photo #627727

WINTER POND DANGERS (feel free to share): I ran across this picture yesterday in my files, and thought it was a good time to remind all of my horse-owning friends about the dangers of having horses in a pasture with a pond in areas where ice covers water in the winter. Two years ago, a friend's gelding walked out on this pond's ice and fell through. It looks small, but from where he fell to the bank was many horse lengths. A passerby saw the horse's head bobbing and circling, and began calling people to find the owner. Several people actually put their lives in danger to save the horse, going out on the ice, roping him, chopping a channel with axes, etc. Not smart, but who wants to watch a horse die or shoot it in the head to end its misery? In this situation, the horse was lucky and after lengthy efforts, was pulled out. The danger isn't worth it to your horses, or to the people that might put themselves in danger trying to save a trapped horse. If at all possible, please fence off your ponds during the winter so horses can't fall into them. If your ground will soon freeze, now is the time to get it done, asap!