Sun at Last!

Our crazy ice, snow and bitter temps are finally behind us, and we're back to the kind of weather that makes us the envy of our northern brethren. It's sunny, with temps in the 70sF — perfect, in my book.

On Saturday, after cleaning, laundry, and whipping up a batch of to-die-for chicken tortilla soup, I skedaddled to the outdoors and some pony time. The horses had been blanketed through 2 bouts of rain, sleet, freezing rain, and snow for more than a week. I was afraid to look.

Cindi caught some rays. I didn't get a picture of it,  but Martha curled up on Jaz's blanket, which we had laid out on the concrete to air out. By the grace of God, Martha didn't get stepped on, because every time one of them moved, she barked furiously and nipped at their feet. I thought JRTs were supposed to have some sort of built-in horse sense. Nope.

 How butt high is he? Judge for yourself.

Exhibit 1.

 Exhibit 2
At this angle, the engine and the caboose are almost level.

No need to tell you what both horses did the second those blankets were off. I started with Jaz, because I wanted him to be completely done so he could stand there and be an example to Daltrey. Although it was still pretty muddy, that's actually sand. I set about cleaning him with a rubber curry. If we can believe what both my horses are telling us, Spring is on it's way, because they are shedding like crazy already. I had hair and sand in places you don't want to hear about.

Jaz had two small spots of rain rot on his shoulder, and a huge (and very tender) one on the right side of his neck. I soaked them with Listerine and Vitamin E, gently peeled the skin, and soaked it again. He flinched every time I touched it, but ya gotta do it. It's already looking much better, and one more treatment ought to do it.

Meanwhile, Daltrey was being a total pest. In the photo above, Jaz and the hitching post are to the right, and all my grooming stuff is to the left. Daltrey kept wanting to drink the water, which by the end was quite icky from cleaning Jaz's sheath and butt. YUK! No kisses for you! And he kept pulling stuff out of the caddy, trying to break into the cookies, chew on rags, engage Jaz in Bite the Face ... you get it. He also kept coming up behind me and laying his head on my shoulder, like, "Whutcha doin', Mom?" As endearing as that was, of course, I had to chastise him for violating my space. I was tired before I even started on him.

Finally, it was Daltrey's turn. As I hoped, Jaz stood like a champ. Daltrey was a little dancey, and wasn't good for quite as long as I know he can be, but I was able to do what I needed to do. No rain rot, no injuries, just shedding out — you can see wads of hair on the ground.

 

I took this shot so you can see how tall our baby is getting. He will be a year old on March 9.

When I fed them last evening, and Daltrey was mostly done (except for all the food he'd flung), I gave Jaz the okay to move in. Normally, he just moseys over and they share in the cleanup. Instead, Jaz pinned his ears and postured that he'd bite. I'll be darned if Daltrey didn't turn around, pin his ears, and stand his ground. Poor Jaz will end up at the bottom of the herd again.

Is it winter or hinting that Spring is on the way? How have your horses fared this winter?