That's A Big Sucker!

I have never in my life used a vacuum cleaner on a horse. And since I have started back into showing, here in MN, it hasn't been too bad to keep horses clean and coats healthy in the winter...until this year. It's been way too cold to do the normal routine. And I have been at my wits end trying to keep tails, manes and forelocks in conditioned shape, much less get a good brushing done on the kids.

So my poor ponies have the itchies. I decided to get the vacuum cleaner out today. Figured out what attachment to use and vacuumed two ponies. Smokie went first. Poor dude. Yesterday he had the girlie girlie foo foo stuff put in his hair first, so I thought we would continue the theme and start with him. Actually I really thought Cowboy would freak way too much if he went first. And I probably was right.

This is not a quiet vacuum. It roars horrendously, the sound kind of between a high pitched scream and ground up nuts and bolts. I forged ahead. (Sometimes I wonder about myself, either I am incredibly brave, or I am incredibly dubious. I choose to pick brave in these situations).

I vacuumed his backbone, the top of the tail and tail bone, and mane. Those are the trouble makers in our world. They make ponies rub and roll too much. The lose of hair seems to come out in patches. Then I did his face. He didn't like the face to much, but tolerated it.

I left him tied and decided to go try Cowboy. Okay so now I can agree with you, maybe this is the dubiousness side of bravery?????

Now, if you don't know Cowboy, he is waaaayyyy studly. He's the man, or so he thinks. Puffs up his chest, throws it out. Arches his neck, snorts, paws. His back is top lines to perfection and his rear seems to like to cha cha cha. But show him a pair of scissors, clippers-- and apparently vacuums, and he cowers in the corner like wet kitten. Of course, he watched with intense interest through the little slit between the stalls as Smokie was being vacuumed. Darn if it didn't come to his stall next! I am glad he did watch. It made my dubious decision move from a second guess to a yeah we'll go ahead and give this a whirl.

I started with his back, then his neck and mane base, then moved to his chest. Things got a bit interesting here. I didn't think he could bend his neck as tightly as he did, but he did! He did not appreciate that big sucking thing touching his chest. I finally talked him into getting his chest done. Then I did the top of his tail, which he ducked tightly into his arse, but we finally managed to get it done. I thought things were going fairly well, so I went to do his face. I could tell he just about had enough, so it took a good couple minutes to talk him into vaccuming his face. He finally relented and I just did above his eyes, his forehad. Not too bad! I am pretty proud of my boy!

Then I finished him off with a good brushing and he was pretty pleased as pie with himself. He puffed out his chest, arched his neck, straightened his topline and started doing the cha cha for me. Well - now if only they would allow the vaccum cleaner as an aide in the show ring, I would win everytime!

I decided to go one step further and went for an ear. Not with the vacuum, mind you, that would not have been a wise choice. Cowboy hates his ears touched. Dont' know why, but its always a constant battle. I thought, well if I can work on him now and if I had the chance to take him this summer, then I should work on his ears so he is of course, easier to work with. That was a good 5 minute session. Of course, guess who was looking through the slat divider? Yep - Smokie. What goes around comes around. He was laughing his butt off at Cowboy.

After I vacuumed the boys, I pulled the fillies in for their feed session. When they were in their stalls, I went and found Smokies training surcingle and bridle. BRRR! They were in the horse trailer. I had to carry the bit in my pocket for like 30 minutes for it to warm up enough to put in his mouth. So I put his tack on and let him circle his stall while I carried water to all the other pony stalls.

I am pretty proud of the boy, he did just fine. I had to go in and adjust twice, but he did fine. I will hook him up again tomorrow and then this weekend, if the weather permits, will start to drive him up and down the drive way.

I pulled some more training tack in, I am hoping I have enough to go the 2 year olds and the yearlings, so I don't have to do a ton of adjusting. But I need to start working ponies now, even if it is at the walk.

I called a trainer friend of mine today to talk about tail sets. I can't find any documentation and no one is too willing to share. But she said she would shoot me off a couple pics next week. I am thinking I need to be an expert at this. Not too many people left that know how to do tail sets the right way, so they look natural. I went and looked through our journal from 2005-2008 at the Congress pics and she's right, you can tell a bad hair day easily.

So I am starting to research wig making, all in the quest for the perfect look for a pony. Oh the Vanity!

Oh I finally figured out why Tulip has been acting out when haltering her. I replaced her outgrown hot pink halter with a plain black halter. She didn't like the plain black one-- obviously.