You & Me and Snow on the Roof...

[MsM]

I love having access to an indoor, and I realize what a great thing that is. The snow/ice scraping down and crashing off the roof? Not so much!

So we have had some snow/ice storms followed by frigid temperatures. Today it was just above freezing. I went out to ride my horse after not riding for a couple of days. Step into the indoor and the quiet is punctuated by sudden screeching and crashing noises. The frozen chunks on the metal roof are breaking off and crashing to the ground at unpredictable intervals. And on the sunny side, there is the added attraction of the bright flash from the ice visible through the open eaves! :eek:

The problem isnt so much my horse getting tense. He was pretty darn good and only spooked a bit when we were right next to the piece coming down. The problem was that it startles me! :uhoh: Not a good way to reassure a fresh horse. We managed to have a good, if abbreviated, ride with lots of work off the rail. Then we were both relieved to leave the place with the funhouse noises. I am way too old, cold, and brittle to enjoy dealing with unexpected lateral work or accelerations.

We’ll get better as we get more exposure to this during the winter. I do hope we can get fewer ice storms as the snow whooshing off the roof is a lot easier to deal with than the noisy ice.

[ReSomething]

Snow and ice on a metal roof are like doubly loud. I recall the first time we had a cloudburst overhead, we couldn’t even hear the trainer. Hope the rest of the season is less eventful.

[Wicky]

The sound of snow sliding off a Coverall is something else again! An entire panel of snow - 15 feet wide, maybe? will slide. It goes ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZIP! POOF! (the poof is when the load of snow hits the ground. I had one 18 hand horse that was stabled inside the Coverall, that never got used to the sound. Every time it happened he’d spook, and, if you were next to him, he’d try to jump into your arms. My right big toenail will never be normal again (he’s been gone for around five years…).

[IPEsq]

My horses are fairly desensitized to it but I spook worse with some of them. I just apologize to my horse and move on. :winkgrin:

[Maythehorsebewithme]

Most of the horses in our barn are sure that the sound of snow sliding off the roof is exactly the same sound made by a saber tooth tiger launching for the attack. Thank goodness my boy does not feel that way.

[RedHorses]

@Wicky

The sound of snow sliding off a Coverall is something else again! An entire panel of snow - 15 feet wide, maybe? will slide. It goes ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZIP! POOF! (the poof is when the load of snow hits the ground. I had one 18 hand horse that was stabled inside the Coverall, that never got used to the sound. Every time it happened he’d spook, and, if you were next to him, he’d try to jump into your arms. My right big toenail will never be normal again (he’s been gone for around five years…).

One day I was riding at a walk close enough to touch the coverall arena wall when the snow right overhead let go. My horse took one sidestep and I automatically blocked with my leg and halted him. He stood absolutely still until the last bit of the avalanche fell off the edge.

I bet a bunch of you are thinking “Oh sure, MY horse would do that. Nothing special there.” I will agree that very many horses would do that inside the arena.

We were outside and my horse calmly waited until I brushed the snow off us both and asked him to walk on.

”‹”‹”‹”‹

[kande04]

@MsM

We’ll get better as we get more exposure to this during the winter. I do hope we can get fewer ice storms as the snow whooshing off the roof is a lot easier to deal with than the noisy ice.

That happens infrequently enough that I just skip the indoor when the snow’s sliding off the roof. I either delay riding until it’s all off, or since it usually happens when it’s sunny and warm I just put boots on the horse (so the snow won’t pack in his hooves) and ride outside.

I have horses I can ride through it, but I hate the noise and disruption enough that I want to avoid it.

[sherian]

radio helps - kind of evens out the noise level, and hope for the best

[BigMama1]

@MsM

I love having access to an indoor, and I realize what a great thing that is. The snow/ice scraping down and crashing off the roof? Not so much!

So we have had some snow/ice storms followed by frigid temperatures. Today it was just above freezing. I went out to ride my horse after not riding for a couple of days. Step into the indoor and the quiet is punctuated by sudden screeching and crashing noises. The frozen chunks on the metal roof are breaking off and crashing to the ground at unpredictable intervals. And on the sunny side, there is the added attraction of the bright flash from the ice visible through the open eaves! :eek:

The problem isnt so much my horse getting tense. He was pretty darn good and only spooked a bit when we were right next to the piece coming down. The problem was that it startles me! :uhoh: Not a good way to reassure a fresh horse. We managed to have a good, if abbreviated, ride with lots of work off the rail. Then we were both relieved to leave the place with the funhouse noises. I am way too old, cold, and brittle to enjoy dealing with unexpected lateral work or accelerations.

We’ll get better as we get more exposure to this during the winter. I do hope we can get fewer ice storms as the snow whooshing off the roof is a lot easier to deal with than the noisy ice.

