January Heat Wave

Like my blog friends at Midwest Horse, we too have had a warm snap hit us. Fortunately we didn't have the twisters go through our area of the state, but that doesn't make me stop from complaining.

The snow has melted but what stayed behind was the ice created from one of our December winter storms. Each day I go out and scrape up a little more of the manure that I wasn't able to get at before because of snow and ice. As I scrape it away I debate how wise my decisions are because the horse are actually using the fine layer to keep from slipping.

The drainage from our driveway happens to run right through the horse pen. This last week has definitely showed the need for a couple of loads of fill this next summer. The original horse pen needs a load and Classy's area needs at least one load of fill, a small retaining wall and a load of gravel.

Tonight when I went out to feed the weather had changed again. We are now dropping back down to normal January temps with highs in the mid-20's. On our way back down we are getting wind and rain.

As I fed Classy tonight I could hear in her voice a rumbling that I will have to monitor closely. All of the horses were wet from the rain. I fed her in the pen out of the wind. Something I don't like to often do as it creates a bigger mess for me, but with the weather change it will be worth it. She will have a chance to dry off as she and Catfish eat their hay, and hopefully decide to stay in the pen over night.

The up and down temperatures really reek havoc on everyone, the cows, the horses and even the kids.