Friday, May 10, 2013

Dirty Horse

When I got to the barn today I discovered that Charlie had done his best to cover himself in nature's fly protectant in the absence of his own fly sheet...my arm is tired now after all the grooming but at least I can say I have a clean(er) horse! Here's some pics right out of the field:

Really worked it in there, Charlie
Yup, got every square inch...at least it was mostly dry

Mmm awesome pee stains....

What's wrong, mom?
In other news Charlie was a very good boy today after having had a few days off, especially considering he had no turnout the past few days because of the rain. Again I got on with no lunging, but he seems to really like that; he went right to work without a fuss. We practiced basic transitions - got a really good walk-canter transition to the right, which is especially exciting since I haven't cantered on him really at all recently - and trotted some ground poles which he loved; overall he was very well behaved.  I say overall because there was one spook-and-spin incident that I unsuccessfully tried to sit (damn birds flying up from behind the already scary tractor at the end of the arena!). I am still working on getting my "horse legs" back so I ended up on the ground, flat on my back, and ended up just as dirty as Charlie. Ooops. I'm sure I'll be feeling that tomorrow!

5 comments:

  1. Girl, that ain't nothin!! Trust me, you've got it easy :) My horse will get it caked an inch thick (no kidding!) on his back... it's awful. I would gladly trade you!

    And, might I recommend a neck strap? I am finding that they are very very handy and you never know when you'll need one.

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    1. Haha glad I didn't have that mess to clean! The pictures don't do it justice, it was pretty caked in there, but not nearly an inch thick lol. As for the neck strap, I've never used one but that may not be a bad idea....

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  2. Glad you were alright. Ditto the neck strap :) I use my breastplate because it is at the perfect spot for me but most of the other people in the barn use a stirrup leather- sometimes looped through the breastplate to offer stability. :)

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    1. The breastplate is a good idea...I actually had one I had bought for Charlie at the tack sale and after reading this post decided to give it a try but alas it was too small. Story of my life with this horse haha. I'll have to see about getting another one because I think he'll need the breastplate in the end anyway.

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  3. He really worked at that mud bath didn't he? :)

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