It Won't Stop

Paint Girl has nearly 8 inches of snow and it's still coming down! That means My Boy is living in a winter wonderland.

Here they all are late this morning. My Boy is by his gate with his head down.

Poor boy. I can tell he is a bit miserable from these pictures. He looks a bit wet and disheveled, with snowy icicles in his mane. I wish I was there to hang out with and take care of him.

Looks like My Boy is having....a bucket of snow for desert!

Yesterday, Paint Girl noticed that one of her mares was acting unusual. She wouldn't go up to eat her hay and didn't seem to want to move about the pasture as usual. My sister was sure it was frozen snow compacted in her front shoes. However, it turns out her hooves were fine. Rather, it was the wet mud in the pasture. Or rather, frozen mud in the pasture. It had created hard holes and craters covered in snow and was difficult for the horses to maneuver around on. My sister tried putting the hay in the barn but she wouldn't go in there to eat either.

Fritz had hit a tree and knocked snow onto herself. She looks a bit surprised!

Paint Girl made the decision to move the mares to the paddock between My Boy's Pasture and the mares' and goats' pasture. This "run" has come in handy. It is a great place to isolate a horse (when My Boy and Fritzy had their abscesses, they were temporarily housed here.) The mares seemed relieved to be on solid land again. They won't have shelter here, but have their blankets on.

Looks like Sadie the Aussie dog is digging for something in the snow. She likes to hover near grain buckets and eat spilled scraps. Both she and Bailey probably have a the most flexible joints in four counties, with a daily dose of My Boy's glucosamine supplement coursing through their system!

My Boy's pasture is frozen too, but Paint Girl said it wasn't as bad as the mares as his is less muddy in general.

The goats have not left the barn at all. Goats are not into bad weather. Perhaps we should ship them somewhere warm? Maybe my Auntie J has room in her backyard in Palm Springs? Jasmine and blooming bougainvillea aren't poisonous to goats, is it?

Paint Girl and her Cowboy have their work cut out for them. More snow is on the way. As many of you know, livestock care is more challenging in this kind of weather and they are doing a good job keeping an eye on the horses eating habits and hooves. Luckily the trough heaters are working, keeping the water defrosted, so there is no need to haul water. Unless the power goes out. Knock on wood! When it rains it pours (or should I say, when it snows it blizzards?)

On another note, after my post on the barn fire tragedy that happened last week, a reader sent me a link to another disasterous fire which happened recently at the Magic Heritage Ranch in South Dakota. Over 40 rare mulefoot hogs, sows and their babies, the owner's stallion and cats were lost in the fire. They had been breeding to preserve this rare breed of pigs. Here is the link in case anyone wants to help out: http://www.maveric9.com/. This reminds me of severe flooding in Washington state last year. I cried watching people scrape the mud five feet high off the walls of their homes and talk about how all of their cattle- generations of family breeding, had been drowned and wiped out in an instant.

Please stay safe and warm as the weather throws us all curve balls into the holiday season!