Cold

It has been an incredably cold week. Much colder than I ever remember having in December. I hope this isn't a sample of what is to come this winter. And yes, I do realize that it has been awfully cold everywhere, not just here in New Mexico. I finally gave up and got out the heated water buckets for the horses. I don't normally do it until January, or Feburary. I do the ice break test. If I can break the ice on their large 20 gallen buckets with my trusty hammer, then it is not bad enough to get out the small 5 gallen heated buckets. Setting them up with the extenion cords, and have to refill them usually twice a day is a pain. But when the ice in the big buckets is about 5 inches thick, and weights more than my hubby can pull out (he figured about 75 pounds) then it is time to get the heated buckets and use them.
So far I haven't resorted to putting blankets on the horses, but if this keeps up I may have to.