Saturday 31 October 2015

Halloween Horrors

Title may be a little misleading as my overdue return to tack was far from horrific, however as you'll see from the photos accompanying this post the state of my hairy monsters after 6 months turnout is a horror show.
Those with sensitive disposition be advised, the gnarly knotted manes and tails that follow are not for the faint hearted...However thanks to some Canter Mane & Tail spray, they are at least somewhat on the road to recovery ;-)

Russet-hairy "clean" photo to start
 the post on a positive

All joking aside, both girls were superstars for our return to arena work today. I think i have sat on Kika once since Beka visited and i lunged her once in her headcollar earlier this week before turning her loose in an arena to meet a new turnout buddy. (I wanted to warm her up/take the edge off in case there might have been some running involved ppst-intro...spoiler alert - i needn't have worried)
It must be a testament to how far Kika & I have come in recent years that I didn't have any fear of climbing on board without lunging or popping her on the walker first. I guess the 24/7 turnout keeps her sane & as you can tell from the photos, she's pretty hairy and rather unfit so not quite in shenanigan-shape...but she is still Kika so we just never know what's going on under the hood ;-)

Before & After of Nancy's gnarly tail
Prior grooming and trimming
I wasn't worried and she proved i was right not to be, we walked, trotted and cantered without fighting or flailing. The closest we came to having a discussion was at the end when I wanted to open the door of the arena from her back and ride out she started thinking about getting into it with me. Before any of her shenanginistic ideas took hold i hopped off and led her out of the arena so that we wouldn't end on a sour note. We were already finished and cooled out at that stage, having her cart my lazy ass the 15m to the grooming area would have just been the icing on the cake. No harm - No foul.

Ditto Kika's stringy mess of a tail

I had had a very quick walk/trot spin on Nancy last night, before potential-leasee (i'm going to have to find an abbreviation for her as it's looking positive that she's going to take a 1/4 lease on Nancy) hopped up for a refresher spin. I just wanted to keep things calm and controlled yesterday evening as it had been about three weeks since I'd managed to ride N & I didn't want her getting hett up (in her Nancy way not Kika hot) as P-L said her back was giving her a bit of hip. N was an angel as per usual.
Today, it all started out well. We walked, we trotted, we cantered and discussed how I ideally wanted her to carry her head/neck as she tried to convince me that really careening around like a discombobulated giraffe was more her style. The conversation between Nancy & I came about after some lovely initial canter work on one rein and her desire to immediately canter in her terms going the other way whereas I wanted a more balanced/correct trot prior to transitioning up. I eventually won out and we did get some very nice canter work on that side too.

Sadly all that is left of N's lovely mane...deff investing in a fly rug for turnout ahead of next summer & going to do plenty research about links between Friesians and sweet itch. Am I deluding myself in hoping it was just a bumper year for flies this year (it was) as mercifully N hasn't rubbed the tail off herself...Just her mane.

Bless her little heart, she was smarting slightly from not having gotten her way re:cantering-on-her-terms and as we trotted rather nicely (if i do say so myself) passed the entrance a horse coming in had the audacity to rustle fallen tree leaves with its hooves. Nancy spooked, as only Nancy can by taking off for maybe 5 strides and then regaining her composure with a few soothing words of wisdom; aka my laughing gently at her while patting her and telling her not to be so melodramatic. Difficult to identify or unexpected sounds are prob Nancy's spook-trigger. But bless her, even when she spooks she does so so demurely that it really dost register on the Richter Scale particularly in comparison to DonKikate (aka Dumbo) when it comes to spooking at different coloured sand/leaves/sunlight-in-the-woods/watermarks-on-the-sides-of-the-arena/a-new-radio-that-was-never-there-before...you get the picture I'm sure ☺

And to finish with a cute
Nancy headshot
PS - word to the wise
If using Canter Mane & Tail spray prior to tacking up. I was reminded today (after dousing my hands in the stuff to rub into Nancy's forelock), not to attempt to tighten or close strapped leather goods (like a girth). The lovely spray that help brushes glide easily through gnarly knots makes for some super slippy fingers and while I did manage to not punch myself in the face while girthing - it was a close call *lolz*

22 comments:

  1. Oh but the tails! So lovely!

    Such pretty girls. Total yay at hopping on kika and no drama!

