That same old problem in Winter in Germany

Now that I live in Montana, I mean Germany, I know things about Winter. I know about this blue liquid you squirt all over your car windows to help you deal with thick ice.

I know lying awake at night knowing my animals have no fluid water to drink. I can't stand it. In case you are new to my blog, there are NO tank de-icers in Germany. Why? Because for centuries horses were kept in warm barns with automatic waterers made to not freeze.

I don't have those.

Baasha was so gentle on his environment I was able to make him an insulated trough. It was one small trough in one large trough, with all sorts of packing material and foam between the two. In the stall. He doesn't mess with things so that worked.

What to do with a horse who is mouthy?

I've already talked about the cemetery candle idea at length so I won't do it again. OK I will. I love this idea! But for our tiny paddock area, we have no place for it - it's too tall to place on the raised area we currently keep our trough. Yes, it is a Schlactkessel/Waschkessel design turned into a horse waterer for 333E. Clever! I still want to go for it cuz 1. It's food quality materials and 2. The candles will keep the water slightly warm in Winter.

But at Equitana I saw this little thing and I think we'll buy it. It's not big enough for a herd, but big enough to get 1 or 2 animals at least through the night so I can sleep. And my husband just wrote an email to the Quarter Horse Journal of Germany, requesting their online article (PDF) where they review the product. He apologized that his wife does not own their breed of choice, but they sent the article anyway: ) My husband charms the QH people.

It annoys me that this product is more than twice as expensive in Germany than in America, because here in the land of no tank de-icers, we can become desperate and not sleep.

Here it is. Thoughts? Experiences with something similar? Oh right, that's in German. It supposedly keeps water at 6 degrees C even on a -23 degree night. It has a little floating bowl the horse/donkey must push down to get water.

For tonight, with only Bellis, I've put the trough in a corner of her stall, and packed hay tight all around it. Curious if it will help, that and being on a rubber mat, with walls on 2 sides. Or if I'll go out there tomorrow and find all the water on the floor and the donkey frozen in the middle: (

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If you're curious about the Kaufvertrag, we got it. It's a silly little INVOICE! Hand written, only 2 pages, the first page giving the description of the horse and our address and theirs, and the price with tax, (the same exact price, no change from the original in November: (:( ....) and the 2nd page has the clause we were waiting for. If the horse shows signs of a chronic respiratory illness in the next 12 months they will buy him back. Whew, yes! Thank you Jesus. Lob sei dem Herrn.

I found it interesting that they sent us a silly little invoice, whereas when we both bought and sold Mara, we had an entire booklet including clauses of all types, mental and physical. Hm! Probably this is because with Mag, we have a PPE and that is the legal document.

Also, both Mag and Mara were supposedly born on Jan 1. Huh? That's the date given when you don't know (Mara) but in Mag's case, it's true. Michalow state stud does have a handful of horses born every new year early January. Huh. 

I gave my husband a wonderful dinner of something new to me - I made Greek Gyro platters for the first time. He was thrilled, so I'll make them again. I keep poking my head in his office saying, "Hey, buy me a horse."

He asked me, "You didn't change your mind? Did anything change?"

I said, "Nothing changed, J, ......except the weather."