Rain aahh

[setterlover]

Feeling a bit down and seriously begining to wonder about my life choices
It seems to have been wet and miserable for weeks now with just a weeks respite in early October when we went away.
We have struggled to make hay this year and have ended making 3 lots of haylege (which is fine as I usually make 2 lots of haylege and one lot of hay and have one horse of the 3 with COPD.)
I have hung up my riding boots due to a lot of personal reasons so they are all in retirement now and live out 24/7 with an open barn linked to the fields fairly dry land able to keep moving them to avoid mud they are all unrugged little hard feed just haylege am and pm .Two are in their mid 20,'s the other one 18. They are minimal work but really this constant 'weather' is dragging me down .
We have decided these will be the last horses when they go there will be no more we are considering when that happens selling the farm and downsizing to a smaller place with only a few acres of land .We have 2 dogs and will always have dogs.
Anyone else struggling?

 

[meleeka]

I think what makes it worse is that we aren’t even in November yet. It feels like it’s going to be a long, hard slog

If someone told me it was going to be a dry, crisp winter I wouldn’t be so down about the current weather, but it just feels never ending. As usual we’ve had no build up. It was summer weather a couple of weeks back, then this!

A friend came to see me today and I felt a bit silly complaining once she’d told me about her leaking hay barn and flooded stables. I know I could have it much worse really.

 

[setterlover]

Yes I know we could have it a lot worse as our set up is ideal for minimal work and best life style for the horses and others are struggling with mud and defective buildings but we seem to have had little summer and it's going to be a very long winter if it carries on like this!.
Looking at the forecast there is yet more heavy rain for all of next week.

 

[black and brown]

Yes, feeling really down at the moment. Mud everywhere, waterlogged school, fields and hacking, wet clothes I can't get dry and now it's dark by about 5pm. Sorry for the moan, I know there are far worse things going on in the world but at at the moment I'm really fed up!

 

[Crazy_cat_lady]

I don't miss it in the slightest, just had something come up with the roof (b****y birds) that needs rectifying, if I still had a horse no way id have the wriggle room financially to deal with it asap and the financial burden of it would have fallen to OH - I can now help out more, both with this and the rising monthly costs

I may be fatter (despite doing gym not horse!) But I'm not missing any of the stress of having one

While I liked knowing he was tucked up in his stable on a wet night, it also leaked (not my property) so I'd be scooping out £££'s of wet bedding, trudging round the fields poo picking etc

I don't think I'll ever go back to horses

 

[teddy_]

Mine is currently stuck in with infected mud fever, on our third course of antibiotics now and having used every topical treatment imaginable .

Doesn’t look like she will be able to go out until the rain relents some what, which seems impossible at the moment .

 

[setterlover]

Although we have them at home and make all our own haylege there is still the cost of the farrier and bedding for the pole barn .it's the work that is pulling me down.
If we sell up and down size we will realise a lot of capital and although there is still dogs to walk there is far less getting soaked checking horses and skipping out the pole barn .
We have an excellent house/ dog sitter and then could afford to get away a few times during the winter to escape the weather.A.week or two out of the British weather somewhere warm certainly picks up your spirits.We are going away in January for a couple of weeks and at present counting the days.
A bad run of weather like this certainly makes us think downsizing may come sooner rather than later!

 

[cjwchez]

I've been feeling down in the weeks leading up to the clocks changing. I've been absolutely dreading these dark nights coming as I love being able to hack out on an evening to de-stress after work. the weathers not been too bad here yet but my field and the bridleway I ride on is starting to get wet and muddy

 

[AutumnDays]

Surface water galore here, despite husband being very pro active with the digger and making ditches. Better than where they were though, which was so muddy the Arab x had mud fever in July... had rugged them up in no fills, but it's still mild, and they aren't ridden, so they were getting warm, took them off, it's been horizontal rain all day, and as it's all new to them (just moved house) they stand where they know I'll come through the gate, rather than enjoying the 8 acres they have to explore between the two of them... I'm fed up of this rain. Discovered my waterproofs aren't that waterproof anymore in one particularly brutal cloud burst today

 

[tyner]

Although we have them at home and make all our own haylege there is still the cost of the farrier and bedding for the pole barn .it's the work that is pulling me down.
If we sell up and down size we will realise a lot of capital and although there is still dogs to walk there is far less getting soaked checking horses and skipping out the pole barn .
We have an excellent house/ dog sitter and then could afford to get away a few times during the winter to escape the weather.A.week or two out of the British weather somewhere warm certainly picks up your spirits.We are going away in January for a couple of weeks and at present counting the days.
A bad run of weather like this certainly makes us think downsizing may come sooner rather than later!

Maybe it's worth looking into retirement livery if that could facilitate downsizing faster. And getting on a list for one of the really good places so when you're ready you have a place to go.

 

[setterlover]

Looking at what is on the market at present in the area we are considering we could get a smaller property with a lot less land (currently 18 acres) and outbuildings and move the horses with us.and still realise a fair bit of capital which would mean I could pay for help with the work who could also do holiday cover.Its an area where we have a lot of contacts and friends and it would be a dwindling number of horses when down to one either consider a mini from a rescue as a companion or retirement livery then.Then when no horses left use the land to run our dogs and get it topped a few times a year or let s farmer have it for hay.
Just musing at present though starting to get the property up together and getting rid of clutter for when we decide.

 

[maisie06]

Feeling a bit down and seriously begining to wonder about my life choices
It seems to have been wet and miserable for weeks now with just a weeks respite in early October when we went away.
We have struggled to make hay this year and have ended making 3 lots of haylege (which is fine as I usually make 2 lots of haylege and one lot of hay and have one horse of the 3 with COPD.)
I have hung up my riding boots due to a lot of personal reasons so they are all in retirement now and live out 24/7 with an open barn linked to the fields fairly dry land able to keep moving them to avoid mud they are all unrugged little hard feed just haylege am and pm .Two are in their mid 20,'s the other one 18. They are minimal work but really this constant 'weather' is dragging me down .
We have decided these will be the last horses when they go there will be no more we are considering when that happens selling the farm and downsizing to a smaller place with only a few acres of land .We have 2 dogs and will always have dogs.
Anyone else struggling?

I gave up horses a few years ago the main reason being the constant rain, I can't cope with winter and I'm glad I have no horses now.

 

[I'm Dun]

First time in a very, very, very long time that I dont have horses. Given the rain and how much more is predicted this winter, I am very glad!