Mabel, Diva’s adopted granny, is retired and roughed off. This basically means that she isn’t bathed or groomed beyond having mud brushed off with a dandy brush so that her coat is full of natural grease and acts to insulate her against the rain and cold.
However, this summer I have unintentionally allowed Mabel to become a little grungier than she needs to be. When the sun is very strong, I don’t hog her mane or trim her legs as the skin can become sunburnt when it has been newly clipped. This has led to a very untidy Mabel, who looks unkempt and unloved.
Today I decided to remedy this and got my clippers out. A quick flick over with a soft dandy brush and Mabel was ready for the salon! When I hog a mane, I always trim along the sides rather than running the blades up the centre of the mane. This means that the regrowth comes up to a point which is more flattering than if cut flat. It’s difficult to get the sides of the hog totally neat when the horse is sporting a winter coat. When Mabel was in work, I always clipped her in the winter and so it was much easier to get a perfect finish; however, I don’t think I did too badly today.
I also trimmed down the back of her legs to tidy up the feathers. She doesn’t grow much feather, but it was nice to get it off. The finishing touch is to trim along the jawline to create a neat look.
So, in the space of about an hour, Mabel was turned back into the glamourous granny Diva knows and loves!
The photos also prove that a roughed off horse can still look well as Mabel’s coat is lovely and shiny. Diva was whinnying the whole time I was trimming Mabel up. Was she a little jealous that Mabel was getting all the attention? I don’t think Diva would appreciate a hogged mane though!
I find this one of the toughest topics in the horse world, as everyone does something different. There are thousands of products on the market – all claiming they can cure everything – and nutritionists are often affiliated with a feed company, making any advice potentially biased.
I can say I’ve been able to tick something off my bucket list now: I managed to mount and ride a camel – a brilliant experience. I had great fun grooming my one, named Baxter, and I think the people running it were happy they had people that were used to dealing with big animals and weren’t afraid to get stuck in.
I thought in this first blog post I ought to tell you a little bit about my horses and me, and give you an insight into what you might see from us going forwards. Firstly, my name is Emma. I’m 29 years old and I’ve been riding for as long as I can even remember.
I am currently lightly backing my three-year-old American Quarter Horse before turning him away for the winter. In my previous post, I explained the setbacks this year, and frustratingly I had to start the process much later in the year than I’d anticipated. But things were going well, too well…