Saturday, January 20, 2024
Holy moly. Someone turned on the sunshine and cranked the heat up. Finally! For the first time in what seems like forever, the thermometer surpassed 50 degrees. It felt like springtime. My horses felt the same way. I was able to take their blankets off and let them be out all day long without worrying that they may get a chill. What a glorious way to start the weekend!
I was not going to waste any of the precious warm weather either. I was able to get out my entire grooming kit and groom the horses like they deserve to be groomed every day. The snow could have been clear, but I decided against it. No sense in wasting precious time by clearing snow, right?
Grooming Time
Both horses got a thorough grooming and a quick reminder lesson of what it means to put their head down for haltering.
And for not being haltered, or even held for any length of time, they were both perfect gentlemen.
They both got their hooves picked out, which surprisingly were not very dirty at all, probably because of all of the snow. Looking at this photo makes me realize I need to update their name plates as we have basically renamed them.
They each got a lot of hands-on time too, as I wandered my hands all over their bodies checking for scratches, or anything out of the ordinary.
And Yes, Another Book
I keep referring back to the books I have added to my library recently and I went back to the book World Class Grooming by Cat Hill and Emma Ford. I was really excited to learn all of the secrets of these 2 world-class grooms thinking it would take my grooming to the top level. And I learned that I was already doing a lot of the things they do.
There were some instances in the book where I felt less than adequate as a horse owner too. They do a lot more on a daily basis than I do, even in the summertime.
For example, their typical daily schedule is crazy. I guess that’s because they do this as their job? I don’t know. But I do know I don’t spend a portion of my everyday chores knocking down cobwebs or going through everything in my tack room. Nor do I clean my tack every day. I read the reviews of the book before I bought it and really thought it would be something extra special. But almost everything I read wasn’t anything new, except maybe for the chapter on clipping horses. But I don’t clip, so it wasn’t really relevant to my situation.
I guess these are things to strive for? Maybe? But realistically, having 2 horses at home, working a full-time job, and a full-time side hustle does not leave a lot of time left over. And the time that I do have, I spend with my horses. My poor husband. The book did give me ideas of goals to work toward, though. Time management is a big one. If I could just find an extra hour or two a day, that would be wonderful.
Outside Time with the Horses
I did feel good about being able to look the horses over up close and personal. I was able to get their stalls cleaned more than I have been able to in the past 3 weeks. And that is a wonderful feeling. Once the snow is gone, it will be that much better.
Now is the time to step up my horse care, and spend a few extra minutes every single day with them. Even if it is only taking Jesse for a walk in the arena and working on the first 4 exercises. Maybe that will help to break up some of the snow in the arena as well.
I guess it is time to break out the mud boots and get to work!
