Mud and Poop...deja vu?

I have an Aunt and Uncle that live in Steamboat, CO.  They get a lot more snow than the front range does and as such they have the dreaded springtime mud season.  I've never really had the experience of mud season so much as they do but right now I have more empathy for what they deal with since I am dealing with it slightly at the barn.  Though the mud and poop gives me deja vu from when I leased Willy, that lease went over a winter and such is the life of horse ownership!

 

The snow packs in certain areas around the barn that don't get much sun.  Then the horse poop packs into the snow and forms poopsicles.  These cannot be picked up easily without a jackhammer!  It's just a waiting game until the thaw when one can scramble to clean up the muck!

 

 The barn is trying to get poop scooped up into piles to then dispose of but it's an uphill battle with sudden shifts in temperatures and weather conditions....what we call spring here in the Rockies.  As I write this the last time I was at the barn the mud issue was not so bad we've had a week of warmer temperatures that have allowed even the flooded outdoor arena to be usable again.  A couple times while coming to visit Dani I was afraid my little Honda civic would get stuck in the mud and found that my foot prints were several inches deep as I tried to trudge into the barn.

With all the mud and wetness I'm keeping a close eye on Dani's feet, I don't want any thrush issues.  I'm also worried about the wall of her hoof getting dry from being caked with mud so I'm making it a point to clean up her feet really well and apply the hoof oil more regularly.  Who cares that as soon as she walks into the pasture that her hoofs get covered in dirt and little bits of hay?  It's not a vanity thing even though I love seeing her striped hoof more clearly.

Maserati, the horse Jessica got to ride on Saturday!!

This weekend was a very fun weekend, my childhood friend, who happens to be in Wyoming because of her husbands Air Force stationing, came down for the weekend! More to come on that but above is just a sneak peak. Maz (aka Maserati) will be the horse we borrow for her to ride with me! He's Phoebe's horse and a total sweetheart! Stay tuned!!