The Big Freeze

Apparently December has been the coldest month in Scotland in history.  I can believe that.  Since this weather started, I have been really concerned that the horses haven't been getting enough to drink (alongside the other worries of hard ground, ice etc).  Their water is freezing very quickly and nothing I've tried will stop it.  I've attempted to put an apple in Wolfie's bucket to try and stop it freezing over completely.  The first time I did it, he just submerged his whole head in the water, got the apple at the bottom of the bucket, took it out and ate it.  The second time I tried it, he obviously thought why get wet, and just pawed the bucket till it tipped over and got the apple that way.  I've tried insulating the buckets with straw, but that doesn't make any difference in these temperatures.  I've been making sure the first drink they get when coming in is warm / tepid water.  Ice cold water hitting their stomachs if they are thirsty is not good either.  Studies have shown that horses will choose warm water over cold water in freezing temperatures and will drink more of it.  We are not equipped for winters like this here and the horses are not acclimatised to it either.  The little horse stabled next to Wolfie colicked on Wednesday night.  It was horrendous.  She made it to the vet school and seems to be doing well after surgery, so fingers and toes crossed.  If I was worried before, I'm terrified now.  Increased amounts of time in their stables, less turn out, lack of water, these conditions just predispose to colic and other things.  J. has a massively swollen sheath due to standing in.  We have created a path so the horses have been getting turned out all week, but the conditions in the field aren't good either.  They are getting a lot of hay, so they need access to water all the time.

I went to catch Buttons in one afternoon last week and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him.  He looked like somebody has coated the ends of his coat in icing sugar. The outer layer of his coat was sticking straight out and was frozen.  His beard was frozen solid and he had icicles on his whiskers.  He didn't look cold, but I took my glove off and pressed my hand through all his coat to his body, he was warm.  Obviously why his breed survived on the Shetland Isles whilst the bigger horses didn't.  He's designed to cope with harsh conditions, but saying that he's usually first at the gate wanting into his stable and loves standing in his big deep straw bed munching on his hay.

I really hope this thaws soon.