hair and keep the whole convection process from happening. But lots of people swear by blankets, so whatever you feel is best. 👍
I love your sleds!! Stay safe and as warm as you can.
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