Rain (the horse) and Cold Weather

I think winter is finally here. Oh sure we don’t have any snow yet but the temperatures this morning said otherwise. Winds out of the south are supposed to be warm but this morning those winds were cold! Both Thor and Queen were out of the wind in their shelter while Babe had her head buried in the round bale. The ponies told me in no uncertain terms that they thought I was late in getting out for morning chores. Flower was standing out of the wind while Rabbit supervised my feeding. Everyone in the big herd was standing out of the wind this morning. They weren’t too keen on standing where I threw the hay piles but I can’t open the gate. If I do, I’m afraid it’s going to fall over. I have to figure out how to repair the fence post because it’s rotting off but surrounded by concrete. So instead of dragging my little hay cart around I just toss hay over the gate.

I always do a quick “once over” of everyone to make sure no one has huge cuts or bite marks. I noticed Rain shivering like crazy. Poor guy can’t regulate his temperature. Ever since he got sick a few years ago even the slightest weather change causes him problems. I had figured that Bo would be the one to have problems but he was trotting around to keep warm and searching out hay piles away from the other horses.

Rain was trying his hardest to stay out of the wind. I finished throwing hay and grabbed a blanket. Of course I grabbed Zeke’s blanket and not Rain’s so had to readjust the straps. The weatherman is calling for 44 degrees today but Rain was so cold I couldn’t leave him standing there shivering. I tossed out some extra hay to help him warm up. Out of all the horses, out of all the breeds, and out of all the horses coming from different situations, it’s Rain who has troubles handling the weather change.

Rain is my personal horse and was never considered a rescue. But he gets as much pampering as the others. I couldn’t consider getting rid of him, especially knowing that his system has been compromised and we’ll always have to keep a very close eye on him when the weather changes. He can’t take extreme heat and humidity and he can’t take extreme cold or wind. Poor Rain has the least heaviest winter coat out of all the horses. It makes life easier when it comes down to shedding but now that we are in the middle of winter, it’s really hard on him.

Rain has two different winter blankets, although Jim confiscated one when the weather gets cold. But I may have to invest in a few more blankets for him to ensure that he doesn’t get chilled. Here I’m always worrying about Queen and if she gets chilled by a rain she’ll never get warm. Poor Rain gets chilled by the slightest breeze. He has a permanent spot in the leanto off the barn so that he can avoid the winds. I do think the wind cuts right through him. I guess he has a thin skin besides a thin winter coat.

I’m hoping that the winter blanket survives today. Maverick has a tendency to EAT blankets. I don’t have the corral panels set up yet to put Maverick in the “naughty pen” just yet. It’s been on my “to do” list but the weather hasn’t been bad enough to need the pen. I guess we are in to winter and I better set up the pen.

As it stands, the blanket Rain is wearing right now (Zeke’s blanket) has a huge rip thanks to Maverick. Maverick got the bright idea that Zeke should have a butt flap instead of a tail cover. So the blanket reminds me of long underwear with the butt flap for “emergencies”. I expect I’ll see Rain’s tail hanging out of the blanket when I get home. I had such high hopes of getting all the blankets repaired this fall but the time got away from me. Hopefully I get Zeke’s blanket (and Rain’s blanket) repaired before we head in to real winter with cold temperatures.

I don’t hold much faith that the temperatures will actually hit 44 degrees. If it does, Rain may get a little toasty in the blanket. But the weatherman also said that the wind was going to be fairly strong all day today. I guess I would rather have Rain comfortable in a blanket standing in the shade then having him stand in the leanto trying to shiver himself warm.