This last week I started to feed and hay morning and evening and the boys have settled into a good routine, each content to take their bucket of feed in the field and with very little argy bargy during the process.
This was yesterday's ad hoc hay trip due to the snow, by evening they were happily picking grass through the snow.
Yesterday I saw a 'first' that I have read of but never seen...Manolo my neighbour's horse was eating snow! It's a fair trip down a steep hill to their water source and a good distance from their shelter and hay and presumably he thought the snow would be a short term solution. I believe a horse has to eat at least five times the volume of snow to achieve the equivalent volume of water so I do hope he took the trip to the water before too long.
4 comments:
We've got the cold, but no snow as yet! Horses in at night now and well rugged! One positive, our new manege has not frozen and is still very useable. The last week has been hard work at the stables - everything frozen (water taps, water troughs), ground hard and rutted and walkways slippy. Roll on summer!!
Brrr thats a fair chunk of snow you have yourself! I don't feel quite so bad about Fidge having to cope with the Scottish weather now! I'm with Sheila though...roll on summer :-)
Guess it is like a curious child ...eating the snow!
We too got a taste of the white...first time i ever remeber too, in Novembertime.
It's all gone nonw for us...but bitter cooold!
Keep warm you!
Wow, snow!
Seems like a happy bunch though.
Yes, they do eat snow when thirsty.
During winter time our horses are out without water during the day, but they are not very thirsty coming in.
I guess they cope as the wild animals must do, by eating snow. All water sources freeze, so water for deer and moose are unavailable - at least when the temperatures are as low as they are now.
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