Anyone else thinking of Winter urgg.

[Reble]

My minis are ! they sure are getting their

winter woollies on.

Well bought some snow fence

Putting some summer stuff away.

Getting heating buckets cleaned up.

Next week will clean the barn stalls completely out.

Ordered a couple of skids of Hay cubes.

Looks like we have enough bedding for the winter.

Where has our summer gone... feels like I just got

our summer stuff out.

I guess because we did not have a spring.

Maybe we will get lucky and have no winter.

Is anyone else thinking of winter?

What are you doing to get ready for Winter?

OOPS MAYBE someone can move this to the mini forum. did not mean to put it here, but no biggy...

 

[2minis4us]

I am NOT looking forward to winter !!! Not only did we not have a spring, we did not have much of a summer either (Pacific Northwest). Hate the gray skies ! It's a La Ninia winter, whatever that means LOL

 

[chandab]

Only remotely thinking of winter because I live in Montana and its October, so winter could start at any time. I bought a small load of small square bales of grass hay for the barn, and we've hayed all our fields and some even turned out good enough for horse hay (we have cattle, so the "crap" doesn't go to waste). I'm still cleaning corrals trying to get ready for winter, but it rained today, so didn't get anything done. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

I'm glad summer is over. 70+ days of over 100* gets old real fast. We had 69 days IN A ROW! I couldn't work my horses, couldn't even enjoy being outside... it's October and I still have the A/C on!! And I am NOT a winter person at all!

Now, everyone send your rain down here... it's dry, too!

 

[Marty]

I'm getting ready for sure. I want everything to look clean and pretty no matter what the winter weather brings. You know, winter always makes things look so darn nasty so I started with painting. All my pasture gates are gates I made of pickets so I finished all 7 of them nice crisp white. I already finished putting a fresh coat of paint on the barn doors too. Tomorrow, I will start painting the outside of the barn and if the budget allows, I'm going to pain the inside too. Painting always makes such a difference.

I have struggled this year washing our vinyl fencing. I think its because I neglected to do it last year so it got gross with moldy areas and moss. I only have about an hour left on that to go.

I still have a lot of over grown weeds to get rid of that grew up on the fence lines this year. That never happened before and it looks really horrible so I guess I have to hand pull all of them.

I also have to go around and get our hotwire re-strung and working. I turned it off so the babies wouldn't get shocked but it needs to get back in service soon.

The tack room is good and well organized.

The barn fans are already down and stored for winter.

Barn is dusted and cobwebs gone but I keep after that once a week.

I still need the other half of my winter hay picked up and stacked.

I need to get some banamine, bute, probios, and wormer stocked. Geesh, glad my book sales are going well which will have to pay for all this stuff.

Some of the horses need their teeth done before the holidays hit and I'll have their feet done around Thanksgiving for the last time this year.

Now that I look at my to-do list I think I shall go hang myself. I have no energy for this anymore! Rats.

 

[Eagle]

I am waiting for the guys to come and put a new roof on my barn so the horses will stay out until that is done. I still haven't collected my hay so I hope they come soon and work fast. As soon as they have finished I will wash down the whole barn with the power jet and then put everything back in for the winter.

My horses need their feet and teeth done too

I will be cutting the grass this week but I will have to wait to put up the snow fencing cos it hasn't rained for ages and the ground is too hard, I just pray I get it done before the frost comes and the ground turns even harder hard.

Marty that is a good idea about painting, I think I might paint the barn door

 

[jacks'thunder]

Oh I DREAD it! I HATE winter! All the blowing snow, the wind chill below 0 degrees, putting on 5 layers of clothes plus boots hat and gloves just to realize you have to use the potty! Um did I mention I HATE winter! Frozen buckets, clomping through 3' of snow every day 4 times a day back and forth to the barn just because you want to make sure buckets are warm and everyone has hay, frozen latches, gates out of wack because of the frozen ground, frozen noses and fingers, I could go on and on but I guess you all get my drift!

I really wish I could move some where warmer but alas... that is not in the cards right at this moment so I'll just hate winter.... for now! LOL!

I'm definately ready for it supplies wise but I won't go quietly and I'll kick and scream all the way!!!

( thats my pouty baby attitude!! Did I mention I HATE winter!!)

