We had an ice storm Saturday night, with temps never reaching out of the 20's yesterday so there was still ice today. However, today it was to get above freezing so I decided it was a good day for a pony spa day.
I've been debating on clipping Rosie. Not a full body clip but a conservative trace clip. I've talked to lots of people about it and one of them suggested that I clip from her throat latch down her neck to her chest then between her legs. If I did that I most likely wouldn't need more than her mid weight blanket.
Today's fun and games included clipping....
The goat beard and mustache are gone...
So is the mohawk bridle path...
And tufts of hair from the ears...
I decided to put a 1 inch guard on my clipper blades and clip from her throat latch down her neck, and her entire chest. She still has more coat then Bonnie....
I then did something pretty stupid. I put Bonnie and Rosie outside in the arena as they've not been out in two days because of the ice. I left Bonnie's blanket on... It's not water proof.
It's not raining - just foggy... She still managed to get soaked through.
No other blankets in the barn fit her - she's a size 70. BO has 54" and 84". I have an 84 for Rosie.
She's wearing Rosie's 84. I didn't get a picture of it - I should have.
I took the leg straps off didn't want the chance of her getting hung up. The chest ... I buckled to top one to the hood loop. The bottom one as tight as it would go to it's clip. Then the surcingles I tightened as much as possible and other than hanging off her butt a lot it's not going anywhere and she's not going to get a foot hung.
I don't own clippers. Pippin would be terrible about being clipped - he doesn't even like scissors. But, I know the guys would look so much neater. I'm debating buying some. Any suggestions from other readers/riders?
ReplyDeleteLast winter (tons of snow and very cold temps for weeks on end) I clipped Dixie's neck only and she was just fine. I only blanketed her once, on a driving-rain-to-snow day. Try just doing Rosie's neck and see if that helps keep her cool without chilling her too much!
ReplyDeleteI'm doing the "bib" trace clip for my beast tomorrow. I did it last year and it worked well for him since he does live outdoors.
ReplyDeleteBonnie must have looked pretty overwhelmed in her blanket. Hope her's was able to dry out. It's been cold here too, but going up to 50 tomorrow. Crazy.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy spa days every bit as much as the horses do. It's so relaxing to me.
ReplyDeleteDreaming, it's just like anything else. You get them used to it step by step.
We used to do a trace clip for Morgunn during the winter (he gets a full body clip in late Spring for the summre), but our winters have been colder than usual so we're leaving him all wooly.
ReplyDeleteDan
sounds like a nice day with ponies. That is some kind of humidity !
ReplyDeleteThere is something really nice about being able to spend time grooming your horses. I love doing the mini makeovers ....hope you had fun and the clip sounds like a good one ...hope the rug dried okay!
ReplyDeleteToo bad you didn't get a picture of her modeling her bigger blanket. I'm sure she was cozy in it. We only gave Mellon that particular clip this year. He was so sweaty all the time, I guess since he's gotten older his hair grows more than it used to. He doesn't have Cushings, he was checked but he does look like a hairy yak. Glad you had a fun day grooming and playing with blankets.
ReplyDeleteThe winter that I bought Apache, she moved up here to the mountains, without any time to adjust to our cold winters, from down in the Rio Grande Valley. At the time, she had a very short, coarse, thin coat and she was pretty miserable when it snowed or got windy.
ReplyDeleteI vowed to buy her a blanket if she had any problems keeping warm last winter, but she ended up growing in a fine, thick, soft fur coat, just as she did this year. And since we don't show or compete and she needs her fur to help her adjust to the weather fluctuations naturally, I let her keep every last inch of it.
She's out 24/7 with access to her barn stall and some trees if she wants to get out of the wind or weather, but she loves to be outside instead. But Apache doesn't shiver like she did that first winter, and she is warm and cozy under her thick fur coat. I wouldn't dream of clipping her now.
~Lisa
You could have let the surcingles out all the way and just wrapped them around twice =)
ReplyDelete