Looking after yourself in the winter months

When we talk about keeping warm, we don’t just mean the horses. Make sure you look after yourself throughout the winter too, or you could be taken down with an illness, leaving you unable to do the horses at all.

Don’t forget to:

• Take flasks of hot drinks and have a kettle at the yard so a hot drink is never too far away. Also, stock your tack room with things like instant noddles and ‘soup-in-a-cup’ packets for emergencies.
• Layer up. Vests, leggings, thermal vests, jumpers, coats, waterproof trousers etc — wear them all and don’t leave the house cold or you’ll never warm up.
• Wear a hat — we lose a lot of our heat through our head so wearing a hat when you’re out and about is essential.
• Invest in some warm, waterproof and non-slip boots to wear around the yard.
• Invest in plenty of pairs of gloves or mittens and put them on before leaving the house. Put a pair of plastic gloves (pick some up from your local petrol station) on underneath your warm gloves to help keep your hands dry. Plus, have plenty of spare gloves everywhere you go — in the car, at the yard, in your pocket — you never know when you’ll need a new pair.
• Prepare! In case you get stuck in your car in the snow, make sure you have these in the boot: tow rope, jump leads, a shovel, blankets, food, gloves, de-icer, some money, spare batteries — and, most importantly, a big chocolate bar (plus, if you make it through winter without eating it, it’ll be a nice treat when spring arrives!)