I call it the “avalanche of doom!” It is best avoided by riding in the early morning or later in the evening when temps are cooler and there is less likely to be melting happening. I do t bounce well so generally opt to just lunge if there are slides happening regularly. Even my very sweet, safe, elderly horse has a big enough spook to make my reluctant to ride on those days.

[Cat_Tap]

I also avoid riding in the indoor on those days, not so much because my horse would spook but because it scares the hell out of me.

[ohnoO]

Yep! its really fun during the 4:30 pony group lesson! :eek:

[sophie]

@BigMama1

It is best avoided by riding in the early morning or later in the evening when temps are cooler and there is less likely to be melting happening. .

This is what I do too.
Our indoor is huge, huge metal roof, and when the snow/ice starts sliding off it makes a terrible noise that LASTSsssss.

My mare should be used to it by now, but it still scares her to death (or she pretends being scared so she can play a bit). And she does NOT spook in place, for this. She will take off widely and bounce around the whole indoor in a panic. Not fun for me, but also not fun for people riding in the arena with us!

[MsM]

Glad to hear I’m not the only one who spooks at the snow coming off the roof as much as my horse! Only a few less dramatic snow/ice falls today. We both were less jumpy today!

[quietann]

@IPEsq

My horses are fairly desensitized to it but I spook worse with some of them. I just apologize to my horse and move on. :winkgrin:

That is me in a nutshell. My mare may pop her head up, but rarely does more than that. I sort of jump. This is in a coverall type arena.

I do remember being at a spring dressage schooling show, and spring was late so there was still a lot of snow on the roof of the indoor. The tests were inside, and the warm-up outside next to the indoor. I am sure you can see where this is going… Yep, there was an avalanche of snow off the roof into the warm-up area, and every horse there jumped sideways. The one who jumped the furthest was a fairly small pony :lol: Apparently the rider in the indoor asked for a re-do of that part of her test. I don’t know what the judge said.

[IPEsq]

My new horse arrived shortly after a quick snow. We have some shows on the property so judge’s booths by the outdoor arenas. I was riding in one ring and I swear every snow bomb fell off of one of the stands right as we were passing by, several times. Poor guy just tucked tail and scooted a little bit, but at least those didn’t spook me!

[walktrot]

@BigMama1

I call it the “avalanche of doom!” It is best avoided by riding in the early morning or later in the evening when temps are cooler and there is less likely to be melting happening. I do t bounce well so generally opt to just lunge if there are slides happening regularly. Even my very sweet, safe, elderly horse has a big enough spook to make my reluctant to ride on those days.

That would be us also. We’ve been riding in the same indoor since the fall of 2001. Clearly way too many of you guys don’t understand the mortal danger which is what motivates my horse to spook. Remember, someone must monitor the safety of the herd. If I don’t, he will.

Our indoor is oriented so the long wall faces south.- all 200 feet of it. Soft snow falling off creates a soft pile along the wall. If soft snow lands with a soft of a thump we are okay. It’s ice that is the problem. We can check to see if anything is hanging off the end of the roof and how frozen it appears. Then we check with the instructors. I pass if there is a chance ice will start sliding.

A diversion: Our long-lived, overly affectionate barn cats have a hidden entrance somewhere along that wall behind the kickboards. We can’t see it from the outside. They stick pretty close in the winter in part because they have an 80x200 litter box available. If they can’t curl up in the heated office they hang out where they can crawl into somebody’s lap and snooze until the human disturbs them, usually at the end of a lesson. Very disruptive to the routine. I found some real fleece girth covers I don’t use so I threw them on the desk as a donation to the barn. I didn’t realize they are actually fleece blankies for the kitties to sleep on. Bob the Cat spent an entire day in there. I love winter.

[RileysMom]

My barn roof covers everything—both the stalls and the indoor. An avalanche of doom when the horses are in the stalls, eh, no biggie. But that same noise under the same roof in the indoor and some lose their marbles. Snow has to fall off both sides of the roof, so they hear this all the time in their stalls. So I’ve concluded that the problem is the human spooking, which makes horsie spook 😂

[Palm_Beach]

@MsM

Glad to hear I’m not the only one who spooks at the snow coming off the roof as much as my horse! Only a few less dramatic snow/ice falls today. We both were less jumpy today!

Can you stuff your ears with cotton and wear blinkers?

[MsM]

Well, with the way I bundle up in the winter, I kinda do!

[sophie]

I actually bought those POM ears balls for horses, one winter that my mare was reacting badly to every.single.noise when I was riding her in the indoor ( she is much better outside).
I never did use them.
Should dig them up and see if they make a difference.