Why Snow Removal is a Full Time Job

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Happy Monday everybody! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Aside from the snow that continues to fall, along with the ambient temperature, we certainly did.

Although the jury is still out regarding Saturday morning specifically… The first few hours of January 15 proved to be a test of our patience, humor and snow savvy.

As the day began, I was busy preparing a quick breakfast for Clay and I so he could get out to the barn and start riding. (Clay likes to ride 6 days a week.) But before he had a chance to sit down to his plate, my husband noticed a potential problem from our kitchen window.

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For some reason, Hank, our 2-year-old palomino stud colt seemed to be standing so much higher in his turnout than the other horses. And he, along with his buddy James, the bay stud colt in the turnout next to him were not paying any attention to their own breakfasts – which is served to them each morning in the turnouts.

You could literally see the wheels turning inside Hank's head.

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Then of course, it did not help matters much when the mares in the adjacent pasture decided to take a stroll past…

As Clay was rapidly throwing on his jacket, gloves and boots, guess what came next:

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With his newfound freedom, Hank bounded straight towards our broodmares.

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Luckily, all our mares have all been bred and are heavy with their own foals at the moment. But this meant Hank was probably in more danger than anybody at the time. And of course, when an event such as an escapee happens, the whole property of horses react. The barn horses began racing and rearing in their turnouts. The weanlings started to whinny. And the broodmares turned their focus away from their round bale and towards the fast approaching stud colt.

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The funny thing was, Hank had no idea how to react when he actually made it to the broodmares. He reminded me of my childhood Cocker Spaniel on the day she finally caught a rabbit – they had always eluded her until then. And when she finally caught up to one, she had no idea what to do with it. Hank displayed almost the same behavior in the moment he reached the mares.

Then, the mares began scolding him.

Fortunately, Clay and his crew weren't far behind the palomino colt.

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But initially, Hank had no interest in surrendering.

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However, when he realized he wasn't making friends with the broodmares – and he was missing out on his breakfast – Hank went quietly.

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This past Saturday morning, we learned that it was not enough to simply snow-blow our turnouts out. Doing so can sometimes leave an occasional side of a paddock piled up, as the snow blower is often too big to get close enough to the fences. Unfortunately, that means shoveling by hand is from time to time the only way to prevent escapees. And with recent accumulations of 3, 4 and 6 cms of the white stuff in just the last few days (on top of the four feet we already have), snow removal has become a full-time job.

Our only dilemma now, is determining where to put that snow…

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7 thoughts on “Why Snow Removal is a Full Time Job”

  1. Hank has great jumping form – even in his winter blanket – 1ol. Great pics Jenn!

  2. I agree! I can’t believe you caught that on film! What a crazy life you have!

  3. Who says there is nothing to do in the winter in Saskatchewan?!?! I love it Jenn, it looks like my place just a few days ago…..oh the work, sigh.

  4. Amazing shot of Hank jumping! Loved this blog, as I do all your blogs! Great story!

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