March Blizzard

We are finally getting over our March blizzard. I'd stayed home from the paying job Monday knowing full well that bad weather was on its way. I'd woken at midnight to thunder. We normally don't get thunder in March. We normally don't get rain in march either. We normally get snow.


So when I woke up at 5:30 and headed out at 6am to do chores and was faced with a full on rain storm, I knew we were in for  trouble as the weatherman was calling for it to switch to freezing rain and then snow.


I'd had the good sense to blanket everyone that I could Sunday. Although I did question myself Sunday afternoon as it was in the 40s but with a biting wind. But I was sure glad when Monday morning rolled around and everyone was snug in their blankets, even if they were wet (but still dry on the inside).


At one point I couldn't tell if we were getting sleet or hail but by 11am we were getting snow. And I was sure glad I was home because the winds had picked up as well! The wind was so bad that it was actually coming straight out of the west. Normally it's north west so we are a bit more protected but not Monday. The wind blew the snow so much, that it blew right into the barn and now I have a snowdrift IN my barn.


I went out at noon to let horses into the barn. I figured, even if they had to stand in their stall for 24 hours, that they might not mind. The first horse at the door was Jim and his blanket was actually frozen in place. He was snug but the outer edges were a sheet of ice. I ended up letting Jim, Rain, Brego, and Dude into the barn and left the others out. I also put in Mayhem, Lace, and Junior into their stalls in the hay shed.


When I went back out to do my actual chores, I put Zeke and Lightening into the barn as well. Of course Brego and Dude broke one of the stalls so I need to figure out how to fix it. We don't have nice stalls and if you watch any of our videos in the barn, you can tell. They were all supposed to be somewhat temporary but the temporary stalls have turned permanent. I'd love to have something different but until there's time and money available, they will simply have to work.


The wind was so bad that by noon, there was no travel advised everywhere and by nightfall there was no travel on all the roads. That continued into the morning. I let the horses out of the barn and they were more than ready to get out and stretch their legs. I also put Junior, Mayhem, and Lace back in their stalls but I don't think they were nearly as excited. Their stalls are slightly bigger but they all seem to go with the flow a little bit better than the bigger gelding herd.


By the afternoon everything was back to normal. I had planned on pulling blankets last night but the temps were still too chilly to do anything with the blankets. We'll see how the temps wand weather go. We are supposed to get another storm this weekend so we'll see.


We do have robins. Those first few are always here way too early but it is a nice sight to see and I love to hear them. It makes it feel as thought spring is right around the corner and any winter storms we get now will all be gone in a matter of days.


What little snow we did get has already melted to some degree. Although the bottom of the pasture is now flooded with all the rain. It floods every year but with all the rain we received Monday, I expect the pasture to flood and to even back up into the field that surrounds us.


I'm ok with the snow and the rain as long as the horses are happy and dry. The more moisture we get, the less likely we'll be in another drought. I barely survived the first drought in 2012 and the dry conditions last year so a full on drought this year would be detrimental to us. I say, bring on the March snowstorms!