With the days beginning to get longer and snowdrops in bloom, is it safe to think that spring might not be too far away?
Diva (Melland Queen of Scots) always begins to moult early in the year and it is tempting to start to groom her more thoroughly. However, as she isn’t rugged and is turned out in all weathers, I tend to leave using more than a basic dandy brush to get the mud off her until later months.
This winter has been incredibly wet and I am so pleased that Diva is a black pony, as once the mud gets brushed off she looks pretty clean compared to Bunty, who is white-grey, or Peanut, who is skewbald.
Her tail is a different story and instead of looking black it had begun to take on a lovely brown colour at the bottom. So, I decided to give it a wash and took Diva into the yard wash box for the first time this year.
As ever, Diva stood tied up patiently whilst I got a bucket of hot water ready and the hose attached to the hot tap instead of cold. I dunked Diva’s tail in the bucket of water to ensure it was completely wet, before using Fairy Liquid to really work at getting the mud out. Once this was rinsed off, I washed it again with my usual black, colour-enhancing shampoo by Gallop. It was amazing just how much dirt came out of her tail.
Between shows I seldom brush Diva’s mane or tail as, even with detangler, lots of brushing does thin it out. Today, though, I liberally doused her mane in detangler and brushed it through. I sprayed her tail, but didn’t brush it out until it was more or less dry.
When I was finished, I turned Diva out and she trotted off with her mane swirling as if in a shampoo advert! No doubt her tail will soon be dirty again.
Once again I threw Arlo in at the deep end, affiliating him purely for the Arena UK second round show, and once again he pulled it out the bag. How lucky am I to have such a wonderful little horse? We haven’t really competed this year. I don’t really compete over the winter, and also my horsebox was away for repairs up until the beginning of June, so I had no transport even if I’d wanted to.
With the dry ground we don’t seem to be having much luck with shoes, as little madam managed to pull both her front shoes off within 12 hours the other day! We entered the arena with two shoes on for a schooling session and left it with one missing (took about an hour to find it). Then that afternoon, as I went to put some hoof ointment on, I looked down and had to double take, thinking I was looking at the wrong hoof. But, no, the other shoe was missing too.
After having a long wait and some lunch at the onsite café, it was time to get ready for the Joan Wolfe Overall Supreme Shetland Pony Championship. I got changed out of my usual showing outfit into black trousers and a maroon top with white spots, as you are expected to be a bit more “bling” in the evening.
We were all set to go for our next outing, and were super excited. That was until I heard the dreaded clunk of a loose shoe! I checked it over, praying it wasn’t too loose, but, nope, it was going to need a refit.