To feel sorry for people with horses?

[ahstop]

Including me!!!

there should be a specific form of seasonal affected disorder for equestrians in the winter! Or some kind of therapy for helping us deal with the trauma of the winter months!

I posted something about winter 2 months ago but I can’t find it now and I’ve namechanged since then 🤣 just a follow up to that thread!

Why does the winter have to be so cold, wet and awful?! It was quite mild here (Scotland) and all of a sudden about 2 weeks ago it’s suddenly freezing. Everything is wet and muddy, my entire wage is being spent on feeds, shavings and rugs and it’s just generally crap. My hands are like ice cubes, my toes are frozen solid, my arse is freezing in the saddle EVERYTHING is wet and muddy. The other day I slipped on my arse in the field and landed in a big pile of cold, wet, squishy mud. I actually burst into tears- winter has ruined me!

but apart from that it’s great! 🤣 I have a thoroughbred so I’ll take any extra thoughts of prayers please! Luckily he’s cute and a nice jumper so he makes up for it 😉

not long until spring- we can do this!!!

Mine are out 24/7 unclipped, and I'm probably feeling more sorry for them tonight than they are for themselves, tbh, although the weather is dreadful! Am not enjoying the wading through the mud to get to them...my wellies are a bit big, so there's always the risk of acute welly loss...

@WinterWitchy we have said in a couple of years we may look at some kind of loan but definitely not yet, I'm not horsey at all so wouldn't be able to help her as I don't have a clue!!

She does seem to have picked the most expensive hobby though!!

i want one. One day i will have one. And I will love every moment.

Haven't had a horse for about 10 years now having had them all my life and every winter I think thank goodness.

Goodness knows how I juggled it all and didn't go broke or have a nervous breakdown when I had DD as a baby that never slept and feed every 2 hours and my horse had an abscess that needed dressing 3-4 times a day.

Plus there's always someone at a shared yard who's a dick and thinks they know everything about horses and you shouldn't put that rug on, and has a rug for every day of the week and every fucking type of rain. Back in my day a horse had one rug for outdoors and maybe a fleece insert and that was it (and all most people could afford).

Thanks OP for reminding me why I never want my own horse again 🤣🤣🤣

Oh no, definitely not a typo.

Nope, he’s definitely a shitland that was sold to me as a quiet unassuming 3 year old Shetland pony ha ha. He’s the worst of the lot of them! There’s not a week gone by in all the years I’ve owned him that we haven’t had issues between us. That little buggar hates me, he literally loathes me. He rears, boots me, tries to bite and turns his arse in the stable if I ever decide to bring the git in. My daughter is his most favourite human in the world though, butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth when she’s around.

@Freddosforall 🤣

<Hysterical laughter>

I have 6 and I'm currently 38 weeks pregnant, what am I actually thinking 🤣. Done loads of prep this summer and built a hardstanding area and field shelter. It's been bedded down with loads of straw and deep littered and I've had a load of wrapped bales delivered down the field. They're all unrugged natives so the plan is to roll bales in once a week and just let them get on with it (with twice daily checks of course). Wish me luck 🥴

Yes, in some sort of giant, padded terrarium.

Massively agree! I used to be horsey but lost my nerve over the years so don't really get involved - but we have 5 currently. DH and 2 DCs ride, plus we have an old pony and a 2 year old. All are hardy native types and live out all year round, and we don't clip or rug them. But it's still hard work for poor DH who finishes work at 4.30 and has to trudge through a large boggy field to feed them nuts and hay, hoping to get it done before it's completely dark!

They can only ride at weekends at this time of year, and the weekend before last they got so utterly drenched in those monsoon rains, I've never seen such wet clothes! Plus they like to stop at a pub or coffee shop for a rest usually - but that's no fun when it's freezing or soaking wet!

Roll on the spring.....!

Got a horse, and an opinionated Scottish pony - pray for me!

