Monday, August 23, 2010

Partner

Well it took a year of hard work, but I really finally feel like Dixie is my partner. She does have good sense (usually), and she does trust me, and she tries hard for me. Yay!

The last couple times I rode more than 20 miles, I felt the next day like a truck hit me. Sunday I only felt like an angry 12 year old punk on a BMX bike hit me. My calves are fine, which probably means I'm posting right and my lower legs are just chilling out around Dixie's ribs. Everything else is a little sore - it takes so much core strength to keep riding.

In2paints mentioned Dixie's mane - I went out yesterday and washed her nasty rats-nest mane and tail. I cant bring myself to cut her mane, but it is a royal pain in the ass. It's so thick, and when I neglect it, it gets SO tangled. But it's truly beautiful and it really does keep the flies away.

Her back legs were a tiny bit filled. They weren't hot and she wasn't off or sore. Maybe I will get some liniment for after long rides? I worry about putting ice boots on - they don't have good circulation in their legs, and cold can be just as damaging as heat.

Her front fetlocks looked fine. She really does heal fast, and the rubs didn't break the skin.

I ran out of that Cowboy Magic goo I've been using to detangle her mane, so I had to break out the evil squirt bottle of show sheen. In the past, she's had some epic meltdowns about squirt bottles, so I was just delighted when she let me drench her tail with SS without any fuss. She got nervous when I started on her mane, so I got the treats out and we made it a clicker session. I alternated letting her choose to touch the bottle for a treat with asking her to stand still while I squirted her mane. It was a little difficult for her, so I didn't even get her whole mane done - she was being so good, and I didn't want to push too hard.

I rasped a little off the outside quarters of her fronts. Jim is not coming to trim her for two more weeks - that'll work out great for Comstock, but I want to deal with the problem areas before then. Even after a bath, her feet are like rocks with wicked thick walls. I will need to work on them some more.

House - we're trying to get the reinspection and walkthrough scheduled. Four more days til we close!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

10 comments:

  1. Do you find that the base (roots) of her mane get greasy looking? I know Maddie's white mane always looks dirty, like the detangler (usually CM) and/or conditioner (usually M&T) just COLLECTS dirt!

    Good luck on the final inspection!

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  2. Yeah, Dixie's mane is the same way. It's not shampoo, though -I've gone months w/o washing it and it looks the same. It's just horse lanolin or something. Yesterday I managed to scrub her mane with Quic Silver long enough to stain the dingy roots purple! Lovely. Sigh :-/

    Thanks for the well wishes!!

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  3. I used Equiss(?) detangler. It's not greasy and i don't think it has silicone it. It smells great. I just did both horses tails last night.
    Yeah it's so cool when you realize your horse doesn't mind hanging out with you, isn't it?

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  4. If you don't like ice boots (I do), perhaps hosing her legs with cold water for 10 or 15 minutes? If you're clever about where she's standing while you do it, you can simultaneously water the garden....

    (glad that my horse is the color of DIRT, ha! no Quicksilver for me!)

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  5. I've always like short manes on my own horses, but enjoy looking at long manes on other people's horses. Less work that way. :)

    Does she get super sweaty under all that mane? They do work well for flies, but it seems like it would also be very hot.

    Good luck with the house!

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  6. So glad you are Dixie are Pard'ners :) Cold hosing is a good option if you don't like ice boots....I do like them, but I'm careful using them for up to 15-20 minutes. How about the flex wraps that are magically cold? Or are you trying to get away from putting cold on the legs at all? If that's the case, I think a good rub down/massage on the leg would help - I think that's how the linament works - through the massage.

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  7. Best of luck with the house. I'm a fan of Dixie's mane too. Our horse's manes are short 'cause that's the fashion for their breeds/disciplines, but I love love love a long silky mane like Dixie's.

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  8. Setting aside the fact that she should get used to the spray bottle, I used to just dump a bit of show sheen into a cup, get it all over my hands and then rub it on their manes or squirting a bunch into my hands first (get them used to the noise!) and then running it through that way.

    Then again, I worked at a barn with the highest plain bay population in Canada I think. haha.

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  9. I actually do like ice! I realize that wasn't very clear. I just don't like the idea of leaving ice on for more than 15 minutes.

    I think part of it is just that I haven't changed my mindset from "boarding" to "horse at home." Right now if I want to do two 15 min on/off cycles of ice, that's an extra hour before I get home. Yuck. But if I could slap boots on her, go feed the house critters, come take them off, start dinner, put them on, etc... That'd be totally doable.

    I thought liniment might be nice for an overnight thing, after the hosing or ice boots. I've never used any kind of leg products before though, so I'm not sure what works and what's just wishful thinking by horse owners.

    I will have to video me playing with her mane. It's as thick as my Percheron's was. Ridiculous!

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  10. yay on the house, yay on the partnership! cowboy magic is the bomb.
    - The Equestrian Vagabond

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