Monday, January 30, 2012

Hooves, smarts, cabinets

Front left:
Front left

Front right:
Front right

They could do with a little more trimming, but not bad. Her frogs are all tattered because they shed off a layer when the snow came. I've been smearing goo up in the sulcus every other day for about a week, and they're opening up very nicely. Heels are still a bit high, but I'm just taking them down as the dead stuff scrapes out.

Side shot, fronts:
DSCN1049

Left rear, juuuust starting to lift off (she was in NO MOOD to stand still for pictures):
DSCN1052

Fronts from the front:
DSCN1050

Compared with a week and a half ago, we're making great progress.

Now, GLOVES! You want Original Mud Gloves. The latex dip stuff COVERS YOUR KNUCKLES. I dunno about you, but I'm constantly rasping holes in my normal gardening glove knuckles, or just rasping holes in my actual knuckles. If you can't find them locally, I got mine from these resellers on Amazon. Yes, they're fifteen freakin' dollars with shipping, but they're totally worth it if you're a knuckle-rasper.

I usually wear M gloves, and that's what I ordered this time. I think these gloves run a tiny bit bigger than normal mesh-dipped gardening gloves, and the next pair I get will be S.

I also saw a moment of unusual Dixie intelligence, I think.

Dixie doesn't like to be groomed. I've tried everything from the softest of brushes to the stiffest of currycombs, from gentle short strokes to really firm long strokes, and she just doesn't like it. She's got a couple of itchy spots she wants me to scratch, but she really doesn't like to have her entire coat brushed out, and she's a terrible wiggleworm when I do brush her.

When I clipped her neck Friday, I gave her a couple treats for being brave about the scary clippers, and she eventually relaxed and started chowing down on her haybag and I just clipped as best I could while her neck moved. That's as good as it gets with Dixie - she's eating and standing still and letting me do whatever to her.

Today I got the clippers back out and she had another snorting wild-eyed "oh god scary monster" moment, but when she got over that she stood absolutely rock-still while I worked on her neck a little more and clipped the front half of her belly. I spent probably 15 minutes clipping, flipping her mane, clipping the other side, flipping her mane back, clipping between her front legs, clipping her belly, looking at what I'd done, and touching up extra-scraggly bits. She did not move a muscle - she didn't drop her head and eat, she didn't fidget, NOTHING. There's only two possible explanations I can think of: either the warm vibrating clippers just feel nice, or she realized that I clipped off some hair which kept her cooler and she likes to be cool. I really think it was the latter.

My poor horse:
DSCN1048

Yes, I'm storing the clippers in a Crown Royal bag.
More clipping!

Inside news: I got the last set of cabinets scrubbed, sanded, and caulked today - tomorrow I can paint them. And I peeled off the last bit of ugly wallpaper border and almost half the dark green checkered wallpaper on the long wall! Woohoo! The end is in sight.

16 comments:

  1. Your horse is clever and clipped. My horse is clever and not. See the problem? You need to come visit. Bring your Crown Royal bag...

    >g<

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  2. CLIP THE DRAGON? Lady, are you nuts? Nuh-uh, no way. I will bring my clippers and watch YOU clip her from the other side of a fence!

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  3. I'm contemplating clipping Rose for her first time in a week or two. Perhaps I too should try this clippers=food idea, might actually fly with my pony.

    So... does the Crown Royal help you clop better? Just wondering... ;p

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  4. I should try clipping drunk. It can't possibly look any worse - wait, no, I might take out a chunk of her mane. SOBER CLIPPING ONLY.

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  5. I definitely agree that clipping feels good. It once took me TWO (2) HOURS to clip Crispin, and he stood rock still the whole time.
    Must be like a massage?
    Hooves are looking great!

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  6. After a lesson on Saturday in 25 F degree weather and the wooly mammoth was sweating profusely, (remember I clipped her neck and chest a week ago but with a 1 inch guard on blade), I think the clippers are coming back out...

    Dixie's feet look great - I'm jealous. I want feet like that..

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  7. I was going to ask if the Crown Royal bag had anything OTHER than clippers in it. Maybe you should both take a swig or two before you clip?

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  8. Sorry, "clipping the dragon" sounds like some weird Kama Sutra chapter...!

    She's very tame for clipping, brushing, and all kinds of fussing. I wouldn't go so far as to claim that she likes it. However, she used to HATE. ALL. THINGS. ACTIVELY. (except the farrier whom she adores) including routine grooming, but now she stands quietly, hoping for cookies. She tolerates clipping everywhere, it's just that I'm incompetent and my clipper blades are beyond dull....!

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  9. Looky how WHITE that clipped bit is! :)

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  10. Soak those tootsies in chlorine dioxide and you'll hit two birds with one stone. The depth of that sulcus crack is a little worrying and I'm not sure that Pete's Goo is going to cut it on that infection.

    And OMGosh, her clipped neck looks like it belongs on a different horse. I'm highly amused by that photo.

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  11. I wonder if I stored my clippers in a crown royal bag if Jason would actually help me clip horses??? He is a CR fan.

    That last picture of Dixie cracked me up, the girl can seriously grow hair when you compare her neck with the rest of her!

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  12. sma - the goo is working, actually! Today I picked all the way down in the central sulcus and it didn't hurt her. Remember, she was shod before she was 2 with those ridiculous TWH pads - she will never have textbook feet.

    Melissa - LOL I know right! Clipped with the direction of the hair, she's stil got as much hair as an Arab in winter coat.

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  13. Out of curiosity...You don't do anything with her legs that requires clipping?

    I didn't know if endurance riders did braces and tightening rubs after riding?

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  14. BEC - great question!

    A lot of endurance riders do use poultices, and a lot of people feel that clipping the legs makes it easier to treat scratches.

    I don't use poultices - I don't know how to wrap legs, for one thing, and I haven't seen a need. She doesn't get warm stocked-up legs after work. And I have a theory that clipping legs, especially white ones, is an invitation to develop scratches. Her long feathery hair seems to wick mud away from her skin - when she stands in mud, she comes out of it with mudballs on her feathers and relatively dry skin. I think if I clipped her legs, the mud would cling to her skin and possibly irritate it and cause scratches. That's my theory, anyway.

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  15. You inspired me. Now I own clippers... my next non raining day will be attempting our first clipping attempt as currently I can bury my hands in her fur and actually hold on a bit if I want to. Doesn't seem conducive to cooling out after some miles... but Dixie still trumps Rose in the hair growing department. That's some serious fur growing skills she has.

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  16. I second Aarene's comment! We need you out here! :-) Dixie & Khari must be "sister's"... Khari has never liked to be groomed either - which seems so strange to me. I have to brush her ever so lightly to keep from seeing her "ugly" face! Eating will always distract her too...
    The feet look Great! I'm in awe of those who can get it done! I tried barefoot for a full season & my hands just couldn't handle it. They were so sore by the time I was done & had the boots on that I just gave it up. Thumbs up to you!

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