Life Without The Tractor and Hay

And now for the weather!!!! Funny how us Brits like to talk about the weather. I guess as we have a temperate climate, we tend to talk about any unusual weather conditions.  Even though its normal to have cold weather in December.....we tend to forget!  Anyway it suddenly got COLD (for us). We even had a few flakes of SNOW!!!!!  On Thursday I had leggings under my jeans and a hat!  We even rugged Charlie, Dora and Lulu. The forecast was 0c, 25mph north winds and rain/snow.  OOOh.  Bit of a shock after a mild November.

Naturally the Tractor broke down!!  Why wouldn't it? BTW its not really a tractor, but a ride on lawn mower....But it does the job of a tractor. Daily it pulls our little muck trailer, and helps us deliver hay. It stopped working on Thursday....My mums 80th Birthday. The day I had to leave on time, as I had booked us Spa treatments and lunch at a posh hotel/golf club. So we used Jos' Subaru....Not a 4WD, but an AWD with a tow-bar. 

Friday came, Tractor still would not start....Weather, Sleet, Cold. I was at RDA. The sun came out so I poo-picked with a wheel-barrow....well 4 wheel-barrows, then set about fixing up a paddock on the Winter grazing (Nearer to tack room and full of grass). Spent at least an hour untangling self tangling fence wire as the sun set and the temperature plummeted. Lost the will to live (and all feeling in my lips and fingers).

Saturday...still no tractor.  Once again I was at the RDA, filling in teaching.  By the time we had finished there I was cold and hungry. Jo had texted me saying horses had Hay and Water, Lu and Charlie had broken into the Minis' field and raped and assaulted Dora. I went straight home thinking 'Tomorrow is another day'.

Sunday saw us full of Scarlett O'Haras' grit and determination.  With Megs help we cleared the backlog of poo with the help of the Subaru. Moved the ponies to the Winter paddock and picked up all the fence posts from the 3-Acre.

Monday....I begged Mark The Mechanic to come and fix the Tractor. Which he did.  Meanwhile we untangled and reeled up all the self-tangling fence wire. Today was all calm.  Tractor working, ponies all on Winter grazing, temperatures back up to 8c, rugs off....Woohoo!!!

At the moment we don't have to give Hay.  Maybe only for this week, as we have lots of old grass and the horses are happy and full. BUT....this will not last. There is no goodness in the grass. Once the temperature drops below 5c it will not grow. Once there has been a frost, the goodness is gone from the grass. We are lucky that our ponies have gone into Winter fat. It won't hurt them to drop a bit of weight.  BUT if the grazing is poor, or the horses are old, or at the right weight, Hay MUST be given.  For a start the horse trickle feeds all the time. They need something decent in their guts at all times.  It keeps them warm, and it keeps the guts moving.  Without Hay a horse will get grumpy, drop weight and possibly get colic. Once an elderly pasture kept horse starts to drop weight in Winter, its a very fast slippery slope. Next thing you know, you will take a rug off and see ribs.  

This time of year it is vital to a) Feed plenty of Hay....There should be some left over, and b) Remove rugs daily for a visual check, and weigh tape once a week.

Happy Winter!! x

Warm ponies with lots of Hay.

The container stops it blowing around in the wind.

A Nice Sunset.