 

[anoki]

With the warmth & sunshine we've had here the last few days...it's the last thing on my mind. But a week ago, I was definitely thinking of all the things that need to be done this winter!! We still have to finish putting up the last door on the barn!!!

Get hay in for winter, hopefully find some bedding somewhere, which has not been met with much success yet

But the biggest thing I'm hoping to get done before the snow starts flying is my sand ring.

We are just getting started with bean harvest. Normally it is all done by now, but with the damp weather we had for pretty much the entire month of September, it has been delayed!

I love snowy days in winter....as long as I don't have to go anywhere!

~kathryn

 

[Riverrose28]

My favorite seasons of the year are spring and fall. I've never much cared for winter, although I used to like summer, but, the last few years have been brutal. This summer has been awful, extreme heat, and I can't breath in it, high humidity, dry then wet. this past week has been without rain, so I am finally getting around to some much needed outside work. I can't stand temperators over 90 much less over 100. Makes winter look like a piece of cake. I like seeing the trees with leaves and love green grass and flowers, but it won't be long before all the leaves will turn many colors and the grass will no longer grow and need to be cut. I hate chopping ice, clearing snow to the barns, grey skies and no leaves on the trees. At the same time, I think this year I will welcome winter with it's colder temperatures and the hard work that comes with it. We don't have a furnace, we use wood stoves for heat, and I've always hated it, except when the electric goes out, but I'll exchange it for not having to deal with flies, stink bugs, spiders, and ants. We are already working hard to prepare, stocking up on wood, they cut hay this week, since no rain, and are baling tomorrow, so we'll be busy with that. I've already bush hogged two fields and have to do two more, plus the sacrifice area for the big horses. The corn has yet to brought in because of all the rain, but it's almost ready, then the garden will be done. I've canned all my other veggies. Still need to clean fence lines and spray herbicide, but there is a horse show tomorrow and next weekend, so some of this will need to wait. Normally I would say NO to winter, but this year I welcome it. All this climate change is hard on an old woman.

 

[JennyB]

Well not really ready here in Wyoming at 6200 feet. We had a hard winter last year with 4+ feet of snow and -40 degrees not counting the wind chill. Tell you feeding stock at those temps is brutal, but we cut our numbers down and will be moving stock around so that we feed totally off the tractor or in the big barn. We have solar heated waterers which makes it nice and a couple of tanks with heaters in them. No hoses to deal with. We don't keep are ponies or cattle inside so no inside buckets. Hay is all in and we are hoping we have enough till next haying season.

 

With that said, we DID get 3-4" of snow on Thursday and Friday...that yucky mud is starting to appear at the cattle bunks..they don't seem to mind

...and we are NOT ready for winter yet as we have quite a few things to do before we are...and are you ever ready for winter!!!

 

The Indian Summer we had was GREAT and I am sad that it is gone...going to be a cold begger trying to catch the rest of my fish before the end of October when the fishing season ends here...hope I don't fall in the water anymore as it will be A LOT colder

...3 times this year was plenty!

 

Winter yes ...UGH!

 

Warm Blessings to all,

Jenny

 

[ohmt]

I'm right with you Jenny. -60 below windchill temps along with a few feet of snow is normal here (we were voted worst weather city in the US last year). We are in what's called the red river valley. It used to be a lake bottom so there are literally no trees and no hills. Chicago has nothing on us lol. The wind is terrible.

We stock up on straw and that's about it. The shovels and tractors are already out and ready for the snow, our hay is in and our horses are in their snow fuzzies already. Boots, heavy duty overalls, and our winter coats are hanging up and ready too. Cars and trucks have shovels, cardboard, blankets, flashlights, food, extra boots and clothes, and other things needed in case something happens in a blizzard.

We are prepared for winter but not ready. Never are. Summer doesn't last long enough here!

 

[mydaddysjag]

This will be my first year keeping horses at home in about 13 or 14 years, and I defiantly dont look forward to winter. Ive spent the past years boarding at a barn with an indoor arena, water, and electric. My barn is a shed row barn (stalls that open into a paddock instead of "inside". I carry water to the barn, and my only electric is an extension cord ran down to the barn for the light I have in my tack/feed room. I did put up 90 bales of hay for my horses, which I think will last me about a year. The calculation said it will last a year, but honestly, Im looking at the hay wondering if it will last me 6 months. It just doesn't look like much. I wish I could have heated buckets, but dont have the electricity to support them. My plan is to get 4 of the mini rubber buckets (that dont crack when water freezes in them) and take the horses very warm water 4 times a day, and just bring the frozen buckets in to thaw and refill when I take the new ones down.

