Freezing rain on Wednesday, February 10th started this adventure. On this day, the temperature dropped below freezing and didn't rebound to above freezing until ten days later. We prepared the best we could, with our focus firmly on keeping the horses safe and healthy and the water flowing. We blanketed and/or stalled the ten older or more vulnerable horses, leaving the other 40 horses out in their pastures au naturel. To ease our mounting apprehension, our veterinarian assured us that unblanketed healthy horses with shelter, hay, water and salt can easily handle temperatures in the single digits. Thank goodness he was right.

The first snow began to fall on Valentine's Day, and the temperature dropped into the teens. The snow was coming down HARD by nightfall. By daybreak, it was almost 10" deep. At 2am on February 15th, with snow still falling, our electricity shut off, and our hearts skipped a beat. The ranch is on our private water well, which operates from a pump, which operates by electricity. Knowing that the storm was just beginning and that we were facing 5-6 more days of freezing weather, the prospect of no electricity was terrifying. Since water is essential for the horses' survival, part of our preparation included owning a generator and having an electrician wire our power pole in such a manner that our generator could directly run the well pump. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Muted panic set in.

As luck would have it, shortly after cutting off, our electricity came back on and then began to cycle. Surely by now, each of you have heard of the infamous Texas power grid? Well, because of that marvel of preparation and planning, we were subjected to rolling power outages for four days. It was awful, but at least we had power often enough to keep the well working sufficiently to get water to the horses. Since the automatic waterers had frozen, we pulled a mobile tank on a trailer behind a 4-wheel drive truck and delivered water to troughs in the horses' pastures twice per day.

Each day for the next five days, we divided chores between the five humans staying at the ranch. We cleaned stalls, fed horses, hauled water and kept hay in front of all 50 horses round the clock, all while temperatures dropped to overnight lows of -4 degrees and never got above the mid-20s. Our ponds even froze solid, as shown in the photo above. We had another big dump of snow on February 17th, but by the 18th, the power came on and stayed on.

To keep our pipes from freezing, we dripped faucets in our structures for all 10 days. We feared our septic systems would be overwhelmed due to this massive influx of water, and so we caught that water in 5 gallon buckets and swapped the buckets out every 2 hours round the clock. Needless to say, we were a bit sleep-deprived because of this chore.

After learning about the failed Texas power grid and hearing about those suffering with no power or water for days on end, we were so grateful that we were spared that fate. If we had lost power and water for the entire week, we would have lost horses. As hard as the week was, we are appreciative of our good fortune to have survived this incredible ordeal with so little ultimate damage.

We also learned the important lesson that healthy horses in good flesh adapt easily to extremely cold weather conditions. The Pegasus horses happily munched their hay, stood in the falling snow and waited for their human servants to deliver water without so much as a shiver. In fact, they seemed to enjoy it! Thanks to everyone who cared about our herd and the Pegasus family throughout this event. We hope you and yours faired as well.

We will leave you with the short video clip below of some of the stalled horses being returned to their pasture at the conclusion of Snowmageddon!

Here we are again, folks. Still planning around the pandemic! The COVID crisis continues to negatively impact our ability to conduct live fundraisers. Since our annual aviation event, Wings Over Pegasus, requires us to start planning and booking eight months in advance, we were unable to hold this as a live event in 2021. But you gotta make the best of things, right? Hence, our cheeky logo above!

Wings Over Pegasus is our biggest annual fundraiser, bringing in excess of $60,000 each spring, and we cannot afford to lose that revenue. It is imperative during these challenging times that we continue to fully support, in all ways, our horses and the staff that cares for them. Just as we did in 2020, we have decided move forward with this event in an online fashion. We are seeking sponsors, (prepare yourself for the big ask!) and will conduct an online silent auction, t-shirt and hoodie sales, a raffle for Southwest Airlines tickets, and a Pegasus Partner membership drive.

We also anticipate holding a couple of limited mini-airplane events at the ranch or at a nearby airport. So, keep your eyes peeled for announcements regarding those fun happenings.

On a positive note, in anticipation of continued improvement on the COVID front, we fully expect to be back to business as usual next year. This fall, we shall begin planning for Wings Over Pegasus as a full-on LIVE event on April 16, 2022! It is going to be better than ever!

In the next few days, we will create a link on our website to post all developments related to Wings Over Pegasus 2021. Follow that link throughout the months of April and May to stay abreast of events as they unfold. In the meantime, help us keep positive thoughts for a great 2021, followed by LIVE EVENTS in 2022!

Allyson DeCanio

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