Here we are, horse people.  We belong outside with our animals.  Riding, caring for them, just enjoying being with them.  This has got to be the winter from hell.  This is the type of winter that made me move to Florida.

Now in the fall, the meteorologists said that it was going to be a warm dry winter.  A La Nina.  Oh really now,  Where????  If Florida goes into the 20’s with a wind chill bringing it down to near zero, what hope does the rest of the country have?  The only good thing about living here is that it will only last two-days, and zero is a night-time temp.

I got a call late last week, my friend was going up to teach a clinic in North Carolina, could I blanket her horses at night and take them off in the morning.  Sure, no problem.  But my mind drifted back to when I used to teach up north.  Twenty degrees and I was not standing on the ground giving a lesson, I was going to be on a horse moving around too.  It conjured up a lot of memories.  Packed ice and snow in their hoofs.  Sliding down icy roads with their legs going in different directions.  Or that could even be in your yard.

One winter, when I had my horses up in New Jersey, we had a frozen wonderland for a month.  The horses were stuck in the barn.  I had an ice skating ring between my house and the barn, and I freshened it every morning.  You know the routine.  First you lose your hose.  Have to drain it every night, but eventually you lose the faucet.  I got one of those hydrants that drain it out through the bottom.  Lost that.  So I hand pumped water from the old well.  Lost that.  Started bucket watering from the cellar in the house.  Would get half way to the barn, slip, fall with the water, add another layer to the ice, go back in, change clothes, and do it over again.

My husband decided that he was going to let his horse, who was born in Texas out onto the ice.  (I know I’ve told you all this before.) Toy came out, about 10 feet, his legs slid into an X and there he stood.  He wouldn’t move.  So we pushed and slid him back to the concrete and into the barn for the remainder of the “ice age.”  Now my Quarter Horse who was born in South Dakota, walked out and across the ice like it wasn’t there.

We can look back and laugh at all the times in the past where we had to deal with winters like this, but when they are happening, it’s not much fun.

So what do horse people do when you can’t do what you want to do?  Well first we get really ugly.  We dress as warm as we can and go out to the barn.  Vogue?  I don’t think so.  We each have our own way of staying warm.  It includes putting on everything we can get our hands on, whether it’s ours or someone else who isn’t wearing it at the moment.  We wobble into the barn with just our eyes showing.  We greet the next round ball of material hoping that when we hear their voice we can recognize who we are speaking to.  We fumble through gloves, mittens, and hand warmers to reach into our pockets for a frozen carrot or treat for our horse.  You know the horse that is looking at you like “what were you in your first life?”  Then they snort and go into their thinking of “What is it?”  “Will it hurt me?”  “Should I run?”  “Can I climb into my hay rack?”  “Can I eat it?”  But then they hear your familiar voice and think “I know that voice, my person is in that thing somewhere.”  “Oh no!, it swallowed my person!  Run!!!!!!”

This is the best we can do.  Just laugh at the old times, and even the new times, and wait it out.  We can read books, watch videos, and plan on all the things we are going to do with our horses when the next season of “mud” arrives.  We’d take mud right now.  Even the suck you boots off type of mud.

Well there was a country/western song that says “all I want for Christmas is a real good tan.”  Sounds like a plan right now, but I’ll tell you, you’re not going to get it in Florida this week.  Frost bite yes! (last week)

People look at me and tell me that it’s not that bad, I’m sure people have said it to you too.  They go from a warm house, to a warm car, to a warm office or store, and back again.  They are not out there trying to navigate the icy terrain just to get their animals fed and watered.  Hack away at frozen manure, or chop at their grain which is now one big lump.  Don’t you just hate people who tell you that?

We are the true heroes.  We are the brave, diligent horse owners who take on the elements so our animals can be comfortable and fed.  We are those crazy people who jump on our horses with their winter blankets on to get our fix, slipping and sliding as we go.  And come summer we won’t think back about this at all.

So stay strong, stay warm, and fight onward.  This too shall pass.  I hope you got a laugh out of this.  That was my intent.  If not, frost bite has already set in.  Oh My!