More snow - winter tyres test - water not frozen

We had more snowy gales overnight.

I arrive at 'Hill Farm' early as usual (around 6am). There is a light dusting of snow covering the front of the boys' stables. Their rugs also were covered in a light dusting. I had moved 'Mr F's haylage bag further back into the stable so he could eat in a more protected spot.

While the old barn was still up, it had taken away much of the winds and all that they bring along with them. At least the boys are out of the worst of it.

'Mr F' enjoying his freshly filled haylage bag. The forecast for the day wasn't pleasant, with further snow expected and we decided to let the boys out for a short leg stretch only as there wasn't any food in the field apart from the little bit of grass buried under the snow. 

Gales bringing more snow were active throughout most of the morning right through to midday, when at last the sun broke through, lighting up the wonderful winter scenery. Finally I can properly test my winter tyres on the way back up to 'Hill Farm' in the mid afternoon. Driving on untreated roads such as this one leading up to the Farm are no trouble at all.

While the boys were out for a couple of hours, the other horses stayed in and while I was at 'Hill Farm' in the afternoon, more snow arrived. The snow was like dust, light and powdery. It entered through the tiniest gaps and was found its way into the most unexpected places, even through tiny gaps in the doors. It lasted for a good 30 minutes and added yet more snow, most of which is piled up in heaps by the wind. 

A fair amount of snow (for UK 'standards') has now accumulated.

It will be fun to drive home ... 

Everything is now covered with snow.

Looking at 'Mr F's stable I do hope that the wind changes direction just a little. He doesn't seem to mind though and is wrapped warm with plenty of food and water.

Talking of water: my water experiment is successful. No frozen water yet. 'Jackie' tole me that when she goes for the nightly check up, steam was coming off 'Mr F's water buckets. Good, a result!

Here in comparison the original metal water troughs, the pipe has frozen solid so no water is coming in and a fairly thick layer of ice has formed on top which is broken up regularly.

The snowy landscape is stunning and everything is clean and quiet, including the country lanes. Without any oncoming traffic I have a bit of a play as I drive home, testing what the car can and cannot do with these winter tyres. Being Swiss I have learnt to drive in the snow of course but it has been a looooong time ago so I was making the most of these few days of road fun.

The tyres even take me through inch deep snow without any troubles at all. In fact the less treated the roads, the better. Things only get tricky on slushy, messed up roads.

I wonder what tomorrow brings, very strong winds are forecast.

Snow arrives

And so, as forecast, the cold air from Siberia (apparently) is moving in. We had hard frost and a dusting of snow. 

If the weather is turning foul, whoever is present at the time, either 'Jackie' or myself, will bring in the boys. After mucking out I watch the boys for a short while before departing for work. 'Rookie' is busy with irritating 'Zac' who really just wants to graze. 'Zac' has no interest at all in playing 'Rookie's  games and usually hangs around 'Mr F' for protection. 'Rookie' doesn't go too mad if 'Mr F' is in the field. As soon as I take 'Mr F' out of the field however, 'Zac' is in for it. 

According to the weather forecast, we are to expect further snow showers, somewhere. Once more I am thankful that I found those almost new 2nd hand winter tyres. 

I am finished with work a little earlier than usual today and we have had some mixed weather. While at work I looked out the window watching blustery winds whirling about snowflakes. 'I am sure 'Jackie' will have brought in the boys by now.' Still, as soon as I am done with work I hurry back to 'Hill Farm'. 

As I arrive blue skies greet, offering beautiful contrast with the white of the snow. It is a strange weather day, April showers but in March and instead of rain it is snow. With the temperatures having been below 0 degrees C for some days, the snow settles instantly. It is a powdery snow, perfect for skiing!  

I meet 'Jackie' who had taken the boys in about 2 hours ago, it was foul and there was no point in having the boys standing by the gate waiting to come in. The stables offer protection from the gales and of course food, plenty of food.

Above 'Zac', he is slowly beginning to look less grumpy. He is a very interesting character with the brain of a thoroughbred (he is a fast learner) and the calm and laid back temper of his shire mother. 'Zac' isn't interested in making a fuss a drama, unlike 'Mr F' who is an adrenaline 'junkie' and can quite easily react to circumstances out of all proportion. 'Zac' deals with unsettling things much more quietly.

And here he is ... 'Mr F' ... contently munching some haylage that I have temporarily dropped at the back of his stable. He normally eats at the front but the gales have blown in snow and it has covered his haylage feed bag. I will have to place it further back for the night and rest of the week.

Snow is beginning to settle now and I am so glad for those winter tyres ... 

A mix of mini snow blizzards and bright sunshine. The pond has already frozen over and the ducks have departed to a more accommodating location.

