February 5, 2009: A Brief Rant About the Winter of 08-09

Once again this morning, I get up and find the temperature below 10 degrees. Currently, it's 6 out, and the wind is whipping, making a -6 wind chill. And this is about the 45th day of weather like this since Thanksgiving. This has been a brutally hard, unforgiving winter. And it's only the 5th of February; we should really just be starting to experience temperatures like this, but it's been going on since the first week of December.

We're doing okay. The work on my BO is harder when the weather is like this, and every decision about the horses has to be weighed carefully-- do they go out or stay in today? If they go out, is the footing safe? Will the wind be too cold? Will they be bored and start tearing down fences that can't be repaired properly in these temperatures because the plastic connector parts break in your hands? If they stay in, can I keep water buckets fresh and not iced-over? How much hay are we racing through? Will there be enough to last into April? And what about the cleanup?

I hate for her that she has to make these myriad decisions every day, sometimes twice or three times a day, just because of the weather. I am exhausted for her.

But today I'm whining for me.

In decent weather, when the temperatures are at least 25 when I get up in the morning, and the farm is not covered in deadly ice-- from March to November, usually, with a few days here and there where we catch a break during the December-February time frame, my horse schedule looks a bit like this:

Monday-Friday:
Alarm goes off at 5:15 a.m.
Shower, Eat breakfast, Walk Dogs 5:30-6:45 a.m.
Pack up & head for barn by 7:00 a.m.
Drive to barn 7-7:30 a.m.
Groom & Tack up, Chat with BO 7:30-8:00 a.m.
Ride, including:
Walking warmup 10 minutes
Serious ring work 20 minutes
Outside ring ride (either trail work at a walk or a nice, open canter through an empty pasture) 5-10 minutes
Cool out 10 minutes
Untack, groom, and feed a carrot to my steed around 8:45/8:50
Turn out 16 horses at 9:00 a.m.
Head for work at 9:15/9:30 ish

By the time I'm done with my two hours at the barn, the very best part of my day has been fit in; I've exercised, I've had my communal animal meditation time; I've gotten fresh air and exercise; I've put my hands on horseflesh; I've been slobbered on, spit on, and globbed with hay drool. I am ecstatically happy, and I can face the long day at work, catching periodic aromas of horse and hay and grass as I sit in a stuffy, impersonal, unnatural office. I am reminded throughout the day of my horses, of nature, of my great blessings, and I feel pretty good about everything.

Though the day itself may be long and tedious and frought with disappointment (fundraising is never easy, and these be ugly times for philanthropy), I've had my best moments early in the day, and I go home okay with it.

And on weekends, I do the same, but just stay longer to do chores (stalls, water buckets, hay, farm repairs, whatever) so I'm there until noon or 2:00.

But this winter, this relentless, brutal winter, has upset that balance entirely. I have not been able to ride since the first week of December, due to the ice in the riding arenas and on the lanes at the farm. That would be okay; I've experienced weeks without riding before. But the bitter, bitter cold has changed the horses' schedule so much that I don't even go out in the mornings anymore. They stay in eating hay until well after I need to be at work, so I don't go to turn them out. Since they're eating hay, they don't want to be groomed and fussed with; they want to be about their important munching, so there's not even the pleasure of grooming them to get myself all horsey smelling before I go to work. I haven't made the morning pilgrimage since Christmas just because it's been so cold and such a futile effort.

So this week I am trying to go in the evenings after work a few times a week, but that has its drawbacks as well. I can bring the horses in and feed them their grain, which I love to do because they are so enthusiastic about it. Eager, hungry horses are even funnier and louder than hungry dogs at dinnertime! But, again, they're eating and that's their primary focus. It's getting dark, so they know they're in for the night and not going out for a ride, so they sort of look at you like why are you here? when are you going to go away and let me eat in peace? I can casually groom Roux while she eats, but Celby and Sherman both get a bit panicky if you try to work with them while they're eating. And that's fair; I wouldn't want someone doing my hair while I was trying to eat my dinner.

And, on top of that, if I'm out there in the evening, my BO stays out with me to visit; it's the time we get to chat about the horses and the farm and all things equine. But I know she's been out in the miserable cold all day, and she'd really like to go in the house and get a hot shower and a hot meal. I tell her repeatedly no to wait on me, to go ahead and go inside to get warm. But she still takes such delight in her boarders and in sharing in their enjoyment of their horses that she's slow to tear herself away from the stable. So I feel pretty guilty about making her stand out there in the cold for any longer than she has to.

I had a perfect schedule going! I get up early and make the long drive and get my fix and then go to the day job. But this frigging winter, this miserable, dastardly, son of a bitch of a winter has put an utter halt to it. Goddamnit, I'm so fed up and frustrated and disappointed and, my god, I've got cabin fever. Shit!

And thus ends my weather rant for this day.