1st December start of meteorological winter!

Fieldlife said:
What does this mean? I've taken up wintering and hygge.
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Hygge is feeling warm and comfortable, doing simple things, like watching a heartwarming film wrapped in a blanket sipping hot chocolate. Baking. Seeing family and friends for a coffee or lunch, wrapping up warmly and going for a walk in the frost. I enjoy going out in the cold to see to the horses, making up feeds, changing rugs then coming home and appreciating the log fire and heat.its a conscious decision to be kind to yourself in simple easy ways during the winter,being cosy and content. I give my horse a holiday and don't ride for several weeks unless I really want to and that might be a walk out in hand or a slow hack. Shoes are off. Wintering is accepting rest and retreat and not pushing yourself constantly. Enjoy a good book and early bedtime into fresh clean sheets and a comfy quilt. That sort of thing. Accepting the turn of the wheel of the year, it's quietly pregnant with spring to come, tread lightly on the earth.
 
Sanversera said:
Hygge is feeling warm and comfortable, doing simple things, like watching a heartwarming film wrapped in a blanket sipping hot chocolate. Baking. Seeing family and friends for a coffee or lunch, wrapping up warmly and going for a walk in the frost. I enjoy going out in the cold to see to the horses, making up feeds, changing rugs then coming home and appreciating the log fire and heat.its a conscious decision to be kind to yourself in simple easy ways during the winter,being cosy and content. I give my horse a holiday and don't ride for several weeks unless I really want to and that might be a walk out in hand or a slow hack. Shoes are off. Wintering is accepting rest and retreat and not pushing yourself constantly. Enjoy a good book and early bedtime into fresh clean sheets and a comfy quilt. That sort of thing. Accepting the turn of the wheel of the year, it's quietly pregnant with spring to come, tread lightly on the earth.
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thanks, I need more Hygge!
 
I definitely find winter a struggle, I think it's the lack of daylight and the mud mostly. Our field already has large puddles in it and the gateway is awful. Thankfully the girls live out so I don't have the pain of mucking out.

I do try and do the wintering and hygge thing, but I didn't know it was called that. I've just realised I need to be nice to myself otherwise it's all too depressing.
 
Fjord said:
I definitely find winter a struggle, I think it's the lack of daylight and the mud mostly. Our field already has large puddles in it and the gateway is awful. Thankfully the girls live out so I don't have the pain of mucking out.

I do try and do the wintering and hygge thing, but I didn't know it was called that. I've just realised I need to be nice to myself otherwise it's all too depressing.
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I find the lack of daylight a real struggle, too. Mud comes a close second. I'm better since I started running, as I do associate mud with a bit of fun, now, but it still grates by January and the last couple of years have been an awful struggle, mentally. This year I moved fields at the worst possible time. Literally on the weekend of Storm Bert (a tree came down on my fence, so no choice). That meant I moved into a field that hadn't been rested, had been inhabited by two large, shod horses and was an absolute mess. Feel better about it, now, as the grass is still growing a bit, so I'm seeing little green shoots coming up in the damaged bits. I've left the whole thing open to reduce poaching, have put down mats around trough...etc. It will hopefully at least prevent things getting much worse, but could be a lonngggg winter. I agree with others that it's been better this year than last. I was definitely flooded out of the shelters at least twice in my old field by this time last year.
 
I'm really lucky as our horse has a good sized stable and a surfaced pen at the back, so he can come and go as he pleases.

He hasn't been out for a week due to an abscess but is happy as Larry, being able to wander in and out as he pleases.

I however am struggling. I find driving in the dark very difficult and in general I hate the dark nights drawing in so early. I feel ready for bed by 6.30pm, which isn't long after I finish work, by which time the horse needs seeing to.

I don't care much about mud, rain, snow etc but am counting down to the lighter evenings - the 4.30pm darkness is so dreary and depressing!

I don't know why we've stuck to changing clocks, WW1 is long behind us, thankfully. I for one would be happy to have daylight at 5.30pm. I'm sure many people making their way home from work would too!
 
Looks like we have another significant storm coming this weekend. If so it will be the third weekend in a row that I've been constantly soaking wet, making sure the horses don't run out of hay and poo picking the barn a million times a day. All of my coats last weekend were soaking and stinking, I ran out of dry waterproofs. My main farm chore coat is disgusting, but I see no point in washing it at the moment with how bad the weather has been on a daily basis.

I was hopeful that this Winter wouldn't be as bad as last, but my fields are incredibly saturated again and I'm getting horrible flashbacks of 2023 :(
 
It seems to be storm after storm. Unfortunately the hunt are supposed to be meeting near us on Saturday everywhere is sodden I really can't see it going ahead.The fields are holding up but really can't cope with horses going crazy if the hunt comes along the road past the field so they will have to be shut on the pole barn .
I really hope they cancel
Managing horses really is getting harder and we are set up as weather proof as we can be .
 
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Mine are in again tonight as it’s chucking it down - and yes looks to be getting windy at the weekend. Was nice to get them out for a couple of nights but back to mucking out in the morning… hopefully they can go back out at night again after the storm as come and gone 🤞 I’m aiming for a non mucking out christmas if weather allows!
 
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