Horsey people! And non horsey people!

[inforthewin]

I know I could post on the tack room but there isn’t always traffic there.

does anyone else (horsey people and non horsey people!) feel completely miserable at the fact it’s almost winter?

I had to bring in my horse from the field and he was completely CAKED in mud- it suddenly hit me that summer is over. Bring on the rain, mud, wind and freezing cold. 6 months of utter misery!

I could cry at the thought of freezing hands, muddy horses, swampy fields and icy roads. I swear there should be a devision of seasonal affected disorder specifically for equestrians being miserable with winter.

countdown to summer begins🤞🏻

I smashed my spine this summer in a jumping accident. Recovery is long and slow and I still don't know whether I'll ever ride again. But I feel as though I'm in a grieving process for the activity I loved so much. I don't own the horses, but have a close bond with them and still handle and care for them.

I'm struggling with it a great deal at present. I enjoyed my evening rides in the autumn. As of now, I'm not in a physical state to ride even if I wanted to, but in the longer-term several of my relatives have begged me never to get in a saddle again (avoiding too much outing info, but I was very nearly killed).

Didn't want to go off into a screed of self-pity, but was struggling with the absence of my beautiful mares (I rode two regularly) when I happened to see this thread!

Lost my beautiful feisty wonderful mare suddenly last December - would give anything to be going into another winter with her - treasure your four legged friends 💔

@MarieIVanArkleStinks

Sending love and very best wishes 💖

Not sure that's legal!!! You will probably (and quite rightly) find yourselves on the wrong side of the law and with a huge repair bill if you go ahead.

Oh I love tucking a horse up in a newly strawed loose box ... not so much the 'mud up to the top of your wellies' bit.

I am so sorry to read that. It really serves as a reminder how dangerous a sport it can be and not to take it for granted that we can ride. I really hope you can get back into that saddle again if that’s what you want to do- I know it’s a cheesy quote but after I had a bad accident I kept telling myself that the comeback is always stronger than the setback.

Wish you all the best❤️🤞🏻

Now I understand why the private road we used to rent a house on had cattle grids at the entrances, never even thought of that.

Non-horsey person here, full of admiration for you all. Cannot imagine the discipline required to look after your horse day in and day out through cold English and even colder Scottish winters!!

I’m so sorry to read that, that’s so sad. Sending love❤️

I dunno, I mean normally I’d agree but after the hell of the scorching summer and concrete ground I’m not feeling the usual dread. Mine’s been clipped right out for a few weeks now, and is off to the vets next week because of intermittent lameness. I’ve a feeling she’ll be out of work for a while (or possibly forever), and actually with riding off the table winter doesn’t seem so bad. I‘ m definitely a fair weather rider! Also having a really shit time in life right now and it’s meditative to be up at the yard, just hanging out with horses and doing stable jobs.

Ask me again in a couple of months though 😂

Awww what a beautiful post, I used to give my pony warm bran mash with molasses on a cold night, back in the day.

My sympathy to you @MarieIVanArkleStinks and @Germolenequeen

Opening meet at the end of the month though!

I am a non-horse person, but I am dog person. Adore my dogs, but eight little paws trekking mud in and out fifteen times a day, walking in dark, lashing rain, biting wind etc etc etc. And the MUD. Sliding around in it all through the gates and ‘paths’, dogs getting coated with it, having to towel them off every time and wash and dry a million stinky towels a week. I could cry. We’ve had a shit summer, with being flat broke and one dog being on deaths door and now it’s winter and we’re still broke, only we’re going to be wet and muddy and cold and broke. (Sick dog is thankfully much better, but not out of the woods, so still plenty to fret over)

I don’t mind the cold. Or the wet. Or even the wind. I can just about cope with cold and wet. Or, at a push, cold and wind. But wet, cold, windy, sideways rain that coats your face and your specs no matter what you wear is miserable. Also mud. Inside and out. I’m always glad when it freezes just to have firm going.

I know horses are bigger and muddier, and you have to go out and do them a couple of times a day in all weathers (with a dog you can get away with skipping the odd walk if it’s really awful and they aren’t complete lunatics!), but at least they stay outside and don’t drag mud through your house!

@inforthewin @TheOnlyBeeInYourBonnet

Thank you 💗

This is why I decided I am a fair weather rider and just take a summer part loan from a hunt yard ... I can't deal with the mess and cold

i prefer it. Not so many walkers and cyclists when Im out hacking.

