Storm Prep

I am slowly figuring out what does and doesn't work for stormy weather.  So far there hasn't been snow, so I am using these rain storms as test runs for when it does snow.  The first time around I discovered that the horses can't be fed hay in their usual buckets and the stall I use for Stinker doesn't do well with high wind plus moisture.

I decided to try hay nets to see if that would reduce the amount of wasted hay.  Cowboy strongly objects to this.  The first hay net I hung didn't even last 2 hours.  I repaired it and decided to try again.  This time around it stayed hanging, but he ripped four massive holes in it in under four hours.  I am aware these hay nets aren't top of the line quality, but at the same time Stinker used one all of last winter without putting any holes in it.

My next problem was the amount of rain that blew into Stinker's stall.  We get high winds frequently and when you combine it with heavy rain, it isn't a pretty sight.  I decided the easiest thing to do would be to switch the empty stall and make it Stinker's stall so I would have more time to figure out the best way to prevent the rain from blowing in.

So much wet

This led me to discovering the automatic waterer in the empty stall doesn't seem to be working quite right.  I had previously had it turned off because it wasn't being used and it prevent the bowl from getting gross.  When I turned it back on it over flowed and made a big mess.  I am going to have to find the instruction booklet and hope I can figure out what the problem is.

I also got the ring drug and redistributed the footing.  The wind had blown it to one end of the ring, so I had to do quite a bit of shuffling to get it even again.  Then I got to watch the wind blow and move everything around.

I wanted to ride in it so badly

Hopefully I can get these little kinks figured out before winter hits and I am cussing up a storm.  Does anyone have a favorite tough hay net that isn't super expensive in case Cowboy destroys it?