Anyone else finding weather so hard they want to give up?

It is miserable yes, and I feel so sorry for those affected by the flooding, however I find wind and rain easier to cope with than snow and ice. We had a bit of snow overnight last night and it reminded me how much I hate the white stuff. Thankfully it was away by mid morning and I could get my mare and her pal turned out for a leg stretch. (I can't turn her out in frost/snow as she is a high laminitis risk). What would be nice would be a spell of dry, cold (but not frosty) weather to dry up the fields. I can remember years gone by when February was usually a dry cold month with easterly winds which cut through all your layers of clothing, but the seasons are all haywire now and who knows what we'll get this year. As others have said, it is hard to maintain a routine with the horses when the weather is so unpredictable.
I would say 'roll on spring' but these days it just means warmer rain!
 
lhotse said:
My dog refused to go out of the door when the weather is horrid too, he's a collie, he's not stupid!!
Click to expand...

funnily enough, my dog has been the same... He's a Samoyed, so I should be thankful that I'm not having to groom 7 tons of twigs, leaves, mud and rain out of him, however, I don't like having to go out in the wind and rain myself at night just to convince him that he needs to pee before I go to bed!

As for walking... forget it! His precious feet don't do wet or mud. He'll walk down the road and that's it. If there has been any flooding... not a chance. He actually got himself trapped in a bramble bush the other day because he was trying to avoid a puddle, I've never known a dog like him.

Come to think of it, my last horse hated puddles too... where the heck do I find these animals?!
 
I'm trying not to take any notice of the forecast,as it is often wrong anyway.Today was meant to be sunny and windy,with gales and rain from 3pm.We rode this morning,luckily ours are good whatever the weather,good thing as the wind was so strong at the top of the hill,that I couldn't breathe.It hasn't rained yet and I'm hoping we can manage a couple of dryish days.My field isn't too bad,but my little yard at home has about 1/2 an inch of water running over it,draining down from the garden.

I'm another hoping it doesn't snow,fingers crossed for a cold,dry February.Spring is only 4 weeks away.
 
Ptolemy said:
funnily enough, my dog has been the same... He's a Samoyed, so I should be thankful that I'm not having to groom 7 tons of twigs, leaves, mud and rain out of him, however, I don't like having to go out in the wind and rain myself at night just to convince him that he needs to pee before I go to bed!

As for walking... forget it! His precious feet don't do wet or mud. He'll walk down the road and that's it. If there has been any flooding... not a chance. He actually got himself trapped in a bramble bush the other day because he was trying to avoid a puddle, I've never known a dog like him.

Come to think of it, my last horse hated puddles too... where the heck do I find these animals?!
Click to expand...

<My dog just dislikes the rain though, give him a wet muddy puddle and he likes nothing better than a good belly dip!! He's been in the pond twice on our walk today!! Then it started raining on the way home and he looks at me as if it's my fault!!!
 
Ptolemy said:
funnily enough, my dog has been the same... He's a Samoyed, so I should be thankful that I'm not having to groom 7 tons of twigs, leaves, mud and rain out of him, however, I don't like having to go out in the wind and rain myself at night just to convince him that he needs to pee before I go to bed!

As for walking... forget it! His precious feet don't do wet or mud. He'll walk down the road and that's it. If there has been any flooding... not a chance. He actually got himself trapped in a bramble bush the other day because he was trying to avoid a puddle, I've never known a dog like him.

Come to think of it, my last horse hated puddles too... where the heck do I find these animals?!
Click to expand...

I have a malamute who loves this weather - the colder then better as far as hes concerned and he gleefully dives for his leash when I mention walkies much to my disappointment
 
Yes, its been such a long dark muddy winter. The past month has been the worst, relentless rain, mud, and lack of sunshine. Am beginning to think we would be better off with minus 10C and snow, at least everything would be dry and clean !! We have 4 horses with mud fever, luckily no flooding but the horses get bored, then mock fight, so in addition some rip their rugs when duffing one another up.
At least its been relatively mild, and yesterday to cap it all - one of the bantams appeared in the yard with 2 newly hatched chicks !!!! The chickens have never stopped laying this winter.
I think you are right - the older you get (and I'm the wrong side of 45) the worse winter becomes, and come October/November there is that impending sense of doom !! Horses are just a way of life.
 
