It got cold

It wasn't a surprise the weather turned cold. Maddy flipping her hay bag over the electric fence, so she couldn't eat was a surprise.

Mid-November mornings dropping below freezing? Par for the course. Maddy's had a thin skin of ice I broke through, so she could drink for the day.

We haven't had much freezing weather this year. Freezing weather means extra work. It's less comfortable to do the extra work in, too. We have to make sure water buckets aren't frozen, break ice when they are, and be vigilant about draining the hoses and water heater to prevent water freezing in them.

We ran out of propane early in the week. I had to haul down buckets of hot water from the house. Shane's bathtub is right next to the water heater, so the water heats quickly. It's a lot heavier than it looks to lug down to the barn, though.

Horse blankets are the other source of new work. Whenever the weather dips below a certain threshold (which varies depending on precipitation), the horses get blanketed. Most have two different blanks for different situations and some of them got new gear this year.

Laura got Ernie a new heavy blanket with a 'scarf' for his neck.

Carrie bought Eowyn a fancy, clearance blanket with a neck extension, too. Eowyn's clipped, so she's almost always blanketed at night.

The hope is that if properly blanketed the horses will stay warm, healthy, and eat a little bit less (They eat "to get their engine going" and stay warm).

As you might expect, the blanket situation changes with the weather. Carrie was out and I got the call to "Please change out Ernie's blanket" on my lunch break.

I'd swapped him into his light blanket and Ernie decided it was a great time to pee. 

He must have failed to appreciate what I was doing for him.

The blanketing situation is going to be on and off for the next several months. By the time spring rolls around, I'll be thrilled to put the blankets away and turn the horses loose on fresh grass!