Is it just me or is this the worst winter for years?

Marigold4

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I may be exaggerating but it seems to me that it has either been raining or snowing for 5 months now. Little sign of the grass coming through and fields still a bog. I have spent a fortune on bedding and hay and still no sign of spring and being able to let them out 24/7. Seriously wondering if I want to do this ever again! Has it really been worse than normal or am I just turning into a wuss?
 

Yardbird

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It is the most depressing winter I have known in 24 years of horse ownership. However it will pass , I need some better weather to just get any motivation to ride .I think it has stopped raining at the moment but everywhere will just be such a squelch. Still it is a very"First world problem". We are very lucky here that our horses can go out every day.so they remain well and happy .
 
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meleeka

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This time last year it was sunny and warm :( I didn’t have any mud in November so it hasn’t been as long as it feels I don’t think. I too have spent more than normal on bedding and hay and my joints are complaining now.
 

Spottyappy

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Its the worst for being wet that I can remember in over 40 years of horse ownership. I have never needed to stable mine so early (end November) or have them in so late. They’re normally in over night from mid December to mid March. Costing a fortune in hay and bedding.
I have had 3 to do all winter. It’s my own yard so I do have one paddock I trash, but even that has had days where it’s impossible to turn them out.
I’m fed up with it too, it’s tiring, and the constant wet muddy clothes needing the washing machine are beyond ridiculous.
 

ycbm

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I may be exaggerating but it seems to me that it has either been raining or snowing for 5 months now.

I wish you were exaggerating, but my OH has just looked up the rainfall statistics and it's been raining far in excess of normal since the beginning of June last year.

It's got to stop soon!
 

holeymoley

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Nope we've had rain since August. May seems to be the best month for us the last few years. We had snow flurries yesterday morning :(
 

Trules

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Its been terrible and an utter slog. I have ponies that should be hardy planting and refusing to turn out in the mud. I would have never considered stabling a welsh section a before but he has other ideas. I would be seriously thinking about giving up if winters were going to be like this in future. X
 

Cortez

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Not just you: this is awful. If I didn't need to keep horses as part of our business I think I would give up. Too much hard slog, too much muck and mire, and not pleasant for the horses to be kept off the fields and worked in driving rain. I haven't been able to ride in the field since early last year, it's all arena work and a very short stint up our laneway (roads too dangerous to ride on). We are due a decent summer, but I fear this is the new normal now...
 

Toby_Zaphod

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As if the rain isn't enough, the temperatures are well down against what they should be. Unless the temperature rises & continually stays above 4-5 degrees night & day we won't see any grass growth so the summer pastures have little on them & there is no growth in the hay meadows. We obviously feed hay all year round in the stables but by this time of year we aren't normally putting hay in the paddocks. Hopefully after this weekend we may get into normal temperatures, see some grass growth & have the paddocks dry out........ fingers crossed!
 

MotherOfChickens

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I think you all are experiencing a normal Scottish winter :p

we've had more snow than average, it is wet but has been wetter here (2013-2014) and we've not had as much flooding as normal. we had a terrible summer last year so its been wet since last June. There was one week in the autumn I was in despair with constantly wet dogs, wet van, constant waterproof wearing etc but you seem to have had more rain than us since then.
I don't normally get real grass growth until May anyway. I'm not minding a cold spring-despite being out in all weathers with hardly any supplementary feeding my two have come through winter too well, so they're now on an acre, muzzled through the day with soaked hay overnight. I'm just glad we have more light now, rain etc is just a matter of the right clothes.

eta-apart from the Beast fae the East we've not had the winter storms we would normally have either, maybe one or two whereas in 2013 we were getting them almost daily in December. I have been snowed in properly three times this year-first sine we moved here 4 years ago.
 
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popsdosh

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We have had more snow than normal, however on the whole not bad as temps have not dropped really low. Our land drains have only just started dripping so on the whole not over wet . Frozen ground and thawing snow always makes it look worse than it is.
 

saddlesore

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Bloody miserable. Horse has done very little all winter, ridden once or twice a week due to the weather. Was recalling hoping Easter would bring the end of it but where I am (near Glashow) is forecast snow mom, tue, wed and Thursday!
 

