Let's talk about clipping ...
The weather in Indiana has started it's decent into it's annual rollercoaster of unpredictable. For example, the last 3 days have been in the high 70's with lows in the upper 50's at night. Tomorrow? The temperatures are scheduled to drop significantly, making the highs only mid 50's and lows in the mid 30's. This isn't super cold, but the range is rather spectacular. Thanks Indiana. You've officially made me into a amateur weather forecaster.
Needless to say, the changing temperatures, Guinness' ever-fluffy winter coat, and his constant workload have created a storm of disgustingly sweaty evenings for the two of us. That's right, it's late October clipping time. Lets all let out a collective sigh of dismay.After all, who really loves spending a whole night damp, covered in hair and clipper oil, and narrowly avoiding being beaten to death by hind hooves?
Oh? Is that just my horse? The Neurotic Nancy? The horse who's impressive range of motion in his hocks allows him to nearly kick the clippers right out of my hand?
As such, I give you [drum roll, please] the video of last night's happenings. Please ... enjoy.
So here's what happened: GP is very (VERY!) ticklish and thin skinned on his belly, especially near his stifle and girth areas. He's always been this way, but has gotten used to my way of grooming, and I forget about it. He does not forget ... and felt the need to remind me how much he dislikes clippers.
Needless to say, he managed to catch me. He's very agile and just hooked his hind leg up on my upper thigh, throwing me directly backwards onto my shoulder blades. It was all very quick, and he was very apologetic. In fact, he proceeded to stand with all four legs far apart and planted for me to finish his belly. Sorry Thoroughbred was very sorry.
Today's aftermath? A huge, growing black bruise on my thigh, sore shoulders and a headache. Not too bad. And the clip is done! Hurray!
Now for your viewing pleasure, the clip job. Some artistic license was taken with the traditional trace clip outline:
Needless to say, the changing temperatures, Guinness' ever-fluffy winter coat, and his constant workload have created a storm of disgustingly sweaty evenings for the two of us. That's right, it's late October clipping time. Lets all let out a collective sigh of dismay.After all, who really loves spending a whole night damp, covered in hair and clipper oil, and narrowly avoiding being beaten to death by hind hooves?
Oh? Is that just my horse? The Neurotic Nancy? The horse who's impressive range of motion in his hocks allows him to nearly kick the clippers right out of my hand?
As such, I give you [drum roll, please] the video of last night's happenings. Please ... enjoy.
So here's what happened: GP is very (VERY!) ticklish and thin skinned on his belly, especially near his stifle and girth areas. He's always been this way, but has gotten used to my way of grooming, and I forget about it. He does not forget ... and felt the need to remind me how much he dislikes clippers.
Needless to say, he managed to catch me. He's very agile and just hooked his hind leg up on my upper thigh, throwing me directly backwards onto my shoulder blades. It was all very quick, and he was very apologetic. In fact, he proceeded to stand with all four legs far apart and planted for me to finish his belly. Sorry Thoroughbred was very sorry.
Today's aftermath? A huge, growing black bruise on my thigh, sore shoulders and a headache. Not too bad. And the clip is done! Hurray!
Now for your viewing pleasure, the clip job. Some artistic license was taken with the traditional trace clip outline:
Ouch! He sure looks nice though. Riva gets her first body clip tomorrow morning - someone is doing is for me...but I will be there to help out (like to yell, 'watch out'!)
ReplyDeleteHahaha! Yelling "watch out!" is a good skill to have. I bet your lovely girl will be a perfect angel! I can't tell if Guinness is happy about his clip or not. He seemed a bit jumpy last night with the wind blowing on his naked belly. Hopefully being all wrapped up in his blanket will help him relax. It was sure nice to ride him without 20-30 minutes of walking around with a cooler on!
ReplyDeleteHehe...so glad I got that on video for you :)
ReplyDelete