More December Snow

 

     The Cascades at sunrise on another snowy day. We got another three inches of snow yesterday morning. It was 0.3 degrees when we got up today, which means it was in the minus degrees during the night. So far we've had no frozen pipes or problems with the well head or pump system. 

   Yesterday Tom had to go into Redmond so my friend Dee and I hitched a ride over to Remuda to help out with the care of the horses.

     First to take care of the mares in the mare pasture.

 

The brood mares were hanging out at the back fence but came running when they heard us banging on the grain buckets.There are 6 brood mares and 4 of them are pregnant. We give them supplements to make sure that they will have healthy babies.  Gee, can you tell that Katie, the one in front, is pregnant?  Hah. She was the first one bred last year and in foal to  Playgun an awesome champion cutting horse and will have her baby in February.  When she is standing resting you can see her foal moving and little hooves pushing out at her sides. The other pregnant mares are due to foal in March.

     Being out in the snow doesn't bother the horses. They grow thick coats in the winter and eating and digesting extra hay generates plenty of heat to keep them warm. When we see snow on their backs it tells that their coats are insulating them and the body heat is not escaping to melt the snow. Some of the horses wear blankets. These are for young horses that don't have enough body mass to generate enough heat or for the horses that are being ridden in the winter and we don't want them to grow the heavy coats. If they have a heavy coat and are worked they sweat, the sweat doesn't dry quickly because of the dense coat, the damp coat causes them to chill and then they get sick. That is why you will see horses in a pasture some in blankets and some without. Hope you don't mind the explanations but several of you have asked me questions and I decided just to explain things as I go along.

 

A roll in the snow after her grain scratches what itches! I wish I could have switched to video quick enough because she really went at it. My fingers were too cold so I got these pics.

A drink of water. An electric deicers keep it thawed.

Back to just hanging out until feeding time this afternoon.

We check the water for these cold doggies and make sure it is not frozen over.

 

The buffalo don't even act like they know it is snowing. But, hey, the originally come from the Great Plains where it is like this every winter.

Come on, Rowdy, you already had your grain and these are empty buckets!

Back home, the mountains are still there but no longer pink. Sun predicted for tomorrow but temps below freezing. Then a week of snow predicted starting on Christmas eve.......:(