With the horses in the winter fields and the clocks changing, it is now cold and dark when I see the horses around work. Despite that I love this time of year, I love getting ready for winter and I have a few things that I always like to have handy as we go into the season of mud, stuck wellies, wind, rain and pulled shoes! I have a few things I like to have handy but would love to know what everyone else likes to have in preparation for winter!
So this I guess isn’t so specific to winter but I find they’re used much more this time of year is a set of simple farrier tools. A clench so that any pesky loose nails can be tightened up , Nail cutters and nail pullers so that I can safely remove a shoe if it’s hanging off and pullers to finish the job. I would add to that some bolt cutters too, animals seem to get stuck in fences more in winter….I don’t know why but that just seems to be the case!
Next would be my clippers, my horses live out without a field shelter so they are rugged, I do still ride and train over winter so they get super sweaty. For their comfort but mainly for my convenience I clip and rug them, grooming is easier, washing down is easier, drying off is easier. Having my own pair of clippers definitely saved me money in the long run and because I don’t actually use them that often (3-6x a year) they will hopefully last a long time!
For me I like to have neoprene lined wellies, simple pull over waterproofs, woolly hats and good gloves. I love the Sealskinz gloves for general use around the yard. I keep lots of bodywarmers and coats in my car for when I get soaked and need to change layer if I still have stuff to do. I also keep batteries for my headtorch, I like to use it on the red setting mostly so I don’t blind the horses putting the haynets out.
For the horses I like to have some Protection salve, I pop this on after I’ve washed their legs and they’ve dried, up to the fetlock to help prevent any mud fever. I also like to use this leave in wash with some warm water to get any sweaty patches. It might be a fad but I’m also going to try this spray on the bits that get muddy, like the top of their neck and legs, despite being rugged, to see if it’s easier to groom the dried dirt out.
I like to have a spray tack cleaner and cloth for quick wipe downs and I confess this is something I usually only do if my tack got wet or grubby and should probably do every time. As I’ve said before I only used to properly clean my tack every few months but I am getting on a more frequent schedule, but despite that a quick spray and wipe usually keeps everything in pretty good condition.
Lastly lots of hi-viz, I never ride without hi-viz anyway no matter what time of year or hour of the day. But in winter I have to ride in the pitch black much more so it’s extra important. I use a mercury (super shiny silver material) quarter sheet, hi-viz woof wear brushing boots and then I have these bicycle lights on my breatplates, stirrups, back of the saddle and hat.
Beth Endurance 