A friend requested for me to make a list of what I have to do to get ready for a winter storm event. So, I did. This is for any of you that have horses! This list is not in any sort of order, just a medley of thoughts that I had, in the order in which I had them.
- Propane/blowtorch – the blowtorch comes in handy for defrosting outside water faucet handles and gate latches. It also adds an element of fun to the otherwise dreary and depressing week you are about to have.
- If possible, move alfalfa and hay inside your barn for easy access, but not so close that the ponies can free-range over the stall fronts and create a huge mess on the barn aisle floor. There will be a big enough mess, anyway, that you will be itching (or not) to clean up as soon as this week is over.
- Get out weatherproof sheets and blankets – I learned that fleece coolers do NOT work under blankets because they slide back and become too tight on the horse’s chest. I also think that it is amazing to see a horse standing outside (usually in their sheds) with a blanket on, maybe two, and not be cold when it is 1 degree. I definitely wouldn’t want to be a horse.
- It is helpful to have a tractor with something on the back of it that can help you feed the outside horses when it is slushy and the golf cart won’t move through slush (or mud). The golf cart is, however, fun to use on ice because you can slide around and do donuts, which is just about the only fun thing about this whole situation, except for the blow torch.
- Make sure you have at least one very sturdy hoof pick, none of that cheap shit you can buy for a dollar. You will need to check the hooves for ice-balls every time you feed, and remove them, because those ice-balls are a sure way for a horse to get injured and that’s the last thing you need right now.
- Heat lamps. One for each stall would be nice, plus one for the cat and one for the inside water faucet. Make sure you order a self-heating pad for the cat, just in case the power goes out, because she has made it perfectly clear that she does not want to be in the house with the dog and honestly, with no power, it really would not make that much of a difference. Also, because the cat is a princess, order her a heated food and water bowl and provide an actual electric heating pad for her imperial comfort.
- Speaking of the cat, buy some bird seed. It is fun to sprinkle bird seed around the barn and watch the cat sit on the hay and think about pouncing, but won’t, because it’s icy and she doesn’t want to get her toes wet or cold. On the other hand, if any birds decide to come inside the barn to stay warm, they might quickly become bird-snacks for the cat who is bored anyway. Good luck, birds.
- When you put the heat lamp on the inside faucet, which is above the sink, you still have to leave the water dripping at night or it will freeze anyway and it is a total bitch to have to haul hot water from the barn for all the water buckets and feed mashes. If you do have to haul water from the house, the tractor is very handy. In dire straits, you can attach a hose to your indoor washing machine faucet and snake it out the back door, straight into the large (clean) manure bucket you are using for water. OR, you can order a “water bladder,” which while convenient because it closes and doesn’t slosh water everywhere, is a bit hard to handle when you are trying to get the water out of it and into the actual buckets. None of this is ideal. Leave the water dripping for goodness sake.
- Handy hint – use PEX piping inside your barn instead of PVC when you are installing (or replacing) the plumbing. It contracts and expands and does not freeze and crack like PVC does. It lasts a long time, except you can’t use it outside as exposure to UV rays will destroy it
- You are going to need water trough heaters that actually work. When you are using these with extension cords, keep in mind that the further away the heater is from the electrical outlet, the less effective it is. While you’re at it, buy new extension cords if you need to, so that your husband won’t have spend valuable time splicing wires together to make something work the day before the storm hits.
- Also it helps if you check that the four-wheeler will start up prior to the winter storm hitting. When you are in the middle of the week of ice/snow/sleet and it won’t, use the aforesaid tractor. We put the mower on the back of it, which will easily carry the hay and grain buckets down to the paddock. Insist on it being hooked up before the storm hits, even when your husband rolls his eyes and doesn’t think it’s necessary. He will be glad you insisted when there is ice everywhere and there is no way he could hook up the mower now. Ready to go is always best.
- If you are lucky you will have a friend next door with an indoor arena, and you can take panels over just in case you need to set some up inside her arena to make a snow/ice free space for your outside horses (because you don’t have enough stalls in your barn). However, it does help if you unload the panels and set them inside the arena somewhere so they don’t get frozen to the trailer and thus, unusable.
- You will want to spend at least three hours loading up kindling and firewood into the cart on the back of the golf cart, and then unloading it into your house, on a tarp spread out by the fireplace. It seems like a lot of work, but you’d be amazed at how fast this old, dry wood from the damaged willow trees surrounding our pond burn up. And having it inside your house means you don’t have to go outside to get it, so it won’t be wet and frozen. Easily accessible. Just tell the bugs that come in with the wood to stay in their section of the house, i.e. the woodpile, and you will stay in yours. No co-mingling necessary.
- It seems obvious, but you will want to have grain and alfalfa and shavings delivered before the storm hits. Don’t wait until the last minute to order, as the feed store will be busy and no guarantees they’ll get the stuff to you on time. In that case, you’d have to go pick up the stuff yourself and unload it yourself, and you have plenty of other things you need to be doing. This goes for the water trough heaters as well, buy those things well in advance or you’ll be shit out of luck as they will all be gone when you discover the ones you have no longer work and you need new ones!
- You need a lot of shavings. I buy bags and they go quickly because the ponies are all in the barn drinking warm water and peeing a lot. I always need more shavings than I have. You’d think I’d learn.
- I like to buy alfalfa cubes to add to the hot mashes I make for the horses and ponies. They love it and it helps them burn more energy, i.e. heat. Also, I read an article that said providing warm (wet) mashes in the winter does encourage the horse to drink more water, but the same effect does not happen in the summer. Weird.
- Remove all the hoses from your outside faucets. If you don’t, the water inside them will freeze and you won’t be able to use them because you can’t get the hose off the spicket when it is frozen solid. Our outdoor faucets all worked even when it was zero degrees, after unfreezing the handle with the blow torch! It helps if you buy freeze free faucets.
- When the water trough heaters aren’t working that well and you are chopping ice up in the troughs, try to take all the big chunks out because if you don’t, it will make it harder when they all re-freeze and you have to chop up the ice again. It’s a lot easier when there are no big chunks in the way. Also, don’t accidentally drop the sledgehammer into the water trough because there is no way to get it out, other than sticking your hand down into that freezing water! And when you do drop it and you are crying noooooo, your daughter will look at the submerged sledgehammer and say, “Oh. Shoot.” And you will find this hilariously funny because at this point you are hysterical with exhaustion. (This isn’t a pre-storm suggestion, just a funny story).
- And, finally, rubber feed pans for the outside horses. When their regular feed troughs (or whatever you use) become firmly attached to the ground with ice, and are covered in snow, you don’t want to waste time trying to loosen them and dump out the snow. Keep rubber feed pans inside your barn that you can easily toss out into the winter wonderland of your paddocks, because those horses out there are not fooling around when it comes time to eat. They want their warm mash, and they want it now!
The last thing (on my list) that you need to be prepared for a winter storm event is plenty of alcohol. Don’t look at the wine in the grocery store and decide you don’t need any. You do. And if you have an 11 year old, or any children, in the house, stock up on SNACKS (and hide them) because they will eat everything you bought for the storm before it even hits and you will be wondering where all the grapes and chips went. Don’t forget cheese and chocolate, to go with your wine. Hide all that, too, you don’t need to share. These are difficult times, it’s every man for himself right now. Your kid can eat the crumbs out of the bottom of the Goldfish bag if need be.
Last week it was between zero and twenty degrees (with the wind chill) on any given day. Today it will be 70. I’m really hoping that the damn groundhog was high and winter can officially take a hike. I’m over it.