Yes, a lot of us got away with warmer temperatures for a good long time, but I hate to break the news to you all, Winter is here.

My horses, here in Florida, are starting to shed.  Not a good plan.  The trees and bushes are budding, and my Easter Lilies are up and getting ready to bloom.  Boy are they in for a shock.

I always bring to your attention that you must oil your clips, check your blankets, prepare your water pipes, but do you think I remembered to do all of that?  Ugh!!!

We weren’t expecting a freeze as of the morning weather forecast, but boy did they surprise us last night with a “Possible Freeze Warning.”  Now when you are up north, it’s just par for the course.  You expect it and prepare (I hope).  Down here when you’ve been having beautiful weather (above normal temperatures) you just think it’s going to continue.  Then surprise!!!  You’ve got an hour to remember all the things you’ve forgotten to do.  Plants come in the house or garage.  Water faucets get turned on to keep them from freezing.  (We don’t insulate them down here, we don’t have to.  Yeah right.)  But what I forgot to do was oil my clips.  Most of them were free and working when I washed the blankets this summer, but you always get one in the crowd.  So as I’m putting the leg strap on, with my nose dripping and my gloves on, trying to hurry to get in before frost bite sets in, (only kidding, but when you are used to 85 degrees 45 seems cold) the one stupid clip on the leg strap was not going to move, no matter how ugly I got.  So I grabbed a double ended clip and got the job done for the night.  Love those things.  They fall into the category of Duct Tape, Masking Tape, and Bale Cord.  No barn should be without them. Old timers used to say “chewing gum and bail wire.”

It’s really odd down here.  It feels like 40 degrees when it’s 60, and when it’s below 40 it feels like 20.  It has something to do with the dampness.  It just goes right through to your bones.  I wear as much clothes down here when it’s 40 as I did when it was 20 up north.  I think your blood thins too.  Not quite sure.

So this morning, armed with WD 40 I attacked the clip.  It was just stopped up with sand in it.  No big deal, took hardly anytime, but that is also because it was pushing 60 degrees at that point.  Life is always better when the sun is out and there is no North wind.

We didn’t get the expected freeze last night, but tonight is going to be another story.  But unlike last night, tonight I will be expecting it and prepared.

Why is it that no matter how prepared we think we are, we’re really not?

Just a quick reminder.  Now that the blankets are on, don’t forget to remove them and check what’s underneath.  Make sure your horse isn’t being rubbed raw, and that he isn’t losing weight.  Besides it always feels so good when you removed something tight and get to rub or scratch the area.  Don’t forget they feel the same way too.  Even if it’s cold, take that blanket off and give them a good curry every once in a while.  Air the blanket out and look for any problems.  Don’t wait until spring when you may find something you could have prevented.

Spring is coming.  The days are getting longer.  Just hold on.  I know, it’s easy for me to say.  But seriously, it has to come at some point.  Right?  Okay, so go back into hibernation, but don’t forget the four-legged critters.  They’re depending on you.