Saturday, February 20, 2016

frozen weather silver linings

So the weather around here is getting a little schizophrenic. I guess to be expected with what is *hopefully* the slow but steady changing of the seasons!!

Last weekend was FRIGID omg. So cold, especially overnight. The horses at our farm are typically out 24/7 except in instances of extreme weather. And how "extreme" is defined varies by horse - some horses stay out in worse conditions than others.

But last weekend? They were all in. Which means that my typical barn chores shift transforms from quickly picking out the stalls to full on mucking duty.

i never get tired of this face
Every single winter, tho, without fail - I have to relearn the same lesson over and over again. Namely: aside from being kinda cold out, cleaning stalls in 15* temperatures is AWESOME. So awesome haha.

bali says "helllloooo blog land, wanna play!"
Essentially, the stalls are so easy to clean bc they're all completely dry - whatever would be wet ends up in frozen little chunks that separate easily from the clean bedding. And those rock hard frozen manure nuggets make the most satisfying little *thunks* as they pile up in the wheelbarrow.

The only aspect that could even be considered mildly annoying or challenging is making sure you don't accidentally toss clean bedding that's frozen into manure-sized chunks. Call me weird if you want haha.

i love stopping to say hi to my formerly ear-befuzzed buddy while checking hay
(i say 'former' bc he was not spared when i pulled out the clippers a couple weeks ago, and lost his beard and excessive ear fuzz and whiskers, tho you can see they're already growing back...)
All that said, tho, I'm not sorry that we won't be having another similarly freezing day today. Nope, not sorry at all. Instead it's going to be high 50s and maybe sunny! Meaning I ought to be able to just plow through the chores, no actual mucking required, then off to our lesson - which might even be outdoors!!!!

Ooh, and if everything goes according to plan, Bali might be coming along for the ride too with his lease rider. Should be a fun day! Hope you all have equally nice weather today. Or, if not, maybe there are at least some silver linings?

21 comments:

  1. It's been upper 70's/low 80's here all month. Does not suck, Henry is so much easier to ride when it's warm. Of course, this makes me think we'll hit 100 by May.

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    1. California too. I'm worried.

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    2. while i'm jealous of your current pleasant weather, definitely NOT jealous of the intense heat come summer!

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  2. We've been like Amanda... Maybe not quite as warm but Stinker is getting a bath today.

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    1. ha crazy. it's been pleasant lately, but still not quite bath weather

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  3. Cleaning stalls overall is so, so satisfying. Excited for the warm weather this weekend, I have so many things planned! :D

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    1. i definitely don't mind my chores at all - tho it gets tricky when there are suddenly so many more stalls to clean but i still have to get to my lesson on time... at least when the temps are below freezing it's still a breeze to clean them!

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  4. Frozen stalls are seriously the best!!!

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    1. the absolute best! every year i forget about it too haha, makes for a pleasant surprise!

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  5. I enjoyed the maybe 15 minutes that I spent outside today, but my dorm was just a little bit warmer. Hope your lesson was great!

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    1. definitely a fun lesson - will post about it soon :)

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  6. It got down to -14° here last weekend, and today when I left the barn it was 60° in the sun. I think Mother Nature is drunk! But I'll take days like today's Riding outside in February is a gift I'll take. Hope you had a fun day!

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    1. oh -14 sounds just awful! we haven't managed to ride outside in the nice weather yet just bc the footing is still icy... but i'm enjoying the warm days all the same!

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  7. It was +10 yesterday and it's supposed to snow tomorrow. WTF weather!

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    1. awwww noo!!! it might snow here this week too, i'm totally bummed....

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  8. Warm over cold most days!

    It's been pretty sporadic here lately.

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    1. so hard to plan ahead in the spring... still tho, the warm days make me excited!

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  9. Winter must end!! Love the Bali pics

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    1. it's gonna end SOON, i can feel it! glad you like the Bali pics too, he's kinda my favorite lol <3

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  10. I agree about frozen stalls! Also we rake paddocks so when it is frozen we don't have to rake! The mud is the worst and the hot summer sucks too because heat + dusty raking + misquitos

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