In which the rain comes a-tumblin' down...for a while, anyhow
The horses were SO WET this morning that I couldn't stand it: I put their blankets on them.
Normally I don't blanket these two, especially when temps are in the high 40's. However, the rain was just so heavy, there was no way that they would dry out without some help. They certainly had no intention of standing under the trees and out of the rain. Sigh.
This is how much water fell from the sky this morning:
I emptied the water from Hana's feed pan when I fed her, around 8:30. I put in her pelleted feed, which she vacuumed up in about 3 minutes (she doesn't get very much, she's already plush enough!). Two hours later, I took the photo below:
That is a LOT of water, even by Swampland standards!
Normally I don't blanket these two, especially when temps are in the high 40's. However, the rain was just so heavy, there was no way that they would dry out without some help. They certainly had no intention of standing under the trees and out of the rain. Sigh.
This is how much water fell from the sky this morning:
I emptied the water from Hana's feed pan when I fed her, around 8:30. I put in her pelleted feed, which she vacuumed up in about 3 minutes (she doesn't get very much, she's already plush enough!). Two hours later, I took the photo below:
That is a LOT of water, even by Swampland standards!
Fortunately, we have lots of horsey-raingear, especially for days like this. I put a polarfleece cooler on under the waterproof/breathable turnout blanket.
A few hours later, I swapped the wet cooler and blanket for a dry set. As soon as I put the dry gear on her, Fiddle threw herself to the ground for a good roll. What is it about horses that they seem to be allergic to clean blankets? Argh.
Around noon, there was a 3-minute break in the rain and it was almost 50 degrees (!), so I ran down to the pasture to take off the fleece coolers, and gave each horse a dry turnout blanket.
Despite the rain pouring down all morning (and their steadfast refusal to use the sheltering trees), they were dry.
Story's old green blanket is not quite big enough for Fiddle, but it was the only big dry blanket I had left.
I have finally found an excellent use for the greenhouse:
all those shelves are perfect for drying out horse blankets!
Around 4 o'clock, the sun came out and dried up all the rain!
Around here, we say that if you don't like the weather, just wait a few minutes!
So how is it that you Swamplanders got sun at 4:00 and we got a massive thunderstorm? According to our rain guage we got 57mm of rain in the past 24 hours. And yes, we went through three sets of blankets too.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about the fleece under the sheet -- I'm sure that it would make Tonka too hot, but I guess it would help to wick the sweat off his body some. Hmmm...
The rain was terrible today!! When I went to feed tonight, the grain buckets were filled 3/4's of the way full with water! I have never seen that much rain at once. The pasture's are pure mud. Miserable!
ReplyDeleteLove your afternoon, when the sun finally came out pictures! Beautiful!
I used polarfleece or wool coolers under rainsheets for a couple of our horses on those days last week when it was raining all day with temps in the low 40s and windchills in the low 30s. Finally today we've got sun, and it's supposed to stay dry until Tuesday!
ReplyDeletewow, beautiful pics! and look at hana's chest, my goodness!
ReplyDeleteyou have lots of blankets, if you can swap so often.
i am a little bit glad i don't live in the rainlands anymore. here when it rains, it's serious rain, and then it's over.
you totally need an umbrella here, whereas in seattle i never considered owning one, the rain was constant, but light enough you could usually make it to the office without ruining your hair-do.
riding's another story, cuz of all the wet bushes you get pressed up against your legs constantly.
today we geocached in sunny bright 15 degrees, and baasha was out on pasture all day. we arrived home to a poop free stall.
and since i know you do not have a barn yet, i wanted to say i think waterproof blankets and trees are totally adequate, where you guys live. baasha had only cedar trees and a weatherbeeta for years, and he was fine. standing under the trees in a downpour, it was dry.
but i don't miss that constant drizzle..
~lytha