I quite like it. They're always pleased to see me whether it's going out time or bringing in time and it's lovely when they're all in and munching on hay.

Mud is shit though. Good weatherproof clothes help.

That’s their theory too. Mine hate the rain and I won’t go into the mud rash last year or the delicate balance of feed to keep the weight on them in winter. All I will say is feed with oats certainly didn’t go well for me 3 weeks ago 😂

Full livery is the answer , I haven’t had a horse on DIY for 29 yrs .

The fields are sooooo muddy with us (Scotland, central belt 🖐), the rain has been non-stop so it's a bog already on the well draining hill. I'd sell my kidney for a pallet of mud control mats.

Still only had one frost so I've now unpacked/repacked the winters rugs twice as it's still barely cold enough - starting now though I think.

Big tb struggles to keep weight on and weaves, so sorely misses 24/7 field life (and sweats up if not the first out, so I have to be up for 6am turnout), and costs me an arm and a leg to feed. Needs booted all round as a scabby idiot so my washing machine and bathroom are covered in mud Sept-March. Must also be the last off the yard so he doesn't weave and sweat - people ride at night on our yard so I get very little sleep. 😂

I definitely can't complain though because we brought my lovely 3yo Connie in to start his education this winter and he is bloody fantastic and so easy! (Pic of him as a tiny baby for cuteness).

YANBU.

I have three (and one is a Shetland, so you can feel very sorry for me!).

Also have sheep. And I hate each day already since it’s rained.

It's the opposite here in sunny Oz. Winter is lovely in my part of the country, if a little nippy with temps close to zero. We're just heading into summer and it's revolting. So humid you're drenched in sweat just feeding up. And the sun has a bad bite to it by 9am. My TB is currently cranky at moving paddocks so I can spray the weed in his paddock. Major cranky. His normal paddock is admittedly much nicer but the current one has lots of lovely grass. He looked so glorious galloping around, he's quite the stunner when he's showing off.

@ClaudineClare pics just for you :) He's 19 yo and still looks amazing. I was trying to get pics of his dapples. He's so dappled he looks like he belongs on a merry go round. The wet sandy pic was from when his friends went out without him. To distract him I let him play in a puddle in the round yard. He's a bit of a water baby and ended up drenched from ears to tail LOL

@k1233 I just voiced silently in my head, ‘That neck’ like Fleabag over her hot priest!

@WinterWitchy If it’s any comfort I have a Dales filly who is as bad as any TB - suffers from sweet itch so has to be in during the summer, but she loves her stable and hates rain so would go out for 10 minutes for a roll and kick her heels then come straight back in during winter 🤣

@Spambod

Yeah but they hog the sofa & the bed!!!

Not the weather but the price of feed and hay also in Scotland

My sis keeps 5 horses, 2 were my dad's before he passed away. I am not the equestrian sort myself, but have not witnessed any complaints regarding seasons.
Mumsnet is interesting.
Perhaps I ought to mention my golden teeth?

Possibly being stupid here but what are you talking about, I don’t understand the golden teeth comment?

Mine's retired and lives out 24/7 with another retiree, we share the week for checks/hay/poo picking.
He's a complete bog monster, 1/2 tb on paper, would be taken for an overgrown shitland ATM - attitude, living on fresh air and winter coat included.
Not rugged as yet and I'm not going to unless he starts to struggle.
It's bliss now he fits around me, I can go at any time and tbh both horses seem so much more relaxed because they're not routine bound. Poo picking can be like a go round tough mudder at times admittedly! Especially when they both decide to start pushing barrows over and looking for carrots.
I remember the days of clipping, stabling, mucking out, mud, ice, more mud, 5am starts, more mud, losing half the muck across the yard in high winds, more mud, rock hard icy ground and fresh horses at turn out, then it's mud again, haylage in unmentionable places, mud everywhere else, riding in the dark, tack and boots covered in mud.
You are all in my thoughts 🤣