Freezing

The next 48 hours aren’t going to be any fun. That’s not to say that the last 24 hours have been all that great. Yesterday morning we saw freezing rain. We had enough freezing rain to melt much of our snow but replaced it with sheets of ice everywhere. Our yard is dangerous now. I didn’t fall but I came close a number of times. No matter where I walk, I’m on ice. Maybe I should correct that, no matter where I skate, I’m on ice. I was trying to push a wheel barrow of hay over to Babe and Bo up a very small hill (you wouldn’t even know it’s there most days). But I started going up that itty bitty hill and had to stop because I couldn’t keep enough traction to hold myself up, never mind push a wheel barrow full of hay. The pens are covered in ice and I’m worried about the horses. I’m trying to keep them off the concrete but that’s an effort in futility.

If the freezing rain wasn’t bad enough, yesterday afternoon fog rolled in. As the temps dropped, the fog started to freeze. So now we have ice from yesterday’s rain and freezing fog. I had hoped that the fog would lift before this morning. Nope. If anything, the fog was worse.

The weatherman is now calling for a winter weather advisory (of course the advisory stops before it reaches our county but we are only three miles from the county line so I figure we’ll be dealing with some serious snow).I’m not looking forward to snow on top of this ice. If the snow is wet and sticky, maybe it’ll make walking a little easier but if it’s the light fluffy stuff, we are in trouble.

If the snow wasn’t bad enough, we are supposed to get an artic blast and have a high of zero for Thursday. So we’ve had warm temps with freezing rain, turned into freezing fog, which will turn into snow, and then subzero temps. These are the times I wonder why we opened a horse sanctuary in South Dakota! These are also the times where I wonder why I live in South Dakota!!

Tonight I’m pulling out all the hoses to fill water tanks. It’s too dangerous now to haul bucket after bucket of water back to the mares and ponies. Last night I hauled two buckets back and slid the entire way. If I fall and break something now, we are going to be in a world of hurt.

Because of the bad weather and icy roads, we opted to hold off on bringing the neighbor’s horse over. We’ll wait until the weather clears and then try to find a time that works.

We had a great fundraiser meeting Saturday night. The hard part will be finding time to get the logistics of the event figured out. I’ll save the tentative details until after I make a few phone calls. I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up for the event until I have a few more details worked out. We are focusing the fundraiser event more towards kids. The middle of March with the type of weather we’ve been having is a good time to have little kids get out of the house for an afternoon. At least that was our thinking. I know we aren’t focused more on horses but we want to get kids involved and educated in the ways of the horse and this is one step in the right direction.

I’m holding back the remaining eight round bales until March. So now the herd is enjoying different hay, although I think they may have preferred 24x7 access to hay. The herd has taken to standing in front of the barn doors so that they can get the best hay. I swear Dude and Chaos are always the first to be at the door. Because I don’t trust the herd, I always tie the doors shut. I used to think maybe I was being overly cautious but just the other day, someone had been working at the door and had it cracked open. So its’ probably a safe bet for me to always keep those doors tied shut.

I need to get the stalls ready tonight for the artic blast that’s supposed to come in later this week. Luckily the weather is supposed to warm up for the weekend. I guess on the bright side of an artic blast is that I’ll stay home and work on paperwork for the sanctuary. I’m usually so exhausted by the end of a day (what with the full time paying job, caring for all the horses, and taking care of the Bear), that I can’t seem to find the energy to do much after the sun sets. Of course, I don’t seem to get the chance to sit until well into evening these days. 

So for those that are in the Sanctuary’s area, please stay safe. We’ll be taking extra precautions over the next few days to keep everyone safe that the Sanctuary.