Found my long-johns… check. Put on my ugly sock cap… check. Borrowed “the Goose”… check. Waking up to 35 degrees in Central FL… priceless! First on the early AM agenda was to walk the Akita, Jessica. Her parents are on a jaunt to the west coast of FL. Hope they weren’t expecting to surf. Jess thought our weather was perfectly fine.
I apologize for the out-of-focus pic but I wasn’t quite awake, yet 🙂
Jessica, 100 pound Akita Princess
Next up was the barn to check on my big girls. I passed farms with their horses out in blankets. My girls scoff at the very idea! When Cass left Canada nearly 4 years ago, it was 50 BELOW zero! So, for us to be in the 30’s is no big deal. I’m sure she prefers to be chilled rather than sweating her butt off in our summer temps.
It was hovering near 34 degrees @ 8:30am.
One of my worries overnight was whether our water pipes would freeze. We have a well with three pipes placed throughout the barn area and front pasture. I knew the pump would probably be ok since it’s inside the barn. I covered it with tarps to be safe. I also covered the main pipe outside the barn wall but I didn’t do a good enough job. It was frozen.
Hey! There's the ugly hat 🙂
I put an extra water trough inside the shed, hoping it wouldn’t freeze and it didn’t. There were hay drippings in the water so I know the girls drank from it. The other 3 troughs were frozen over.
Ice, ice baby...
I must admit, the frost upon the pasture was pretty.
My most northern-blooded gals, were peppy and in great spirits. Their luxurious winter coats are far more insulating than any blanket would be.
The longer winter coat helps trap the body heat against the skin. Also, tiny muscles in the skin raise the hairs, creating tiny air pockets that heighten the insulating effect. Putting a blanket on a horse, flattening these hairs, can actually make them colder than without one.
Becca and Cass may have also been in great spirits because they’re getting a special treat for a few days. I went to the feed store yesterday to get our regular, coastal hay and they were out. A few stores in area have gone out of business so my store is getting swamped with large hay orders. The next truckload comes today but I grabbed a bale of the “good stuff” to get us by. This is a mix of Timothy and Alfalfa, which is too rich for them (and me!) on a regular basis.
Frosty the Fjordhorse aka Cass says, “WhooHoo! Bring on the cold!”
cassidyapril.com 