Anyone else feel that Spring is still a Long way off?

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winchester

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All ponies came in at night at Christmas when the weather turned bad and havent gone back out since.

Im getting up at 5.20 to muck out 4 before travelling to work then coming back to get them in and ride at 6pm...

Really struggling now - fields are looking rough still eating me out of everything and costing me an absolute fortune in hay and bedding!

They was all turned out at the beginning of March last year...

Anyone else feel my pain!? Please dont tell me its only me
 
No it's horrible. This time last yes we had rested the winter fields for 3 weeks& they were starting to show a difference. This year rested for nearly 3 weeks you wouldn't know. It's horrible.
 
Oh I absolutely feel your pain, mine are getting worse not better - I'm back to debating whether we should start growing rice ! and lots of rain/ snow forecast this week !

We better have a fab summer as compensation !!!!
 
We had to wince and get 5 round bales of extra hay for the sheep and another load of small bales for the horses over the weekend :-(((( so yes it is a Bit Grim. The sheep hay wasn't a bad price but the horse hay was although very good quality, a bit ouch in the wallet department.

All we have forecast for the foreseeable is snow and gales, even here we are getting a bit tired of it now.

Just glad I put the ram in pretty late on with the sheep so they won't be lambing until the beginning of May!
 
Definately. Horses were going out this time last year, but so wet and cold still and if anything gateways are actually getting wetter not drier just now. Hoping to be eventing this weekend, but difficult too with preparation and xc schooling.
 
Yup! Everytime I have to trudge down the field through calf deep mud or buy yet another round bale of hay. This time last year our were all out!
 
Yep. Feel like we are still in the middle of winter! Sectioned the field at the beg. Of march to hope it would dry out and grow for a couple of months. But no such luck! The area they are in is continually being churned up more and more they have pretty much eaten me through my winter hay now so going to have to order more as they aren't going to be going out 24/7 until at least en of April now, that's if it dries out! Although prob be well into may before that happens. Although at the moment I feel it never will !!!
 
Another yep!!

Horses had their rugs off and a week later, we had snow and back in HW's!! Crazy weather.

Fields are horrendous - am failing to imagine what a dry field without fetlock deep holes ever looks like.


moan moan moan.
 
Yes.I'm feeling pretty down about the weather at the minute.The ponies live out 24/7 and have churned their field up so there is barely any green to be seen.I sectioned it off last week,but at the rate things are going,I'll have to swap them over this week and the new section is even wetter.2 weekends ago we got to ride across the fields for the first time since October,now they are too wet to get through the gateways to access them again.

On the farm,we always start lambing this time of year,as we lose less to bad weather.This year we have had to keep the week old lambs under cover as the weather is too bad,plus the cattle trailer we transport them to the fields in got stuck in the endless mud.

I work as a gardener and have lost so much work through bad weather.I've worked for myself for 12 years and this is the worst it has ever been.A few weeks of sunshine or even no rain/snow would make such a difference.
 
I am actually happy to hear this is an unusually bad winter as I bought my first horse at the beginning of october last year so have yet to experience a summer of horse ownership and this winter has been awful! Hasn't deterred me though I still love being at the yard whatever the weather. Although unwrapping my roundbale and filling my haynets in gale force winds and torrential rain is starting to wear thin!

I am guessing spring can't be far as dizzy's winter coat is coming out in handfuls! :)
 
I'm thankful that at the livery yard they've taken SUCH good care of the land (ditches all re dug and clear, strict on turnout) we can squeeze in a bit of turnout on good days, and when it's wet they can wander the yard. Thankfully mine prefers being in.
But at the field it's just horrendous. Cannot even get a tractor on to get round bales down there. You take your life in your hands just going through the gate, I have never - in all my years - seen a field so sodden :( And there is nowhere else for the horses to go as no livery yards will take more on.

My friend's immaculate post and rail fencing has rotted so much with all the wet that it's literally falling apart and horses are going free range.

I'm sitting here looking at glorious sunshine, but I know it will do little to help the state of the ground.
 
I'm not sure it will ever come...... :( the ONLY thing that is indicating its on its way it Leo is moulting! thats IT!!!! :( grrrrr!!!
 
I reckon we're going to skip spring/summer and head straight to autumn at this rate, sat covered with a blanket, layers and layers of clothes and the heating on :(

The fields at my livery yard are sodden, we had two full weeks of dry weather here and they still squelched under foot. It's poo.
 
