Winter Storm of 2009

Great Pictures ! So much snow ! We got snow this year which is pretty unheard of in our area - about 3 inches but now it is 1 degree and raining !!! yuck !

This past summer I moved from Southeast Idaho to Northeast Texas. One of the reasons I moved was after 31 years of living in the frigid, polar north with four to six month winters I'd had enough! For example last December 24th a storm deposited eighteen inches of snow. The 'logistics' of horse keeping during the winter truly sucked. There would be days, weeks and longer where the highs wouldn't get above freezing and minus 10, 20, 30 and even colder at night were all too common.

I don't know if there's any such thing as an 'ideal' climate however, unless perhaps a south sea tropical island where temperatures remain relatively constant. It has been an extremely wet fall here where I'm at now. Normal rainfall is around thirty-six inches a year. Since this past mid September we've had nearly thirty inches now. The ground is super saturated and the soil here gives new definition to 'ugly' mud! This stuff dries like concrete, will aggregate on itself and sticks tenaciously to everything! Now the goal will be water management and mud abatement which is going to take some time to do. *sigh*

When I get too down on the rain and mud I take a look at the weather where I used to live to remind me that things could be even more unpleasant... *chuckle*

BTW, NICE pictures of some lovely horses. I absolutely NEVER tire of gazing at equines. There is nothing on this earth that reaches into my soul and incites the excitement and passion that an equine does. I'm grateful to have discovered and am able to indulge my 'love' for them. When someone asks me what I do with my horses my reply is, "I 'worship' them!". I get some interesting looks and responses to such an answer. FWIW, the basis for the word worship is to work in service for someone or something. In its purest sense the word is not tied simply to religion.

Seasons Greetings with safe and 'happy' holidays to all. Let your loved ones know that you love them. The 'breath of life' is the only 'true' treasure within all of eternity!

~"But seldom have I had what I would call true friendship---except with another species of creature. I am a lover of horses. When I am with a horse, I feel happy. A horse does not seek my acquaintance for the sake of my appearance or my accomplishments; a horse does not expect a great deal of me a horse accepts me as I am." – from ''Split Infinity'' by Piers Anthony~

[quote="drcharltonjr"]''Split Infinity'' by Piers Anthony[/quote]
Okay, WOW. :shock:
I just wanted to say, I searched for a description/review of the above and it took me on a serendipitous 40min side journey as I clicked through AllReaders.com and found similar plot-lines ([i]animal related[/i]) and I now have a list of a dozen books to check out at my local Library and Book Stores.
An awesome find. :HB

My favorite photo because the two horses are in the same pose:
[img]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/J…]

Geez!!! Beautiful horses, but horrible snow lol. I could never live somewhere like that. Today in southeast Oklahoma the current temp is 59 and the high will be in the lower 60's. We MIGHT get 2 inches of snow a year. I'm usually miserable if it's below 50 outside.

This weather is very rare for us! Virginia normally doesn't get snow like this, I've been here for 20 years, and I've never seen snow like this, the most I've seen is 12 inches and that was a one time occasion!

I guess I lucked out - kinda sorta...we only got 14 inches of snow. :?

Of course, with this much heavy, wet snow at one time, I now need to repair the roof on a barn and the chicken coop (both partially collapsed). :BH

And to top that off, I managed to get my truck stuck in a nasty wet mud hole :oops: (the snow is already melting and the ground is saturated - then it refreezes overnight)...and because of the angle I am at, I couldn't get it pulled out today...Matt will use the tractor tomorrow. :roll:

We can't see anything but white, no ground, no mud, and no grass, our trampoline is toast!

Beautiful pics!

You kiddin' me!!! I LOVE THIS STUFFFFFF! I live in Southern Maryland, and we got about 2'+, never really did measure. I loveeee snow, but I will say I can only deal with this much of it about once or twice a year. More than that would just be tiring.

Love the pictures Jazzy!

Here's our herd (minus the 31 y/o Mustang):

Cisco, 2.5 y/o R.P.S.I. stud colt
[img]http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak…]

Tiger Lily, 12? y/o mutt pony and my riding mare
[img]http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak…]

Lebo, 14 y/o mutt pony lesson horse
[img]http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak…]

Pacata, 24 y/o Thoroughbred lesson horse
[img]http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak…]

Cisco
[img]http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak…]

Pacata
[img]http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs104.snc…]

Gambol, 7 month old colt, son of Tiger Lily
[img]http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak…]

Murphy Moo Cow, Angus/Hereford cross, this year's 4-H market steer
[img]http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs075.snc…]

Pacata & Tiger Lily
[img]http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs075.snc…]

Lebo
[img]http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak…]

Smokey, 36" Miniature Horse
[img]http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs075.snc…]

Pacata & Tiger Lily
[img]http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs104.snc…]

Cisco
[img]http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak…]

Smokey
[img]http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak…]

Murphy, "Eat Mor Chikin"
[img]http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak…]

Cisco
[img]http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak…]

Tiger Lily, looking deformed from shaking :lol:
[img]http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs084.snc…]

Cisco is a really pretty boy! What exactly is he, are you planning on standing him later on?

