Wednesday February 12, 2019
Here We Go Again!
In the interest of safety for humans and horses, we have canceled lessons today. We are hoping to be open tomorrow (Thursday).
Many folks do not realize the safety issues that are present with horses at a Farm. The accumulative amount of snow on the pathways in and out of the stables lends itself to slipping and sliding for humans and horses; add steel horse shoes and the risk goes up. Our stabled horses have been locked up for over a week now and hand walked in the arena. Frisky is an understatement. I have to say, though, the Herd is doing well thanks to all the Helpers who have come walk the horses with me daily. The horses have been amazing with only a few that took awhile to adapt to the indoor living.
The most substantial risk is the volume of snow melting on the roof of our huge arena. This will start sliding off today (we hope) in sheets of heavy ice/snow mix and startle horses if they are in the arena. So no hand walking or riding until that process finishes.
Driving here is clear on the roads, but the slushy, slippery mess is in the parking lot and hard to get back out to the road.
Lastly, this unprecedented weather event is not past yet. The staff, horses and I would appreciate students making up any lessons they can during school breaks, other days of the week, etc. We still need to pay bills, feed horses and keep staff employed. Any help is welcome. Thanks to all our wonderful Boarder Community and all the students and their families who have and still are helping out financially and physically.
Best Regards,
The ELS Herd!