Snug as a bug

We've closed up all the stall windows and barn doors. Shellie, Betsy, Satin, Dancer, JW, Pokey, and Tie are snuggled up in their thickly bedded stalls, blankets (or wooly coats!) on. Tonight is the first of almost a week of very cold nights! All the pasture horses are blanketed and actively warming their bellies with hay.

The rains that fell heavily on Greener Pastures brought this frigid front to our farm. It rained for nearly 12 hours, and it was no drizzle! It came down hard through morning feeding so we kept everyone dry inside their stalls, picked out the manure, gave them more hay and fresh water. We had Tie tucked away in a stall and had one more stall empty. We chose to bring old Molly up to the barn to get her out of the downpour. We towel-dried her, brushed her down and combed her mane to help her dry more quickly, knowing the cold weather was on its way. Finally, around noon, the rain came to a stop and the sun began to peak through the dreary clouds.
The horses were itching to stretch their legs and run!

Pokey, JW, and Tie trot off into their pasture, heading straight for the hay. Nothing too exciting. But the girls always give a show. Shellie is very much the instigator of all happy horse behaviors and that day was no exception. She first got Dancer to race with her across the pasture, kicking and bucking and galloping, showing off their Thoroughbred genetics! As Dancer absentmindedly ran around the pasture (showing off the dumb-blond Thoroughbred stereotype), Shellie would rush past Satin and Betsy to try to get them going too. Satin finally left her hay to canter around, BUCK and REAR (Satin stores up her energy so that she can make her explosions count!), then trot back to the hay. Betsy sometimes followed at the trot, just to appease Master Shellie. Shellie then finished off the fun with 3 nice rolls in the damp dirt, and big snort and shake, and a toss of her head. Time to graze.

With all this moisture comes thrush, so be vigilant with hoof picking. Several horses on the farm had thrush when the farrier trimmed them just a week or two ago. The horses who get stalled have a slight advantage in that their hooves get a relief from the damp grass and hay in the pastures when they get to come into the dry stall. So for the horses that don't get to stand in dry shavings, I recommend picking their hooves as frequently as possible (obviously daily is ideal). Also, with the weather being so cold, horses' coats should stay curried and clean of crusty mud. If their coat is matted down from sweat or dirt, they have a more difficult time fluffing up their hair to keep warm. And the horses that wear their blankets for long periods of time should have their blanket removed and their coats brushed at least once a day if possible, especially if their blanket is staying on all day and night.

Consider offering your horse T&A or O&A hay through the winter. For an additional fee we can provide a grass/legume hay to keep their weight on when the nutrient-rich grass is gone. A legume hay is also prudent not only because it provides higher protein content, but the more "stemmy" the hay, the less likely your horse will experience colic or impaction from the finer coastal grass hay. Adding a legume/grass hay in addition to the coastal can help avoid this. But, because we know not every horse should eat this higher protein hay, we continue to supply mineral/salt blocks in every pasture to ensure (we hope) adequate water consumption - again, to avoid impaction.

Cheers to happy, healthy horses!