What if it's like this every winter?!

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bex1984

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Just something I've been pondering.

What if, thanks to climate change in some form or another, from now on every winter was like this, with a good month or more where the ground was frozen/there was a decent amount of snow? How would it change the way we keep our horses?

For example, due to the fields being covered in snow and/or icy yards, I know many people (me included) are having to limit turnout. Whether you agree with this or not it is a fact that, in the short term, this is something we've got to do. Personally I wouldn't want to do this consistently or long term and certianly wouldn't want it to be something I had to do every winter...

Would it make a difference to shoeing? Obviously those horses and ponies without shoes don't slip as much and don't gt snow balling up in their feet.

Would people generally just stop riding for a while? Would people accept this or would more yards have to build indoor schools (if they could afford to!)?

Or would we just accept the snow and all its accompanying inconveniences and just get on with it?

My dad`lives in Austria...lots of hairy Haflingers, living out with hay, unshod. Would more of us keep our horses that way if our winters were always like this?
 
Mine are living out 24/7 for the first time this winter and have all done fine. Ad lib hay, bigger teas, ice broken morning and night on trough, snug rugs etc and they are doing fine.

I'm happier that they are out than potentially stuck in their stable for days or weeks on end due to it being dangerous to take them out.

Other countries cope, it just seems to be us who slithers to a halt when we get snow and ice.
 
I like this weather! I prefer this than constant raining and muddy fields!
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Not a lot will change IMO.

In the grand scheme of things it is what, at the most 4 weeks - not nearly long enough to be financially worth putting in the infrastructure to make life easier. If we got months of this kind of weather then sure, I can see that people would probably have to alter what they do and probably adopt a more North American model - I'd move somewhere with an indoor school for starters. But for what amounts to a handful of weeks, inconsistently across the country, I doubt anything will change.

I am bemused by the people/YO not allowing TO, but am v glad I am on a yard which does, my horse has only had 1 day in during all this bad weather, and we had another 2 inches of snow last night/today. Sure, stuff is icy, but he slips once then takes more care, as do I!
 
I can imagine it may be costing a small fortune for the people whose horses are having to stay stabled 24/7 in straw/bedding etc. Also I expect the horses temprements have changed too making it a bit more difficult to handle them with limited turnout perhaps.

If mine were still stabled it would be driving me mad. I think my move to having them turned out 24/7 came at the right time. The only thing I have to worry about is making sure I have a constant supply of hay for them and they are dry/warm under their rugs. Despite now having 3, I'm not riding any at the minute through one reason or another so that's another thing to not have to worry about.
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Mine live out 24/7 unshod anyway so this weather has changed nothing for me
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Tbh...this weather is nothing we didn't used to have 15/20 yrs ago anyway. I used to drive to work (6 miles approx) in my old banger or walk. I don't remember it ever being such a big deal on either yards I worked at and we certainly never had to keep any in for any amount of time.

I think we would just get used to it again...
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If I knew it was going to happen I'd probably take her shoes off in November, let her get hairy and accept that she was going to have a couple of months off. Its the not knowing and the thinking that you might be able to get to that show in a few weeks time thats messing with our heads.
 
I dont mind it, horse is in at night and out during the day and when i have long days at work she stays in if the weather is grim and snowy with snow on the ground. she goes out while i muck out nd we get on with it. We cnt do anything bout it so not worth mianing about. It will go eventually. yes we use more hay and straw but it saves mucking out field at weekends. we have no horse walker or arena but we are doing o.k. she is a mile and a half away and we have had snow since mid december as ours never really melted before we got more.
 
Good question.

You'll get used to it
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Simple as that.

You'll be fine. Hundreds of thousands of other horse owners do it every single year, millions of non-horse owners do just fine too
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The Councils will pull their heads out from between their knees and sort out gritting and plowing. Water pipes will be insulated or buried, heated water buckets will be available, so will snow pads for shoes and winter tyres for vehicles. You'll be able to get ploughs to put on your quads, you'll be able to buy decent snow shovels, and snow-blowers, and ice salt will be readily available to all.

You'll all wear woolly hats and gloves, your kids will go to school (and, shock, horror! There WILL be snow in the school yards!) in snowboots and change when they get there, no one will panic buy because there will be no reason to panic.

You will sort out your turnout if you have to, lay gravel walkways or grit or whatever. Anyway, if it is like you are having now, the ground will be frozen and the horses will be used to it, you'll also sort your drainage out so that icing up is minimised etc, etc.

I bet every single one of us has thought, well, if this happens again I'd do this, that or the other to avoid, or prevent that, or make life easier in some way. Haven't you?

