Conference noted::equitation

    
    One of the things I gave up when I decided to have my horses was
    skiing...Alpine skiing - ahhhhhhh - those wonderful weekends of
    skiing and partying, skiing and partying...
    
    Oops; where was I? Anyhow, the only item of ski clothes I *don't*
    wear riding is the boots!! All the insulated underwear/socks/mittens
    and the down jacket and the stretchy bib pants are wonderful for
    winter trail riding! A friend of mine even wears her ski hat under
    her helmet, but I don't go quite that far...
    
    If you have twice as many water buckets as you need, you can rotate
    them. So, while half of them are outside freezing up, the other half
    are inside melting. Also, my horses love "tea-time"!! I bring them
    very warm water; they sure do slurp it up!!
    
    -julie
    

>    What are some other things everyone does to survive Winter? How
>    do you keep from freezing when you ride? Anyone tried the special
>    mittens made for riding? (I hate being cold!)
        
We haven't tried the mittens but do use fleece lined gloves.  Other winter
items that are great:

	snap in ear muffs for helmets - they have a strap that snaps in
	  over the helmet harness and are really great, I find the helmet
	  tends to keep my head warm enough by itself

	dufold long underwear

	silk glove liners under regular gloves when it's not too cold

	silk sock liners under woolen socks

	woolen pants (we get the heavy ones from LL Bean) and half chaps -
	   when it's too cold to wear breeches we wear our woolies over our
	   long underwear, fleece lined boots and the half chaps (also
	   called California chaps or boot spats) over the calf part of
	   the leg for a better grip

	toe warmers - we have also wimpped out on occasion and used our
	   fleece lined stirrup covers to cut down the wind on our feet

There is also a catalog put out by a company called "On Course" which
features the "warm rider collection" of winter riding clothes.

I don't have to worry about this too much any more since we moved from NH to
western WA where it hardly gets below 32 degrees during the winter.  However,
we are now investing heavily in Gore-Tex!

						Jan

    re:  .0    Insulated buckets...
    
    At the barn where I keep my horse, there are 4 insulated buckets and
    holders.  Actually, they work fairly well.  However, when it really
    stays cold (below -5) they will still freeze.  But, they are pretty
    easy to dump.  When we had VERY cold weather last year, we brought HOT
    water out from the house.  Gave the horses warm water--then the
    insulated buckets stayed clear most of the time. 
    
    For the rest of the horses, we took white plastic pails and set them
    inside the heavy black rubber buckets.  This provided insulation which
    almost equalled the special insulated buckets.  Also, the white plastic
    is much easier to dump than those black rubber buckets.
    
    Mary Jo
    

    Does anyone have an address on where to order the insulated buckets?
    I have never tried them but anything is worth trying once, I hate
    nothing worse than frozen buckets!!
    
    Thanks

    Insulated water buckets:
    
    Country Manufacturing, Inc.
    P.O. Box 104 W6
    Fredericktown, OH 43019
    
    (614) 694-9926
    
    $39.50

   
   See note 1137 for more info on insulated buckets.    

    
    
    	Here in New England it's suppose to be -12 this weekend..
    
    	What are you doing to make sure your horses have water
    	and are warm enough?
    
    	Donna

    
    Both are blanketed, and if it's windy, they will stay in.
    
    And I expect to do a lot of ice breaking and bucket dumping!
    Instead of the 5 gal water buckets, I use muck buckets in the
    stalls as water buckets.  They hold more water, and take quite
    a bit longer to freeze, so hopefully (I know this is true) they
    get more of a chance to drink sufficiently.....(handles removed
    for safety, of course).  Plus, they take the beating I give them
    knocking out the ice....
    
    Lynne

    In that kind of cold I'll probably put a turnout blanket on , 
    and keep an eye open to check for shivering. They seem to handle 
    extreme cold just fine, though. One corner of their paddock has a 
    strong shelter of trees and faces the best of the winter sun, 
    it always seems warmer in that area and they hang out there for 
    hours on end, and they can also get into their stalls if they want 
    to (although they rarely choose to).
    
    For water I prefer the heavy black rubber buckets...they need more
    frequent cleaning but dont' freeze nearly as fast as plastic, and
    I can jump up and down on top of them to break out the ice and they
    still retain their shape. I also keep two in the house thawing out
    at all times. 
    
    They also seem to enjoy a warm bran mash on real cold days, so they'll
    probably get that, too. My gelding likes his with a few peppermint
    candies thrown in for good measure.
    
    I just hope my van starts, I need to fetch a load of hay Sunday!
    My brother reports 67 days until spring. Im ready.