I got some knee high muck boots in september. They are good at keeping the mud off of my pants, but I still slip in the mud with them on. They are the expencive muck brand too. I need to figure out some sort of outfit to wear down at the barn when its freezing outside, Im expecting it to be a lot colder than what Im used to. Thinking about looking for used hunting overalls, they are easy to pull over your clothes for a quick change, and usually quite warm

 

[Aristocratic Minis]

"The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." So true.

Some parts of the country have had too much rain and others have had none. Some places have been unseasonably cool and some have been roastingly hot.

Other than ordering more hay, we haven't done much to prepare for winter because we're still experiencing the heat. We have no grass at all after a long, long drought and over 2 months of over 100 degree temperatures with no rain. We just got our first rain yesterday and everything is mud.

We've been so hot for so long down here we look forward to winter to cool us off and, hopefully, a change in the weather patterns so we can get some more rain.

This has been a hard year here. We can no longer obtain hay in our state. The last lot of hay we bought was shipped in from Minnesota. It is beautiful hay, but it is so expensive due to the shipping. It is wonderful hay, but we paid a fortune for it. That being said, we are so happy we were able to locate and get the hay. It is a bummer when hubby stays on the internet hours a day looking for reasonable costs on hay to stock up for the winter. At the feed store, a bag of feed goes up about a dollar a week for the last couple of weeks. We hope that levels out.

It is mid-October and we still run the A/C continuously. Many of the old large trees in Texas are dying because of the drought and it is hard to see the lovely old trees turning brown, knowing they will die. No Fall for us with brightly colored leaves because many of the trees have turned brown during the summer. This has, indeed, been quite the year for many parts of the country.

Wouldn't it be nice to get back to "normal," whatever that is?

 

[Bess Kelly]

I HATE COLD !

It'a coming anyway, not invited....or welcome.

I'm trying to get all checked and fixed/installed anywhere needed. Last two days have been fence repair/replace days. No climb wire plus upped some hot wire in those areas where it had been removed....re-organizing feeders, water tubs, etc. Checking shelters and making necessary repairs -- you know how that goes! I have a barn with stalls, unused for horses most of the time. They like and do well with the run-ins in the fields. BUT, the stalls and inside of barn is ready for pressure wash next week (rain this week, 4 days) and I will stock some bags of shavings to be ready if needed. 13 empty stalls -- and will use if weather gets bad for oldsters. Last year they were not needed.

Still need to go pick up some round bales -- something I rarely use -- but, this year I am set up to be able to use for some groups of horses. (no rush, farmer has all inside and holding for me

). Have most of square bales that I'll need. Others must have their moist BP, olders, and I have to re-locate a group of 7 geldings to a front field which is "away" from the other fields, to allow me to rotate the mare groups through the still grassed pastures for another couple of months. Then, all come to the upper fields closer to house so I can use those wonderful heated tubs!! Plus, less walking if it does snow for this old lady.

There's the usual "inventory" & checking process for extra buckets, hoses, leads, halters, fence panels for ER repairs, insulatation in place for pipes, heat tapes, etc., etc. My farmer jumpsuits are all washed and ready, as well as the Elmer Fudd hats!! Found 2 pr gloves, will need to buy a couple more, boots ready. Gotta find or buy those darned heavy socks! Lists everywhere - guess most will be done very soon. New generator on order...

I'm about 50 miles inland from Virginia Beach, so being coastal we don't have the extreme winters many of you do (which I could NOT tolerate) -- but, hey, cold is cold when you HATE IT!!

I feel so badly for those areas where the extremes were this year -- heat, drought, floods, etc. It makes it so desperate for those still there with animals to care for in addition to people. The rest of the country is feeling the price and availability issues as so much hay & cropland was destroyed. Wish we could have "shared" the dry and water -- could have left most in a good position. The losses for families has been unbelievable!! I so sympathize with them -- do I know how they feel? Well, I can still remember when hurricane Andrew wiped out Homestead FL in early 90's -- a home totally gone, about 250 apartments severly damaged, no stores and 6 months in a camper to get repairs done!! Yes, I can understand some of their desperation and need. It's mind boggling.