Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Even Colder

The temperature today made it up to about 8F (-13C) with a wind chill of -5F (-21 C) - the low last night was -4F (-20 C).  I kept my three horses in for a bit this morning, and then put all three out - Dawn was double blanketed.  Within two hours, Dawn was at the gate, hunkered down, and glad to come back into the barn even if it meant being by herself.  I checked on the boys a couple of times during the day, and both times Pie gave me the "I'm outta here" treatment - the first time he was at the water trough drinking and sucking his tongue, with Red keeping watch from the hill.  Pie looked at me for a moment, then turned and sashayed off - at this point the wind chill was about -10F (-23C).  The second time Red was on the hay bale, and Pie was playing a vigorous game of bite-face with another gelding - he looked at me but had no interest in coming in.  Apparently those boys don't get cold too easily - but that makes some sense as they're both from cold climates - Pie was born in Montana and lived north of Minneapolis, and Red is from Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

It was pretty darn cold when I got to the barn, and the arena wasn't much warmer than 20F (-7C).  I did some grooming and walked Dawn a bit, then called it a day.  No one seemed to mind - even Red wasn't demanding to come out of his stall - I expect all that wind and cold is tiring.  Tomorrow things are supposed to be slightly warmer, and we'll be riding again . . .

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