I hate winter!

I truly hate winter. I really, really do. So, we had a nasty snow storm here in MN this weekend. Only ended up with 4-5" of snow, but it got topped with some ice. Driving conditions are still horrible. And the temperatures are only worse. Today's high was to be -9. Low tonight is -28. Oh, and did I mention the wind chills this morning/afternoon were -35 plus? Yeah. The weather sucks!

So, because of that, I've not been able to make it out to the barn to see the boys. Saw Gringo on Saturday. He seems to be doing well enough. J (the farrier) put new pads on him this past Tuesday. They are the snow rim pads. Hopefully they'll work well enough for him and give him the traction that he needs. We'll see. I really don't want to have to add borium or studs. Just not worth it for a pasture horse.

Haven't seen Gus since this past Wednesday. I'm hoping he's okay. I know they stayed inside today. If the forecasted high is below zero, they don't go out as the equipment (i.e. manure spreader) can't run in that inclement of weather. He's wearing his Dover Northwind blanket (which is 200g of fill) and his Schneider's liner (which is 170g of fill) plus the Dover neck cover. So, he's toasty... but at the same time, he's been wearing that same setup since before the weather turned horrible. I just hope he's staying warm. I think I'm gonna dig out the Shire's blanket. I think that one is like 350g of fill (plus adding the liner.... equals really warm!).

Gringo's still floating around in his midweight. He managed to put a tear in his fleece blanket... so, it's just the midweight - Schneider's New Briton (220g fill) - currently. He should survive, but I would like to put his heavyweight on. I'm still wanting to get him a liner too. But well, more time then $$$. Such is life.