It's the most wonderful time of year again, when it's 80* in Maryland despite being nearly November lol. Our poor fuzzy critters are.... fuzzy.
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| this fluffy beasty will turn 15 next year <3 |
I swear, Charlie's pelt gets thicker with each passing year. Homeboy is
hairy.
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| he was condemned to a paddock so he didn't go full blown swamp monster after his bath lol |
And
sweaty, ick. Poor guy. He's always been somewhat heavy in the sweating department. And considering that he's just generally heavy these days too... Eh, it's just a lot.
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| lol red mare face |
So he gets clipped
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I like the way he looks clipped, he likes the way he feels clipped, everybody's happy.
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| she got a bath too |
Plus, obvi with temps in the 80s, it was perfect anyway. And I got a TON of Mane 'n Tail sample products from the Maryland 5*, so both critters got groomed within an inch of their lives.
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| ever feel like you're being watched? |
Extra good timing for Charlie, considering he hasn't been bathed as frequently given how long he's been out of work (as in, we never had to hose off any post-ride sweat this summer, obvi...). He was pretty spectacularly grungy.
Doozy got in on the fun too --- she is in work (hallelujah!), and did need post-ride hosing. But there aren't any plans to clip her for now. We can reassess later if need be.
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| it's not a big clip pattern, but still a lot of real estate! |
She doesn't have nearly as much hair as Charlie, plus doesn't seem to sweat as heavily. And let's be real, she needs to continue becoming more consistent etc in general riding life before I give her any excuses for feral behavior LOL.
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| the face of a horse who QUITE LIKES the level of attention |
So Charlie got scrubbed and scoured and shampooed, plus spritzed head to toe in detangler and shine spray.
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| #satisfying |
By the time I was done with him, he was silky soft and smooth like a svelte panther <3
Well, ok. Maybe not "svelte" lol, but you know what I mean.
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| we went pretty conservative on the neck this year since who knows when/if he'll actually get back into work |
Tho poor guy, all our horses have a bit of scurf right now. It was so so so dry for most of the end of summer, then suddenly we got some good drenchings that reactivated all the mud and bacteria and everybody got hives.
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| i love how this pattern de-emphasizes the serious dad bod situation |
So Charlie has a couple patches of scurf on his back and down his flanks, but luckily it didn't interfere too much with the clip pattern. And we'll just keep working on it with grooming.
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| insta-sporty, just add racing stripe! |
The clip job itself doesn't take too long, and my friend Katie did it again this year. She marks out the pattern with chalk, and does one full side before marking out the second side to keep everything as relatively even as possible.
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| lolz bai charlie, make good choices! |
Charlie required a little bribery for her to finish the job up by his ears, but was otherwise a champ. He LOVES all the heavy petting and attention haha --- in another life I could totally see him as a camp pony getting hand painted by a bunch of kiddos, ya know?
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| so much fuzz <3 |
So, another impending winter, another clip job for Charlie. I have zero expectations on what his future holds, but I'm hopeful. He is a little footsore after his most recent shoeing appointment (last Friday), so we'll see.
At least he LOOKS the part, that's half the battle anyway amirite LOL..... Anybody else clipping this year? Or maybe you're hoping to hold out for a bit later into the season?
Ben just got a slightly higher version of the same basic pattern! He's not super hairy yet, but it's supposed to be 82 this weekend. Plus I *think* I'd rather do 2 or 3 less hairy clips than 1 or 2 super hairy ones?
ReplyDeletei honestly love this pattern, it's just so functional (at least for how charlie sweats). and yea, easy enough to take off more later if you need to!!
DeleteI am dangerous with a set of horse clippers in my hand. I can do a bridle path successfully, but that's it. Charlie is looking good!
ReplyDeletelolz i tried to clip a horse ONCE. these days i'm perfectly happy to outsource the job to somebody else haha....
DeleteWe've already started blanketing so I don't think either of mine will be clipped this year! I shudder to think about how bad Dalton would behave for a clip job
ReplyDeleteha! i definitely feel lucky that charlie is such an attention junkie lol
DeleteTrue confession: I have never body clipped a horse. ☺️ since my riding goes way down in winter I never worried about it. I am interested to see what Quaids coat is like this year. Last year it was incredibly thick, which makes sense since he came from Alberta. If it stays like that I can see needing to clip him.
ReplyDeletehonestly that makes sense. our winters can often be mild enough to ride year round... but even so, i never clipped my arabian, it just wasn't necessary. most of the horses at my farm dont' get clipped, tho most of the horses who compete and stay in moderate work year round DO get some sort of clip. it's tough to balance esp since blanketing isn't included as a standard service, so we don't want to take off too much then end up in a pinch....
Deleteugh I probably need to do some kind of clip on Story for hunt season. I hate the constant blanket changes a hunter clip requires, so maybe we'll stick with a strip clip or a trace clip!
ReplyDeleteha for sure --- i definitely prefer more conservative patterns that only really take hair from areas where the horse sweats the most. i'm lucky with charlie that he really doesn't get too damp on his flanks -- just his neck and shoulder and girth. so this pattern fits the bill without any extra hair loss!
DeleteLoved the gif of him just trotting into the forest! Also, ITS 80 DEGREES THERE??? I'm across the country in Washington, and it's been a consistent 40 degrees here!
ReplyDeleteha omg i love that gif too.... my first riding instructor always used to say that you don't ever really see horses out trotting on their own -- that they either sorta amble around at a walk, or if they are trying to get somewhere quickly, they'll canter -- but rarely trot. and then here comes Charles, goin at his own speed, trit-trotting on up to his pasture at a nice efficient economical pace LOL.....
DeleteHe looks like he loves his haircut! The weather has been so up and down, it's crazy. FREEZING here today.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I usually don't clip Eros because he gets really sensitive if he's clipped and everything rubs him raw. But we'll see. If he gets super fluffy it will happen because he sweats a lot. Al will probably get clipped at some point. He doesn't get super hairy, but he has cowlicks all over him that look kind of terrible when his hair gets long. And Shiny is going on the clip list at the boarding barn as soon as we get there! She looks like a wild buffalo already.