With the New Hampshire winter beginning with snow, we are preparing for Holiday Camp and hoping that the snow will stay so that we can do some sledding. We also hope for no rain!! During the winter months, the rain combined with the cold weather always creates ice, which is unpleasant for the horses and us people. We are one week away from Holiday Camp and are incredibly excited for thirteen campers to join us. We have a few counselors visiting as well for this camp, and we are equally excited to see them! Campers, staff, and families associated with Road’s End Farm are what make this place possible. We love getting visits and seeing members from our extended camp family!
Tag Archives | winter
We had our first big New England snow storm of the year! I snowed for an entire day and gave the horses some wonderful footing in the paddock! The horses were playful with each other in the snow and almost all of them rolled around giving themselves ‘snow baths’ as Alicia likes to call them. The snow is fluffy still because we are going through a bit of a cold snap. Very early to have this type of weather but we certainly don’t mind it. We, and the horses, much prefer snow to rain.
Being a summer riding camp in New England, we must endure the year round New England weather. Despite it being February, the temperature has been in the high 50’s the past few days, and our horses are certainly not ready for this weather change. For us humans, the sun feels beautiful and the spring weather is refreshing, but for our furry friends, this weather isn’t as nice. We are making sure all of our horses get water, much like we do during summer camp, and we are monitoring our old horses to make sure they aren’t getting too hot. Although we love our summer weather, we are looking forward to cooler temperatures next week for the thermoregulation of our pasture pals.
With 8 girls here to join us for Winter Camp week, we are reminiscing on memories from previous summers, sharing laughs, and sledding as much as possible. The horses are loving the extra attention, and anticipating summer camp 2017 when they will be surrounded by even more devoted campers. We snowshoed around the overlooks on the trails that we ride on, and the trails were a winterized beautiful while the overlooks were spectacular with the crisp air. We will continue the sledding, the horse grooming, and the laughing for the remainder of the week.
As the pressure began to change, the ponies ate a little extra hay and grain before the storm. Once the storm was upon us, the snow began to fall at a rapid pace and the wind began whipping the flakes around us, it certainly felt like a blizzard. Watching the horses endure the cold, we were reminded of why we are a summer riding camp, these conditions were not good for any amount of horseback riding. Soon, there was a fresh blanket of snow and the horses were off frolicking with their friends. The snow was fluffy, the footing was great, and the horses were playing. It was a splendid afternoon. Watching the horses enjoy their freedom and play with their friends is by far our favorite pastime. We are only in existence now for the horses and the girls that come each year to love each of them. As we bundled up each time we stepped outside, and we were reminded of the ruggedness and durability of each of our spectacular horses.
