So Winter has definitely arrived. A lot of the country has already had snow. Here in the far East of England the snow has kept away (although some is threatened for tonight). But its been frosty to say the least. Minus temperatures at night and only just above freezing during the day. The ice has stayed on the ground with more ice added each night. Taps and fingers have frozen. And of course, the tractor sprung a major leak at the Weekend and suddenly spewed forth a lot of coloured liquid. Right in the gateway. I feared it may have been the radiator. Jo and I quickly moved the Hay by hand before we had a riot on our hands, while trying to figure out how to move the stricken tractor. Luckily for us Rob, Meg and Nancy arrived to help. Rob had a taste of the liquid on the floor and decided it was not anti-freeze. We looked under the bonnet and found a tube off. After some discussion we decided it was a pipe taking diesel to the Filter and so wasn't terminal. Rob had another glug, but we were not 100% sure, however all the other important fluid levels were still full, so we risked firing it up and moving it out of the way. Thank you Rob, Meg and Nancy for poo-picking with your car. Our mechanically minded Horse Landlord confirmed it was just a diesel leak, so its all good!
And so to the main question......To Rug or Not To Rug. I am a great believer in Not Rugging. Obviously if your horse is elderly, clipped or struggles to keep weight on, then go ahead, rug away. However...... If you have a fit, unclipped healthy horse, it does not need a rug. It takes away a huge amount of stress for you and your horse if you leave him as nature intended. Don't forget, horses survived the Ice Age!
So while as humans we are all freezing and wearing as many layers as we can move in, our horses are not feeling the cold. Apparently a human is comfortable between 25c and 30c. That means we do not use energy to keep warm at those temperatures. Although most of us in England would agree we are more than happy around 18c, and 30c is a tad hot! Its called a Thermoneutral Zone.
Horses have a much larger Thermoneutral Zone. They are comfortable between 0c and 25c. Horses also have an internal 'fire' which is stoked up by the fermentation of fibre in the hindgut (Ie....Hay Hay Hay). If the Horse has his natural coat, it is waterproof and provides as much heat to the skin as a 400g rug. Horse hair also stands up when its cold, creating an insulating pocket of air next to the skin. A rug will press this hair down and eliminate the natural coats ability to retain heat. When checking how warm your horse is, forget the ears. Horses are designed to leave the extremities cold to direct the heat to the organs. Feel under the armpits! Also if your horse is covered in snow which is not melting, you can be sure he is well insulated. If you over rug your horse, not only will he be uncomfortable, he will also be prone to EMS and Laminitus.
Our ponies are all natives, unclipped, unrugged and live out 24/7. This is the most natural life we can give them. They do not have hard feed. They do however have plenty of hay. They are all happy, warm and do not have 'problems' that many pampered horses have. Yes they will drop weight this winter (hopefully), but that is natural, ensuring that when the spring grass comes around, they will not suffer Laminitus etc. This includes Daisy (who had EMS) and Coco who the vet diagnosed with Cushings, but who is doing fine this Winter. And we can sleep at night, knowing they are all fine, no matter what the weather throws at them.
In the 2nd pic you can see Charlies hairs standing up doing their job.
Anyway enough lecturing! So last months Agility Comps were a little hard. Having moved up a level, Charlie and I had a lot to learn. There were a few poles to step over, and back up over. Being a hard nut (partially blind) Coblet, he has the tendency to plough through stuff! Poles? What Poles? Oh Yeah, I'll just kick em out of the way! We also had a lot of wind, which kept blowing my course over. So I was hugely surprised that we got another 1st in the On-Line Medium Level Comp and 3rd in the Liberty. We are currently working on The December Xmas Courses. They are fun and involve dressing up which we love. I would like soft ground though for Charlies enthusiastic jump! There is a lot of running in our level!! I couldn't beat a snail for a seat on a bus with my Dodgy Lungs and Dicky Ticker, so next year we will be swerving sideways and joining the Walk Only Leagues. My November Rosettes arrived today. I showed them to Charlie, but he was busy eating!
And so its nearly time for the Big Event! No Not Christmas! Its just a day like any other. Get up early and see to the horses! No, I'm talking about The Top Barn 2023 Winter Challenge. I have already printed off the worksheets and put them in Charlies File. I know a lot of people have got the diaries. Others will have computer based spreadsheets. Being old I prefer to write stuff down with a pen!
I have declared Bronze, but will aim for Silver. Charlie and I have a lot of stuff to work on. As well as The Agility Stuff, we have also been building up Charlies chest muscles. He is definitely looking more muscular, so its time to try and ride him again!
Good Luck everyone taking part in the Challenge.
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