'Hairbrained': Nebraska woman converts dining room into stable for horses during cold wave

As blizzards and sub-freezing temperatures swept across most of the country last weekend, a Nebraska woman found an unconventional way to protect her horses from Mother Nature.

Kelly Rowley of Niobrara was "worried to pieces" about her two horses: Rip, a 3-year-old stallion, and Diamond, a 19-year-old mare. They were sheltering from the cold in their barn on Friday night, and they were worse off the next morning.

"I only got this hairbrained idea," Rowley told USA TODAY on Thursday. "Every time I had walked by the window and looked for them ... elbows parked on the windowsill, forehead in my palms, against the cold window, I would groan and beg for them some peace from this hell blizzard."

The next thing she knew, Rowley was converting her dining room into a horse stall. She moved the table, chairs and plants to the living room, and took pictures off the walls. She then raced out to get the horses, who willingly followed her right in.

"They were perfect angels in there, didn’t even move a bit after I got them where exactly I wanted them," Rowley said. "They just parked and drooped."

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Freezing through the night

Rowley came up with the "hairbrained" plan after some initial unsuccessful brainstorming.

While the two horses were wearing blankets, they were constantly moving, "fighting the elements," and dancing around with their heads down through the night.

The next morning, despite a sinus infection, Rowley went out into the blizzard to check on Diamond and Rip and figure out how to keep them warm.

Rowley said that she initially thought of moving them to a shed but soon realized that it wouldn't have any food or light, so she dropped that idea. She then thought about taking them to her aunt's farm nearby but given the blizzard, it wasn't wise, either.

Panic set in when Rowley offered Rip and Diamond water and they took only a few sips compared to the 10 gallons they are supposed to drink each day. They also refused to eat their grains, and Rip hadn't stopped shivering.

From a dining room to a stable

Finally, Rowley thought about bringing them into her house and didn't hesitate. Once inside, she said they warmed up as she talked to them and brushed their coats, trying to "get the ice balls off or melted from their faces, necks and manes."

As for the manure?

"Unfortunately, there was a couple of accidents," she said, adding: "But I had boot trays under them, which worked like a charm."

About an hour and half later, Rip and Diamond started "coming alive" and Rowley breathed a sigh of relief.

"It wasn’t until they kind of started 'coming alive' after an hour and a half, that I decided, 'Ok they’re back. We’re good!'" Rowley said. "I took them back out, left their blankets in front of the fan to dry, watered them right away, they both drank 3 gallons each!"

'Coming alive'

Rowley, who works for the Niobrara State Park, said that she took a few pictures of the horses in the living room and sent them to a couple of her friends, which is how they started circulating on social media. Her aunt even told her to send a few shots to a local news outlet.

To her surprise, the internet was delighted by the story.

When she posted it, Rowley remembered thinking: "It is pretty funny. (It) might make someone's day."

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.