Ben Theyre’s stallion, PassU (right), and Little Mare at the fence line. Did last winter’s broken fence lead to an unintended consequence?

A broken horse fence in winter might lead to greater problems. Procrastinating a horse fencing repair could allow horses to escape their pastures and paddocks. One Saturday last fall, I spotted a problem with our horse fencing. A laneway separating two horse paddock areas behind our barns narrowed to a point, rather than being situated at an equal distance its full length.

I mentioned this problem to Vanessa. She agreed we should correct it soon if we were going to put our stallion, Pass-U, in his winter paddock. When it’s cold, we contain all the horses in paddocks next to the barns. From there, we can bring them inside quickly if the weather gets nasty. They’re also protected from the northwest wind carrying lake-effect snow. And, we can easily bring them into the barn for grooming. Generally, they seem to enjoy interacting with us when the days get short.

The laneway separates PassU’s paddock from the one where four geldings and Little Mare, (www.bentheyre.com) a 13.2-hand purebred Arabian mare, spend the winter. PassU enjoys this arrangement: He can prance back and forth, snort, and talk to the horses. All seem to coexist in harmony in their winter stabling. In their respective paddocks, there’s plenty of territory to spread out, if necessary.  

Still, that narrowing laneway provided a critical separation between stallion and mare.

Yet, I procrastinated. 

An Arctic Blast
November came and went. Preparing for Christmas is a great excuse to procrastinate. Then came the New Year, and we celebrated everything we’d accomplished in 2006. Unfortunately, correcting the laneway fence wasn’t on that list.

Last December and January, the weather in the Finger Lakes was unseasonably warm, with temperatures often reaching the 50s. Grass kept growing. We had pasture and open water well into early January. PassU didn’t need to be in his paddock — he was able to romp and roam on our lower 10 acres, complete with a pond. He was also out of sight of the 8-year-old maiden mare.

The inevitable came to pass when the weather pattern changed.

In late January, arctic air plunged into New York from Canada. The mixture of cold air and the open waters of the Great Lakes produced record snowfall in upstate New York. Some areas received 10 feet of snow in one week!

Here in Canandaigua, we were a bit more fortunate; we received only a couple of feet in that particular storm. But it just kept snowing. We brought the horses into their winter quarters, where they were protected from the harsh weather.

The wind blew. The snow flew. For weeks, temperatures didn’t get above freezing. We turned the horses out into the paddocks daily, but with wind chills hovering at 20 below zero, they weren’t very social. They blew off steam in deep drifts, ate hay with tails to the wind, and were anxious to get back inside the barn. 

By this time, the ground was frozen solid. Any hope of easily fixing the fence before spring was gone. Fortunately, given the weather conditions, there was little to no interaction between the stallion and his neighbors across the laneway that still narrowed at the far post.

Fence Down!
A much-needed thaw came in late February. Sunshine and 40-degree temperatures made the days delightful. One morning, I turned out all the horses for an extended stay. The geldings bucked. Little Mare ran through drifts and rolled in the snow. They were as happy as we were to get a break from the cold. 

As the geldings ate their breakfast, I noticed that Little Mare went over to the laneway to stare at PassU.  How cute, I thought naively and went back in the barn.

After finishing my chores, I walked to the road, picked up the mail, and went into the house to make a pot of coffee. I sat at the kitchen table and sorted through the mail. From there, I could see the stallion’s paddock. Among the bills was a newsletter from the local veterinary clinic. I looked at the headline, “Will you be Breeding Your Mare this Season?” I read the story with interest. It said the natural breeding season for the average mare lasts from April to August. During this time, the mare will show estrus or heat about every 18 to 23 days if she isn’t pregnant. Longer days can bring a mare out of her anestrus or dormancy period.

I reached for my coffee — and froze. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw chaos in PassU’s paddock. Oh no, I thought with fear, the fence is down!

Through the window, I saw the four geldings invade PassU’s paddock, running around in circles with their tails straight up in the air. Two grays and two chestnuts would disappear behind the barn then come back into view. Something was terribly awry. I had to get out there.

Jumping into my Carhartts, I ran up the driveway to the other side of the barn. My eyes widened as I saw what the geldings were fretting about. PassU was taking the Little Mare for a test drive in the sun.

The fence was broken open at the far post where it’d narrowed and come to a point. The aluminum wire was pushed in. Reconstructing the scene, it looked like Little Mare fell in love and accepted Pass U’s invitation for drinks; of course, all four geldings followed her in.

Despite the chaos, I was able to march the geldings into the barn. The stallion gave up the mare without incident. All was settled. The next day, Vanessa and I bored holes in the frozen ground to set the posts needed to fix the fence. It would’ve been a much easier task in the fall.

A Blessed Event?
We got a wake-up call on this one. Procrastinating on fixing a minor fence problem might have a larger, unintended consequence. At the time of this writing, it isn’t certain whether Little Mare was actually bred by PassU, but one thing is for sure: Vanessa and I love raising horses, and we’ll welcome a little one into our lives with open arms and a warm barn.

If Little Mare doesn’t come back into heat, then we’ll expect a blessed event at the end of next January. Mid-winter isn’t the best time in the Finger Lakes to foal mares, but that’s life. With luck, we’ll get a “do over” in June.