Just when I thought this winter couldn't get any more challenging...snow. I mean, SNOW. Like over a foot and a half of it. And it's the middle of March! Not that that is unheard of, but, I mean, C'MON! My first winter with the boys in the backyard and Mother Nature is heaping it on. I must say, they're - and we're - faring pretty good considering. The barn is a Godsend, keeping the white stuff, the extreme cold, and the wind at bay. But it is not without its challenges, namely the old doors versus deep heavy snow.
Really, I can't complain, though. Although I did learn our property, right next to the barn, is a regional wind tunnel. Seriously. The grass is actually showing where the wind was whipping through yesterday, banked on each side of this tunnel with five-foot-high drifts. So imagine, if you will, me trekking through this obstacle at 7am to get to the barn. This is what I am about to do. Ponies need to be fed, stalls need to be picked.
The other challenge - of course in any extreme weather - keeping the boys in. They don't like it, I don't like it; but without permanent board fencing and a good place to keep hay from sinking in the snow or blowing away, while I'm at my "day job," they get to camp in their poshy stalls. Tough. The water troughs aren't even visible. And the temp isn't looking like it's going to be going up any time in the near near future. Pushing that bit out of brain until later, when I actually have to do something about it.
In the meantime, I must brace myself for the cold and get moving. The boys are waiting. I can feel it. They have this way of projecting their impatient energy up here to the house. But it is definitely a labor of love. I wouldn't have it any other way. Well, okay, maybe have staff to go get cold instead of me...but other than that...suck it up buttercup! (That was me yelling at myself).