How dangerous REALLY is ice in pasture?

[Smay]

I got a big problem with major ice in my pasture... it's really too dangerous to put horses out when there's a lot of ice, isn't it? When there's a little ice, my guys seem to carefully pick their way around, but when they have been cooped up, it scares me to think they could go crashing. This ice is not the kind that crunches underfoot - it's actually the 2 feet of snow that melted into huge lakes, and then froze into solid ice with this latest deep freeze - and I mean we had 0 degrees last night! I should just grin and bear it until the ice melts enough to break under hoof, right? Quick, pass the Calm and Cool pellets!

[Christi]

SOLUTION: Sell tickets to your new ice skating rink. Use money from admissions to pay for indoor arena, which can double as safe exercise area next winter. ;D

Christi

[adcooper]

Oh who knows. But I sure do wish the barn man had left my horse in when I asked him to three weeks ago! All indications are that Cypress hurt her leg running in a field made unfamiliar by drifting snow and icy spots.

And while I'm whining about it, may I add how NOT happy I was to see a note tacked to the bulletin board this morning:
"If you must come to the barn after dark, could you please call us ahead of time."
Yeah, well, I wouldn't be out there morning, noon and night wrapping and unwrapping an injured leg if you'd kept her in when I asked you to!!!

Mumble. Sniff. Huff.
I feel better now, though I didn't help you at all.

[Lynne]

Here's how I look at it SMay, when we had the solid ice the horses with shoes could barely stand. I hated hated hated having them locked up for so long (five days straight!) but each time I would just about let them out I would picture the "what if side" and somehow the gosh-darn-they-are-locked-up-and-we're-all-miserable-about-it seemed so much more likeable.

I dunno.

Ad, UG! for you. UG! I hate that note you got. Isn't your barn fifty miles away too (No, that's Zen, isn't it?)? I know its hard for barn owners but I really needed that freedom to come and go as I pleased because my work hours were so odd. Poor Cypress. Poor you!

[Vida]

I don't worry about it. My guys are out on it 24/7 and do fine. I figure if they can't learn to keep themselves up and look after themselves then I sure don't want to be riding them. They're pretty careful and manage somehow to still run around on it when they feel the need, albeit very carefully. Am also a little different to you guys in that I encourage them to go flying around in mud, snow and slick footing (other than ice) as I ride in some crappy footing sometimes out on the trails and I like to see that they keep themselves from falling over. They become extremely surefooted and I don't have to worry about them tripping over or slipping when we come to rough spots as they're used to it. People sometimes ask that aren't I worried about a vet bill as they see my horses tearing around like maniacs. My answer is that I'm more worried about being on a sure-footed horse that can handle himself in really tough footing and of being around for my kids instead of being rolled on which has happened to me before.

[Linda]

I tend to be with Vida on this one--realizing that what we call "ice" in one area of the country doesn't pass for "ice" in another. I do haul out the ashes from our woodstove if it gets icy and spread them in places that I suspect might cause problems occassionally. Like, for instance, around the gate to the round pen--the ground slopes there and there is a narrow opening. I also spread ashes around the water trough--again, the ground slopes. However, I don't worry about the rest of the area--just the places where they have only a limited space and crashing there would not be a good thing. I save my ashes throughout the year and just keep them in a METAL 55 gallon garbage can for those times that I need them to spread on the driveway or in the pasture. A little bit of ashes goes a long ways. They are extremely abrasive.

Again, my horses are barefoot. If they had on metal shoes, that would make it much more challenging for them--unless they were sharp shod or had a little bit of borium on the shoes.

I notice that the horses tend to poop on their trails, effectively making their trails slip-proof.

If we were to get one of those ice storms that coat everything and make it almost impossible to stand up (which we don't get), I would tend to want to keep them in. However, for patches of ice, I would want those horses who are experienced pasture horses to stay out. Like Vida, I want my horses experienced--I want them to learn to watch where they walk. I would rather they would make their mistakes without a rider on their back. My horses have been out 24/7 their entire lives. They are smart and can be counted upon to keep their hooves down and the fur side up.

