Calm, Forward, Straight

Calm, Forward, Straight

Sunday, February 12, 2012

At the Barn # 55 - Easy like Sunday morning...

All good things must come to an end... such as the unseasonably warm weather that I like to call "June-uary". Thursday night we had our first light freeze. And this weekend it has gotten into the mid twenties overnight, with big winds. I know this is no big deal for you hardy northerners, but after extended temps in the sixties and even seventies, it comes as a shock to the system. I'm super glad I resisted the temptation to plant anything just yet - it was hard - spring fever was duking it out with common sense every warm day.








I have also resisted blanketing unless it is cold + raining, or very cold + windy. This is made a little much harder because Cowboy's people have kept him blanketed nightly (and often daily) for months, despite the mild temperatures, i.e. he has definitely been sweating under there some days. Part of me wants to bring up the topic of "piloerection", but it would likely fall on deaf ears. I believe that Cowboy's girl is trying to avoid dealing with shedding and a dirty horse, even though until he will actually get into a trailer - glamming him up for shows is uneccesary.... just sayin'. (Probably best that I don't bring it up.)


"I got my pilo workin"...


What - another picture of me eating out of the manure bucket?!


When I can overcome my ocd, I realize that Val seems perfectly comfortable, warm chest and cool but not cold ear tips. He has a run in stuffed with hay and evidence suggests he takes advantage of it overnight. Plus - sometimes he bites at the blankets as I'm putting them on, in an irritated way. I know they must not be totally comfortable - one cannot roll with abandon while blanketed. And it's a known fact that blankets can stifle a good bucking fit.

No riding reports this week. I've been working on the property, getting rid of manure and sorting out electrical issues. Finally got an electrician out to figure a quote for running power to my studio / hay barn. It has taken a year, and many broken promises. Fingers crossed Mr. B. calls me with a quote this week. I flirted a bit, but my offer to dig the extensive trench brightened his outlook on the job considerably. No sweat for me, I dig for a living. I can do a lot of things, but electricity I leave to the pros.

Val and I did some good ground work - leading around the property (searching for fresh grass) and staying calm while Cowboy acted like a total idiot. He repeatedly jumped out from behind his sheds just as we came around the corners - this is his patented move - so I was prepared, but it often catches Val by surprise. At one point Val jumped straight up, all four feet off the ground, but kept a respectful distance. I had to give him a few strong corrections, until he was following just behind my shoulder, halting promptly and ignoring Cowboy - who got the finger pointed as well as some curse laced instructions.

There were also extended groomings where we practiced our ground tying, and we had several massage / scratching sessions. After a particularly satisfying total ear scratch I was given a lingering horse hug. *sigh*. Val is well into shedding mode - yesterday we made six hair waffles. I hope he keeps some coat in case winter hangs around. (Please don't hang around!)



13 comments:

  1. I would be much more satisfied with the very weird weather that so many of us are having IF we could swap. You have warm for a while and then cold and so do we. It was 8 degrees at my house this morning, wind chill said -4. This is hours after sunrise. This is also just not normal for this area and if I could figure out who to complain to I would.
    Hope your cold spell ends quickly. What is your normal weather for this time of year?

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  2. Hi Barbara -

    For us, normal is 40's - 50's most of the winter, with a couple of cold days, below freezing, but nothing extended. The odd few warm days is normal too.

    Wish I could share the wealth - I have been extra careful about bragging... ;)

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  3. "hair waffles" - what a perfect description! Jackson has started shedding too but we aren't up to more than a couple waffles at this point. I'm with you on the blanketing - but many folks are like Cowboy's owner. Not anything you can say will change their minds. It's cold here today, too -- but not like at your place. I'm such a wimp.

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  4. We even had snow flurries on Saturday!! This has been a mild winter even by our standards, I knew it had to get cold at some point. At least, according to our 10 day forecast, this will be over in another day.

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  5. It got very cold here this weekend 8 degrees Sat. and the same Sun. throw in a few snowflakes too. We're not used to it either after the unusually warm winter. Now when it gets cold I'm a little annoyed.

    Good thing you resisted the urge to start any gardening. Sounds like a plan until the spring.

    We haven't blanketed all winter so why start now. They're a bunch of hairy beasts and look like a herd of yaks. Not shedding too much yet either. Nice that you and Val have been having fun with groundwork.

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  6. Shedding has just barely started here, ironically during one of our coldest weekends. We had our first dusting of snow yesterday.

    I like the photo of the waffles. ;)

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  7. Salina is shedding too!

    Mine had blankets Sat. night, most of the day yesterday, and last night - between the cold and the wind it was brutal out there.

    They did get a break from blankets when they came into stalls for a few hours with their hay - on some level I know they could manage w/o them but they actually lined up to get them on so I think they at least felt neutral about them. :)

    Hope our weather gets back to usual this week. Yours too!!

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  8. Hair waffles! Perfect!

    This was the coldest weekend of the winter for us too. Ice on the water troughs, and snow flurries!?!?! It's supposed to be back up to 65 today though. Go figure?

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  9. LOL hair waffles, yes, that's exactly what they are! I use the internationally-recognized small animal measurement system - as in "I totally groomed a poodle/kitten/rabbit worth of hair off of Dixie."

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  10. I agree with everyone else, I'm now going to think hair waffles every time shedding season comes around. Mine are just starting to shed now. Interesting what a difference longitude makes!

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  11. I don't think silver edged horehound is related to licorice but I'm not positive. All I know is it is a groundcover that doesn't need water (thrives on our 11" year). It is native to the high, dry elevations of Turkey. I love the way the leaves are green on top and wooly white underneath - and then the wooly white part curls up so the leaves are edged in white softness. Its my favorite groundcover.

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  12. I too worry about it when people leave blankets on in warmish weather. Horses can over heat, some of them very easily.
    Love the waffles :) Gooder to me to do sogreat ground work. It's a reminder to me to do some too.

    ReplyDelete

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