How is everyone coping?

claracanter said:
Looks like it’s going to rain all week. My ground will be sodden, can’t believe it can get any wetter. Clay soil is a nightmare
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Same here, I'm begging for some shed space to be cleared so they can at least stand somewhere dry for a couple of hours respite now and again. It rained so hard here last night that it forced it's way through gaps in the window frame and soaked the floor inside!
 
Well, we had snow, it's now thawed and rained non stop since yesterday morning and the forecast says it's meant to just keep on pouring. Our fields generally hold up really well (I can normally walk across them in trainers in the middle of winter) but they already had a layer of water over them yesterday evening :( I woke up early and had to get out of bed as listening to the non stop rain was just too depressing.
 
And now the rain…. Again 😩 I dread what the fields will be like by January.

Oh did I mention we now have lots of local flooding?!! Arghhhh
 
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I found the worst day was yesterday as we’d had a bit of rain on Saturday so everywhere just froze over like a sheet of ice. The rest of the week it was at least crisp and dry. Girls have got out every day (negotiating the rock yard rutted gateway has been a fabulous test for the bionic limb!)
Rain again today and temps have gone up.

I’m not finding winter too bad this year. I think being off games last winter made me realise I’m not cut out for normal life and I’ve sort of embraced this year and am weirdly enjoying the whole thing.
 
We had snow yesterday afternoon which was nice and was hoping for a couple more days of dryish cold weather.......no chance, it started thawing late last night and is continuing today . Back to the mud 😐
 
We still have plenty of snow but the precipitation seems to be more rain than snow now. It had obviously snowed more overnight though, as when I got up there were no footprints from the last 11 pm-ish check visible. The horses' outdoor water trugs weren't frozen at 7.00 pm though. I'm hoping for a slowish thaw so that the ground can cope but we are expecting temperatures in double figures by the end of the week.
 
More rain. Thats done for my fields now. Standing water and boggy everywhere else. Of course the horses like to stand in the bog and eat grass rather than go to the shelter that has mud mats and hay!
 
I remember all horses just being stabled and ridden for an hour when I was a kid. I would NOT want a return to those days but my God it was easier!

If I ever get my own place I want a huge barn instead of stables, opening onto a sand school then can just keep my 3 together loose without mud and rain!
 
Oh god the rain. I genuinely thought a pipe had burst at the yard this morning, the water running off the fields is ridiculous. I’ve asked YM to get landowner to check the water meter just in case as of course everything froze and then melted, but I think it is just the run-off from the fields 😭 brought my mare in this morning for some haylage and to dry off a bit, so I could slap more mud fever barrier stuff on. Praying she doesn’t get it again. I thought we had enough grass in current field for the next 3 weeks but if they trash it quicker because it’s like soup, will have to move them onto the next field sooner. Sooo over this winter already 😩
 
I see above that lots of people are fishing out ice from water troughs (or were!). Just remember that if the air temp is below 0, then that ice will be insulating the water underneath, so just make a good hole and stash the broken ice on top of the rest of the layer. When we get to the REALLY shitty temps, it'll slow down the solidifying of the water in the trough.

As for rain. It needs to pish off. We're now getting dense fog and drizzle, here. OH is happy (he's allergic to cold and refuses to dress appropriately). I am less so!!! ;)
 
Jambarissa said:
I remember all horses just being stabled and ridden for an hour when I was a kid. I would NOT want a return to those days but my God it was easier!

If I ever get my own place I want a huge barn instead of stables, opening onto a sand school then can just keep my 3 together loose without mud and rain!
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Yes ours was the same, no turnout from November to March bar the sand school for a run about… horses ridden most days. 30 odd years ago now…fields were clay where we were so absolute bogs in winter
 
It is still torrential here and has been no higher than 5 degrees all day. Wind is picking up now too. I know they don't really care, judging by the fact they are stomping about in the wettest part of the field, furthest from the nice thick, high, sheltering hedges, because obviously that's where the grass is nicest, but I do feel sorry for them! It's bad enough doing a shift out in it, let alone being in it 24/7
 
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