To feel so sorry for people with horses… (2023)

[clipclopinthemud]

Did one of these threads last year so thought I’d do it again now that the weather has changed and it is well and truely winter….

horsey people, why do we do this to ourselves? Every winter I say never again and that this is the last year of mud, freezing toes, more mud, torn rugs, wind scald, more mud, less turnout, oh- did I forget to mention lots of mud?! I could cry thinking about how much I miss summer already and it’s only November!!! I had everyone’s favourite tonight bringing in the horses- welly got stuck and my foot slipped out and sunk straight in the cold mud. Then later discovered DGelding and has destroyed his turnout rug (only 1 week old!). This is the same boy who has just cost me 4k in vets bills. Lol- luckily he is cute!

so fellow equestrians, (and farmers and dog walkers!) why do we put ourselves through this torture every year?!

officially starting the countdown to summer- only 5 months to go 😩

Never understood how horses can be so big, strong, and majestic, yet at the same time so fragile, neurotic and succumb to every weird disease and infection known to man. I've never owned one but just hearing the price of vet care is enough to put me off ever contemplating horse ownership.

I shipped my horse off to a retirement yard in April and I can’t overstate the relief I feel at not having to deal with winter this year.

It's my job and has been for many years. At the beginning of every winter I think I can't do this anymore yet here I am still doing it 😂
The only thing I like is at the end of another cold, miserable and wet day when they're all sorted and I walk in to a lovely warm home, run a bath and congratulate myself on another day survived. It somehow seems like a really good day's work done when battling the elements. Rinse and repeat until spring 🤣

I had about 15 years of this and have concluded that there is a special weather system that links the Siberiean Steppes with every rugby pitch in the UK.

I only owned a horse for a few years, but found that I no longer suffered from the seasonal affective disorder that had plagued me all my life.

I also had horses for many years and gave up about 5 years ago.

I don't actually miss it at all, which is surprising as it was my life for a long time.

Condolences to all you long suffering equestrians out there!

@clipclopinthemud there's a new thread in the tack room section where we're all moaning about the mud!
I'm not a sun lover but I'm never moaning about the hot weather again!
We had a rapid exit from our livery yard and ended up in a field which was completely trashed by the previous occupant, although she's been gone a year the ground wasn't repaired and we're squelching and muddling through until we can start improving things once the weather picks up.
I've shed a few tears and felt a lot of guilt, my boys lived out mostly but I had stables to bring them in out of the torrential non stop rain that we've been having lately.

Ah no that's shit! Any chance you can shove up a shelter or would the land owner not have it?

I had horses/ ponies when I was younger. I honestly don't remember feeling the cold that much, but I do remember frozen taps and breaking ice on the drinking water buckets. Also riding with cold feet - I would sometimes have to bail out and walk a bit until my feet had warmed up. I also remember"wearing" magazines stuffed down the trousers to insulate the tops of the thighs whilst in the saddle. Remarkably effective. Must have had very hardy animals, I can count on one hand the number of times they needed veterinary attention.

Horses is a whole upper level but I have a dog that needs walking twice a day around work - which means going out at 6am for the first one.

I live in Lincolnshire so winter walks involve trapsing around very muddy fields that are flat so have no wind protection really. It's cold and wet and dark.

Then when I get home, the kitchen floor gets covered in wet muddy prints and - if I am not 100% on my game - those prints are taken off into the lounge to jump on the sofa and rest on my cushions!

I cannot over state how giddy I get when spring starts to arrive and I am looking forward to a warmer, drier season of walking.

I remember the post from last year!

I don't ride and have never been on a horse but I do have a 9 year old who has been riding for 3 years and is absolutely obsessed!! Obviously being only 9 means I have to take her to lessons and she likes me to stand and watch but it's so bloody cold and omg the mud 😂 Despite not being horsey at all I've invested in a lovely pair of muck boots!!

She cannot wait until she's old enough to get more involved with the mucking out etc, I think she's mental!!!

@EvilElsa shelter going up this weekend!

Bought a horse in September. Since then we have had two named storms, widespread flooding, weeks and weeks of relentless rain, ice, ice and more ice and temperatures down to -7. It's been 'fun'

@whitebreadjamsandwich welcome to the glamorous world of horse ownership 😁

Every year I wonder why I own horses and why I live in Scotland. The rest of the year, horses and Scotland are my 2 of my favourite things that make my heart sing with joy. It is not just the mud and the cold and the wet. It is the dark. The days are so short up here in winter it depresses the hell out of me every year.

Then spring comes and I am out on my horse looking through their ears at the beautiful glen stretched out below me and it is all worth it. Until next winter....

Brilliant! That should make a world of difference. Although, if you have awkward fuckers like mine were, they will all choose to fully ignore said expensive shelter and stand in the mud and rain!

After around 40 winters, many saying never again, last winter really was my last. I sold my one sellable pony to a fantastic family and had my two oldies pts. God I missed them but not the work. And this past few weeks I’ve felt a huge sense of relief. I rented so it was all down to me / husband helped but it just got so stressful. Is only ever have more if I won the lottery and had my own house with land.

I've never borrowed or shared or bought a horse because (aside from the finances) I have two full-on dogs who eat up loads of time, and because I don't have my own land and couldn't face traipsing out ten minutes in the car to sort out the horses in the wet and the dark.

I'm already sick of walking the dogs in the mud, rain, wind and frost and it's not even Christmas yet. But I wouldn't be without them, so can 100% understand you horse people, down at the yard at 6am before work.