Some horses at a farm in Cornwall are sporting some fancy footwear to keep them from slipping on P.E.I.'s icy terrain.

Adam Merner said he knew it was time to take action when a horse slipped on some ice after morning exercise at Dusty Lane Farms.

The horse didn't fall down, and wasn't hurt after the slip on the ice. But as a precaution, Merner nailed shoes with studs — which horse owners call "corks" — to its hoofs. It's a common practice for many in the horse industry.

About 35 of the 90 horses at Dusty Lane Farms are wearing them this winter, to deal with treacherous ice. Days of frigid temperatures have turned many fields and paddocks on P.E.I. into skating rinks.

Farmers are also spreading sand for traction. At Dusty Lane Farms, they're spreading straw and manure over the ice to give horses better footing.

Owner Ron Gass has been keeping some of his horses outdoors, in a paddock well-lined with straw. The horses know when it's icy underfoot, according to Gass.

"You'll see them not doing anything," he said. "And the weather changes, next thing, they're running and playing again. They know the difference."

The ice is also a challenge for beef and dairy cattle. A fall could seriously injure valuable livestock, and result in financial loss. Some farmers are keeping herds out of icy fields, and some are using trucks and trailers to move cows across even small icy areas in farm yards.

Staff at Dusty Lane Farms are exercising the horses less frequently while the icy conditions persist. The standardbred race horses run two or three days a week, instead of five.

Horse owners, like many Islanders, are looking forward to an end to the slippery weather.

"I'll be glad to see 30-degree weather and the starting-gate back on the race track," Merner said.