Here's a winter morning conundrum for you all...

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Flicker

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Ok, what would you do:
You are leading 2 horses down the lane. It is getting lighter but still fairly gloomy. Both good boys, if a bit batty every now and again. Everything going well until you feel a teensy patch of ice under your feet. The lane is tarmac.
So you slow the boys and take another tentative step forward and in front of you the lane is a skating rink. All three of you are standing on ice. The field is about 20 steps away.
You can't go forward and you can't turn them around to go back. What would you do?
Fortunately in my case, this morning, YO was following behind me in the car and we managed to get them out by leading single file along a mushy bit next to the hedge. But if she hadn't come along, I'd probably still be standing there now.
smile.gif
 
Probably carried on, I have walked across ice with a horse before (didn't mean to of course!) and neither of us slipped....turning round there is more chance they will slip I would have thought.
 
Not much you can do but carry on slowly and hope they don't panic. I got caught like this last year. Out riding I walked my horse over a large icy puddle as there was no way around and I assumed it would just break under her feet. Unfortunately it was extremely thick and like a skating rink. Thankfully she took it steady and we got to the other side in one piece but could have been nasty.
 
I was really scared actually, visions of two horses and me all hitting the deck together! They were very good boys actually.
Glad to hear it is surmountable.
Hopefully YO has gritted the lane by now!!
 
silly answer I know but I just got this flash in my mind of the 2 horses looking at each other and with a mischievous wink strapping on a pair of ice skates and doing syncronized skating all the way to the gate. (with maybe the odd lift throwin in for good measure). he he
 
...TBH i think i would have started to Panic... it would have brought back memories of me hitting the deck big style a few years back..

I was riding out alonga short strech of tarmac road to a briddlepath at the end of the yard driveway... didnt know that there was black ice at one point... cue a Bambi like moment from my otherwise very sure footed horse and me hitting the ice... feet first then bottom... i kept hold of the reins but then had a horse scrabbling for grip alongside me....
luckally he did stop but in another bambi like pose... i managed to tentitively return to the stables with him... but even if its a bit icy underfoot now i wont ride... could have been nasty!

Good job your YO was behind you! hope it wont happen again tomorrow!

xxx
 
I was worried about this scenario this morning. Most of our yard was frozen but luckily there was enough secure footing to go around most of the bigger bits, but then along the drive was slippery. Not as bad as how you've described, but it'll get to that point. I tried getting Belle to walk on the grass but it was frozen too and hurt her feet so she kept pushing me back onto the tarmac.

I hate the noise they make as the start slipping, really panicks me as I think about them jarring a leg or a joint or something
 
Put an arm up over each horse's wither and let them safely carry you across with you in between?

One wet slippery morning leading the cob-yobs by the pond, I warned my OH that he had positioned himself between cob-yob and pond which looked a recipe for disaster. At that very moment my trusty wellies shot my feet from underneath me and I ended up in a heap looking at cob-yob-in-hand's belly. Thank goodness cob-yob in question was in a saintly mood. Phew!
 
My problem would be one is a shetland and my other is a IDxTB so bit of a sie difference. I would have kept walking and hoped that they were in a favourable mood to keep going nicely.

If not I woudl have prayed, ensured padding around rear end in place and then gone for it lol
 
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