Friday News & Notes from SmartPak

I feel ya, bruh. Photo by Libby Head.

Anyone from Vermont, please tune out now, because I’m about to complain about the cold. Look, I’m from Virginia, where it gets pretty cold but not like, I’M DYING level cold. This whole week it’s been hovering around 1* at night, which is just out of control. I mean, how do people live like this? WHY do people live in places where it’s like this in the winter?? What kind of penance are you serving from a past life? Good god, I can’t even.

National Holiday: National Whipped Cream Day

News From Around the Globe:

“The question of whether or not to blanket your horse at arises frequently this time of year. The temperature is prone to unexpected dives, and many horses are sporting some sort of body clip. You may have seen the wonderful When-to-Blanket flowchart posted on the Facebook page of The Equine Program at Auburn University that’s been making the rounds of social media. The intentionally convoluted diagram illustrates the volume of information that horse people must consider when making the blanketing decision. The answer is less black-and-white than it is furry shades of grey.” [COTH To Blanket or Not To Blanket?]

Oh, New Year’s resolutions. These are just a pile of rules that are made to be broken, right? We all attempt to make them, and some of them are about our horsey habits. Mine is always to start writing down what each of my horses does every day in greater detail, but that never happens after a few months. Sometimes you also want to clean your tack every day, but who has time for that unless you have slaves working students? [6 Horsey New Years Resolutions That You’ll Definitely Break]

FBF: Yesterday, I didn’t Know About Equine Jock Straps

Hot on Horse Nation: Trip Review: Riding Mules in the Grand Canyon

Interested in participating in the ICP Symposium in Ocala mid-February? The USEA is looking for demo riders and horses to ride with Leslie Law and Kai-Steffen Meier at Longwood Farm this spring. You can apply here to be considered for a rider position, or fill out an application for your young horse to be used as well. [USEA Wants You]