...and one more thing, you will all be saying "I remember way back in 2010 when we didn't have a clue, what a mess that winter was"
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I haven't had very much snow at all this year, and none at all before New Year, but generally, even the back roads, and mine is very much a back road believe me, are kept like this (see photo) plowed and sprayed and cleared daily. This is just one small difference between the UK that isn't set up for it and a country that IS.
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Well I hope its not always quite this extreme, it is beautiful but an absolute pain in the backside!
My girl usually lives out 24/7 but had been coming in due to the field being trashed and worrying about the very hard frost not allowing them to drink through the night while munching there hay.
She has been out again since Sunday 24/7 as temps are not so low and the water is only freezing a little.
I suppose we would just get used to it if we had it winter after winter and just learn to cope,what ever form that may take....hibernation perhaps
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I like this weather! I prefer this than constant raining and muddy fields!
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Ditto
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So long as the council are prepared to grit the roads (which they weren't for the freeze just before Xmas) but have been this time round, and now I have a plan in place for making sure the horses aren't short of water, then it's no big deal - far preferable to the miserable rain of November!
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this year mine havent been ridden for over a month now but have been turned out most days.
the only thing i would do is maybe move somewhere with an indoor
but then again doesnt do them any harm to have a while off
 
[ QUOTE ]
I like this weather! I prefer this than constant raining and muddy fields!
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Ditto, although it is a little harder for me as for the first winter ever my horses are not stabled at home. Instead they are at a yard 20 miles/Half an hour from home and I can't get there if it snows. Luckily the yard owner feeds/waters/hays them if I can't make it.


I may get jumped on for this but it isn't aimed at anyone....

I really think that this country needs to get a grip, a bit of snow and there is complete melt down, schools closed, workplaces shut. If we don't have rain for a few weeks during summer there is a huge panic resulting in a hose pipe ban.

The councils need to get there act together now and plan for future winters (as I think they will only get worse). If the roads were kept clear then life could continue as normal despite the snow. Surly that's what we pay our council tax for??
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Sorry, Mini rant over
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I have not really changed my routine as my lad lives out 24/7 anyway. He has stayed out and has access to his field stable at all times. The only thing that has changed this winter is that he has not had access to any fresh grass in weeks and weeks as he had laminitis in the summer so frozen grass is a no go. He has hay put out twice a day and the ice broken on his water, I check his legs and feet/shoes twice a day and give him a bit of hay in his field stable to let his feet thaw for a while. But the rest is down to him, he wanders about and does as he pleases and is quite happy.
I did put down a lorry load of bark chippings in the early winter outside his stable area and this has helped keep the mud down brilliantly, so this will be topped up in the summer.
 
Um, showing my age here, but winters always used to be like this
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We expected several weeks of snow and freezing conditions, and as farmers we were under contract with the council to get the tractors out and help clear the roads. We made a "muck ring" around the village pond (don't panic, it was on our land, just outside the yard) on which we exercised all the horses during the bad weather, and we all had chilblains
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Likewise, we all expected spring showers and sunny weather in the summer and mellow autumns - and guess what, that's what we got
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If global warming means we go back to proper seasons like we are having now, I wouldn't be too sorry
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My routine hasn't changed what so ever except the riding/ exercise side of things because of my frozen sand paddock and icy roads. I have the muck from the muck heap on the majority of my yards driveway where it is about 2" thick of ice at the moment the muck trail gives great support which leads from my yard to the paddock for my horses to walk on. My horses are out for hours like usual, wouldn't dream of keeping them in just because of snow and ice, i've been fine with water because I have been collecting it from my troughs which refill all the time due to the pipes being 4ft underground. I have an old workhorse of a 4x4 never fails in poor conditions. I've been lucky. I've read with interest peoples experiences of this weather that we are having and still cant get my head around people not actually putting their horses out? probably get my head chewed off for that statement as it seems to be a popular thing that is happening? sorry everyone, incase i get shouted at boohoo
 
As I said to my children (in 20s) when I was growing up all winters were like this, we went sledging every winter, the taps froze up every winter. I had ice on the inside of my windows, fathers lagged pipes and we made lots of preparations.

Ponies lived out 24/7 and we had to take water sometimes and fed them hay. They were fine.

If you didn't hunt then lots of people just used to take the shoes off and not ride during the winter, there weren't the competitions there are now, and just waited for the spring weather to get the horses back into work ready for spring and summer events.

Later on when I went hunting regularly the skiing set always booked their skiing in January as hunting was usually ice bound then. They had a holiday and the horses got a break - not the grooms though!

Since the huge growth of livery yards and all year round competitions we have hardly had a really snowy winter. Some winters we have hardly had a good frost.
 
my routine hasnt changed - horse lives out - we have a small indoor - most of our work is in there anyways so have still ridden 6 times a week and poo picking still done. hay in field and just had to carry water up. so we have managed ok - just needed a bit more grit on lanes
 
i know im lucky but my routine hasnt changed that much,horses are home so can do as i please regarding turnout/gritting.

doubly lucky in that menage hasnt really frozen so have been able to ride as and when i want.

only issue has been a burst pipe in the wash box, so next year we will switch off at the stop cock and drain that pipe, as the rest of the yard is on a seperate stop cock. will also make sure we have some more grit stored but really, not much else to change.
 
When i was a lass this would have been a mild winter..... i used to walk to the field where my pony lived out with one of those old fashioned new zealand rugs on - and we were thought posh.

I dont think that the winter is the problem it is the lack of "get out and get to work/school, health and saftey culture gone mad". I also think we molly coddle our horses far more than 30 and 40 years ago and i also think that we have far less room to keep them on and we have lost the ability to source good local hay and straw. This year some of our hay has been awful and not due to the weather but due to the weeds, plastic bags/bottles in it, also the small bales are definatley becoming a endangered species - we cant all handle roundle bales of hay and straw as some yards do not do an all in price
 
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