Whiners! :lol: Valdez got 63 inches in 36 hours. We only got 22, phoo. In my opinion, winter should last long enough to get a decent accumulation (enough to cover the shrubs so we can ride snomachines without destroying the hillsides, or ride one or two sticks without getting stuck in the wicker) and long enough that I can enjoy it more than one month on my open weekends...with NO above freezing melts!!! Melts are my Least Favorite Part of Winter. Solid snow cover makes grooming and hoof cleaning a cinch!

My ideal winter would be 10 degrees F, so that we would have a buffer for when it warms up to snow.

Hmmm, there must be a LOT of 'youngsters' here. *grin* When I was younger cold and snow didn't bother me that much. With each passing year the winters where I was at grew more difficult and I've noticed that my moods are much more affected now by inclement weather. I can't stand snowmachines, they produce an 'obnoxious' racket. There was an open area behind where I used to live where post repair tests were performed. The horses didn't like the 'racket' either.

Overall I am not huge into machines and 'stuff' unless it has some form of 'utilitarian' function (e.g., like a tool). The difficulty I found with a lot of snow was it made the mud season last all the longer during the spring thaw. Heh I'm just an old grouch anyway. IMO these days less (stuff) is more and a LOT less to be concerned about and have to take care of. That was one of the nice things about moving this past summer. I got rid of a LOT of 'stuff'. For those that are fond of snow and winter, they can have my share of it too. *LOL*

"It seems that I have two speeds in life anymore, slow and no movement. The only thing I manage quickly these days is to forget things!"

Some fantastic photos - thats a lot of snow.

We got a small bit of snow but then it froze so now its just basically a layer of ice.

Took my own camera out today to play with it - no horsey pics I'm afraid

[img]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t35/…]
[img]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t35/…]
[img]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t35/…]
[img]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t35/…]
[img]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t35/…]
[img]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t35/…]
[img]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t35/…]
[img]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t35/…]
[img]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t35/…]

I rarely get snow, and I like it that way, but I am thoroughly enjoying the photos!

I hope we get a good snow this year. We haven't gotten one since we moved here 3 yrs ago and there are some hills that are just waiting for a good snow so the kids can sled down them.

Lovely photos everyone! I've really enjoyed them.

Jazzy- thanks! :D I do plan to if he continues being pretty and he performs well. :lol: As long as he doesn't give me any darn good reasons to cut him now, I'm not making any hastey decisions until he is well under saddle and competing. I would like to stand him now though, to 1 or 2 quality mares, just to see what he can throw.

What is his breed and his expected mature height?

Forgot to say, I love your pics Banner! Especially the scenery in the 4th one down. :D

Jazzy; he is registered with Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI, [url]http://www.rhpsi.com/[/url]), and they call them Zweibrücker horses. The RPSI is the official North American extension of the German Verband, the Pferdezuchterverband Rheinland-Pfalz-Saar e.V. In short, he is a warmblood! :lol: He should max out to be about 16 hands to 16.1 hands I think. He is, or almost is, 16 hands now and he will be 3 years old in May, so he could do some more growing if he wanted to.
His sire is an imported German Warmblood, and his dam is 3/4 Trakehner and 1/4 Thoroughbred. Not that it really matters... :rofl

ohhhh NICE! If I had a more sporthorse type mare I'd be interested in breeding to him, but I don't think it'd be worth crossing a pudgy QH mare on him, I want to sell some of my guys, 21 is to many to handle, OMG especially in this weather and with being a full time college student with my disabilities.

That's a lot of snow :shock:
I went to Boston last Sunday and they got like a foot, that was enough for me! (especially since it screwed my flights up lol). I was quite content to look at it through a window. :P
But you know, then I come home yesterday and Tulsa has maybe 4 inches and it was horrible, they don't do anything with it! The parking lots were impossible soggy slush and snow drifts, saw a handicap car get stuck, getting gas we were on top of snow that had turned to ice and the roads were black ice the whole way home. :hammer They don't even think about salt untill it's too late and noone seems to own a shovel. :roll:
also it was kind of a rough snow storm despite the small amount it went sideways and my barn was full of snow. :shock: It got in through the eaves somehow and into everything. Bleh.