Up here, we call that panic buying before a storm a French Toast Emergency. (milk, eggs, and bread.)
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mmmm…french toast! Gosh, i haven’t had that in …30 years or so. Thinking we need to make some.
It’s the season of the Blanket Hokey Pokey around here - you take the blankets off, you put the blankets on, you put the sheets on top…
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40°F and rain today. High of 12°F tomorrow. Low of -8°F (actual temp, not including windchill) by Saturday. I’ve never been more grateful for a boarding contract that specifies unlimited blanket changes (and barn staff that truly will change blankets as often as needed).
I joke about the excessive number of blankets I own for my 1 wimpy TB… but every single one of them has gotten used so far this season and it’s only mid-January.
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I also have blankets for almost any type of condition. Of course, now that I have two at home and am doing blanket changes myself, I feel kinda bad by how annoyed I would get when I thought barn staff was being what I thought was a touch lazy when it came to blanket changes. I have found that blankets – and horses – have a much greater range than I ever thought they did.
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Same. I have four blankets for each horse/pony and all have seen use. More ice/snow tonight. We aren’t even in February yet.
I do have ideas of improvements to make next year easier and more efficient, but this year kinda blows so far.
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I’m officially over winter. I’m ready for summer. I’d rather sweat than this. Lol
We got 10-12 inches of snow. The roads to the barn are a solid sheet of ice. I slid down a hill yesterday, did a 180 and decided I was just going to find another way out.
The roads were scraped but all it did was get rid of any traction there was. Now it’s like a skating rink. I was in awd vehicle.
Slid in a ditch second trip yesterday. Thankfully I made it this morning but I had two tires in the ditch for traction and went about 5 mph.
The horses are fine but I need a valium. They’re calling for more precipitation this weekend. Joy, joy
I have found that my guy needs more blankets and the other ponies medium weight is leaking around the shoulders.
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When I turn out tonight, it will be about 40 degrees. At 3AM, it will feel like 33 degrees, because it will be raining. When the horses come in tomorrow morning, the actual will be around 36 and the real-feel 23, but Accuweather also thinks it will be snowing… which seems unlikely at 36 degrees so I predict freezing rain. Fine. Midweight with a hood and trust him to stand in the shed if the wind makes him cold.
When I turn out tomorrow, it will be 26 with a real-feel of 10. When he comes in, it will be 13 with a real-feel of 5. And snowing. Fine. 100gm with a heavy and a hood.
I can say this right now, while I am not at the barn, considering only the weather report and not actually standing in the barn looking at my horse and wondering but what if I do this wrong and he’s cold? I guarantee you that tonight I will dither for 20 minutes about whether he’ll be too warm in his midweight for the first 4 hours of turnout and too cold for the last 4 hours. This is not my first horse. This is not my first blanket. This is not my first winter. Sigh…
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Chiming in to complain one more time. 
But seriously, can the weather just be normal?
What’s making this month extra challenging is the fact that we can’t just have a normal pattern of coldest temps at night and warmest temps during the day. Last night the temperature rose 10 degrees overnight. Tomorrow we are supposed to hit our daily high temp at 6am. Last Sunday was below freezing all day yet it got up over 50 overnight while it was storming before dropping back below freezing once the front had passed. It’s hard enough to manage horses in the winter when you’re not looking at the hourly forecast and going W…T…F…
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It is 70 here today and I have my windows open in the house. This Friday through the weekend low 20’s at night and rain. I hope no snow and the ice is at a minimum. At least here it rarely stays below freezing during the day. I am fine with 20’s at night if it goes up to the 40’s during the day. And it rarely stays cold more than 2 or 3 days. But the downside to that is that it rains a lot and I will take cold with no rain instead of 40’s or 30’s with freezing rain. I think winter here has been pretty typical except it started really late. October through December was unseasonably warm.
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just got this little warming thought from my insurance carrier “Important Disaster Preparation Information”
begins
Thank you for trusting us with your insurance needs. In these uncertain times, we know that preparing for a natural disaster like winter storms might not be the first thing on your mind. We are here for you with advice and tips to help you prepare and avoid dangers like freezing pipes, car accidents, hypothermia, and carbon monoxide poisoning.
then several pages of advise
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Well, as a follow up to the above, my farm turned only two horses out tonight- my fellow and his codependent platonic life partner of 10 years. It is currently unclear which of the two is more motivated by being outside instead of in, and which is more motivated by being with his friend. We think it’s a draw. So they have a shed and a new hay roll to themselves and they were last seem ambling off to have a quiet night in by themselves, one in a stack of rugs and a hood and the other in a parka, and I just hope they choose to come in tomorrow.
Here’s to trough heaters and big hay rolls, and thank goodness for our barn staff.
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It finally makes sense!
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Fly sheets too 
Well, you’re ready if you decide to move to FL!
Cheers 
This is the first year one of mine has been out 24/7. He is older, although not ancient, so I want to make sure he will be comfortable whatever the weather. Tonight it’s going to be -37c. He’s not clipped. Our average winter temp is about -10 (although it’s been fluctuating wildly) and he’s usually in a 250g plus a liner (maybe 50g?). I’m not sure what to put him in! He doesn’t run particularly hot. Ideas???
Yesterday was +3… tonight is -37. That is insane!
WOW, that’s really freaking cold. I thought we were bad at -20°C. If he’s typically in ~300g, is there a layer you could add to get him to the 400-450g range?
We had sustained temps of -25°C last weekend and my cold sensitive horse was in a 100g liner plus a 360g heavy with hood.
I know. It’s a completely unnecessary temperature.
So I’m not insane thinking I should add more! I can add more. The day time highs are staying around -16 to -20 so I don’t think he’ll over heat.
