A sad and blustery day

Friday the 13th - not such a great day here. First, I attended the funeral of a lady who lived down the road from us at our last place. She was 60 years old. Remember that wind storm I told you about that flattened the mare shelter? I guess she was out in it, doing chores perhaps. Her hay is outside, stored under a tarp and they found her there, it seems one of the poles holding up the hay had hit her, and a large bale had fallen on her. This story makes me so sad, you never know when your hour has come, and it emphasises the need for safety at all times. I hounded my husband when we moved here to build me a hay shed off the barn, not just to preserve the hay from the weather but because it is so much safer; less risk of bales falling. Of course, if you have small square bales, it can still be dangerous if they aren't stacked right and you have to take them from the pile in a way that preserves the integrity and stability of the pile. There are so many things to be safety conscious of with livestock and especially so in bad weather.
Speaking of weather, we are getting a blast of arctic air today with the wind howling and blowing gritty bits of snow. Beamer got his blanket back on and I fed the girls and Drifter in the foaling shelter, which has 3 sides closed in, and is only 15 ft. long. It's a good thing they get along in close quarters; Drifter is always between the two mares and they seem to be fine with that.

Drifter is as tall as Gussie at the hip now but still has to catch up at the shoulder

This nasty weather is supposed to continue until tomorrow afternoon, then we will be back in the sunshine and back to working horses.