hard rutted ground and shivering cob!

cob&onion

cob&onion

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 January 2011
Messages
2,744
Visit site
Theres a hard frost at the moment here and with the ground being rutted anyway due to all the rain and mud we have had the cobs are finding it difficult to walk across the ruts.
They are both a good weight, have thick coats, rugless and fed ad lib hay twice per day whilst its so cold.
Big cob mare normally lives out 247 through all seasons unrugged - this is her 4th winter living out and i have never seen her shiver when its cold & dry - only when its raining heavily.
Went down this eve to hay and noticed the cob was shivering, my guess is shes been standing in the one spot most of the day not wanting to walk across the hard ruts and has got cold. I had a light weight turn out that i have put on her tonight, will be going down first light tomorrow to hay again. Thing is shes a bit of a rug destroyer and i don't like rugging her incase she gets tangled up in it as she has done in the past :rolleyes::rolleyes: I know once the softer snow comes she will be okay and moving around as normal again.......i have a MW rug which fits her better but don't really want to start rugging especially if its going to be coming off again when the ground softens up or she rips it off again :rolleyes::rolleyes:
Any suggestions? also is anyone else experiencing similar with hard rutted ground?
 
I'd put the MW on, you've nothing to loose but the rug if she rips it;)
Can you fence off the worst of the rutted area?

Might be worth soaking something like speedi-beet in hot water to give a quick perk up, you'd be surprised what a nice warm bit of food can do to a shivering horse feeling sorry for itself

Pray for warm weather I say:o
 
We have the rutted ground and frozen conditions too which is hard on my old mare. However I put hay out in small pile all round the field to encourage them all to walk around. They have there usual haylage in a feeder but I hay as well and they have to walk around to eat it, which they do.. because its always gone;)
 
Inthesticks said:
We have the rutted ground and frozen conditions too which is hard on my old mare. However I put hay out in small pile all round the field to encourage them all to walk around. They have there usual haylage in a feeder but I hay as well and they have to walk around to eat it, which they do.. because its always gone;)
Click to expand...

good idea! i have put her hay out in 2 piles tonight, will put it in a few more in the morning, will prob see how she is in the morning in the LW and put the MW on if needed :)
Am such a worry - i keep worrying incase i go down and find a frozen cob!! the welsh is coping well :)
 
i had to put a 100g liner under a HW rug for my welsh a couple of days ago - they wont move over the frozen ground either. Its horrible to watch them but my whole field is the same and i have nothing else.
 
Big cob was standing in the ice again this morning, reluctant to move!! swopped her rug and put on her MW and led her over to her hay, have put loads out and really spread it round the field so she has to walk to get it.
The welsh is fluffy and warm and fat so left him naked!! :D
 
Cobandonion is she unshod ? Are her feet sore ? Try and see her doing some droppings and get a look at them if they are small and hard it might be time to worry a little.
 
I would pop the med one just to see us through this bad patch and then drop to the LW for day or two when improves and back off

She will have all her coat through already so growth shall not be affected

It is extreme weather and if she ruins them - well then she can stay naked!
 
I've kept my filly in today as the track down to her field was so rutted and frozen I was having trouble not twisting my ankle!
 
This would worry me a lot. It is rare that horses shiver in dry cold conditions when there is also little wind. I would be putting her middleweight on for certain, but would probably want her in to keep a close eye on her. I agree regarding ad lib hay.
 
amymay said:
Not a good sign.

Rather than haying - why not offer adlib??
Click to expand...

sorry, she does have it ad-lib, i just top it up twice per day, its in a big round bale and horses are in separate paddocks. She's much better today, not cold. The welsh is the same with the ice regarding walking over it, as are the other horses locally.
Going down later on so will be checking again, the ground seems to have softened up a bit now with the snow, its gone a bit milder.
:)
 
This is why I always keep a few paddocks/ or fenced off areas unused when it's the wet so they can go out on flat ground when it's like this. I know it's too late now, but something to remember in the future, even if you fence off a small area, it'll be nice for them to have flat ground with hay to walk around.

I would offer ad lib hay whilst it's so cold.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top