spring cleaning: tail edition

I don't know about you all and where you live, but here in Maryland basically everyone sorta hit coronavirus fever pitch at the exact same time yesterday. It's been kinda surreal.

Like the virus has been in the news for weeks and weeks - first in China, and then those poor quarantined cruise ships. And all along we've more or less been told to expect it'd come our way eventually.... And even now, while we know it's "Here," it almost doesn't feel like it because I don't personally know anybody affected directly by the illness.

charlie trying to look pitiful so i won't spray him with the cold water haha

But... The big difference - the change factor, as far as I can tell, is that as of this weekend, just about everyone in Maryland has had their life disrupted in some tangible way. Whether it's office or school closures, cancelled travel, modified hours or depleted inventories at stores and restaurants...

And as of yesterday, it was all anybody could talk about. And everybody seems a little anxious too. Uncertain. Like nobody really knows what to expect, or what it all means, tho they also feel like they should "do something" about it. Will it blow over? Will we have forgotten about all of this six months down the line? Or, will the unthinkable happen? Will we be affected more personally by an unfolding tragedy?

in case you weren't aware, we marylanders are kiiiiiinda obsessed with our flag. we put it on er'rythang

Uncertainty, for me at least, is extremely nerve wracking. And it's such a strange feeling juxtaposed as it is to what is turning out to be a friggin glorious spring season. Everything is blooming, the weather is mild, and people are eager to be outside -- esp with all the kids and college students who have been released early to their spring breaks.

My own personal life honestly isn't particularly disrupted. I work from home full time already, and my job at a consulting firm isn't really dealing with anything worse than travel chaos. Our clients, all non profits, are still dedicated to their missions. Many more so now than ever. And so the wheels keep turning.

picked up a bunch of new products using my store credit at maryland saddlery! 

The biggest complaint I can claim at present is the cancellation of all our horse show plans. Which.... obviously we can recognize as probably the right choice, even if it's pretty disappointing.

So yea.... It's very strange times right now. And a particularly strange weekend as it sorta "got real" for everyone in my network - horsey or otherwise. Presumably we'll know more in the not-so-distant future. But for now we're all just kinda going about our days, waiting and seeing.

Which, for my purposes this weekend, meant attending another Fix-a-Test clinic (very grateful it wasn't cancelled - details coming soon!), and hitting up my local tack shop to use up some store credit that's been burning a hole in the proverbial pocket for far too long.

pictured: poop dreads. gross, charlie. this is what you get when your horse smooshes his butt into the back of the trailer for an hour...

In particular, I wanted some open front boots, per Martin Douzant's recommendation (success!), and fresh grooming products to help usher Charlie through the changing seasons.

He actually got his first bath on a particularly warm night last week before our jumper show. To be perfectly honest, I really don't bathe him often -- preferring frequent vigorous currying instead of stripping his natural oils with soap. But springtime is always good for rinsing off the months of accumulated winter nasties haha.

but it's nothing a little warm soapy water can't fix!

Plus, naturally when our jumper show last week was running predictably late, Charlie ended up standing around on the trailer for a good long while. During which he had his tail smooshed up against the butt bar, while repeatedly pooping into it. And it was nasssssty omg.

So... Yea haha. Had to fix that. The selection of grooming products at Maryland Saddlery is limited, but I'm already a fan of Cowboy Magic's detangler - and somewhat of the opinion that most shampoos are more or less the same basic ingredients. The Cowboy Magic shampoo smelled nice (rosewater!) and included a bottle of spray shine stuff too, so that's what I got.

this is my preferred method for cleaning tails, you really don't need a very big bucket either!

Frankly it probably would have been cheaper to just get some Mane 'n Tail from the local grocery store like I've done before, but eh. I had store credit, so why not, right?

In terms of actual tail care.... I'm one of those who practices abject neglect. Charlie has absolutely luxurious hair and a freakin lovely tail. I'm not even lying when I say it's one of the attributes that sold me on him haha.

scrub-a-dub-dub! also look how gross and dingy those suds are even tho i'd already been rinsing and rinsing haha

But yea, I basically neglect it. Mostly bc that's typically the safest way to help it stay full and luscious. It gets banged twice a year up to mid cannon (otherwise it grows fast enough to drag in the mud!!), and washed probably every month or two. And I use a detangler product with some regularity.

Lots of folks recommend against products containing silicone since it can dry out the hairs and leave them prone to breakage. Idk tho... haha, I love the way it feels. Plus I feel like it helps repel dirt, and the hair gets less tangled and knotted. I usually just work it in with my fingers, and avoid brushing the tail altogether unless it's freshly cleaned for a show. Ymmv!

don't forget to pay the meter

Plus, last year I shelled out for one of those fancy Tail Tamer brushes. Which, actually, I really really like, and do feel like it's better for avoiding breakage than some other brushes I've used. Most of the time if I'm brushing the tail, I'm just smoothing out the very ends with a brush, and hand-picking some strands higher up.

If I'm going to brush the whole thing, tho, it's gotta be freshly cleaned and detangled, and I divide it into lots of small sections to brush out one at a time. But again, I only ever really do that for shows to be honest.

ta da!! clean tail on a dirty fuzzy pony <3

So on this particular day, mostly what I cared about was washing out all the nastiness and doing some light detangling. Meaning I mostly worked out snarls with my fingers, and just brushed about half way up the tail.

It's always so satisfying tho when you're done <3 Or haha, it probably would have been more satisfying if the rest of the horse was clean too! Instead of kinda dusty and still with some mud caked on in places (and in his mane... whoops) since I'd been a little lazy in my grooming.

bye charlie! make good choices!!!

But hey, one step at a time, right? He's just gonna go roll anyway, let's be real. And considering we suddenly don't have any immediate or urgent plans to be out in public.... Well, I guess it doesn't really matter anyway, right? Sigh...

Anyone else out there taking advantage of the blossoming spring to get your pony all freshly cleaned up? Or maybe taking advantage of a sudden onslaught of free time due to the Covid-19 pandemic? Or, and hopefully this is not the case, maybe you've seen other worse consequences to everything that's going on? Either way - hope you're all staying safe and healthy!!