Show prep

It's like an archeological dig, chipping through all of the hair and muck and overgrowth from the winter to find the fancy horse that I supposedly bought.  Or at least I keep telling myself there's a fancy horse under all of this grunge.  I wanted to keep him well protected so his legs and back and head didn't get a single trim since the onset of the winter coat and he hasn't had a bath in all that time.  He was nice and safe, but very fluffy.

After two rounds with the clippers, I think I've found my fancy dressage horse.  Here he is in all his splendor.

I love this picture because he looks like such a dork with his curly forelock and hay dragging to the ground.  I guess the clipper marks didn't come out that badly.

I also took care of his chestnuts and ergots.  This required hoof nippers, bandage shears, and a lot of brute force.  If it takes a tool chest to manage your horses legs, you might own a draft cross.       

It turned out to be a good thing I clipped his legs completely.  I got a call last night asking me to come to the barn and take a look at a bleeding sore on the outside of Theo's front left hoof.  Blown abscess?  Wouldn't that  just be my luck right before a show.  I jumped in the car and zipped over to the barn to find this.

Definitely not an abscess, but how the hell did he do that to the outside of his foot?  It would make perfect sense on the inside, the flies are out in force, but he can't kick himself on the outside of his foot.  After cold hosing and cleaning, I figured it out.

That perfectly straight line?  He caught the fence.  He likes to stand very close to the fence when the mares are out so he can be a creepy creeper and watch them.  Kick at some flies while that close to straight boards and this is what happens.  No stitches or anything needed, I just gooped him up, tossed on some bell boots, and sent him back outside with more fly spray and his fly sheet.  This would have been a much bigger mess if he'd still been a hairy beast.  Good job, Theo, waiting for the leg to be prepped before being damaged.

I got a text letting me now that we are leaving the barn at 5:30 am on Sunday for the show.  That means I need to be there at 4:30am.  Which is a 3:30am wake up call.

This weekend is already not okay.