Bath Weather and Whale Watching

The weather lately has been good for baths and not much else: heat indexes in the high 90s with super high humidity as well. I've been struggling to not feel sick in this heat just walking around and cleaning Charlie's stall, let alone think about riding.

Yesterday I gave Charlie a full bath. Although he's been getting groomed and/or hosed off daily, his face was white with salt from the sweat so I figured why not cool us both down with a bath?

I figured it would feel really good but he wasn't too keen on standing still. I think he thought I was bringing him in for dinner...how dare I make him stand still and get sprayed with the hose and not get any grain for it! I'm such a mean mom. Charlie did settle right down as soon as I took out the fly spray, though. He knows what that's for!

Post-bath, all shiny

Goofball

After his bath I let him run around a little in one of the grass paddocks, which he enjoyed immensely. I chose one of the smallest paddocks so he couldn't get too crazy but I did have to stop him after about five minutes so he wouldn't get me in trouble by tearing up the grass.

I also stopped at Dover yesterday to pick up some more fly spray since all Farnum sprays are BOGO right now. I had been using Bite Free in combination with Bronco since Bite Free was meant to only be applied once a week or so (I am always afraid of chemical burns from overuse) and Bronco is fairly harmless for daily use, but it doesn't work great alone. This time around I decided to try Endure since it was getting really good reviews online. Plus you can't beat that deal! I'm considering trying a dietary fly control supplement if all else fails. Poor boy is so miserable :(

One a different note, today Kate, Kenny, Dan and I went whale watching in Cape Cod. It was fabulous! We had gotten a Groupon deal but even without it would have been well worth the money. We had a great time. Here are a few pictures: