This message is from: Doug Knutsen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Hi all -
Have really been enjoying reading about everyone's ingenious strategies for
watering in freezing weather. Last winter we didn't have freezing weather, so
this is our first coping experience. Nevertheless, we've stumbled on some
creative approaches, which I thought I'd share for everyone's benefit.
1] Do not consider covering outside faucets to keep them from freezing
2] Even if you have a sloping driveway which would make draining hoses easy
when a freeze is forecast, don't remember to do it
3] Have no suitable clean buckets available
4] Fill green plastic bucket 1/2 full with hot water and drag across snow,
gravel, down steps, making sure to slosh much of the water on
yourself and the path to the troughs, so the paths will immediately
freeze, ensuring that your future trips will prove much more
interesting
5] Attempt to lift bucket over 5 1/2 foot fence and pour only into trough
below,
in the manner of servers at fancy restaurants pouring hot coffee into your
cup from high above.
6] Realize that you should have gone to server school, as most of the water
hits the sides of the through while Super Stud tries to drink it as you
pour.
(And we thought it was so cute to teach him to drink from the hose....)
7] Repeat with Mama and Giant Filly, (This is easier, since you don't try to
pour
from on high, choosing instead to drag green bucket across frozen manure)
8] Attempt to keep Clark, the goat formerly known as Prince, from forcing
his whole head into bucket, causing it to spill down your legs instead of
into
the trough.
9] Repeat 3 times for each trough, until you can't tell the difference between
your kitchen floor and the paddocks.
10] Knock ice off clothing while removing it in mud room, then dash upstairs in
little more than your birthday suit, to change into dry garments.
11] Snap 2x2 garden stake while breaking ice every 2 hours. Watch horses
laugh at you. (This is nothing new)
12] Hoping to improve on above, wash much smaller blue plastic can without
handles, fill it 3/4 full in house and carry it in your arms to high
fence,
trying not to splash too much down neck.
13] Lift and balance on top rail of high fence. Loose grip on container and
drop
it into trough, shattering bottom of blue bucket.
14] Curse.
15] Find one reasonably clean white bucket with good handle, scrub it, and try
all of the above, discovering that the handle makes the bucket easier to
catch when it slips off fence, though it does bruise your arm in process.
16] Wish you were 20 years younger.
17] Wonder if you were out of your mind when you bought a horse.
18] Notice Giant Filly is nuzzling your ear, and decide you weren't nuts after
all.
19] Resolve to have hot and cold running water in next barn.
I hope this information proves helpful to someone out there who hasn't tried
these creative solutions.
Cheers - the days getteth longer! Peg Knutsen