Now, an old horse or one in poor health--I think I would be more protective if possible.
Linda

[Smay]

SELL TICKETS to the carnage? Hmmm, ya'll are SUCH a good help! OK, I can see that "training" them to "be careful" ( yah right!) would be great for riding in the mountains. However, I don't ride my horses in mountains, during cold snaps, on ice, on roadways, across tundras, or in blizzards. I barely ride them on sunny spring days in the meadow for crying out loud! So maybe that's not a real valuable skill for mine. Mine are pretty careful with the patches of ice in the pasture, but I have LAKES of ice I'm talking about. Luckily, we are supposed to get back in the 40s here in a day or two.... that ought to melt a little and make it soft enough to get a little purchase with a barefoot hoof. The broken leg scenario has kind of made me a little skittish over this slippery situation. I guess they won't die if they stay in for a couple days... they THINK they're dying, but maybe we'll cut back on the feedstuffs.... I was thinking that most of ya'll would have one or two gory stories about ice such as the one I heard about the horse who slipped on ice coming down a hill, fell hard on his hip, fractured it and sliced open the femoral artery, bleeding to death internally within minutes. Stuff like that. Stuff that makes it easier to keep them in! eeesh.

[CatB]

No gory stories here that I can think of. But, have you seen those deer that get out on the ice and end up splayed out, with a leg in each corner?? Somethin' ta think 'bout, anyway.

[lisa2]

It will 61 and sunny Saturday!!!!! And a little mud. ;D

[BriscoMomma]

When the rest of the ground looks reasonably passable but there are 'non-crunching' patches of ice that would be weight-bearing (and slippery) if a horse is on them, I take the tractor out and drive over the ice breaking it up. Leaves big piles of ice, but they aren't slippery and they are definately avoided. If it re-freezes, it's usually too churned up to be slippery.

[Smay]

For future reference, the tractor thing and the wood ashes thing are good....I don't have a tractor however, but could "borrow" from the neighbor maybe. This ice is so thick that driving our truck over it going back to the barn with a load of hay didn't crack it at all. But a tractor might, with the knobby tires...I dunno. Luckily, as Lisa said...it's gonna be in the 60s by the weekend so bye bye thick ice. Slush is OK with me. Mud will be OK too - it's about that time of year.

[niaru]

I would be scared to put them out on ice, but I am becoming a bit paranoid in my old age. I had the farrier put borium nails on Charm's shoes just in case (some of the paddocks are quite icy). I have heard of barefoot horses falling on ice and breaking a leg

Kmmom spreads shavings (not manure as it turns to stones) on icy spots in her paddocks. It works great, but it's a lot of work!

[adcooper]

Oh, a useful comment from my vet (he's FULL of them AFTER my horse is already hurt and my checkbook is likewise suffering) is that horses that are out 24-7 do become pasture-wise. They memorize the whole field, and seem to do fine, no matter what the weather or footing is like. But horses, like mine, that come in at night, are at a disadvantage. They don't have the same experience and memory to help them move safely around the field. In a perfect world--for MY lean mare--I'd still use a stall to give her a break from weather extremes in summer and winter, and I'd make decisions day-to-day about ice storms, etc. And the barn manager and I would have a psychic connection and be in perfect agreement about the definition of "Really bad weather." LOL!

[helend]

My trainer will spread wood shavings/manure on ice here if it's really bad. She usually uses a shovel/wheel barrow combo to do it. That way, the horses have some traction. I'd say don't put them out on ice if you can help it. Sometimes the horses are fine on bad footing, sometimes they're really dumb about it. It always is scary watching the goofs running around until someone falls down.

[Smay]

I should post some photos of this ice cause it's really unusual. I finally put the boys out this afternoon because they wanted to tear the barn down. First I went out with a wheelbarrow full of sand and started throwing that on the ice where their "path" to the water trough was, so they could at least travel safetly to their water. The sand just SLID across the ice and piled up in a drift . I spread it around a little more and tried walking on it... I almost wiped! So then I went and got some used bedding and started throwing that around. What was wet, stuck at little, so I did that for a while and then turned them out. They did pretty well! Teddy spent about 30 minutes checking out his path with nose to the ground and tried about six times to venture onto the ice, then came back to the safety of the turnout area, where hay is spread all around. Finally, I looked out later and saw that both Ted and Winny had made it across the pasture to their water trough, and were just standing there looking into space. So no immediate wildness...hope they stay calm until dinner!