Equestrian Journaling for January

Sunday, January 21, 2024

Today was a continuation of yesterday as far as the weather is concerned. It was warm and dry. The sun wasn’t out as much, but it was still warm. And I decided today would be more deep grooming with Jesse.

I have been neglecting his mane and tail, and his mane has been getting snarled up from his blanket. I could have braided it, but I think I would have had the same problem. Only then his hair would have probably broken off, and it would be worse than it was.

I had a tiny bit of my Mane-ly leave-in conditioner left, so I used what I had and applied it to the worst parts of Jesse’s mane. I carefully worked through the tangles of the almost dreadlocks. If anything, this was a lesson in patience for both of us. But I was able to work out the tangles without losing too many hairs.

He stood really well too. I wasn’t sure if he would because this is the longest period of time he has had to stand tied for any length of time in the past 3 months. But he was a trooper and did as he was asked politely. This horse is definitely blessed with a thick mane and tail. And I want to keep it that way. I think the Bio-Mane brush I bought a while back has really helped.

At one point I had forgotten to bring out my waterless shampoo, so I ran into the house to get it. And he stood still the entire time. 

This is why I love this horse. Talk about a confidence builder.

I used the waterless shampoo for a sort of bath on his hind end. He has a tendency to have manure run down the inside of his legs, especially when he has his blanket on. And even though it isn’t a lot of fun to clean up, it has to be done.

With it being so nice, I didn’t want to lock Al-Capony away from the fun, so he got to hang out with his buddy while I was grooming Jesse. He was actually really good and didn’t terrorize him like he usually does. But he did try to grab things out of my grooming kit. I guess he wanted to help.

Saddle Pad Cleaning

I also took the time to wash the two saddle pads that came with my Wintec saddle. One of them washed up nicely. The black one, however, well, there was a lot of horse hair embedded into the pad. Not that it matters. I am going to be using it for a daily pad because it is really soft. I think Jesse will like it. Even if there is hair in it, that isn’t his.

It was nice enough outside that I hung the pads over the front porch railing to dry. No sense in wasting electricity if I don’t have to. And I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to machine dry saddle pads. I prefer to hang them outside to dry. I like that the black pad doesn’t have the billet keepers on it. One less thing to muss with when I am tacking up.

Scaling Back the Daily Journaling

For the time being, since there isn’t a lot going on on a daily basis, I think I am going to keep my journal entries down to the days that I am able to work with Jesse toward my end goal. I mean I can write a journal entry and say, “today I fed the horses, went to work, came home, cleaned stalls and fed the horses.” 

But that could get pretty redundant day after day. So with that, I will write again when something worthwhile transpires for the day. I know soon enough, I will have something to talk about on a daily basis. But for now, I want to keep my journal entries reserved for when the real work begins. Which honestly should begin very soon. I mean, at the time of me sitting down to write this and wait for the horses’ dinner to finish soaking up water, It is almost 5:00 PM, and it’s still light outside. It’s only a matter of time before the days are long enough for me to get home from work and have some quality horse time on a daily basis.

I cannot WAIT!