A newscaster pointed out this morning that Colorado’s Front Range endured 88 hours of snow and cold. My, where does the time go? If you have a horse stable, it goes into preparation before the storm and snow-response during and after the storm. After months without precipitation, this storm was a rude awakening. Here’s what we did:
Before the storm: Changing water heaters before the single digits hit is a good idea. I had a note to myself to do this in September, but ignored it.
Before the storm: This tank heater clearly was about to die. Especially with the Covid pandemic’s multi-faceted supply chain problems, keeping backups around has served us well.
Before the storm: Persephone the (young) Mustang tries to “help” with the heater replacement project as Calypso the Mustang looks on.
Before the storm: This is the tank heater we usually buy, 500 watts, with a thermostat. Don’t buy this other tank heater, which caused a fire at our place. The good tank heater came from Poudre Valley Co-op.
Before the storm: Hook up and check your snow-response equipment before you need it. This PTO-driven snow blower works well, but not in areas with debris mixed in the snow. We break several sheer bolts in treed areas when the impeller catches a small branch.
Round 1 of the storm, not much snow yet. A young deer tests the ice on our pond, not a good idea since the pond is fed by three live springs and can cave in at any time.
Morning after Round 2 of the storm: The big Massey Ferguson sits next to the barn ready to do another day’s snow blowing.
Morning after Round 2 of the storm: Negative 11 degrees, about 10 inches of snow over two days. The horses in the shed-pens, all sporting heavy-duty turnouts and with mandatory heated water, did fine.
Morning after Round 2 of the storm: Opening the barn door — several senior citizens live in here — to find all are doing well. Sandy, right foreground, sticks her tongue out. OK, I was an hour late.
Turnout after Round 2 of the storm, below: We are grateful the horses can move around and stretch their legs.
I front-bucket-plowed gate entrances the night before in hopes of less ice underfoot as temperatures warm up.
Persephone the Mustang seemed particularly happy to race around, video below.
A couple of hours after turnout, temperatures moved into the teens and it was time to remove blankets and liners. Kalvin, with his ear stuck, seemed grateful.
The little Massey Ferguson is half buried by blankets.
With his blanket off, Peyton headed straight for the heated waterer. Horses drink more in the winter if their water is heated, which keeps their 70-feet of intestines working, which prevents colic, which is the Number #1 Killer of Horses.
Sandy, right, and Stardust start communal scratching. Hobbes munches in the foreground. We always overfeed in cold weather because the extra roughage helps the horses stay warm.
The previous day’s snow work allowed clients to easily drive in, park, and lead horses.
Happy we were able to stay on top of client parking.
Our horses thought today’s startup of the snow equipment was also exciting.
Lower pasture, oval track after the storm.
Plowed driveway after the storm.
Pond covered in snow after the storm.
Once the horses were cared for and work/access areas cleared, it was time to think about how to make the place rideable as soon as possible. We used the big Massey Ferguson to blaze trails and to take the top layer of snow off the arena. The little Massey Ferguson bucket-plowed, doing finish work as needed.
The big Massey Ferguson blazes a trail to the arena. Many thanks to Gregg Doster for his big snow blower work!
Gregg and his big tractor blow the lane to our oval track. We broke a sheer bolt here when the blower impeller picked up a branch. That required taking the cover off the blower, and with temperatures in the teens, screwing in a new sheer bolt bare-handed because gloved fingers are really bad at nuts and bolts. These snow blowers are weird because you have to drive backwards.
Gregg uses the big snow blower to clear the arena of the top few inches of snow. The first time we tried this a couple of years ago, we blew out the sand footing in the arena, not just the snow. Moral: Don’t set your snow blower too low.
I started the day trying to use a box grader from my old John Deere 950 on my little Massey Ferguson tractor, and got stuck in the east pasture. This tractor is too short to properly lift and clear the grader. So, I used it to do finish work with the front bucket. Both tractors and the big snow blower in this tale came from Ron’s Equipment. Ask for Nate.
Whew! What a day!
P.S. What to wear in the snow and cold? I am a big cold baby. Here are my choices for hands and feet:
Women’s Hale Muck Boot and Cabela’s unisex gray wool-mix socks for an extra layer over cotton medium boot socks (wool against my skin makes me itch). I love the Muck brand. This model is a little bit too light-gauge for stable work. They are easy to move around in, though.