You can't sneak around in snow ... we know where you've been ....

There is a group of 4 'wild' chickens at 'Hill Farm', a cockerel and his 3 hens. Attempts to catch them have so far failed so they live free on the yard. They had their home in the old barn building but that has now been demolished to make room for the new building. Therefore the 4 chickens take up temporary home in the food store. As long as they go high up so the fox can't get to them .... 

The Water Experiment - Trying to stop it from freezing

The forecast is promising us that the coldest week of this winter yet, starting tomorrow.

Temperatures are not to go above 0 during day time apparently and drop down to possibly even double figures. While for other countries this is normal, here in the middle of the UK this doesn't happen all that often. Being spoilt by mostly mild winters, it's needless to say that one isn't really prepared for such a chill. 

A recent dry spell has dried up the grounds quite well and it is already frozen rock solid, ready to accept the forecast snow, which appears to be right now at the 50% change of arriving some time during next week.

I am sure glad I made that lucky purchase of my winter tyres. Perhaps I finally get a chance to give the a good testing.

While I am used to 'proper' winter weather and accompanying conditions, it's a little different in the UK. But regardless where you are, all share one big issue: how to keep the water for the livestock from freezing.

The boys will be outside for anything from 4 - 8 hours, depending on weather. 'Hill Farm' is fully exposed to the elements and there is no shelter in the fields. If it is really foul we bring them in or don't turn out at all. They have 15 x 15 feet stables each, plenty of room to move around.

Not much can be done to prevent the outdoors water from freezing but the grass is mostly water and if there is snow they have that to help out. We do of course break the ice and remove it from the outdoors water in the morning but it is likely to freeze over during the day. But as they won't be out for all that long it will be OK.

The main troubles are the indoors water troughs / buckets. The boys stables are what I call 'open-air' stables. Basically a big steel building, three walls, front open. Split into 3 compartments.

When they are inside they eat haylage and along with that they will need plenty of water. Although animals will break through a small layer of ice if it covers their water supply, I doubt that 'Mr F' will bother or realise what to do. Many times have I noticed that natural self-preservation (appart from spooking at random items) isn't on his list of priorities.

So I now am on a mission to find a way to stop 'Mr f's water buckets from freezing. My first thought was manure. 

Those among us that are mucking out themselves will know that manure creates heat. All the droppings and urine are fermenting. On cold winter days we can see the steam come off manure piles and if you dig in a little or put your foot deep into the muck will notice the warmth and if you ever had to empty a full muck trailer by hand with pitchfork, you will have noticed that quite often some of the bottom layers have been converted into ash! A perfect natural heat source, smelly it may be.

My first thought was to insulate his water buckets with bubble wrap and then somehow surround them with muck and straw.  'Mr F' has a thick layer of straw in his stable.  The main layer, right on top of the concrete, is a compacted mass of straw and urine. On top of that is loads of fresh clean straw. About once a week or even a little longer, the stable gets a proper muck out. But right now in the cold weather, the compacted layer offers not only softness but also insulation. I often sit in the stable and although it is outdoors, it is cosy and surprisingly warm and never smelly.

All stables here (and the fields) are fitted with metal auto-refill water troughs at the back of each stable. The placement is unfortunate because the back of the stable is also where 'Mr F' prefers to stand / sleep, being the spot that is most sheltered from the winds. In 'Mr f's case. he also seems to prefer this corner as his main toilet. In the first 2 weeks of him being in the stable, I had to empty his trough 3 times because he had droppings in it. Rather than wasting water, I have stopped the refill mechanism, emptied the trough and instead placed water buckets in two places, avoiding his preferred toilet spots. 

Water in buckets means of course smaller mass of water and therefore it will freeze over quicker. This will pose to be a tricky situation in this coming week (so far). So there is the manure / bubble wrap idea.

Wondering if someone might have come up with something else it was time for some 'googleing'.

I could add an electric water heater (that is inserted into the water) but I don't fancy that, just another object that could be a potential hazard. Then there are numerous sites that recommend filling up plastic water bottles with water and saturate it with salt (add salt to it  until the water can take no more) and then put these bottles into the water buckets. The idea is that it will bob on the surface and a moving surface is less likely to freeze. Having unfrozen water inside that plastic bottle will keep it movable ... apparently. That's why adding just ordinary water won't do the trick, so it is written. Or one could just put any other floating object into the water buckets. Although that is yet another potential hazard if you have a horse that likes to chew things when it is bored.