I am the wrong side of 60 and so far this has been a great winter as we haven't even had a week of minus temperatures yet. Loving it. I am sorry for those that are flooded but I hate snow and ice and much prefer rain because it is less muddy with the rain than it is with melting snow I can also poo pick daily when it snows that is one job that gets away from me then I struggle
 
No, I just think back to all those years when I was horseless. And now I'm lucky enough to be in a position to have my own, there's not much that gets me down, I just get on with it.

The last couple of months and probably February are the worst to get through, everything is so much more work in the cold, wet and dark and in return we get a lot less hours in the saddle, together with the extra expense of feeding hay etc. But I reckon we've nearly broken the back of the winter now and it should all start to get easier.

If I start to feel sorry for myself I just tell myself how privileged I am to have my own horse!
 
That's lovely Meems and wish I could feel the same.

Maybe 30 winters, as well as having run a livery yard for 7 of them, have just taken its toll....

Lets hope we all feel more positive in a few weeks time.
 
I've been feeling like a want to give up recently. I am a sharer, I have two horses I can ride. But practically no where to ride them. Can't use the school as it's grass and would get trashed. Can't ride in the field as again it would get trashed and then we'd have no grass. There is hacking but I'm SO bored of doing the same routes over and over. And then trying to do it one day and finding a tree blocking my way. Every single time I bring the horses in I have to scrub the mud off them. So fed up with it all.

I don't think it's just the weather that's making me feel like giving up though. Everything's just snowballing at the moment.
 
Sidney said:
Yes.....I have owned horses for nearly 30 yrs and think this may be the last winter I can endure

I just see the horses as an unwanted chore now and getting so depressed at the state of the yard and fields. I hunt in the winter as this usually keeps me motivated but can't face getting the horses and tack clean, to only be plastered in mud within 5mins from the meet, one more time.

My haylage supplier has sold me several dud bales so am now running out of anything decent to feed the horses...

The heater has broken in the horse box....

Rats have got into my straw store and eaten through the twine, so am having to barrow loose straw to the stables, which just blows everywhere and makes even more mess....

The horses are being nightmares as don't want to be out in muddy fields, but are bored off standing in, so am taking my life in their hands when I ride....

I am fed up of sacrifising family time as the horses have to come first.....

I am fed up being poor as spend all my spare money on the horses....

And to top it all a good friend who is going on holiday next has been let down by the person who was looking after them, so now have her horses and dogs to do too......not her fault but need this like a 'hole in the head'.

I am going to see how I feel come spring, then make a decision then. The problem I also have is only one of mine is sellable - the other may well have to pts and I am going to have to live with that.

Feeling well and truly trapped in nightmare of mud and ungratful horses atm....
Click to expand...

I can really relate to a lot of what you say here Sidney, no advice to give but ((hugs)) I'm exhausted, I'm tired of having no time for anything, I am tired of the mud and the wind and the rain.

Also, try as I might I have become very unhappy on the livery yard, which is really sad because I used to love it there, it's just become such a drama-fest lately
 
Well lets face it, the weather worse since 1910, rainwise and yes slipping around in the mud and having to put down umteen bricks down on our driveway so we can take the tractor+mucktrailer and hay trailer up a steep driveway with out getting stuck. Until this weather we only had trouble trying to drive over when it snowed, but the track is so wet and soft, we have difficulty with the landrover
 
lula said:
i am counting the weeks till march. Spring starts on March 1st in my calender. whether it does in reality is very unlikely but it keeps me with something to count down to when Winter misery and costs starts to get the better of me.

If i thought i had another 2 months of winter at the moment i might lay down and cry! By the end of jan i think everyone has well and truly had enough.
Click to expand...

That's me - 1st March is Spring and winter is done! Someone up there better be listening!
 