Iwantakitten

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Fed up, sick of it, bloody miserable. It's cold, wet and windy and I'm so ready for Spring now. Ours have been out every day this winter since they started coming in at night mid November but theyre normally out 24/7 by now. Our hay supplier has run out of hay and it's been a right run around trying to get hold of more. Horse is looking good though apart from a touch of mud fever in one foot - he's never had that before so it must be wet. Roll on the sunshine, I won't even moan about the flies.
 

milliepops

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yup pretty awful, isn't it. I can't remember having limited turnout for this long, ever. The retired girls have an 8 acre field which resembles a marsh, it's incredible. However, there are green shoots in my paddocks (under the lakes ;) ) and at least it's not dark after work any more, the end is surely in sight...?
 

coss

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I'm also well sick of the mud and rain but it could be worse.. This was 8 years ago:
26970_381264098534_3709567_n.jpg


Up here Winter lasts longer. Our grass doesn't usually start coming through until the middle of april or into may. I'm usually still supplementing mine with hay until then. The mud does seem to be worse this year and it just about starts to dry then we get more snow or rain. The mud is so wet that it's sloppy rather than sticky. Have just checked my phone weather forecast and looks like more snow this week here - desperate to get out competing (and more importantly regular riding) soon. Have competed mid march previous years but gave up on that this year as couldn't guarantee safe travel to get there.
 

Marigold4

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Thanks for all the replies. Good to know that I'm not the only one who thinks this winter has been pants! I think it's the mud that really gets me down. And every time I hear the rain smashing down on the roof, it stresses me out knowing the field will be a bog again. I have a little TB who is fond of rolling in the mud and galloping around in it. She's not happy until she's turned any field into a mudbath for her to roll in!
 

brightmount

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This winter has finished me off. My girls have been living out since January 2017 but the end of last winter was OK and they were on well rested fields at that point. This year their fields have been underwater, I have been battling abscesses since December. They don't seem to mind the weather as they have been well rugged throughout the worst of it, but seeing them hopping lame and having to poultice in all weathers may have made me an expert but it's so depressing. It actually encourages me that someone has started this thread so I know I'm not alone as it is very isolating coping with all this when you're not actually on a yard for moral support.
 

Marigold4

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Me too, Brightmount. I have 3 horses (1 rideable) and I look after them on my own too. My little TB has had an abcess for the first time this winter as well and acted as if her leg had broken! It's just me out there in the mud and rain as my husband has definitely gone off helping this winter! On my drive to and from work I see lots of us out there though, dressed in 3 layers, in the dark, pushing our wheelbarrows through the mud. I don't know if we are mad or heroic!
 
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Give me a cold, hard frost winter over this pishy wet weather any day of the week! You can wrap up against the cold. Most things stay relatively clean. It's crisp and raw.

In the rain you wrap up in stupid amounts of water proofs, hunker down and just get the job done trudging along putting one muddy foot in front of another. You Need 3 sets of outer clothes - a wearing set,a drying set and a spare in case of emergencies/the drying set takes 2 days to dry.

It's not fun. Horses are supposed to be a pleasure hobby.
 

Lintel

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Joining in too depress myself more... after poo picking the hard standing in a wind that feels -10 and with hailstones and sleet bouncing off me and soaking me simultaneously... I too feel this has been the worst winter. My boots and had are hung up till July!!
 

Squeak

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I'm with Brightmount and Marigold as I keep my horses on their own and it's nice to know others are struggling too. This winter has been horrendous and I've looked at the forecast for April and it is pretty much rain everyday :(

One of mine has also started planting and refusing to go out in the field and my winter grazing is just a complete bog. Praying for a decent summer!
 

WandaMare

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I can't wait for some sun now, so fed up of feeling cold and everywhere so muddy. Its much harder work on my yard when its wet, with wooden stables, the rain seeps through and soaks through the bedding, ughh. We had a couple of nice afternoons last week where it started to feel vaguely springlike but we had relatives staying so still no decent riding time. I normally love this time of year but so far this year, not so much.
 

Regandal

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Our fields aren't too bad, but we are struggling for hay. The farmers can't get the cattle out, so are hanging onto their hay and straw. It's a nightmare. Our local commercial supplier is now charging £50 for a big round bale of hay. I am very fortunate and have a supply. Just sick of the weather.
 

mytwofriends

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I no longer have horses, but I feel for all of you who do this winter. I have absolutely no desire to go back to owning them again - I had 40+ years of them and this winter must be up there in being of the worst.

Thinking of you guys!
 

Sussexbythesea

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It was definitely warmer, drier and sunnier this time last year as a Facebook memory came up on my newsfeed today of my boy showing off his paces naked in the field.

The bad thing was as it was so dry in the last year spring the hay crop wasn’t as good if I recall correctly so maybe a wetter spring is a good thing if we then get a nice summer.
 
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