The past two days I’ve worked from home because of an ice storm that hit Kentucky. We’re prone to having periods of ice and snow, but occasionally we get these really bad storms that put thick coats of ice (an inch or more) on everything that stands still–trees, trucks, tables, barns, gates, fields … you get the idea.

My farm was fortunate this time in that we didn’t lose electricity for long. The last ice storm that struck Kentucky in 2003 resulted in us being out of power for five days. We ran kerosene heaters in the house to keep the dogs and cats warm, but ended up having to move out with the kids to their grandmother’s house in another county. We came back twice a day, and a neighbor up the road with propane heat came other times to check on the house and animals.

One of the best things this time? The electricity stayed on so the heaters in the stock tank and the Nelson automatic waterer worked. That meant we didn’t have to haul water to the horses and goats. That was a blessing.

I will never understand why horses, when they have the choice of multiple run-in sheds that are well-bedded and stocked with good hay, will choose to be out in bad weather. I don’t “stall” or lock up my horses in bad weather