Horse Hosin'

 

After remarking that I bath my horse Neko after riding her in hot weather, my sister Beatrice suggested as how this would be an interesting blog post. I realized that this was probably true as not many of my blog followers have horses or experience the pleasure of hosing down a large animal. I kept forgetting to bring my camera or phone along with me but finally, today, I was prepared.!

Following a vigorous episode of "torturing" my poor pony by demanding that she perform all kinds of arcane movements, like stopping and turning left or right, she can be sweaty. 

Typically this occurs under the girth and beneath the saddle pad. You can just spot wash it off but when it's really hot and humid- like today- they LOVE to get wet!

I always start by hosing the feet and legs first, as their hooves can be hot and need cooling first. I've been told this by several experienced horsey people so that's what I do! So after all four feet and legs have been wet down, the rest of the horse is fair game.

You will notice, Neko's eyes are actually closing; she's like, "Oh boy! This feels GOOD!". 

You will also take notice that I don't even have a halter on her as she enjoys this so much that she simply stands there. In fact, Maggie often crowds in, wanting to get hosed, too.

There's Maggie in the background, enjoying some of the over spray. I am only hosing Neko today; I don't use shampoo or soap often as that can dry their coats. Plain old water is better. It's like going swimming.

And here comes on of those funky details that you probably wouldn't have guessed at. A mare (a female horse) has her mammary glands (read: horse boobs) between her hind legs. They can get a nasty, waxy build up soooooooo we gently hose up there and then reach in and remove any crud.

You knew that was coming!! Yuck! Removing this must feel really nice as they often spread their legs a bit wider and accommodate my efforts. Oh, the pleasures of horse ownership! 

I then finish up by squeegeeing off excess water. Neko is looking at me as if to say, "What!? All done? Do it again!" And of course, a horse loves being squeaky clean and shiny and experiencing our standards of grooming and hygiene... WRONG!

The next thing that Neko does is lay down and roll, the better to adorn herself with dirt and dust:

You can only imagine the self-satisfied grunts that accompany this. Heaven.

And lastly, here's Neko, doing what Neko likes best- eating, delightfully encrusted in a patina of dirt, but cooled off!

In Pursuit of the Perfect Body

Yes, that's me flying through space in my self-imposed exercise regime, attempting to fight off mid-life love handles and mid-winter doldrums. I'm probably not succeeding at either as I'm sure I've been eating my way towards lumpiness, both because it's (not yet) winter and it's been cold, but also The Orange Menace provokes a certain level of anxiety in me that I suppress by consuming.

I've selected a range of DVD's from our local library, which I alternate with my own tailor-made inventive workout... part Jane Fonda/part me aerobically acting out. I have liked parts of each DVD- and disliked other parts equally. The first exercise disc I watched featured a woman who persisted in pointing out that she was on an island! it was warm! (needlessly as she was on sand, backed by rippling waves) and annoying me with her insistent arm motions. I could not for the life of me figure out what kind of weird figure 8's she was doing and I almost fell over multiple times. I'm not the most graceful being... but I try!
The yoga based one was better, and I felt good and relaxed after ward, but I think I need a bit more structure in the waist line area. Midriff bulge, muffin tops, love handles... I have successfully cultivated all three. I did both the beginner (kinda lame and too easy) and the intermediate the first time and today I combined the intermediate program with the advanced. THAT got my abdominals pumping! Saturday, I'll do my own spastic aerobic routine and then try the pilates DVD.

 As I lay on the floor, jack knifing and holding, breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth, Robin is throwing a fit in the hall. I think she thinks I'm suffering from some strange disorder. She gets plenty of exercise, running around the yard at full tilt. And I point out that despite having just celebrated a 3rd birthday, she's still young and I'm trying to be somewhat younger than my chronological years. The cold weather doesn't help! I haven't been able to go riding and due to the car dilemma, Robin and I haven't taken a walk in several weeks. (Hopefully that changes tomorrow!) Until then, here's to good health!

Activities For A Cold Day

This morning Bob and I went to secure another 20 bales of hay. What else can you do when the daytime high is like 11 degrees? Baby, it's cold! Yet another delightful effect of this "polar vortex" fun is that a horse (or cow or dog or human) has to eat more to maintain body temperature. We buy our winter hay from a beautiful farm in Middlebury and pick it up twenty bales at a time. (They store it in a huge barn, as we have limited storage.) The only trick is timing it so that the weather cooperates, work schedules permits and you don't run out. We were down to a single bale...
The next excitement is getting the hay from the driveway to the horse barn. What with snow cover, we have to be clever in our methods as you can't drive the truck to the barn.

I swear, Bob and I sometimes resemble peasants in a Breughel painting. We're swaddled in hats and scarves and gloves and boots and dragging pieces of plywood secured with ropes across the tundra- very Middle Ages, indeed! I'm supposing this kind of activity keeps us fit for the demanding enterprise of making art. Who needs aerobics or pilates when you can drag several forty pound bales around?
Here's Bob's transport device of choice:

Bob, being a clever welder, fabricated this extended arm wheelie cart out of an old hand truck. It worked surprisingly well on the snow, despite small wheels. Between the two of us, it only took ten minutes or so to move the hay from driveway to barn. Such fun!
Then it was in to the house for warmer pursuits, huddled around the wood stove and computer. I managed to get moving on a few art projects. My brain may be processing more slowly due to the cold, but something seems to be firing correctly!