Good Day!
Another glorious day and I am getting a much-dreaded and put-off-to-the-last-minute chore done—washing horse blankets! The truck bed’s loaded with blankets, I’ve got five rolls of quarters in my pocket and my special horse blanket soap in my hand. Tonight, the horses will be wearing fresh clean blankets—the cleanest they will be for the next year!
But don’t get me wrong. We do not blanket our horses because they need it or for their comfort, but solely for our own convenience. Since we ride indoors all winter, long hair coats are difficult to manage since they get very sweaty and then we can’t get them dry before nightfall and they have a very chilly night. Plus, most of our horses are either for sale or being shown, so aesthetically, we like to keep their hair coat short and slick. How many of you kid yourself into believing the horse needs something like a blanket for his own well-being instead of our own? Not that some horses don’t need blankets, but if left to their own devices, a healthy horse is perfectly capable of adapting to any climate and fending off the weather—no matter how extreme it gets.
Recently on Horse Master on one of my favorite shows where I get to ride my horse Dually and help my friend Dave Currin figure out his lead changes—how to set your horse up, how to cue and correct. I had a great comment after this show ran the first time that a gal who had been struggling with lead changes for years got it right away after watching the show! That was really cool feedback. We love all the feedback we get about the show, so keep it coming!
My good friends are coming for a ladies riding day today so at least I’ll get some time on my horse and with my friends. It doesn’t get any better than that but for now I’d better get the chore done!
Enjoy the ride,
Julie