We’ve had quite a run of cold weather. Okay, it is Winter and it is New England, but I am getting tired of waking up to single digit temperatures (or worse).
Warming up to 16 degrees just doesn’t cut it for me.
I’m not worried so much about the horses. They don’t seem to mind the weather. They have plenty of hay to eat, soaked hay cubes and cozy blankets.
What I really worry about is the pump. Yup, the pump.
We get water to Freedom’s barn using a pump that obviously would prefer to live in the south. When it’s consistently below 25 degrees, it freezes. Even when wrapped with a heating coil and insulation, it just doesn’t run. When that happens, you really begin to appreciate the beauty of running water because the only
other way the water gets to the tank is when I schlep it there. Because you know that horses need access to water all the time. No use telling them that they really aren’t thirsty.
This year, I got smarter. I bought a second water tank so that we have 140 gallons on tap. And then my husband suggested a clever solution: we need to keep it warmer. A little Yankee ingenuity came into play. We covered the pump with an unused horse blanket and then topped it off with a plastic garbage can.
The result? It still freezes when it gets really, really cold but it warms up more quickly and we have water more frequently.
I appreciate these little tips! It’s this sort of “little stuff” that matters most in the horsey world. I cover the tractor engine with an unused horse blanket to help insulate it so it will start in the morning when I have to go feed 50 horses! And believe me, at sunrise in 10 degrees, yes it is absolutely the “little stuff” that matters, like the tractor starting so I don’t have to hike all the hay around. I love your invention here!
haha that looks like a perfect barn solution – ‘just toss a blanket and bucket on it!’ – haha glad it works! a farm where i previously worked had well water – and the pumps would freeze (and actually would go out with the electricity) too. definitely makes ya appreciate when everything goes according to plan!