Silver lining - what's yours?

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JillA

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With all this weather, mud, depression lack of riding etc - there MUST be a silver lining if you look hard enough for it?
I'll start with mine - all the wet will speed up the rotting of the wood component part of my surface so that another top up with rubber and it hopefully will have all washed away through the drains.
And another - despite all the work I do love doing evening stables and seeing horses all tucked up and munching hay. That would apply with ice and snow as well though :)
Can you find a silver lining?
 
My silver lining is my youngster, she has been with me just over 14 months now, for the first winter she lived out with my elderly gelding, who sadly was PTS 2 weeks ago, my other pony was PTS around a month after she arrived, if it wasn't for her i don't think i would be able to have carried on.

Due to the wet weather she has had to spend a lot of time in overnight and sometimes during the day, she is now settled in her stable and despite being backed late last summer, I feel that having her stabled has given us the opportunity to get to know each other even better. So despite the muddy vile conditions of late, i like the fact we are getting to know each other better each and every day.
 
No lugging water from the house as none of the pipes are frozen. :)

No heavy rugs as it's not cold enough to crack out the full neck heavyweights :)
 
mine lives out :D

no mucking out over winter and i havent seen her for 2 weeks (someone else checks them)!... so having a nice horse free winter :D

first in a long time :)
 
Ditto no frozen pipes, the grass has still been growing here (where it hasn't turned to mud) and we shouldn't have to worry about hosepipe bans this summer.
 
Yep, agree that the lack of frozen pipes and taps (so far!) is a bonus! But quite ironic as I was all prepared this year, having bought extra large field troughs and one of those H2Go things you put in a wheelbarrow to transport water. And the new stone paths, drive and arena we put in at the end of the summer has made winter much easier for me than it was last year.
 
Our horses water supply comes from butts that are attached to drains on the roof so when it's this wet I don't have to drag the hose from the bottom yard to refill them! That's about the only good thing I can think of though.
 
Really struggling to think of one as big horse diagnosed with Check ligament injury today so box rest for 2 months - boo! But I guess better no riding now than in June and when the rain is pouring down I won't feel bad for not riding as I can't!
 
We've been really busy at weekends clearing out and decorating my mum's house as she's gone into a home, so as the horses are having a bit of a holiday due to the weather I don't feel guilty for not riding. Once the weather's better we'll have the time to enjoy it, having got the hard work out of the way :) Oh, and totally agree on the frozen pipes thing - when you have to soak Simple System feeds for 3 as well as drinking water, it's not nice to have to keep traipsing back and forth into YO's house with endless buckets, so that's been a huge bonus this winter!
 
noodle_ said:
mine lives out :D

no mucking out over winter and i havent seen her for 2 weeks (someone else checks them)!... so having a nice horse free winter :D

first in a long time :)
Click to expand...

Right there with you noodle!!

I turned my mare away this winter with someone as I knew I wouldn't have time to work her (the joy of having a native!) and boy haven't we picked a good winter to be horseless!! Not that I don't miss her like mad, I am literally counting down the days until she comes back in...

Roll on the end of February! :)
 
No ice.

Ridden pony is becoming just about 'weather-proof' as she's had to go out in wind, rain, hail, and she's just taking it all in her stride.
 
my big horse is now weather proof as are the kids and their ponies , the ponies are now ground tied and kids can vault ride bareback and play cowboys and Indians (the joys of a pony size barn)
 
Young Ponies have learnt to go through water, a useful lesson for later life!

No cold hands, a real plus!
Never seen our geese so white and clean as the dew pond is overflowing.

Snowdrops are out, spring is on the way!
 
i got electric in my barn a few weeks ago, so now when i am up early or late i can actually see my horses without a head torch, and enjoy a nice groom :) dotty was so in love with her ears being scratched she dropped her head right to the floor and i was there for 10 minutes!
now also enough daylight to ride in the week- although only 20-30 min hack as most routes flooded. but still nice to have a relaxed potter
 
I spend more time cuddling and grooming :P

I suppose it's that Ned is calm and settled now. I didn't realise quite how badly unsettled he was at his last home. I wouldn't have coped if he was still like that. All the rearing...pacing, shoving...gah!! The field would be a swamp now.
 
Realizing I can cope with having my pony at home over winter - I was really worried about my field as I only have 2 acres of heavy clay but if it can survive this we can cope with anything !!
 
I have effectively been horseless this winter as I only have my youngster who is turned out. I can see him everyday without feeling even remotely guilty that I'm not doing a thing with him lol :) And actually I'm raring to go this year when he goes for breaking/schooling and have been having regular lessons again...so in effect this weather has actually given me my horsey mojo back :)
 
I'm rubbish at cleaning my tack but I make sure I clean it after every time I ride in the rain, so at the moment it's getting done most days!
 
Mine has mild anhydrosis, so I spend much of the summer worrying about whether he'll overheat. At the moment, he's living out unclipped and is full of energy and happy as larry. We have lovely hacks in freezing cold temperatures and on windy days when he is clearly loving it, trotting along with a spring in his step (and with the added advantage that since he doesn't sweat, I don't have to worry about drying him off when we get back to the field ;) ). It also means he's a very good do-er, so he's absolute minimum effort in winter - give him a nice big field, a bunch of happy mates and access to hay, and that's it. No rainscald, no mud rash, and he only rolls in the mud about once a week, so minimal grooming. I quite like winter :D

OK, I don't like it when we get these endless spells of "rain+wind" - I do get a bit down when I'm not able to ride because it's too wet to tack up at the gate - and I do get a bit weary of dragging huge bags of hay across a mudpit, but on the whole, I'm having a good time!
 
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