Are you prepared to deal with winter weather emergencies? Photo by Colleen Peachey.
We still talk about the notorious ice storm of 2014 here in my neck of the woods in Pennsylvania. Or rather whisper about it in hushed tones, as we shake our heads and shiver in remembrance. Even as the one year anniversary of “that ice storm” approaches, I still shudder when I think about the days of freezing cold temperatures, with ice all over the place … and no electricity.
You really don’t know how much you miss electricity until it’s gone. And when it’s so cold outside that you feel like your eyeballs are about to freeze, it’s a little tough to rough it out when there is no heat inside. So in an attempt to ward off the cold, I bundled on layer after layer to try to keep some semblance of warmth.
Of course, one of the biggest challenges that I remember from the ice storm was accessing enough water for my horses. No electricity means no power for the well pump. And no power for the well pump means no water for the horses. The general consensus that I’ve gotten is that horses need about five to 10 gallons of water a day. Per horse. Taking the high end of the scale for me is 30 gallons of water a day.
I was fortunate enough to have warning of the potential for an ice storm with power outages — so what else was I to do but stockpile gallons upon gallons of water. And I stacked the cases up in my garage. I also made sure to pull every bucket in sight, and I filled it with water while we still had electric. It might not have made the ice storm fun, but the water helped to get us through.
Do you have a plan on how to deal with winter weather-related emergencies? Head over to The Horse to read up on getting prepared for winter weather emergencies — you can check out the article here.
And then check out some of the other headlines from this week in Horse Health News, presented by Absorbine:
High-Starch Diets Lead to More Reactive Horses: Small children may get all hyped up on a sugar rush, but researchers have found that horses become more reactive when they are fed a high-starch diet (when compared to high fiber diet). Horses on a higher starch diet were also found to have higher heart rates in general. [Horsetalk]
Why Does a Horse Rest a Hind Leg? A common sight around the barn is to see a sleepy or relaxed looking horse resting one of his or her hind feet. Resting a hind foot is actually a common posture for a sound horse to take up while they are relaxing — though in some cases, it could potentially be a sign of lameness. [The Horse]
Night Vision: Ever wonder just how well your horse can see in the dark? The answer may surprise you, because horses can see much better then you might think in the dark. Read up on why your horse’s night vision is much better then that of your own, and also how you should be sensitive to how equine eyes function. [Equus]
Gut Changes in Older Horses: Researchers have found that as horses get older, they have a decreased amount of bacterial diversity in their guts, which means that they could be at an increased risk of having intestinal problems. [Horsetalk]
Tips for Horse Blanket Repair and Maintenance: Most of us have experienced the “oh crap!” moment when we see our horse out in the field, blanket in shreds. Or at least with one really substantial rip to it. Recently, readers over at The Horse have shared their own tips and tricks on how they keep their blankets in good working order over the winter season. [The Horse]
