Ice-land - it's a complete nightmare here

[tomrabbit]

We had to stop riding at the end of November when we got 2 ft of snow. A brief thaw in early December converted much of this to ice, then another shed load of snow arrived before Christmas. On boxing day a slow thaw started, but the ground is frozen rock solid, and there is nowhere for the melted snow to go, so now we are ice bound. My sand school is a skating rink. The small field at the house is gradually turning from snow to ice. Today we managed to take the horses down the road to the only field around that isn't covered in snow/ice, but on the way back home my daughter's horse had an arab moment, jumped onto the icy side of the path, slipped, panicked, and ended up flat on his back twice ... so we probably won't risk the walk to the field tomorrow, and at this rate they are going to end up stuck in a tiny corner of the paddock at home until the ice melts, which judging by the weather forecast won't be any time soon.
I am so fed up with it. My highland pony went into winter fit and at a nice (low) weight, but after more than a month with no exercise and lots of standing round eating, he is starting to look like a padded barrel. I can't soak the hay, as the taps are frozen, there is nowhere to even walk him in hand because of the ice.
I don't mind winter, and I quite like snow, but this is getting ridiculous. Why can't it be winter until spring, instead of keeping on starting to thaw, then going back to siberia again...

[mandal]

I'm so sorry and can totally understand your frustration. I had two weeks of soaking for Maisy in the house but she a mini so not huge quantities.

There's nothing you can do about it so try not to stress. He will loose the weight again when you can get back to soaking and exercise.
(((hugs)))

[DebbieR]

I thought I was hard done by where I am Tomrabbit but I really feel for you.
Hope the weather forecast is wrong & the ice goes so you can have a break from all the stress.

[evejade]

It has been a nightmare, I live in East Anglia, it was bad enough here, but I have wondered how Scotland riders and horse owners were getting on. They've stopped mentioning Scotland on the weather but you are obviously still suffering. Have just seen Countryfile forecast for next week at least it looks like a slow thaw still.

I had to soak my hay at the house and lug containers over 10 acres for 9 horses, very grateful when it thawed. It is annoying going into winter fairly fit and then stand there just eating. !!
Hope your pony is ok after going upside down.

Days are pulling out, spring is coming. We will ride again.

[starbuck]

It's just been the last few days that our ice has finally melted and I know how hard it makes things. I ended up using my muckheaps to make a safe path to the field, it's been a total pain clearing it all up but it let us get to and from the field in one bit.

[Mellymoo]

We are still icy as well, and it's a pain. Although all our horses have slimmed off even with no work, which I suppose is a good thing. I might even have to feed Jos more

[Lulu]

NO ice here, well some in the chicken's water feeder, but that is slowly thawing. The horses water is fine as larger and I removed the ice daily. Won't be long now till the longer days and spring is round the corner.

[vikki]

i totally sympathise tomrabbit. we are in west lothian, we have a farm which is still covered under a dangerous layer of ice. bringing the horses in is like a bambi scramble every day... they are all slipping and sliding but luckily only a couple of falls so far

the fields are frozen solid, the outdoor is still covered in snow and our indoor is currently in a crumpled heap after it fell down under the weight of the snow on the roof

no-where is safe to ride, and theres not even anywhere to do in hand work .... and the worst thing is there is no sign of the weather getting warm enough for the ice to melt.

its SO depressing. i just want to get tammy back to work

[bertie666]

Im in the same boat with the thawing and re freezing game, on sunday we had standing water 2/3rds of the way up my wellies and tonight its all rock solid black ice, the bath is frozen, the tap and hose are frozen and I fell over in the dark

Not ridden since november either

[tomrabbit]

Thanks for the hugs Mandal, and Vikki, I'm sorry to hear things are just as bad for you, although it's comforting to know I'm not alone
This is how the paths typically look around us


And this is my sand school/ice rink

As you say Vikki, there is no sign of enough warmth to get rid of the ice in the near future, and the general opinion round here is that we are in for another dose of snow. Generally February is the coldest month here, when we get the best skiing, so I'm not really holding out any hope of a reprieve any time soon.

[vikki]

Those photos are indeed a familiar sight! i guess everyone north of the border is in the same boat. i have just had to accept that tammy will just have to be a very large expensive pet for now

we will get through it though!! march will be here soon enough (thats me trying to be positive but i still want to cry!!).

[rosemaryhannah]

Here in East Ayrshire it thawed almost totally - two days ago it froze again, and now snow again, meaning more ice ...

[Lulu]

Must be bliss to have a posh olympic arena for livery facility. ie Gleneagles. I bet they all still ride every day in their roomy indoor arena ?

[tomrabbit]

Jan 3, 2011 19:06:00 GMT 1 bertie666 said:

Im in the same boat with the thawing and re freezing game, on sunday we had standing water 2/3rds of the way up my wellies and tonight its all rock solid black ice, the bath is frozen, the tap and hose are frozen and I fell over in the dark

Not ridden since november either

sorry to hear that Bertie - and you're not in Scotland, are you? It's the thawing and refreezing that's the worst.

[bertie666]

nope im in yorkshire which seems to think its Scotland atm!

Ive just woken up to 2 inches of fresh snow so thats my tap and hose pipe out completley so im back to barrowing 40 litres of water down the mile long solid ice track

Its amazing how a wee bit of snow doubles if not trebles the amount of time it takes to do jobs that normally take 40 mins!