15 ways to prepare for extreme weather

When rain, drought or snow dominate the headlines, caring for horses can present some extra challenges. Here’s how to meet them.

When rain, drought or snow dominate the headlines, caring for horses can present some extra challenges. Here’s how to meet them.

ome weather we’ve been having, huh? Whether in the form of tropical storms, back-toback blizzards or prolonged droughts, bad weather can make toting buckets, slogging out to pastures and other routine horsekeeping tasks a little---or a lot--harder. Of course, if you live in one geographic area long enough, you learn how to cope with its typical weather patterns. A horse owner in Minnesota can handle a two-foot winter snowfall just as easily as one in Florida can take in stride daily thunderstorms during the summer. But when unusually harsh or otherwise unexpected weather occurs, horsekeepers can end up scrambling.

Jenifer Nadeau, equine extension specialist with the University of Connecticut, has seen this firsthand. “Over the past few years,” she says, “many horse owners in Connecticut have struggled with extended power outages. They’ve had to buy back-up generators, haul water long distances, or lay in extra supplies prior to a big storm.” These are hard-earned lessons that take an emotional, financial and sometimes physical toll.

So take a few minutes to consider how you might handle the onset and aftermath of a severe weather event. How would you cope if you ran out of hay or were cut off from the main road for days on end? What if you lost power for several weeks? Simply asking these questions can foster creative thinking that may lead to a few changes in your current property and management routine that will pay off in a crisis.

To help you get started, here’s a quick look at three extreme weather scenarios and some suggestions for preparing to cope with them: