Digby... a self portrait

The pop tarts are clearly in this box. I know it.

Sherman!!

Sherman is boring. I will eat this box.

Oh hello again Sherman!

Nom nom.

If I look cute and innocent, maybeee someone will feed me?

No? Ok, I'll go back to opening this box by myself now. That's all!

Grooming Tip Tuesday - Bathing and Hot toweling

Grooming Tip Tuesday - Bathing and Hot toweling

Bathing is useful in several situations. Getting ready for a show or after coming in from the field when the horse is extra dirty are just two reasons. Before I start discussing the WHY and HOWs of bathing, I need to note that if you give your horse a bath frequently it will dry your horses coat out and make him more dull, rather than shiny and clean. There is no substitute for a good, thorough grooming.

WHY bathe?

• Extra clean for showing
• Good when first starting to groom a horse to get rid of all the nasty scurf and dander that has built up on the coat
• Remove stains and dirty spots on coat, especially on a light horse

TOOLS needed

• Buckets of warm water
• Shampoo of your choice (use horse shampoo, not people shampoo)
• Body sponge
• Rubber curry comb (or jelly scrubber)
• Sweat scraper
• Towels or cooler if appropriate

HOW to bathe

• It's easiest to rinse horse off with hose, but if you don't have access to a hose with warm water, sponge off entire body getting the horse throughly damp. Start at the hooves then work your way up to the legs then body. I start at the front of the horse as well and work back to the hindquarters.
• Don't forget to wet the mane and tail!
• Squirt a bit of shampoo into your bucket and make sudsy. Sponge this over the horse. Don't be afraid to use a lot. The horse should be pretty sudsy. 
• Use the curry comb or jelly scrubber to loose up dirt and work shampoo into a lather
• When shampooing the mane and tail, I tend to use my fingers because I've found that works best. Hey, it works on our hair doesn't it? Pay attention to the base of the tail (super dandruff-y) and the base of the mane. Don't apply conditioner to the mane or tail if they are going to be braided in the near future. It doesn't end well!
• Rinse before moving on to a different section of the horse. It should feel super clean and free of shampoo. You can either rinse with a hose or by squeezing clean water onto horse with a sponge
• Shampoo left on the coat is never a good thing. It makes horses itchy and leaves them sticky, gross and often looking less shiny then when you started. Not ideal.
• When shampooing the horses face, use as little as soap as possible. Most horses don't like this and I've found baby wipes or hot toweling works better. If your horse allows you to bathe its face, then go right ahead. Just proceed with caution.
• White/light coats should use a shampoo afterwards like Quik Silver. Apply full strength and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Rinse afterwards. Repeat as necessary.
• Make sure you use a sweat scraper afterwards to remove all excess water. Use a dry sponge or towels to remove water from legs and face.
• If it's cool out, cover horse in a cooler unless they're totally dry. 
• Don't leave unattended. They WILL ROLL! :)

Hot Toweling

Hot toweling an be used in cold weather when bathing isn't an option or if you're aren't allowed to give a horse a bath for whatever reason. It works really well on getting up the dirt and scurf from those problem areas like the mane, head and croup. You need a bucket of very hot water (the hotter the better!), rubber gloves if you prefer to not burn your hands and a large towel. If you have gloves, put them on first. Dunk the towel into the bucket full of hot water and wring it out until it's almost dry. Rub the towel with one hand into the roots of the coat. The towel should be dry enough to not wet the hair but bring up all the dirt. Continue to move towel around in your hand to clean spots. When the towel gets cooler, place it in the bucket again and repeat. You can hot towel any part of the horses body as long as they are comfortable with you touching it.

If you have any questions, comments or a suggestion for a grooming tip tuesday post, please comment and let me know! :)

*Crickets chirping*

Not much on the Digby front (is there ever?), besides the fact that my search for a field is going pretty poorly. Who knew that finding a field with four solid fences and a competent owner would be so difficult? If anyone knows of any, or even has a number, please let me know!

In other news, I changed the background so that when it's winter, we can all enjoy some green grass! :)

Grooming Tip Tuesday - White coronets, socks and stocking! Oh my!

(Apparently, the "auto post" option that I tried yesterday did not work... oops.)

White coronets, socks and stockings! Oh My!


This week it's all about the down and dirty on getting those whites CLEAN. My first step is always to shampoo them. I don't need to use a blueing shampoo, like Quik Silver, the first time around. I lather them up and scrub, scrub, scrub. If they're covered in super gross mud and dirt, they simply aren't going to get sparkling white. The next step is to rinse, let dry and then clip. I tend to use a 10 blade but you can also use a smaller blade, like a 15, if you prefer the closer clip. Be careful with a smaller blade that you don't leave clip lines! It's pretty easy to do if you're using anything above a 10 blade. I clip the entire white, whether this is just around the coronet or all the way up to the knees. After clipping, it will be much easier to keep those whites white! For basis maintenance, just keep up to date on shampooing when they get gross so the whites don't have the chance to stain in the first place.

For a show or any other important event that requires lots of flashy whites, I do the same first steps (shampoo, let dry, then clip) a day or two ahead of time. The day before the event, I shampoo with a blueing shampoo like Quik Silver. Make sure you don't dilute Quik Silver. Apply directly to the white and scrub. It needs to sit for about 5 minutes. If it sits too long, it has the chance of staining the white purple. Eek! But if it doesn't sit long enough, it doesn't get as white. After shampooing and washing out the shampoo, I do one of two things. If it's only a tiny coronet on front leg or on a generally clean horse, I usually just spray some ShowSheen to help repel stains and dust and call it a day. If it's a sock or a stocking, I apply baby powder or corn starch while the leg is still wet from the shampooing. Pack as much in the white as you can! Honestly. You almost can't use too much! I don't apply ShowSheen after the baby powder but that's just me. On the morning of the big day, brush out any baby powder/corn starch that is still in the white marking and admire. I usually apply ShowSheen on the white marking after knocking out the baby powder/corn starch just to be safe but it's not necessary. The whites NEVER get whiter than a good course of clipping, Quik Silver and baby powder! (Note: you can do this to an entire body, or to any white marking on the body, but it does require a lot of baby powder!)

If possible, wrapping and blanketing is always your best option before a show day. White legs stay much cleaner by default when they have wraps on!

Back from KY! :)

Back from the land of ponies that is more commonly known as Kentucky... :) Had a good time, though I'd like to have done less working and more sight seeing! It's gorgeous down there. I highly recommend going for a visit if you're a horse person or not. I'm about to go see Digby but I did get a text earlier in the week that he is 75% better, off bute and going back out in his mini pen but still lame. Such is life, I suppose...

I've got three potential "homes" for Digby lined up that all seem to be ok. I haven't seen any of them in person but they were all recommended by great people so hopefully one of them will be ok for me to keep him there. I'm still hoping for a miracle but I honestly think at this point, financially and mentally, it's best for both of us even if he does become sound in the next two weeks that he should just go live out for 6 months to a year with friends and be a horse. It's not the end of the world. He'd certainly be happy just hanging out and eating all day!

Again, if anyone knows of a place that meets the requirements in my last post, please let me know! Thanks. Hope everyone had a good week while I was away! Expect more frequent posts now and a Grooming Tip Tuesday this week!