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In Loving Memory...
~ Gogo Fatale ~


6/2/01 - 10/11/11
~ Forever the Marest of Them All ~
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Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Even Texas has Deathsnow

For the week and a half that Gogo has been on 24/7 turnout, she hasn't even set foot in the barn. Neither her nor the other horse on the property ever come inside. This all changed last night when the predictions of a massive Texas winter deathstorm actually came true for once. My Future Hubs and I were out last night actually doing that ridiculous southern thing where you stock up on food for a few days in case you do actually get stuck in your house when bad weather arrives, and I got a call from my landlord. "The weather is supposed to be really bad tonight, so I am gonna bring Bobo in to the barn. I'll set up a stall for you too if you want it." (Yes, he actually is Bobo... I thought he was Bubba but I was wrong.) I told him sure, and that I'd come check on how she was doing after we got back from our errands and decide then if she needed to come in or not. She was double blanketed and fed, so I wasn't worried about her being warm. I figured she'd hunker down in her shed if it started to rain.

And boy did it ever start to rain. It rained.... and rained.... and POURED... and THUNDERED.... and SLEETED.... and it just kept getting worse. In the 30 or so minutes that it took to get home, we passed by two huge accidents on the highway, and barely made it back ourselves. I kept thinking over and over, "is Gogo REALLY smart enough to stand in her shed and wait this out if Bobo isn't in there with her?" NOPE, she was by the gate, completely SOAKING wet, standing in the sideways sleet just hoping that maybe somebody would pass by and bring her inside. Thankfully we were there! I tried to toss some hay into her shed, but changed my mind and just went ahead and brought her in. Half of the barn has typical indoor stalls, and the other half has open air stalls of all varying sizes. Gogo is in the biggest stall, and Bobo is next to her. She was completely thrilled to be back in a stall, and went right to munching her hay as if to say, "Mom WHY have you forgotten to bring me inside for nearly TWO WEEKS?"

This morning, winds are gusting at nearly 60mph nonstop. We have blowing and drifting snow and LOADS of ice. I'm actually trapped in my own driveway... I can't get out!! I somehow fought my way to the barn on foot, fed and picked Gogo's stall, and said screw this, she's not going out and I am going back to bed!!

Her open air stall has lots of blown-in snow in it, but she doesn't seem to mind. She's out of the wind and cosy warm, so she's happy!







Yikes. But she is happy and toasty warm under her blankets, and I am happy and warm on my couch. I will try to make it to work later but seeing as I am honest to god stuck in my driveway, I can't imagine I'll be able to for awhile!

14 comments:

Alighieri said...

Yeah, although this is not the MOST snow/ice I have seen since I moved down here in 2008, it is definitely the most VIOLENT snow. I actually have snow on my porch 2 inches thick, and I have never seen any snow ever get into my porch. The wind is terrible!

Of course, I love the cold, so I'm enjoying the snow day. :-) But I am very glad my horse is in FL right now! Gogo looks very happy in her open-air stall, they look very nice for her to be in while the weather is bad.

SprinklerBandit said...

Yikes. 60f no more. Good thing Gogo has a barn to retreat to when necessary.

Also, that stall is crazy...

Checkmark115 said...

Texas is getting this deathstorm?? I live in Missouri and we are getting slammed. I think we've gotten 6-7 inches in less than 2 hours already and we have up to 2ft predicted and -11 degree temps for tonight. I am stuck and freaking out about my horse and the others at the barn!

Kate said...

Gahh, we're supposed to be getting that storm tomorrow. So much for my lesson!

kippen64 said...

Hi Andrea,

It's a relief to know that you haven't retired from Eventing. I confess that the original motivation for my 1* challenge (who can get their next horse to 1* first) was to encourage you to acquire another horse and give you a project to cheer you up and get your teeth into. It is something that I really am doing myself, and using the above train of thought, decided to challenge you to a contest.

Wrote a comment with links under your "In Which Gogo Proves that even Foal-Safe Fencing is not Gogo-Safe" post. Please forgive my laziness as I do not want to re-find and re-do the links and the comment, so could you please read it as I am seriously interested in your reply?

kippen64 said...

Forgot to comment on the snow. That is probably because snow that is anywhere except at a ski resort is something that I have no experience with at all. Hope that it goes away asap.

Val said...

That stall is huge! Gogo looks very pleased.

My gelding disappears to the shed as soon as rain appears. Amazingly, I have found him bone dry on very soggy days. Snow is another story. He likes to romp in it.

Brooke (FBX Adventures - In Parenting) said...

Hubs? ;0)

I LOVE her stall!! That's what i want for my ponykins someday!!

Arethusa said...

In reference to your previous post about the mogo-loosa pony: You are lucky to have found such an awesome situation! I take it you no longer go to LEC, seeing as how you live in Texas, but did you like it? I am beginning my college search, and am thinking about LEC- Great equestrian program, not so sure about the environmental program, however. I would like to try eventing at some time! I don't think it would be too awfully difficult to get into coming from both a hunter/jumper and dressage background.

manymisadventures said...

Man, McKinna would LOVE that stall. The more open the better...her favorite living situation (other than turnout) is the corrals at Inavale.

Three posts on each side, two boards on each post. Leaves her wide open to look around at everything, and she's more relaxed there than anywhere else.

Good luck making it through the deathstorm, and I'm glad you made it home safe!

MimsEppi said...

Stay warm! Ohio had 4 inches of snow which partially melted then we've had 24 hours of straight ice coming down... Roads are fun. ;)

Gina said...

I am so glad that Texas is turning out so well for you, minus the killer snow. But I am also very curious about this new S.O. I know it is really none of my business and I am truly glad you seem so happy, however, the mystery is killing me. lol.

Wishing you all the best and hoping that killer snow doesn't hit the Carolinas AGAIN!

Dressager said...

Those stalls are NICE!!! So big and open! As for the Deathstorm, um..... this is a first, really. We've had consistent rolling power-outages in my area. Sadly though, my house and school are on the same grid as two big hospitals and a fire department, so no school-ending-power-outages for us, but it's good for the house! Austin might be getting a flurry of snow tomorrow, but likely not, it's as dry as Ben Stein's humor down here.

Abby said...

OT question, but will you be keeping Marti at your house or where you work?