Post Hurricane

The horses ended up staying in the stalls from 4 pm yesterday until almost 8 am this morning.   When I put them in last night they were shivering which is unusual but I think the high winds drove the water past their protective hair barriers.   After a few minutes of munching hay though the shivering stopped.

When I got there this morning they were happy to see me as they had devoured the huge piles of hay I had left for them.   The byproduct of their eating was evident as well because the stalls were a mess.  Definately filled the wheelbarrow!

I went back and forth on whether to leave them out considering the shivering from last night but figured it would be fine since the rain was back to its normal vertical path without the high winds.

Golly went straight to the pile of hay in the run in and was suprisingly calm going out even though he had been locked up for fourteen hours.   He had no interest in going out in the rain.

 Pony (yes... we call her Pony.  Her name is really Sunny but Pony just fits her better), on the other hand ran straight to the oak tree.  I hadn't realized she was eating acorns but she obviously likes them which concerns me since a plethora of them can cause some intestinal issues and even death if they eat too many.  

Its hard to tell in this picture through the rain but she is happily munching acorns in the rain.    You can see in the distance the big tree that came down on the fence.  Luckily I left the gate open and most the tree fell through space rather than crushing the metal gate.

I felt a bit better about the acorns when she only stayed out their a few minutes and was quickly back with Golly under the run in.  Definately need to keep an eye on her acorn consumption though.

Glad the hurricane wasn't nearly as bad as predicted.  I hope your family, pets and horses included, did fine too.

Hurricane Prep

As Hurricane Sandy descends on our area, I am trying to decide the best way to protect my horses.   If you read the "official" advice given, its best to leave your horses outside in an open field with little debris.  With 75+ hour winds projected I think it is impossible to prevent debris coming across their field.  I am worried about the debris hurting them.

On the flip side, high winds have a decent probablility of bringing a barn down with them trapped inside.

The dilemna.  

I think I am going to do a mix of both.  They are outside now but I think after dark I will put them in the barn for the night with the thought that during the night they can't see the debris coming across the field towards them.  In the morning, high winds or not, they will go back out.

At least they are on high ground so I don't have to worry about flooding.   Just in case of electricity outage I have filled buckets, soaked a pile of alfalfa pellets and filled the BIG water trough.

What have you decided to do with your horses?