It's just too cold!

Right now, it's -24 degrees this morning.

We've been spoiled by a number of relatively mild winters, so this big high pressure system that seems stuck over Alaska is really tough to deal with. Last winter, we had one month of high winds-which means big wind chill, but only for a few days at a time was the ambient temperature below zero.

As soon as the snow stopped falling at Christmas, the high pressure starting sliding in. For four or five days, we had some big winds here in the Valley and then it began to taper off a bit. I was fortunate, as my location is not directly in the main wind patterns but just along the edges. Now the high is stationary, with a low in the Gulf of Alaska that seems stalled as well. Most of the entire state is experiencing extremely cold, if not downright hazardous severe cold. Up at Prudhoe Bay last night, it was -38 degrees at 8 pm. And yes, people do continue to work outside in it.

In the Interior, along the Yukon and between the ranges, it's even worse-temps down below minus 50 degrees. I remember being in Fairbanks one winter, and living outside of town. It was -57 degrees and didn't budge for nine days. I was pretty much stuck at home, between keeping my car from freezing up, keeping heat in the well house, and under the house so the plumbling ddn't freeze. Every two or three hours around the clock, I would bundle up and tend to one, then come back in, catch a cat nap, and go back out to tend the next thing. It's incredibly brutal, this kind of cold......it burns, it gets hard to breathe properly and doing even simple chores become monumental efforts. You must carefully think through what you plan to do, before you do it.

For the horses, they must sinply endure. Only a tiny percentage have heated barns, most are like mine......out with only blankets for additional protection. Some horses fair very well with their own heavy winter coats and nonstop hay and water available. Others burn all their reserves attempting to stay alive as their owners are unaware of the demands of these temperatures. Even with the cold, a savvy horse owner will spend that extra couple of minutes checking each horse over every day. This is the one time you want to be exceptionally diligent and put every bit of observational power you have to work.....even the slightest change in behavior can mean a quick slide into a colic, or worse.

Hay and water are crucial to survival during periods like this. I refilled my own tanks last night, and all horses have more hay than they can possibly eat available to them 24/7. Today I plan on making up a horsey tea, which is basically just a bucket of hot water with pellets in it. I will let that steep for ten minutes, then go offer it up to each in turn. The warm mashes nightly will continue until this system breaks loose....which could be another week or ten days.

Keep a close eye on your horses, everyone!