While it seems to have been very wet the entire last month or more I find this winter actually easier to cope with than the awful summer/autumn of 2012 - that was just non stop dreadful weather for months when it shouldn't have been which I found very depressing and this, well this is winter, wet rather than cold but of an amount of rain we've not had for a long time in a winter. Those what seemed like endless awful months of 2012 were somehow harder to get through. Though I really feel for the parts of the country that have been under water now for ages and having it the worse. Hang on folks that are finding it so hard and don't give up on something that you love, ie horses, the outdoors, though I know it must be exhausting and costly and I know as we get older in life it does seem to take more out of us. The birds are starting to get geared up for Spring, snowdrops are out and daffs are pushing through the ground, if everything is kind then in 4 weeks time if no cold snap inbetween we'll be out the other side. And I wish you all the healing warmth of the sun :)
 
It was a beautiful day today and it's cheered me up no end! I've moved my girls onto the spring paddock and decided to get them in at night to avoid too much churn. I should keep them on their winter paddock but it's such a mess of mud i can't do it! Continuing on the positive though, I walked my winter paddock this morning and there def is grass coming through (they tend to loiter around their hay piles so if you walk further out and down the slope there isn't much churn and def signs of growth). We are through the worst - honest! I even managed a good riding session today - it was great to be out and not dodging torrential rain showers!
 
Yep, I rode for an hour and a quarter first thing, horsey was very well behaved considering she was only ridden for 20 mins yesterday and then stayed in. They all went out when I got back for a few hours and seemed to really enjoy the sunshine!

Just taken the dog for a walk in the woods, the bluebells are coming up, the birds are singing and there was even a bit of warmth in the sun.

Hopefully, today's fix of spring will get me through the next week!!
 
This years not been too bad for us! Had the bad winds etc and the fields get flooded everytime there's another downpour but have to give whoever built our setup their due - stables are always out of the rain/wind/flooding same with the school and our fields even though they are small are still relatively mud free (must have miracle soil!!)
I've seen some of the other yards in the area and its not a pretty sight!
Its still a chore in this weather but im so grateful for what I've had this year :) easiest winter I've had in years so far!
 
My husband and I retire this year, and I have noticed that it is all just much more difficult. Getting up at 5am is difficult, motivating to ride in the wet and dark after work is difficult, cold and wet is difficult, when my horse is cold and wet HE is difficult......

Then the other day I was having a pity party with myself in the grooming parlour, and I thought that hey, if it were not for this Ginger Man in here with me (the wonderful Jaystar) I doubt I would have been out exercising out in the open air!

My OH agrees, it keeps us fit and active, and the only difference is we don't do as much competing in winter as it is nicer to just ride "enough" when the weather is rubbish rather than being a martyr to the cause. It helps that my horse hates cold and wet as well. :-) perfect excuse to just lunge instead.
 
I'm totally sick of it! I've lived my 2 out this year as I just can't be doing with spending 6 months of the year mucking out and spending a ton of money on hay and bedding! Totally gets you down. I'm trying to make myself ride as both need to get fit but its so annoying knowing I have to trapse through the mud, clean them both off, ride and get freezing, soaked and covered in more mud, then come back and put them back out in the mud! Vile weather! I don't mind the cold if it would just stop raining!!
Don't have an arena so stuck with hacking, at least we have really good hacking but even the chase which usually stays quite nice has turned to a mud pit!

Saying that, today has been clear with a bit of sun, still cold, but managed to get them both ridden so at least thats something!
 
Am feeling everyone's pain. I'm fortunate in that I've got my own place so don't need to worry about horses cutting up "someone else's" field..... but having said that am sick and tired, as everyone else is of putting out nicely groomed and clean horses out - and 10 mins later they're absolutely plastered with mud and it seems increasingly that at least ONE of them has lost a shoe out in the bog, which then means I have to try and track down the farrier........ who can't/won't come out for at least a week..... and THEN you can't ride and they're hanging around the place like stinking fish.

So yeah, have had it up to the eyeballs. And at least here yes we're on the Devon clay, but haven't been flooded out as the water when it does come just goes straight through and on down the hill rather than flooding us out. So we have a lot to be thankful for really I guess.

Like others, I found the "summer" of 2012 totally dispiriting; talk about an Eighteen Month Winter, it was awful, everyone was depressed, it was just unspeakable.

Let's hope we get a decent summer this year and all this we're going through now will be just a distant memory ...... I don't think I could bear it if we don't...........
 
