Tuesday

I tried MTG on Ashke for the first time. I put some on his mane (from both sides), on his forelock (he thought I was trying to kill him) and on his tail dock (this has been an itchy mess since I got him and stems from the lack of any nutrition prior to my delivering him from the evil of a bare lot.) I added the Omega Max flax about eight months ago in response to his coat being rough and uneven (and not wanting to shed) over his ribs and buttocks. It has helped a lot and overall his coat looks amazing. However, we still have a rub spot on his tail dock from him rubbing his ass on the poles of his run out pen. It is getting better, but since this is going to be the year of amazing hair, I thought I would treat his tail dock (and since every one who using this stuff swears by it) and his mane and forelock. I would suspect worms to be a source of ass itch, but since he is wormed regularly with a variety of worming products (I follow the recommended worming schedule), I don't think that is the issue. I think we have a dry tail dock.

Hence the MTG.

If you own a white or light grey horse and would like them to remain that way, do not use any oil based product.

His mane, the sides of his neck, his forelock and the front of his face, plus his tail and surrounding areas are dark greyish brown and very oily. I could see the little flecks of dirt and other unmentionable materials standing on the edges of his hair, but when I tried to remove them, they fused into a material that could not be removed from the hair. It is not a pretty look. I tried to braid his mane (which has finally started to fall over) but I couldn't separate the hair and do the weave do to the slickness of his mane. I ended up putting it into pigtails, hoping to encourage it to fall in the same direction. Even that was difficult.

So maybe I used a tad bit too much.

His tail was easier, since I could dunk the majority of it into a bucket filled with almost frozen water (damn it was cold) and scrub it with quickly freezing hands until the shit and oil had turned the reddish-brown-yellow tail into almost white again. Then a quick rinse in a clean bucket of water, followed by a hearty application of conditioner that smells of coconut and a tail brush for finally removing all of the snarls. His tail looked really good at the end of that process. His mane, however, may take until it warms in May to wash out.

After all of that beauty, we saddled up and headed to the indoor. We got about 20 minutes of solid work, including some decent cantering without spooking at the tarp covered bears at the end of the arena. Then the jumping lesson started with the four other horses that were in the arena and I took Ashke and I out. We tried the outdoor arena, but it was about four inches deep in mud and water, so we headed through the property to the access road that runs between the paddocks and the fields. We turned back down that access road and rode back to Indiana, across the pavement (which required wading through a puddle that was six or so inches deep) and onto the Van Bibber trail.

Yes, that's right. I rode out on trail, in the pitch dark, without a moon to see by, with a storm blowing in, on my Arabian. He was a rock star. He was a little snorty but not bad, with no major spooks. The only annoying thing was him walking with his head canted back to look back at the way we came, which he doesn't do on our ride home. When we turned home he fussed a little bit about walking and not trotting (we only trot home if we trotted out) but overall it was a wonderful ride. I have no idea how far we actually rode, but we were out for twenty five minutes or so.

I can't wait until it is lighter at night for a longer period of time. I think having the park across the street is going to be amazing, even if horse boy gets bored with it, because I can do a solid six miles without trying and I would much rather do that then ride in the arena.