To Blanket or Not to Blanket

The temps are starting to warm but I ended up leaving the blankets on because the forecast called for freezing rain and drizzle. I thought that weather wasn’t supposed to roll in until Sunday but it’s South Dakota so anything is possible. Right now we are dealing with fog.  Sure wish I could get out and take some pictures of the herd with the fog in the background. I haven’t taken any pictures lately of the herd. Of course, it’s more a sea of green than sorrel, black, and bay.

For some reason the majority of the blankets we have (and use) are green. I’m not sure why that is. I just picked up blankets along the way and the ended up being either clearance or just what was on hand when I ordered. Any blankets that were donated are of a much prettier color. I guess we need to start looking at different types of blankets and check out patterns. Of course, I’m typically only looking at what’s on clearance and affordable. I need to spend a few evenings sewing blankets so that they are serviceable again.  Right now the blankets are sitting in a heap on the utility room floor (taking up what little space we have left in that room)!

I’ve been ignoring the forecast as of late. After dealing with the polar vortex I just don’t have the energy to look at the forecast to see what the weather is going to be like. But I did catch a rumor that the temps will be warmer but we are supposed to get winds from the northwest. So who knows if we’ll actually have warmer temperatures. That wind can really bite through anything.

I know there’s a lot of debate going on about blanketing, especially during this latest cold snap.  Gentle Spirits Horse Sanctuary had a really good blog post about blanketing versus not blanketing. We follow the same theory and blanket based on individual horse. The horses currently wearing blankets are those that are harder keepers or thin skinned. A few blankets will come off after today but we’ll monitor the weather before we pull blankets or put blankets on. Go check out GSH’s blog post! It’s a good read: http://gentlespirithorses.com/news-events/blog/common-sense-cold-management-for-horses

I’m hoping with the warmer weather, that I’ll get a chance to sneak out and mess around with the horses.  A few of the horses found a cocklebur bush so their tails have a few “jewels” I need to remove. I’m hoping that we’ll eradicate those blasted weeds this year! I think all the horses are craving a bit of one-on-one time (as am I).

If the weather is nice, come on out. I’m sure the horses would enjoy the attention and I could always use the help!