Winter Has Arrived

Amazing what a difference 24 hours makes. Yesterday morning I woke to blustery winds. I figured I’d be doing morning chores in the cold but was pleasantly surprised to be greeted with warm temps, no snow, and water bucks completely free of ice. When I left for the paying job, I saw a few snowflakes and by the time I’d traversed three of the four corridors of the I90 corridor, it was snowing pretty well.

Fast forward to last night’s chores. Cold temps, blustery winds whipping everything around, and grumpy horses. I didn’t get out to do chores until after dark so there was the added bonus of the ever dropping temperatures after the sun set. I was none too pleased and frankly exhausted by the time I had everyone fed. Luckily the snow had stopped falling (horizontally) but the winds were still strong. The poor little “Habitat for Horses” shelter isn’t fairing very well. The winds really beat it up last night. Hopefully after the wind dies down, we can go and re-secure everything so there’s less flapping. Thor, Babe, and Queen were content to keep their heads buried in the round bale and ignore our efforts with the shelter…figures.

This morning was an even bigger wake up call. Frozen water buckets, hungry horses, wind, and snow. I thought I saw Rain shivering but when I pulled his blanket out, he decided he didn’t want to wear it. I guess he knows when he wants the blanket and when he doesn’t. Darn kid. I guess I should have pulled the other blanket that was quieter but I’m sure he still wouldn’t have had anything to do with it.

Bo on the other hand came up when I was walking away to see what I had. Today marks our 10 month anniversary together. I’ll post pictures (hopefully tonight). He’s still thinner than I prefer but I like my horses fat in the winter. He’s overly vocal about his evening grain. This morning he met me at the fence and let out a huge whinny to tell me he was anxious for his breakfast. I may need to increase his grain ration or add in something else. I have a few ideas up my sleeve I’ll try before deciding on his new and improved diet. For his sake, I’m glad that we have had such a nice winter so far. Bo has heart and a strong will to live. I can’t imagine any other horse (besides Savanna) that has that strong a will to live. Just remembering how thin he was amazes me to think that he survived. I’m so glad that he’s now safe at Borderlands. He will be a constant figure at Borderlands until the last day of his life and a symbol of why we need to do what we do. Whoever thinks it’s just the old and crippled horses going to slaughter need to do some research. Had Bo had any weight on him, he would have gone to the feedlot and we wouldn’t have been blessed with his presence. It would have been a shame to lose such a fantastic horse. Even the well broke horses (the ones everyone is looking for) can end up at slaughter if they don’t have someone looking out for them.

I heard a nasty rumor that the temps are going to stay in the single digits for most of the day and our low will be zero. I’m not looking forward to tonight’s chores. I plan on tossing out extra hay again to make sure everyone is happy and full. I’m ready for spring.