I too sympathise with some of you! It is an expensive chore at the moment.
I have decided that unless I really enjoy my horse this year then I will seriously consider giving up. I really hope i don't feel like this in a few months time.
 
I was getting really fed up of all the wet and mud and was getting very wound up about it all until I was having a real moan to my unhorsey mother who just said that it's only mud and doesn't hurt anyone and will dry up and fields will recover like they always do, think how the poor children in Syria are suffering etc, ect, ect. Made me feel a bit silly to be moaning about a bit of mud, well a lot of mud but in the whole scheme of things not really something to get depressed about. Good old Mum I know where to go when I get down about anything she always knows how to put everything into perspective. Bless her. She is 80 years old and is so sensible and sane!!
 
It has been blinkin awful, and a lot of hardwork this year. Never had so much mud.

although ive just popped out to check on them, and it was lovely, all of them tucked in bed all cosy and warm. You could hear the rain on the roof. Most of them where asleep. My big lad, was snoozing, but got up and came over for a kiss on the nose. sometimes the simple things just help.
 
Resting my two in an 8 acre field from no to feb was the best decision I made. I got so fed up with winter and horses got fed up of being stuck inside that I hunted for a good field to rent and pay £750 a year for and a second hand field shelter. But the cost is nothing compared to mucking out stables for six month, paying about £25 a week on shavings, munching through £30 of haylage and also farriers costs. I save a small fortune and by the time spring comes we feel fresh and ready to ride again. I would never go back to stabling them over the winter unless I could rent a paddock this size.
 
I am a bit fed up as the winters are usually the payment for what I do in the summer and last summer because we sold a house and were planning building another one I never did anything and then the foundations of the house did not start till October.
I have two youngsters to start, one who is five this time so I must get going this year. I am lucky that most of mine are in barns and deep littered but I really need to do more with them. I can not imagine life without them but I must cut down.
 
Beyond fed up.
Daughter has thrown the towel in, and despite having our own yard(no facilities just fields and stables) has decided to pay livery on a yard so at least our mare can be exercised whatever the weather as there is an indoor school. The other equines are staying put,as not in work.
Our fields are on clay, and there is not deep,but slippery mud everywhere. It's definitely not fun, nor pleasant.
 
I have barely ridden all winter - had cold after cold then injured my back so horse has had a mini holiday anyway. I'm just getting back into it with avengance now so not feeling like giving up. Am lucky that we have a fantastic outdoor arena that is great in this sort of weather for riding. It gets a bit deep in the v dry, hot weather and did freeze when it was really cold last winter, but it's perfect ATM. Getting a bit fed up of the everywhere being under water as it means only hacking on roads, and our road-only hacks are HOURS long if you are avoiding the bridleways. I don't have the enthusiasm for spending many hours in the saddle ATM and haven't even considered a day's hunting this season as I can't face the mud and rain.

The yard is usually great with turnout, even in the snow/ice they were out til about 3-4pm daily. But, we are on heavy clay soil and the fields are just destroyed. YO always says she doesn't care what state they get in but I look at them ATM and really can't see how they'll recover this year from it. If the weather is OK, like today which was sunny and quite warm, they are mostly OK out for a few hours. But on the cold, wet and windy days, they don't want more than an hour or two out. Now they go out at 8am and come in by 11am because they are bored, walking the fence line and creating more mud, trashing the fences... we are on the side of a hill which is v windy so if we put out hay it just blows away, and the horses won't eat it anyway as they are only interested in trying to get away from the rain and wind. They are better just having a leg stretch for a couple of hours, and work, then staying in with hay. Our stables are big anyway (16 x 12ft) so they have room to move, and can touch each other across the stables.

Having said all of that... I am now starting to think I might just enjoy the summer with pony then sell him and have a baby instead!! At least I can stay out of the mud with a baby!! ;)
 
I'm fine actually. Was saying today how easy winter has been so far. Saying that, the ponies live out so only need to go up once a day, chuck a bale of hay in, check them over and give them a feed. Tend not to take them on the yard during the week as no real point and it will jusT churn up the walk ways.

Managing to get out and hack at the weekends, not had any issues with ice or frozen pipes etc. Its light enough in the evening now so even if we do get freezing weather in the the next few weeks it will be light and therefore easier to cope with :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top