This morning I went to the barn to ride Rocky and play with my foster horse, Arwen. It took a good 30 minutes to find Rocky under all that hair he is shedding, along with giving his mane a good trim. Finally, I got enough hair off to ride and off we went to the ring. Rocky was a little short-strided - and after looking at his soles I saw what looked to be an impression from some kind of rock - that had not been there when I trimmed his hooves this weekend. So I think he has a little bit of a sole bruise. We kept to walking and a little bit of trotting - he was much more comfortable on the sand in the ring. But I didn't want to work him too much. He backed very easily with gentle cues of asking verbally and a gentle squeeze on the reins. We only rode for about 15 minutes but it felt great!
Afterwards I continued grooming all his winter coat as he is shedding. But then I saw Sweetie, and had to groom her, too! She had tons of hair to come off as well, and it was time for her mane trim also. I know my hunter friends would give me a hard time for cutting instead of pulling, but I have to say that no horse I know likes to have their mane pulled, I'm not planning on going to any shows where their manes would need to be thin enough to braid, and I'm pretty good at trimming their mane so it looks natural instead of having the "chopped" look.
Two down, and then I groomed Crystal (I only had a few minutes left before lunchtime) and got lots of white hairs to mix with the black/brown & red hairs on the floor. My goodness! I look forward to when everyone is done shedding!
Oh, and interestingly enough, Crystal has shed the sole on her RF that was the worst of the two, and the LF sole is coming off more than it was, but is still there. Not for much longer! We'll see if I can't get to Arwen this afternoon! :)
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