Long beautiful hair
Shining, gleaming,
Streaming, flaxen, waxen
Give me down to there hair
Shoulder length or longer
Here baby, there mama
Everywhere daddy daddy
Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair
Flow it, show it
Long as God can grow it
My hair
Let it fly in the breeze
And get caught in the trees
(Anyone know that song?…)
It rained last night and today… and it will storm again tonight, so I like to fluff up the coats on my older horses when I know it will storm, just to make sure they have the warmth they need should they stand out in it – which they seem to choose most often.
Tonight, I started with Dodger, my Shetland. No one is sure of his age. I purchased him in 1995 at a meat auction in Oregon for $16.23. At that time, he had double ridges in his teeth, so I had no idea how old he was… but he looked to be in his teens. I was told he was an aggressive reject from a pony ride circle. (The saddle scars on his back may be an indication as to why…)
This is Dodger in Grass Valley during his younger years.
Once I got Dodger home, I had the vet out. The vet said he had never seen double ridges in a horse’s teeth and because of this, he had no idea how old he was. However, he did have all of his adult teeth and judging by the length, he thought Dodger was 9 or 10.
So, I’ve had him for 22 years and he was guestimated at 9 or 10 when I got him… so I know he is at least early 30s, and probably older by the way he looks now. But, we will never know for sure.
What I do know is that he has lots and lots and lots of hair. Lots of hair in the air, in my mouth and all over my clothes. Not that I notice, really. Hubby notices…
You probably know the drill.
Here is a photolog of me poofing up the coats on the older horses in preparation for the rain tonight.
HAIR DAY!
Here is Dodger, much older, wet from the rain and his hair dyed by the sun here. He is much more blonde than any other year I can remember! I had already brushed him last week, so he is less shaggy, but he still has a lot of hair to lose!
This is just one side of the hair circle that covered the ground as I moved around him, grooming like a fiend!
My next victim was Gwen. She is 22 years-old and has always been the most hairy horse here. She is the old style Morgan. I had just begun on her when Annie came over and ended Gwen’s grooming. Gwen had napped in the mud from last night’s rain,, it appeared.
I hadn’t locked Annie behind the red panels, like I usually do… so she barged in on Gwen’s grooming. As you can see, Annie doesn’t have the haircoat of the other two. I brushed her anyway. She must have taken a nap in the mud as well. I think they all did. Sigh.
Annie loves being groomed. She falls asleep.
A bit later I moved on to Finn. I had just started grooming him when Wrigley came over. Finn wouldn’t allow Wrig to be groomed – Finn is first – so I brushed Wrig’s nose every few brushes. Finn didn’t notice.
“Pretty pleeeeeeease….”. I couldn’t resist him so I gave them all cookies. Wrigley is such a sweetie… except when in training. I’ve had three trainers quit on him. So sad. I guess that is my cue to work with him myself.
And then it was dark… Floppy Kitty looks like an owl sitting on the fence.
MARCH BUCKET FUND HORSE, SWAYZE, NEEDS SURGERY TO SURVIVE. His Drop in the Bucket Fund (story here) only needs $459 to give him his lifesaving surgery! Just a few drops will add up! Thank you in advance!
Do you have Starbucks money to donate to this very handsome gelding? He has fought so hard to live! Thank you!! Make a 100% tax deductible donation here!
My goodness you had your work cut out for you! I have only one horse, and clip him in the fall (I live in central Florida), so helping him shed his winter coat is not as much work and I still come home covered in hair. I bet they all enjoyed how that felt, as well as the attention, and, of course, the cookies.