Of course my thoughts are with you too Ronda and Star.

I second that. Its cold enough here in Colorado, but not like you guys have it. Stay warm and safe.

Hi, also in Italy it is freezing. The people who have animals have problems with the water. Many water pipes that conduct to the shelters are overhead lines and are frozen. Even in some houses they don't have water. The stable of my horse and donkey is close to the house, so I can bring them the water with buckets. How do you manage in parts of the world, where the winters are always like this ? In Italy/Tuscany we are not prepared for this situation. For the next year I will isolate the pipes or bury them. But still remains the problem of the faucet.
I don't put a blanket on the horse, because I don't want to prevent the growth of the fur.

Thanks Cristina for letting us know how it is even in Italy. I hadn't realised that it had gone that far south. Sounds awful so good luck and take care.

cristina i do not envy you and your freezing winter in Italy! My husband is Italian, his family are from Sicily. I have heard it is very beautiful! I would love to visit there one day....maybe not in winter though!
Keep safe..and warm!
Janelle

Hi all,
One of the bigger problems is also the turnout, horses could really injure themselves on uneven frozen surface. Our arabs do get turned out, but only two by two in combinations that do get along well, so no extra risk. It is a challenge...
Keep going all of us, spring must be on it's way!
Miriam

How do we manage???
Well when you are brought up in it, it becomes second nature. In the fall you prepare, you know what's coming. We have a lot of buckets and my husband carries these out to STAR throughout the day.
She loves the snow, rolling around in it, one way to get a bath. Jumping, putting her nose in it and so on.
We have a saying here in Canada, "no true blooded Canadian will say, oh let's wait for a warmer day". We use it, ski-doos, skiing, snow boarding and slay-rides with our horses, bells and all.
When STAR"S new barn is built she will have running water, this time, we're getting to old for carrying it.
Keep warm everyone,
Ronda

Hi all,

Here I am, just for now.
It is very cold in Holland. A few nights ago it was in one place -22 degrees!!!!
If it goes on like this here we will have the eleven cities trip in the north of Holland. Holland is the country where people love to skate on ice... so maybe in a few day's we know if this very special event on natural ice is going through.
.
For the once who red my message in the beginning of Jan. I am still alive.
I am very busy now to pack my things and move it out of the house.
A friend of mine has a caravan and I can stay in there. BUT..... it is to cold now and all the water pipes are frozen.
An other friend of mine told me not to go to the caravan untill the frost is gone. I can stay at her place for as long as neccesary.
.
Thank you of thinking of me Maggie.
Hope everybody is alright and hope "speaking" to you soon.
.
Bye, May.

So good to hear from you May. You do sound as if you are getting on with your life but I know it must be tough. A caravan does sound very cold at present so I am pleased that you have a good friend to stay with. Take care. Our thoughts are with you.

Here in Northeastern Utah we have very cold winters, although this winter has been quite mild. Keeping our animals watered in the winter was a non-stop problem. We solved this problem with bucket heaters for the dog, chickens and a automatic waterer for the horses. All the lines are buried at least 18" deep we have heat tape and insulation inside the waterer and a heater that sits in the water to keep it from freezing. This has made our lives so much easier, last year the horses water froze for a few weeks because the water ran down around the pipe needless to say dragging hoses in the winter through several feet of snow to water 4 horses was not fun. I'm thankful for bucket heaters and heat tape!

It's just now warming up in Alaska but we still have over a foot of snow that I have to shovel almost everyday!

I just can't envisage how you can possibly survive in Alaska let alone own horses. It is just too different for me and I really admire you given it must be such hard work even to get to see your horse. It is raining to-day but it has been very dry and bush firy where I live in Australia.

I just have to let people know yet another way to survive with horses in the winter. I'm in Homer, Alaska which is south of Anchorage out on the Kenai peninsula. We have mild winters compared to interior Alaska but, it can still get down to 0 deg. or lower for a few weeks at a time. Our pipes are buried 4 feet deep which is standard building code here. The pipe going to the barn ends 4 feet under the inside wall where it is plumbed into a hydrant. The hydrant comes up into the tack shed where we fill 5 gal. buckets. When the hydrant handle is opened, the water is allowed to flow up the pipe and when it is closed, the water drains back down to where the pipe enters it, 4 ft. down. So, there is never a problem with freezing. The hydrant handle will stick a bit when it is very cold but, you can always get it to open. We only have to carry the buckets about 30 feet to the 5 gallon rubber buckets. The only pain is having to break the ice out of the buckets in the mornings. I have a spot away from the barn where I take them to do this chore. There is a small mtn of ice there now! Other than that, the horse grow a nice coat starting in October and I throw a blanket on the old guy if it gets below 15 or so.

Is it possible to do join up in the snow?
I live in the interior but I've been to Homer!

I second maggie's last comment! I cannot imagine living and owning horses where you have to shovel snow and smash ice out of the water for them to drink! You guys deserve a medal! I used to have to cart water an hours drive, in a tank on my dads ute because my town water is treated and is really yucky for horses. So i can relate to that part but just not the snow lol!