No worries, in the end he'll be clean, if you can manage to suffer through this huge photo dump! Also, there's a video....
First, my favorite photo, Gimped, obviously, for contrast.
The spring in the middle of our field has dried completely up, so there isn't a single damp spot for Mag to roll in. Oh, how he wishes he were filthy *lol*. Here he's staring to the street two fields away, as people are walking on it. Omygosh, PEOPLE! Red alert!
I love how "bald" his face is in August, no shaving required. It won't always be this way.
Our pasture has never looked like this in the 9 years we've lived here. It's crispy.
So there you have it. Poop-tail Mag. I thought I might have to cut it but my secret recipe worked. This is only 2 weeks without a tail wash.
See all those weeds behind him? For the first time ever today I took my push lawn mower and cut them all down. Mostly nettles, about thigh high. I spent hours out there and probably mowed 3/4 of an acre in total, of lumpy hoof-pocked ground, where the mower's wheels just spun and spun, going nowhere. I thought the neighbors would call Lawn Mower Control on me because that was not a job for a little mower! The one factor that allowed me to do this - no more horse flies!!!!!!! Bye bye til next year!
This is the moment he noticed the people. Too bad he blinked, I really like this photo.
How long did he stand like this? Too long for a 7 year old horse who sees people walking by. (Note the grunge tail.)
Those weeds! Now you can actually see the fence behind him. I'm so proud of myself.
That's not lush at all: (
This one is for Aarene. I planted 20 bean plants and this is what I got. 3 beans. *cry* I just can't do vegetables in Germany. Herbs, berries, nuts, fruuits, but no veggies.
The plum tree is covered in juicy plums that the ants share a few of each day. Most get thrown to the donkey after the ants get into them. Bellis will just hang out by the gate waiting for a plum to fall or for me to throw one to her. Mag has learned to spit out the seeds, good boy, I don't think a belly full of seeds is good.
Giving Mag another "spot-bath" on Spa Day, I noticed how many scars he has under his mane. He's got scars everywhere but I'd never noticed these.
The weather finally broke these last few days and it's not warm enough to give him a full on bath. Actually I am not sure I've ever bathed him completely, stem to stern. He's so sensitive to cold, even on warm days he shivers. So here I just did his mane, tail, legs, and face, with warm water (buckets) and briefly cold to rinse, toweling him immediately.
I love anything Mag does that reminds me of Baasha, like pawing the ground impatiently, and hating a wet towel touching his face. But I was careful to wring it out thoroughly and use very warm water. He said, "You're hurting me, you're hurting me!" until he realized it felt good and he leaned into it and even took the towel in his mouth. I was thrilled to see how black his skin turned when clean and damp.
I wanted to show you his white leg patterns, which I've only recently discovered. When washed with my secret recipe, his legs are cleaner than horses I've seen at shows!
This is my favorite marking, see how it shoots up in a stripe? I love learning new things about Mag.
Pose for a Clean Mane/Clean Face photo Mag!
But I want cookies! He got lots of cookies as I trimmed his hooves.
Tail much better. Secret recipe - not so secret - Quic Silver mixed with Dr Bronners Castile soap and a splash of Spray&Wash (yikes, I know). Let to sit for a full half hour, it came out good.
Now that I'm home he can resume his vitamin/mineral intake, mixed in with a tiny bit of hay pellet mash. They're so thrilled I'm home, when they see me they leave the area and go stand in the "Waiting for buckets" area!
This is what it looks like when a horse rolls next to a Tpost and the Tpost wins. *sigh*
I can almost reach the cookie section!
I can stretch like a show horse! Just give me a cookie! He's in the tackroom/shed as far as he can get without breaking the rules (no hooves!).
They were happy to see me, in hopes of apples/plums, but I had nothing so they didn't join me.
11 comments:
Your "dirty" horse is cleaner than most horses I know! Sorry your pasture isn't green, it is still really nice. I actually wish my stable owner did not water so much, a nice dry pasture is so good for hooves!
He looks like a unicorn in some of those photos!
And from one gray horse owner to another- you MUST share your secret recipe with me!
Wow, those are some white whites! Hope the fraught doesn't effect your getting hay. Bet you're so happy to be home, aside from the mowing part anyway.
Irish, They irrigate your horse pasture? Really! But doesn't it mean you can feed less hay?
