Sandblasted in the desert
Dec. 3rd, 2006 02:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancinghorseThis week has been a wash for lessons. Icy blasts of wind Thursday. Nice calm morning today, then as lesson time drew near, the breeze picked up. By the time Teacher got here, it was blowing a gale. And it got worse. She rode Pandora for 10 minutes and gave up when the arena levitated en mass and turned into a cosmic dust cloud. Forget my lesson on Pooka. We'd have ended up in Oz. (Fine, I'd love to see Sydney, but not today.)
It's supposed to blast like this until tomorrow. Gack. The paddock shelter probably is not going to survive--the tarp is old and the grommets are giving way. I have another tarp for when it lets go, so no major worries, but meanwhile it's interesting to calculate how much longer it will hang on.
We should be out of blanket brigade soon, at least until the next round of cold and/or wet comes through. The Wild Child wasn't too bad for a first-timer, only raced around a bit and demonstrated that he does halter nicely, but by night number two he had figured out how to get out of the little yearling blanket (no leg straps, scoot and wiggle, and there you are), so he's been naked since.* If we have any real weather, as in Wet, he'll get pinned into a rain sheet with leg straps and that will stay on. Meanwhile he's perfectly happy in his nice plushy coat. He and keed haven't needed anything. The breeding stock all have fairly light coats so far, except Capria, and I'd like to keep her back warm if I can, so she's been getting a light blanket.
*Come to think of it I have another, larger blanket, same weight, with leg straps--he'll have to be pinned into it and this one was nice because it has velcro across the chest, but c'est la guerre. The good news is that he's extremely sane, smart, and sensible, and he's the easiest blanket first-timer I've had.
The more I work with this colt, the more I appreciate his temperament. When he finds his human, that person is going to be very, very happy--and very lucky. Hard to believe he was untouchable when he came here. He's a pocket pony now. Loves to be hugged. Comes up to strangers and checks them out. Does Not Bite. Seldom kicks and only if severely provoked. Can be handled all over, no problem, including feet. He doesn't really lead yet--we need to take a few minutes and work on that--but he comes when called, herds nicely, and goes where I point him. So, all in all, it's good.
This week we'll get nighttime temps back up in the 40s, which is just right for the coats they've got. And gives me a break from the aerobic exercise of blanketing 6 to 8 horses per night and de-blanket-fying them in the morning. And that is good because Holiday Hysteria (with added alarums and excursions) is about to begin. The less I have to worry about on the horse front, the better.
It's supposed to blast like this until tomorrow. Gack. The paddock shelter probably is not going to survive--the tarp is old and the grommets are giving way. I have another tarp for when it lets go, so no major worries, but meanwhile it's interesting to calculate how much longer it will hang on.
We should be out of blanket brigade soon, at least until the next round of cold and/or wet comes through. The Wild Child wasn't too bad for a first-timer, only raced around a bit and demonstrated that he does halter nicely, but by night number two he had figured out how to get out of the little yearling blanket (no leg straps, scoot and wiggle, and there you are), so he's been naked since.* If we have any real weather, as in Wet, he'll get pinned into a rain sheet with leg straps and that will stay on. Meanwhile he's perfectly happy in his nice plushy coat. He and keed haven't needed anything. The breeding stock all have fairly light coats so far, except Capria, and I'd like to keep her back warm if I can, so she's been getting a light blanket.
*Come to think of it I have another, larger blanket, same weight, with leg straps--he'll have to be pinned into it and this one was nice because it has velcro across the chest, but c'est la guerre. The good news is that he's extremely sane, smart, and sensible, and he's the easiest blanket first-timer I've had.
The more I work with this colt, the more I appreciate his temperament. When he finds his human, that person is going to be very, very happy--and very lucky. Hard to believe he was untouchable when he came here. He's a pocket pony now. Loves to be hugged. Comes up to strangers and checks them out. Does Not Bite. Seldom kicks and only if severely provoked. Can be handled all over, no problem, including feet. He doesn't really lead yet--we need to take a few minutes and work on that--but he comes when called, herds nicely, and goes where I point him. So, all in all, it's good.
This week we'll get nighttime temps back up in the 40s, which is just right for the coats they've got. And gives me a break from the aerobic exercise of blanketing 6 to 8 horses per night and de-blanket-fying them in the morning. And that is good because Holiday Hysteria (with added alarums and excursions) is about to begin. The less I have to worry about on the horse front, the better.
