Finished Clipping on Angel

Last Saturday, MiniOwner and I finished clipping up on Angel after what we started on Friday! I just did the easy stuff - getting the majority of the hair length off using the variable clippers again. MiniOwner was the one to use the finishing clippers to get the hair even shorter, as well as get more technical about stuff.

The result? This. :)

(Also, I did get some pictures with MiniOwner's real camera, but don't have those yet. I'll upload them when I can.)

Standing in the cross ties while being clipped. The hair-length difference from the draft versus finishing clippers is pretty noticeable.

Giving Angel a break between the clipping and a quick bath.

Clipping on Angel

Today I was able to do a couple things for the first time ever!

First, MiniOwner showed me how to do a bridle path on Buster (he's one of the best to learn on for stuff like this!), and then I finished up most of it. A bridle path is a clipped section of mane that's closest to the head. Usually for a Western-style horse, the length of the bridle path is the length of the horse's ear. For English and driving horses, it's about the length of the ear and a half (so ear x 1.5).

Anyway, it was really easy. I didn't do the hard parts (right next to the forelock and right next to the longer mane), but it was good that I learned. :)

That (where the front section of mane is clipped) is a bridle path.

The second thing I learned was how to body clip! Even though this is my second year of being around the stables, I had never done it (mainly because it is somewhat complex and Angel used to throw a HUGE fit about being clipped).

I was using the variable clippers, which can be set for different speeds. They were pretty heavy and big, but it actually was pretty easy! At first when MiniOwner was showing me how to do it, we had to cover Angel's eye on that side to keep her from freaking out. After a while, though, I just did my thing and she was really good about it. :)

The main thing when clipping is to clip with the hair, and try to keep it streamlined. Luckily for me, I was just performing the draft for the final clipping (which I won't be doing). I did a pretty good job for my first time on her barrel and hindquarters, but her flanks were tricky.

Also, no, I'm not done clipping her. It's just that I only had 40 or so minutes this morning and I didn't have time to finish. Tomorrow morning, though, the plan is to finish clipping her. :)

Anyway, here are the pictures. :)

The un-clipped side.

Her side. At least when she's outside, the streaks aren't quite so noticeable! 

Isn't the difference in coloring (for both the brown and the countershading dorsal stripe) interesting? :)

This is where I could've been a bit more careful!

Toy Toy after MiniOwner's clipping :)

She is so cute. :)

Grooming on a Rainy Day

Yesterday I went down to the stables, and as MiniOwner put it, "the whole ground's saturated." So, instead of the usual cleaning stalls + working the minis, we headed into the upper barn to pull out a couple yearling minis and groom on them.

First MiniOwner took Echo - an E^eE^e/Ch^ChCh⁺ (gold champagne) filly, and I got Ruger - an A^aA^a/To^To-/Z^Z (silver on black) colt.

Ruger was pretty calm about the whole grooming process, and there wasn't much I had to reprimand him for (other than pawing when I stopped grooming temporarily). However, as we'll be showing Echo next year, MiniOwner decided that then was the time to get the filly used to clippers.

Bottom line was that Echo finally got over it. At first, though, she was rearing and freaking out all over the place. MiniOwner just kept going at her (which is honestly what has to be done until the horse realizes that clippers won't kill them. This technique is known as flood training) until she got over it.

After we were done with those two, I got out Reggie - an E^eE^e/To^To (chestnut and white) colt, and MiniOwner pulled out Cayenne - an E^eE^e/Sb^Sb1Sb⁺ (chestnut sabino) colt. For a little while, Reggie was nervous when I was picking out his hoofs; after awhile, though, he just stood there completely still and let me do whatever I wanted to on him. He was shedding a lot (wait...maybe that was Ruger? Grr my memory is getting confused) for merely a yearling, and he really really liked being brushed with the shedding blade. :)

Cayenne, however, decided he was going to act silly when MiniOwner was trying to lead him out of his and Reggie's stall. Short story even shorter, he reared up the first time and struck MiniOwner (thankfully he's a fairly small mini), she warned him not to rear up again, he did, so she pushed him over onto his back.

It may seem mean to a simply "playful" horse for those who don't know much about horses, but they need to learn. And that wasn't just playing, it was also disobedience, and that kind of behavior should not be allowed to reside in any horse; no matter the size.

Anyway, I didn't get any picture of Reggie or Cayenne, but here are a few of Ruger and Echo. :)

Ruger's head. :) Cute boy, but he didn't want to stand still for the picture!

A dark spot on Ruger's neck. I found it a bit interesting!

Echo, the gold champagne filly.

With some minor editing, you can kinda see the hazel-ish eyes common in champagnes.

She has such a delicate Arab-y head.

And big eyes, too!