Teresa, Unicorn, I'll explain to him what that concept means. Recipe is honestly this: Regularity is more important than recipe: ) I've just now figured that out. But if you can get Quic Silver in your country, that's the best there is. Since I cannot, I buy a huge bottle of Dr Bronner's Castile Soap every visit to America, and stretch it out with water, and mix in Germany's version of Spray & Wash (I know). Be careful, I mostly use the Spray & Wash on the lower part of the tail, cuz that cannot be good for skin (it's made for laundry, to remove stains such as blood and grease and grass, so it's perfect for poop in tail.) I hate to propagate that, but when you let it soak on the lower tail for 30 minutes, you'll be amazed. Oh, and I learned this through blog land too - use the hottest water you can stand on the lower tail. If you're as crazy as I am, do a hot water pre-soak - just as you'd do your white sheets. It's amazing how much crap comes out into hot water alone! Then proceed to massage the entire tail for about 10 minutes, the labor of love, insanity, whatever. Then soak/set 30, then rinse in a clear bucket of scalding hot water again.
Wait, Carmen's tail is not white, yet! You don't need this yet!
Camryn, I'm SO happy to be home, my own bed, my own down comforter, my own bathroom and a REFRIGERATOR!!! As much cold water as I can drink, a fan, an AC......my HUSBAND to cuddle all night and day....even the cat has forgiven me for leaving. Thank you for following along on this agonizing journey.
I'm just not sure I can see the "dirt" that you see on your horse. The "after" pictures do look nice, though!
And I would hate for you to see the rinse water when the Dragon gets her annual bath (I do rinse her off after a hard workout, but with my borked truck and now severely Bad Air, hard workouts aren't happening lately): ewwww.
My pasture is brown. The only green belongs to plants that are not grass (blackberry vines, alder trees, bracken ferns...). Sigh.
It's a good thing you don't have a brown horse. Your skills would be so wasted.
Well, he did look better after his bath, but really, I didn't think he looked bad before. My daughter's grey mare would turn Mason County brown (we have sandy soil) into the summer from rolling. The sandy soil is hard on their coats. Same in winter. There was a brief time when the hair was new and strong that it looked good. Then came the rain and rolling and it turned brown on top. It would also grind off their manes when they rolled. :( But Mag does look very sparkly after his bath. and wow with the crispy pastures. Our pastures always turn crispy and Texas tan in the summer because of the heat, but that is disturbing to see Europe like that.
With so many scars I think he might have had a hard life before you bought him. Some from other horses but some from people I think. He looks good now.
Aarene, the two chestnuts I've had (PB and Mara) - I only washed their tails once each, and was disgusted afterwards, cuz I saw no difference. Saved a lot of money on shampoo at that time: ) Isn't it sick, that the only thing green is what you don't want? Or pasture is infested with thistle this year, a big green streak in the middle. *spit*
KB, right, he *wished* he could be dirty but there was no moisture, so it was all tail. I've seen pictures of greys in Arizona who turn orange from the dirt. I should be grateful huh!
Your horse looks wonderful, dirty OR clean! I have the advantage that Kate's tail is black, and her white spots are only maybe 30% of her body. The rest is dirt colored (dun)!
Your pasture still has a hint of green to it, but does look a bit crinkley. During the drought here (just north of your Yakima reference) three years ago, they shut off the irrigation water before August! I'm still fighting the weeds that took over! If it weren't for the irrigation, this valley would be essentially high desert (shrub stepp). If you can mow those thistles before they go to seed (may already be too late), they won't be as bad next year.
Glad you're home!
P.S. I really liked seeing your little video--it gave me a good look at "the lay of the land" on your place. You've posted others, and lots of photos, but this one was very clear on the transition between the paddock area and the hang. Thanks!
Laurie, Yoru mare was always the Optimal Paint, I'd noticed. I'm glad you enjoyed the video, I'll try to keep it real in the future. I'm in between mowing thistles and poisoning at the moment. I've used 2 liters per day (I only have a hand-sprayer, we're a family farm), hehe). But I ordered t2 more 400 ml bottles of DICAMBA from Bayer, if you know what that is (weed n feed, basically). Looking forward to using those two tiny bottles over the next few weeks. And J will have to mow the bigger ones with a weed whacker, I'm afraid.
It would be funny, but it's not - if it's not one weed coming back, (blackberry, nettle). it's another new one (oxen tongue, thistle). WTH!
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