Things We’ve Learned This Winter (so far)

We’ve had a colder than average winter this year in Virginia. Here are a few things we’ve learned:

Double ended snaps become brittle in single digit temperatures.

Muck buckets become brittle in single digit temperatures.

Feed pans become brittle in single digit temperatures.

Water buckets become brittle in single digit temperatures.

Horses are NOT sympathetic to the fact the things become brittle in single digit temperatures (meaning the humans are handling things more slowly and carefully.)

Even the most sensible horse will, at least once, lose his mind and go outside to stand in a freezing rain.

Some formerly sensible horses will ignore the “open” end of the water tank and start banging on the end that still has some ice on top.

The amount of manure produced increases exponentially with the time a horse spends in a shed or stall.

When you can’t get traction on 1-1/2 inches of accumulated sleet, you can’t pull even an empty wagon up a moderate slope.

Some horses seem to enjoy making loud crunching sound on the ice-coated snow and will happily march through it just for that purpose.

Horses in sheds or stalls that can’t see what’s coming are not fond of the sound of a huge monster crunching across the ice-coated snow toward them.

Some horses have wicked wicked senses of humor.