Following Your Instincts

I'm sure glad I went with the instincts. I'm not kicking myself this morning!

I wasn't able to get out to do chores until well after dark. And with almost a new moon and clouds covering up what little moon we had, I had to go by the light of the yard light. I'd switched coats, thinking it would be warmer and didn't grab my flashlight. So much for these longer days with daylight.

The mares' and Juniors water tank was almost out so I had to get that filled up before this next cold front came through. Mike pulled the heater so hopefully we don't have any super cold weather any more. The wind was out of the east, which makes everything cold around here. The horses' pens get the direct hit from the east (and even our house is cold when the wind is out of the east). To top it off, it was a damp feeling. I am glad I'd hopped onto the internet to check out the forecast.

While Junior was enjoying his grain mash, I put his blanket on and dug out Rabbit's blanket as well. She'd been wearing a blanket most of winter so she doesn't have as thick of coat as I'd like. And she typically gets chilled easier.

The round bales are pretty much done. The one bale with the cinch net on it (and not in a hay feeder) is still there but the horses have taken to peeing on it (darn you horses!). So I started back to the old routine of throwing hay. When I opened the barn door to haul the hay out, Rain was tucked in the leanto off the barn. I knew it must be cold if he's hiding in the barn. He's so sensitive to any type of wind. After I finished putting out the piles of hay, I grabbed Rain's blanket. Some times he's a real stinker about getting his blanket on but he was either cold last night or knew that something was coming because he stood perfectly still while I fiddled with everything. Sometimes he's the typical flighty Arabian and other times he's so docile that I forget he's at least half Arabian. I'll never know his breeding since he's grade but his head is 100% Arabian and he carries himself like an Arabian (he's just a little on the plump side).

I hemmed and hawed about putting a blanket on Bo. I haven't been graining him the past week because I've been so swamped at work and it's been super late getting out to do chores (and he takes forever to eat). But in just that week I can tell he's dropped some weight . He'll always be such a hard keeper. I opted to lug his blanket out and get him snug in it before I went in for the night. He isn't like Rain and wont' force his way into the leanto to get out of the weather. So I'm glad he's wearing his blanket.

I'm a little worried that I didn't blanket Jim or Zeke but those two have been such buggers about catching lately, Zeke especially. Of course, I think he knows he's on my naughty list because when Junior was in the big herd, he'd harass him and that would make me mad. Those boys definitely know my moods.

When I went out this morning to do chores, we still hadn't gotten any rain or snow. But now that I'm at the paying job, it sure looks like we'll either be getting rain or snow in the next few hours. What always confuses me is the four corridors.

You're probably wondering what that is. The four corridors are were I90 and I29 meet. Depending on which corridor you live in, the weather is different. Unfortunately for me, I live in the SW corridor, drive through the NW corridor so that I can work in the NE corridor. I never know during the winter what I'll be faced with. Each corridor can be so different. Blizzard in one and sunshine in another. The weirdest part is that there's only about 30-40 miles in between my house and work. So what I'm seeing at work right now, might not be the weather we are having at the Sanctuary. It does make for some interesting days.

We are supposed to get about a quarter of an inch of rain (and I'm thankful for it!) After that, we are supposed to get wind and lots of it. So I'm glad I blanketed a few. We'll see if any need to go in the barn tonight. I'm hoping not but I'd rather be safe than sorry. No point in having clean stalls and blankets and cold and grumpy horses.