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    1. Such a yay to have a sane horsey sometimes, long may it last *fingers-crossed*

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  2. I've had that experience with some tail detangling spray before! (I'm glad I'm not the only one...)

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    1. I managed to not sock myself in the face this time, but i have done it in the past *sigh*

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  3. I would put that tail detangling spray fiasco in the same category as "don't put on fresh chap stick before currying a shedding horse". Things I've learned the hard way at the barn. =-)

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    1. Top tip!
      Thanks for sharing Jess *thumbsup*

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  4. Those tails look like they took some elbow grease!!

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    1. Nope, that's the beauty of the Canter Mane & Tail spray. A couple of spritzes and the brush glided through without any probs. Plus it smells good, win - win in my book ☺

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  5. Glad I'm not the only one who has actually punched themselves! Even wild and wooly your mares are lovely!

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    1. Never fear L, if it's ridiculous chances are I've managed to do it ;-)
      Thanks for the kind words, I cannot wait for them to come back in at nights so i can clip them and not worry about sweaty-bettys

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  6. oooh they both have such nice tails! bummer about Nancy's sweet itch tho :(

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    1. I know, I'm hoping that it's not really sweet itch and that if i can nab a Horseware fly rug at a bargain winter sale price I can hopefully preserve whatever mane grows back over the winter *sob*

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  7. Awww Nancy!!! I can't believe she rubbed it all out. Maybe you should roach it like Chrome's? That way it can all grow out evenly together.

    There is a link between Friesians and skin problems (I think actually related to collagen problems) that I was unaware of before Chrome developed sweet itch. If Nancy isn't rubbing sores on her shoulders or anything it may not be sweet itch though so don't start stressing yet.

    I've heard people have a lot of luck using Listerine (not sure what kind of mouthwash you guys have over there...) to keep them from rubbing their manes out. You may just have to wash it every couple of weeks in the summer. Her tail is gorgeous though!! The goats are ruining Chrome's tail (not eating it, but rubbing their horns in it). I'll have to do a post on that sometime... not happy.

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    1. Thanks for the Listerine tip, I'll keep that in mind for next year. My aunt has dealt with sweet itch before and recommended some tea tree oil concoction - so ill get her recipe for that too.
      I know Nancy's little sister suffered from sweet itch, but prior to this summer N hadn't shown any signs. I'm hoping it was just a bumper year for flies and that she isn't actually affected by sweet itch - she does hate flies!

      I will have a think about roach in mane when getting her clipped. Will it not end up growing out like a mohawk? Or will it eventually flop over to the side again as it gets longer?

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    2. Oh it will definitely flop over when it gets long enough. In fact Chrome's is about to flop right now. I need to trim it.

      Neem oil works really well for Chrome's sweet itch when I can be consistent. With me getting off so late in the evening this year it was useless.... His was horrible this year.

      It seems weird that she would develop it so late... Fingers crossed that's not the problem. It could have been flies, ticks, mosquitoes, bacteria, fungus, any number of things. If it were me I'd just wash it really well with something that soothes itch and see how it goes over the winter. :-) She's still beautiful!

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  8. I've totally gave myself a good old smack with hands coated in wonderful/terrible grooming product!

    Roached manes grow up like a mohawk and then flop right back over thanks to gravity and hair whorls :)

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    1. I was hoping that would be the case, a quick going over with the clippers when her time comes may be in order for Miss Nancy-Belle

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  9. I like the roached mane idea! I think they're adorable :)

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    1. We shall see how she rocks the mohawk afterwards - she's going to be such a soft punk rocker lolz

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  10. My mare has developed mosquito bite hypersensitivity (as opposed to sweet itch which is sand flues/midges) at 10. She lost half her beautiful mane before I started using a fly sheet/snuggy hood rug this spring (Southern Hemisphere) biotin supplements are awesome for making manes grow faster. An antifungal/antibacterial wash weekly will help stop secondary infections.

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    1. Thanks for the tips, I have taken a screenshot so i can refer back come next spring ☺

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