5 Good Things About Winter

Have to say I was rather grumpy as I mucked out in sideways rain and galeforce winds, which was blowing directly into two of the stables to boot. I hope I don't have to shut their top doors overnight but at the same time I'm quite sure they won't want another night of sodden bedding! My comments on Claire's blog the other day were ringing in my ears as I had to slip-slide my way to the muck heap with a heaving barrow, soaked to my knickers and the wind is driving the cold rain into my ears *lol*

To snap myself out of my foul humour, I managed to find 5 reasons why winter will be good:


1. Quadi is now out of his nosenet, so we can enjoy a winter without headshaking and I'll have a little less tack to clean. I prefer the aesthetics of no noseband, and presently this suits us training-wise too.

2. No crawlies and flies, which means no flyspray and facemasks.

3. Whilst there is always a risk of laminitis from frost and snow, I'm glad to see the back of the summer grass, Quadi is far easier to regulate on hay.

4. The horses will be rugged so they'll always be clean which saves grooming time. I know that's shallow but with thenights fair drawing in, time is limited!

5. If we get lots of powdery snow again this year, it'll give us great footing to ride in the field. And it keeps our horses' hooves clean and bug-free.


You'll gather the weather is too foul today for anything but basic chores. I even neglected to sweep out in front of the stables. Only once over the course of the day have I seen any of the horses not grazing, they've had their butts to the wind the whole time :)

Hopefully this weekend half of our winter hay supply will be delivered, weather permitting. 100 bales for me to shift, I may have to rope in some helpers in exchange for a cooked meal and copious cups of tea/bottles of beer!