That'll be lovely when theres an accident and a horse slips on a steep slippery road and kills someone - hope it's not someone who lives on your road.

Horses struggle on steep roads and riders really don't like it as falls can be fatal, for them, the horse and also for drivers on the road at the time. Local authorities should surface the road appropriately, but they don't always do that, and if they do, don't always maintain it appropriately.

As long as you're not inconvenienced a few times a year though eh :D Thats whats important after all.

Back to the OP - I don't think a single one of my horsey friends enjoys winter, whether they're on a livery yard or keep at home - I hated working on yards in winter and it contributed hugely to me giving up any idea of horse related work (might have been different if I had actually owned a horse and had some more benefit than just earning a pittance, but I didn't).

Too cold, wet, dark, too much work and not enough fun.

Thanks for the kind messages, and so sorry to read about your mare @Germolenequeen. I can't commit to the extent that I can own a horse as my work takes up most of my time and energy, but I do lose my heart to all the horses I ride/rode and it's devastating when you lose one. They are friends, all with their own quirks and foibles.

I'll be visiting mine with apples on Monday, including for the horse I fell off! Witnesses to that event tell me it wasn't either rider error or the horse spooking or doing anything out of turn, just a split second accident which can happen, and has, in the same way before.

I'm still at the stage when I'm just grateful to have my life and mobility intact. But whatever the future holds, at heart I will always love horses!

Just coming to terms with the fact the summer is over although ours have been coming in for a couple of weeks to keep one company that's on box rest. Shuddering at the thought of the cost of hay/bedding this week, but hoping we can get back into our winter routine that worked really well last year. I did buy some new clippers the other day which I'm excited to use when they arrive!

I had a black horse the day before yesterday. Now he is brown. But he's happy with his mudpack and as he is retired it doesn't matter much to me if he's filthy.
However, when I do decide to put his rug on (not cold enough yet) I will have some cleaning to do!
I find winter difficult for many reasons, the short daylight hours are my biggest issue.

I have thoroughbreds that are bloody wimps. They hate being out in bad weather but get colicky if they stay in too long. One of them goes from being dope on a rope all summer to ridiculously sharp in winter and she has no fucking self preservation either so I literally cannot hack her in winter. We’d both die.
They have more rugs than I have articles of clothing and eat insane amounts all winter or they drop, but at the same time keeping it super low sugar and starch for their feet while getting enough into them so they don’t get poor.

Also all of mine spook at wind. It’s really tedious. Not things flapping in the wind. Just the wind

I'm usually ok, it's just February I find difficult. Just a miserable month weather wise. Mine are in overnight all year round so not much change for me really other than the short days

Yes! Rural living and six months of the year there's a quiet battle between me and mud. Muddy pets, muddy floors, mud splattered coats and then there's the grim Where's Waldo? game of leaf or dog 💩 in my garden.

I don't mind the dark. I love walking the dog in moonlight or under the stars but I do ache for leaves on trees come winter.

Jan-Feb are the toughest months for me. I'm properly fed up of it by then. That's when I wonder why I continue to live in the Northern hemisphere.
But then, if we didn't have those darker, colder months maybe we wouldn't fully appreciate the joys of spring?

I usually dread the winter as my horses live out 24/7 (with shelters) and despite the ground being very well drained there is inevitably a sea of trashed grass and mud by spring. And the water freezes. However - on the plus side I abandoned fly rugs some weeks ago and after this summer's dead brown grass and rock-hard ground, even winter is looking appealing! My grass is back and the ground is soft enough to canter/jump again.

My mind-set in winter is just to slog through till Christmas when the nights are getting shorter again, and by mid February there are signs of spring, it's not pitch black when I do down in the morning/evening and I know the worst is over.

This summer, for me, was just horrendous. I've been feeding hay from July and have had to pre-order in bulk from my supplier in order to get last year's prices as it's been a very bad hay harvest - I don't know anyone who has managed to get a second cut this summer. I am actually welcoming the rain and cooler temperatures at the moment!!

The mud, wet and cold is the only bit I dont miss about having horses. Had to give mine up after 34 years of horse ownership. Re the wet haynets, steaming is the answer!

I've just thought of something else horrific.

Getting stepped on. Bad enough anyway, but when my 600kg dinosaur of a (shod) horse decides to stand on my already frozen toes, it genuinely makes me question why I have a horse.

then I look at him and I remember how much I love him and why I do it❤️