Unloading safely in snow/ice

[LuvMyTB]

Horse is moving to a new barn–preferably this week, by the end of next week at the absolute latest. Located in the midwest and have had snow cover for 10+ days with no real warmup in sight. Had some short warm/melt cycles resulting in a lot of frozen footing/ice under snow.

The driveway is fine where I need to load her so no worries there. However, the driveway where I need to unload is pretty snowy/icy with not a lot of room to maneuver. I am super nervous about her slipping/injury unloading her. I have a small cocoa mat (maybe 4x6) that I could position so she would back off the ramp onto the mat–any other suggestions? Thank you!

[sascha]

Get a bag of ground limestone (AKA di-cal, cal-phos) and spread it liberally around the unloading area before you unload. In my experience it is The Best ever. Better than salt. Better than sand. If you get lucky and it’s a sunny day, you’ll actually see it start to break up the ice. Even if not though, it gives superior grip on ice.

Please note that this is a feed product and consists of ground up limestone straight out of the quarry, it’s texture is of coarse sand. Should be readily available at feed stores and feed mills, usually in plastic bags

It is NOT white lime, lime, caustic lime or any of the other names that the baked-slaked-powdered variety of limestone products goes by. Also available at feed stores it will be in a paper bag - don’t buy it. lol

[PaddockWood]

What a great idea. This is the same substance as the screenings we put down in our dry lots right? Gives me an idea to use in my dry lot from my pile.

[sascha]

Basically, but it’s finer.

[clanter]

how about a bag of kitty liter? … but you said it is a ramp load trailer, I just do not envision an issue

We have hauled in the snow in a step up without problems loading or unloading (other than the snow drifts, yeah team for four wheel drive)

[sascha]

Snow is generally not much of an issue. Ice is a nightmare that sometimes even if the horse is wearing caulks and not just small studs or borium can flip a horse in a heartbeat. Backwards off a trailer is a recipe for a busted hip or pelvis.

Hell, sometimes ice, even for horses on 24/7 turnout can bust hips, pelvises, legs. I’ve known more than one person who has had to have a horse euthanized due to ice injuries. It is no joke. The ice that we get in some areas can be inches thick and smooth as glass.

[anon81364900]

That 4x6 mat is not big enough to make an icy surface safe. If I’ve got a broad expanse of ice, what I’ll do is pour water on it (counter-intuitive, I know) and then cover the wet area with a layer of poultry grit (or if you have stone screenings, that’d be fine too). The grit will freeze into the surface (thanks to the water you just put down) and make it totally non-slip.

ETA do this the day before so it has time to freeze up.

[2DogsFarm]

I’d use non-clumping clay kitty litter. Dump the whole bag where the ramp ends & spread to an area large enough for horse to stand & step back.
You can sweep most of it up when you’re done.
If anyone objects to the stuff spread where you unload, you can ask for soiled bedding - shavings or pellets - spread that & sweep up when you’re done.

Many years ago I had to load my TB into a small stepup parked on a patch of ice.
He stepped on fine, but when he stepped forward, a back leg slid on the ice & ended up under the trailer.
I was afraid he’d break that leg scrambling to get it out.
TG, he was careful & did not slip further, loaded safely.
My heart resumed beating…

[clanter]

well if there is ice there is no way I would haul the horse, snow is a problem but manageable

[sascha]

Roads can be bare and dry and farm laneways 4" of solid ice. It is the way of the North.

The past week or 2 I’ve been driving on bare roads to work (dairy farm) and then putting it in 4WD to turn into the laneway and then using ice cleats or the penguin shuffle to get from vehicle to the barn door. Striating it with the stone picker on one of the big tractors helps vehicles (no stuck milk truck yet this year! Yay!) But it doesn’t help people or animals much.

Horse barn is similar.

It’s not about hauling on ice, it’s about unloading safely upon arrival. It sucks, but it’s a fact of life that farm lanes cannot be kept as clear of ice as roads can.

[DunByMistake]

I brought my OTTB home 2 years ago and we arrived in the dark and had to unload on my solid sheet of ice driveway. One of the more nerve wracking experiences of my horse life to be honest.

I have a slant load so if I know unloading spot is going to be less than ideal, I let horse turn in trailer so they can walk out going forwards rather than trying to back up. Obviously not an option in a straight load.

[Hippolyta]

If nothing else is available, stuff from the manure pile spread on the surface can help a little, esp if there is a lot of hay mixed in.
It’s not pretty, but needs must.

[endlessclimb]

Just take a small scoop of the shavings in the trailer or from a stall, and give it a chuck on the area behind the trailer after you park and are prepping to unload. If you’re worried about him coming unglued at a new location, just have a chain on him (nose, gums, whatever you need) to keep antics to a minimum until you can get him inside or on better footing.

[clanter]

@sascha

It’s not about hauling on ice, it’s about unloading safely upon arrival. It sucks, but it’s a fact of life that farm lanes cannot be kept as clear of ice as roads can.

Honestly we moved from northern Kentucky to north Texas primarily because of the winters
I just got fed up with the endless winters that once over entered mud season

Two Winters to Remember - 1977 & 1978

[theresak]

Be very cautious of using the cocoa mat - I’d imagine that would be sliding all over on top of the ice and not really be helpful.

If you can, get “fresh” dirty shavings from a stall at the barn (or the trailer) and toss those down. We use “poop paths” throughout the winter to get across the parking lot and sometimes in the pastures when it’s really icy. The dirty shavings need to be at least damp to stick to the ice.

[sascha]

This is also an excellent solution and works even with older (read cold) used bedding if you wet the ice with hot water first. Boarding barn where my horse lives has poop trails to each field. The fields themselves are fine because they don’t get vehicular traffic apart from a tractor taking in a round bale about once a week. Troughs are filled by tractor outside of the fence so that really helps keeps fields as horse friendly as possible. Laneways though, blech. Poop trails from every barn exit to cross them and lead to the field gates.

[LuvMyTB]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I agree with whoever said the cocoa mat wasn’t a great idea. I’m going to swing by the new place today and take another look—I’m thinking my best bet may be to unload on the road (quiet and clear/dry) and walk her in if there’s a good pathway of snow.

[candyappy]

Can you back the trailer to where she will unload onto a grassy area? Gravel or pavement is really hard to get a grip on. Does the barn not have salt/ ice melt to treat the drive or where people drive and walk?

[sascha]

@candyappy

Does the barn not have salt/ ice melt to treat the drive or where people drive and walk?

Can’t speak for @LuvMyTB’s new barn and what they might have on hand, but salt and sand don’t last/work for crap in farm situations, so there might be a bit on hand for really bad sections by doorways, but they don’t generally work great on hardened ice. If you get the perfect weather where they will work, they won’t last more than a couple of hours which gets expensive, exhausting, frustrating and silly. Yes, I am going on and on as a matter of fact. I live in an area where we used to get lovely snow and now it seems all we get is ice, ice on top of ice, slightly melted ice with more good hard ice on top, and to top it off a nice fresh covering of ice. It gets old. lol Bitching about it helps me find the humour lol

[paintedpony]

Rural Ontario here. I back into the snow, drop the ramp, and horse exits into snow. If you are really worried, about the path to barn, sprinkle a little hay earlier in the day (it will soon freeze to the ice providing a travel area. If you have a time issue, sprinkle a little water to freeze the hay to the ice), small studs will give the necessary purchase. (I have kept small studs in for weeks at a time when weather indicated).

Alternately, I drag the drive area and paddocks with diamond harrows until the fall risk is reduced. Spreading sand, salt or other products provides only very temporary assistance in a small area, and quickly becomes a cost issue.