Rain, Rain Go Away!

I hate to complain about this weather but it sure is getting old. I thought the weatherman was saying 60s for the weekend but when I looked just now it didn't show 60s until Sunday. I'd really love to have just a few more weeks of nicer weather.

I feel like I've been caught with my pants down. I'm simply not prepared for winter this year. Of course it IS only mid October so we should be having nice fall weather instead of end of November weather.

Last night I had to do chores in the rain. At times it was a heavy rain and at others it was just a steady rain. I may need to invest in a good waterproof coat or a rain coat if this weather keeps up.

I immediately pulled Bob into the barn. Since I was gone Tuesday night I forgot to prepare Bob's beet pulp so he only got his senior feed. Don't worry I did go back and feed him his beet pulp later in the evening but it takes about two hours for the beet pulp to soak before feeding. I think without the beet pulp Bob would have gone to bed hungry (even though he had free choice hay).

I pulled Sam and King in to get their grain. Sam was disappointed that I had to kick him back out. If I would have had enough water tubs I would have left him in.

I finally got Babe and Queen into the barn but couldn't get back in the house to get their warm water for the mash. They were a bit put out while I did all my chores but they were happy to be in some place dry.

I did decide to pull Zeke into the barn. He was shivering again. Rain was fine. It's odd. I can't figure out if Zeke is playing me or if he is like Rain and gets chilled easily. Rain could get out of the rain so I didn't worry about him. I wasn't sure how Bob and Zeke would react to each other but they behaved just fine. Zeke was curious and did some sniffing over the chain. Bob pinned his ears and then turned his back on Zeke. I think they'll be just fine!

Tommy, Skippy, and Longhorn didn't venture out of their small pens to stand in the rain/mud. They stayed under cover. Longhorn is starting to do his "heehaw" at me every time I bring him food. I hope that at some point he'll learn to trust me and that only good things will happen to him from now on.

I was worried that Maverick would be chilled standing out in his swamp lot but he was just fine. I think Maverick is pretty tough. He has a decent winter coat, unlike Brego.

When I went in last night Dude, Rain, Chaos, Sam, and Brego were standing in the leanto. King decided he'd rather stand out in the rain. I can't figure him out. He prefers the bad weather to the confinments of shelter. I have to position him in the barn inbetween two horses. If I have him near the wall he gets uncomfortable. Of course he gets uncomfortable being stalled next to Sam too. I'll have to remember that for this winter.

I dried of Queen last night before I fed them their grain mash. I wasn't sure if she'd dry out otherwise. Water just poured off her. After the last time I wondered if in the morning Queen would need a blanket. I was right. Queen still wasn't completely dry. I can't figure out why she doesn't dry off other than she can't get her body warm enough. I'm sure she's spending all her energy trying to stay warm.

So this morning I decided to throw the lightweight blanket on her. I need to invest in a waterproof sheet so that I can just throw that on her whenever it rains. She really can't handle being out in the rain without some type of blanket/sheet. She really can't tolerate any bad weather.

I think starting the first of November I'm going to break into the alfalfa for the mares. I have 50 bales so we'll see how far they go. I'm not impressed with this batch so hopefully next year I can get a better batch. But if I have it, I might as well get them used to it.

Hopefully this weekend the weather will be nice enough to dry out most everything before the next wave of rain comes through with a cold front.