Baby, It's Cold Outside!

This is one of those times when it pays to have grown up in North Dakota. Along with other parts of the country, my current home in northern Idaho is in the grip of a big Arctic chill, and it's making the task of daily horse care challenging, to say the least. I've just come in from hauling water to a horse whose automatic waterer couldn't take the cold and from shoveling snow to reach the manure pile. There's too much ice under the snow to turn horses out safely, so I'm left with six unhappily cooped-up critters with nothing to do except wait for their waitress--me--to bring them their next meal. The driveway's buried under white stuff, the tractor's too cold to start, and I'm already sick of the bulging figure I cut in snowpants.

Still, none of this is anything I haven't coped with before. Thanks to the aforementioned upbringing at the top of the Great Plains, I know better than to let winter catch me unaware. In fact, I spent the nicer parts of September and October following the lead of my immigrant ancestors and squirreling away wintertime survival items. For a horse gal, the list goes something like this:

-----Three dozen gallon jugs of water, stashed in the basement in case power to the well goes out: Check.
-----Headlamp and batteries for doing chores in the dark, also in case power goes out: Check.
-----A cozy blanket for every horse, cleaned, repaired, and standing by: Check.
-----Two more tons of hay than I probably need, just so I don't run out while snowed in: Check.
-----Doses of colic-pain meds in case a horse gets sick when the vet can't get here: Check.
-----Stall balls and other toys for barn-bound horses, the better to keep their beaver tendencies at bay: Check.
-----Toboggan and big tubs for getting shavings to the barn in deep snow: Check.
-----Longjohns and other warmies, snowboots, etc.: Check.
-----Weather radio tuned to receive storm alerts and advisories: Check.
-----Attitude that reminds me that I live in four-season country by choice: Check.

Sure, I'd rather have a winter like last year's, with little snow, above-normal temps, and an extended riding season. But I can manage with a tougher one, too. I just remember that saying, overheard often in my NoDak days:

"Twenty below keeps the riffraff out."