Risking Life and Limb

I don’t want to do it but I don’t think I have a choice. I think I’m going to have to risk life and limb. I’m going to have to start blanketing Queen. I’m going to end up making that girl pretty cranky with the constant blanketing. She has a nice winter coat but today’s wind was the deciding factor.

I need to do some rearranging this weekend and get Rabbit out of the pen/pasture that Queen is in. It’s a really protected pen and close to the barn for when I need to pull Queen during subzero temps. Rabbit is just too hard on Queen and I’m seeing a very visible behavior change in Queen. I hope once Rabbit is in a different pen that Queen will go back to her cranky self. Even Flower seems to be picking on Queen and I won’t tolerate that type of behavior. I was taught to respect your elders, and I expect the herd to do the same thing with the horses. Too bad no one taught them that lesson.

The hard part will be deciding what blanket to put on Queen. I need to go through my limited supply of blankets and see what would best work for her. Last year I had a Jeffers blanket. It had big leg straps and buckles so I could work fast to avoid getting bitten. It also only had one belly band (it’s not like Queen will go down and roll around a lot, like the youngsters). But it’s super soft and can tear easy. With it being soft, it probably doesn’t cut the wind like I need and want her blanket to do. I also need to figure out what size she really needs to be in. I’ve had her in a 78 and that’s just a couple inches too big. I know I have a 75 but I was using that on Zeke, who I’ll need to blanket when I haul him this winter.

I may have to break down and buy her a brand new blanket if I can’t find one that will work for her all winter. I may have to buy a brand new blanket for Bo too. He needs a hefty duty blanket. I expect he’ll be in a blanket for a good portion of the winter. He’s a hard maintainer. Queen isn’t but she can’t afford to get wet.

I was on a discussion board and there’s a company that sells Whinny Warmers. They are leggings for your horse. If I thought Queen would let me mess with her legs, I would look into it. Unfortunately, I think she’d rather knock my head off instead. But it’s a way to keep their legs warm (sort of a modified version of leg warmers). I may look into buying a set for Babe or Flower. The only problem is that they are rather spendy and you should really have two pairs. One to wear and one to wash when they get dirty or wet. It might not be as suitable for our area as I think. But I may look at doing something with Queen’s legs so her arthritis isn’t so bad. I guess I need to put her on joint supplement too. She’s gotten really stiff but that could be from being chased by Rabbit (darn mares!)

I guess I’ll just see how everything works out this weekend. Hopefully I’ll have time to figure everything out on Sunday. I’ll have to try a couple blankets Friday night as the weatherman is predicting snow Saturday and I don’t want Queen to get wet. She doesn’t have the ability to warm up and dry off once she gets wet.