It was time for an experiment, the temperature forecast looks promising as it's going to drop well below 0 degrees C. And below are the results:

• Frozen in the morning: Large bucket placed at the back of the stable, surrounded by straw with an apple floating inside (seems safest object in case 'Mr F' wants to chew it). Nothing else done to it. This morning it had a very thin layer of ice on the surface.
• Successful: Smallish bucket wrapped with several layers of bubble wrap on layers of manure. This was to go into the empty metal water trough which I had prepared  with a thing layer of manure and a layer of  fresh clean straw on top. Any empty space surrounding the bucket was filled out with more straw. Fill with warm water last thing before leaving. There was not a single bit of ice in this bucket the next morning.
• Frozen in the morning: Smallish bucket outside, fully exposed, with small-ish drinking bottle filled with salt saturated water. It is supposed to keep bobbing encouraged by the wind and disturb the water surface which in turn will stop it from freezing. Result: water inside bottle not frozen but water in the bucket frozen solid, about 5mm thick ice top. Small bottle frozen in place and needed considerable force to break loose.

I have to see how we fare by tomorrow morning. It's supposedly going to get colder from now on. 

Full of beans

Sunday. A day off and although cold it is a moderately sunny day and only little wind. 

After attending 'Mr F' in the morning I sort out some business in the  house where I live and then decide to pack my lap top and my camera and take myself for a brisk leg stretch.

As i return to 'Hill farm' mid afternoon I make a cup of tea and sit in the car with the intention to write. I finally got myself a mobile hotspot and can now be online pretty much anywhere as long as I have phone signal. And its very fast. This helps greatly in keeping up with this blog among other things, although I do keep getting distracted by nature when outdoors ... 

The sun has warmed up the car nicely and I watch the boys grazing while sipping my tea. Then I seem to have nodded off for a short moment.

As I open my eyes I see all three boys galloping around the field! I have not seen them do that together and was surprised and intrigued at the same time. Especially seeing 'Mr F' go for it. He seems to feel better!

It's quite a mad chase with 'Mr F' pushing them on from behind.  All three come charging down towards the gate. 'Slow down guys!' I say out loud while still sitting in the car. 'Mr F' generally is reluctant to go even near the gate if others are there because he realises the potential for injury as the gate is in the corner of the field. They all stand still and both 'Zac' and 'Mr F' blow their noses a lot, clearing their lungs. They stand around for a while, staring into the distance.

Then 'Mr F' gets bored / impatient and begins to nibble 'Zac's leg repeatedly. 'Zac' isn't quite sure what to do and just stands still, mouthing, as it is so typical for young horses in the presence of older ones.  'Mr F' gently nudges him and nibbles his leg again. 'Luke' used to start play time like this.

It does not take long and 'Rookie' wants to join in and all three go on a merry dash all the way up the field, down the field and  along the edges ... 'Mr F' 'pushing' them from behind if they stop.

Then they all make one more crazy dash towards the gate. For a moment I was concerned that 'Zac' may be crushed against it! They all came to a halt on the hardcore, stones flying all over. Some more panting and snorting and then something startles 'Rookie'. He must have seen or heard something on the walk path that goes by their field and so all three go off in a mad dash again.

"Well, I am quite sure his hoof boot is not going to survive this." I say to myself.

The boys come galloping back to the gate and then stand still, waiting once more. 'Zac' catching breath and 'Mr F' is now looking directly at me in the car as though to say: 'I know you're there. is there any chance that you could get up and let us go to the stable? We are hungry, can't you tell?!'

Admittedly, the temperature had suddenly dropped. While they weren't interested in coming in yesterday in the nice sun, today the weather does not seem to their liking.

As I was leading 'Mr F' out of the field, the shell of his hoof boot had gone, all that was left was the gaiter. Although these are by far my favourite hoof boots (and I have tried a few including the renegades) it's the gaiter that is the weak point with these hoof boots. I have had three fall apart because the stitching was not strong enough must commonly its the rubber that split at the back where the screw attaches the gaiter to the shell (one of three screws). 

And 'Mr F' also chipped off a smallish bit of his hoof.

Yet 'Mr F' seemed very content with himself once in the stable and one could describe his mannerism as being 'chipper'. This was a 100% change compared with the recent weeks when he was very dull, sullen and withdrawn. 

Today he was back to how he used to be. Cheeky, demanding (where is my food, what about me,  etc etc), fiery (a fair amount of heated discussions when I am grooming him) and he was generally very communicative. 

This is now the fourth day of 'Mr F' being turned out with his hoof boot on the suspected troublesome foot. Perhaps this has helped matters to begin healing naturally? 

And at some point, I will have to scan the turn up field for the shell of his black hoof boot. I should buy them in a different colour next time. Mind you, there is a new type of hoof boot out, this one is very close to how I would have designed it had I had the money.

'Let us out please ... '  

'Mr F', behind him is 'Zac' and in the background 'Rookie' is waiting.