At this time last year we had it unseasonably warm. It was about 17 degrees here and was for about two weeks. That was summer. It rained from then on in!
This year we have had about six dry (ish) weeks so much so that the gateways have firmed up loads. Then it snowed with a vengance yesterday just to remind us its not quite over!
 
Horrendous :(
Fields are wet and muddy. Munching hay still like theres no tomorrow :rolleyes:
Its seriously bad, mud is everywhere all in the house and the cars. OH works his woodlands, there is a pond of liquid mud down the track and 3ft ruts where the tractors get stuck. Just when it starts to dry out it rains again Grim :(
 
Forecast at the moment is saying its not going to warm up til April, lets hope we have a nice summer to make up for this never ending winter!
 
Jumping in to the same boat as everyone else here. Muddy fields, cold wet weather and thoroughly p1ssed off with it all. Sun shining a bit at the moment, but I don't hold out hope for later.
Maybe, ever hopeful but maybe this weather means we will have a lovely hot summer... and be complaining about fly rugs and midges!
 
Lovely here at the moment, fields good too (sorry everyone!!) but then it is very sandy here and drains v.fast. fed up of buying hay, had hoped he would be living out by now..but hopefully soon.
 
Technically, so my calender tells me, Spring begins on Wednesday. ;)

Unfortunately the calender hasn't informed the weather. Still snowing and currently -8C (at 10.25am) 10cm of snow forecast tonight. Yippee.:(

Spring flowers are wisely keeping their heads down, although the birds may know something we don't, lots of our migrants have arrived and there have been hundreds of swans flying in over the past two days. The reservoirs are full of them, all we can hear is geese and swans.
 
Our fields aren't too bad so count myself very lucky. However even the rested ones are still not greening up so the horses are still in at night and costing a fortune in haylage.

We had lying snow on sat night, which melted on sunday thank god, but forecast is now saying we are due more tues night into weds.....

Thoroughly fed up of it now and feels like we have been stuck in winter since last April. If anyone hears me say 'we could do with some rain' please shoot me on the spot!!
 
I don't mean to rain on your parade, but its March! Its not unusual at all to have snow and cold in March. My husband's birthday is at the start of April and he says he can remember loads of birthdays when it has snowed.. Its just that it has been unusually dry and warm in March/April for the last few years and we have got spoit!

Not saying I'm not sick of it either, I am. However in our boggy corner of the pennines, where the land is ridiculously wet all year, the well to the stables that usually runs dry in May/June has run out already, and the fields are actually better now than they were in summer. They just look bad because the grass isn't coming through yet.

Chins up, we will get there soon!
 
God I know! But, try to look on the bright side (ish) last year was so dry and warm but summer was awful - hopefully the seasons might be back to normal this year! It is only still March!
 
It's so depressing I could cry! I have 3 acre with half of that rested over 2 paddocks...no horses on which is great but also no sign of grass...not so good. What they are using for turnout is a mud bath with no grass at all so I'm splitting the day between bringing them in and turning out with hay.

Three weeks ago I could see light at the end of the tunnel and my fields were drying up nicely.....bang goes that idea now. It's just yucky. I normally let them have the acre field for summer and rest the 2 acres, then strip graze in the winter. Worked really well last winter as it was dry but this year has been a disaster. Just so wet it was trampled in before they had time to eat it.

From this spring I've decided to split my land into 3 paddocks and rotate during the year....but I will be making a hand standing area for next winter and my fields can absolutely not get into the state they are in now, again! EVER! lol

I don't like to see them stood in so I tend to sacrifice my fields for them....I need to harder up a bit! lol Good luck everyone, hope spring is on its way.
 
AmiRobertson said:
I am actually happy to hear this is an unusually bad winter as I bought my first horse at the beginning of october last year so have yet to experience a summer of horse ownership and this winter has been awful! Hasn't deterred me though I still love being at the yard whatever the weather. Although unwrapping my roundbale and filling my haynets in gale force winds and torrential rain is starting to wear thin!

I am guessing spring can't be far as dizzy's winter coat is coming out in handfuls! :)
Click to expand...

Bit of a baptism of er, mud isn't it!

My field was looking fine til about 2 weeks ago and now they've given up the ghost. My haffy only had her rug on in the snowy period and occasionally when it rained but I can see her ribs now, skinny minnie, so having to pile in the little hay I have left (again, hardly had to use it apart from in the snow, this is worse!) And found my little welshie companion shivering when she got rained on, so much trudging about laden with rugs and hay and buckets!
 
Considering the snowbanks in my driveway are 6 feet tall, and I have over 3 feet of snow in my backyard, yes I feel like spring is a long way off. ;)
 
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