Vacation and Dapples

Harley is enjoying his vacation, but I am not.  It is getting close to two months since I have ridden my horse.  This is the longest that I have gone without riding since some of those long winters during college (I graduated over ten years ago.) and at the interim between getting married, moving, and finding a new barn to call my home.  This is definitely the longest since I have owned Harley.  I thought that I would still be able to have fun with my horse from my own two feet, but I have had to give up groundwork now, too.  My center of balance is completely out of whack and I cannot put on any of my barn shoes or boots due to foot and ankle swelling.  It is really gross, but "normal" in the world of pregnancy.  My husband and I went to K-mart and bought men's Wellington-type boots so that I can at least visit my horse in something besides sandals.  I would not be able to reach down to lace up my regular boots even if I could fit into them.  My existence is very strange and foreign to me right now.  I am an active person, but I cannot manage even a short walk without needing to use the restroom and I hobble around like a crippled person on my fat feet.  Needless to say, this has also made my job as a middle school teacher very, very challenging.

On a more positive note, Harley's dapples have arrived!  At least the stunning beauty of my horse's spring coat can lift my spirits.  He is just so gorgeous.  I know that I am biased, but every year his coat transformation is remarkable.  I documented it in detail last year.  Just choose the "buckskin" tag to see some more impressive photos from 2012.  He is pictured below partaking in his favorite vacation pastime.

His tall, dark summer stockings are growing up his legs!  I love those.

Can you see some dapples on his shoulder.  They are not very visible in this light.  This picture doesn't do them justice and was taken in mid-May.  His coloring is even more dramatic now, at the end of the month.

Good Boy, Harley.  He has been cleaning his bowl every though he does not get formal exercise at this time.  Thank goodness for 24/7 turnout and a buddy to pal around with.  Despite his vacation, he remains a perfect gentleman when I retrieve him from the paddock for grooming and carrots.  I really am a lucky horse girl.

Instant Gratification in a Shedding Blade

It doesn't matter how many times I have traversed shedding season, I am always amazed by the amount of hair that falls away from my horse.  A lot of times, I just use a small hard brush to groom hair from the Brillo pad that is his winter coat, systematically removing the hair from the brush and transferring it to the garbage can as I work from his neck to his hindquarters.  But at some point, there is so much hair that my brush becomes stuffed with hair in just a few strokes.

Enter the shedding blade.

I don't know what it is, but the shedding blade is a ridiculously satisfying grooming tool.  Harley enjoys the nice scratching massage that he gets from the small teeth of the blade and the hair flies from his coat like a scene from Edward Scissorhands.

Nothing like a smooth horse!

These pictures were taken a few weeks ago.  Harley has lost a lot more hair since then, revealing some of the short, satiny hair of summer.  I can see lots of reddish hairs mixed in on his neck and shoulders.  Do you know what that means?

The dapples are on their way!

Harley is living the easy life these days: extended grooming sessions, hand-grazing, and carrot-time at the picnic table.  I try to get in an exercise session a couple times a week, but, honestly, he seems to be handling the down-time just fine.  In the six years that I have owned him, he has not had a long vacation and during this time of year I would probably be riding him as close to four times a week as my schedule would allow.  I hope at least one of us is enjoying it, because I am still gazing at his back longingly and wishing I were up there.  Wouldn't it be nice if you could just remove your pregnant belly for a few hours and put it back on later?  My bladder would sure appreciate that.  ;)

Buttermilk Buckskin: Winter Fuzz

I know that our horses' winter coats can be a hassle, but something about long hair is just so romantic.  I may not feel that way once shedding season begins or if Harley decides to roll in the mud, but for now, it looks pretty cool.

The setting sun added to the ambiance and made his coat look more golden than usual.

Did you know that those longer hairs on his jowls, belly, and legs are functional?  If the horse is precipitated upon, the rain or melting snow will travel down the longer hairs and off his coat.  This helps to keep his undercoat and skin dry, which helps him maintain his body temperature in inclement weather.  It is for this reason that I never trim these hairs during the winter months.  And plus, Harley lives out.

Fuzzy ears: I make sure that I free them from the browband.  This picture was taken in artificial lighting.

As much as I like his winter duds, I enjoy trimming the hairs that remain once he does shed out.  My horse transforms into a delicate-looking animal again, with the help of the clippers.  That sort of thing satisfies the left side of my brain and the right side gets to have fun matching the curvature of his jaw and cheek.  Despite what the groundhog says, it still seems to be too early to charge up the clippers...

Buttermilk Buckskin: Going Grey

Harley's winter coat is sneaking up on me.  I noticed that he was shedding his summer coat in the beginning of September, but it wasn't until recently that I really looked at him and realized that he is much lighter now than he was this summer.  In certain light, he almost looks grey.

Good-bye brown points and reddish hairs

Good-bye dapples.  His coat is now more blended in with the white hairs at the top of his tail.

Good-bye dark stockings behind

Fading up front, too

Hello cute star and whorl

Look at how tall and dark his stockings were this summer!

And such pretty dapples and reddish color!

He almost looks like a different horse.  I can see why some of the kids call him the "white one".  Luckily, his coat still hides dirt pretty well.  Off-white is quite fashionable!

Thanks for the new fall colors, Harley!  I can't wait for your dark, black nose, a sure sign of winter.

The Mane Dilemma: Haircut

Harley has thick, fairy tale horse hair.  I love long hair and try my best to keep his mane and tail as natural as possible, which includes not cutting a bridle path behind his ears and letting his mane just grow and grow.  I purchase bottles of detangler and conditioner to keep his locks manageable and always try to brush starting at the bottom to prevent breakage.  Even though Harley used to be a rough and tumble horse (i.e. his previous owner was of the male persuasion), he seems to enjoy the primping and preening, which was a cool way to pass the time during our three-day heat wave last week.  He also very clearly appreciates his long mane and forelock when the flies are biting.  They serve as effective fly masks just as nature intended.

Unfortunately, I decided that practicality had to win over vanity last week.  Harley's hair is so thick, that he sweats quite a lot under his mane.  The hair will hold a nice french braid, which I employ for shows, but he dislikes having his mane constantly done up.  I think that it must pull, because he will toss his neck from side to side in an annoyed way.  After a horse show, he always licks and chews when I undo the braid and gives his mane a really good, satisfied shake.

So out came the clippers.  I was hoping clippers would give a rougher cut then scissors.  I did not want to pull his mane as it was just way too long for that, but I also did not want to do the dreaded straight cut.  I really like the way his mane had thinned out at the bottom of the hairs, so I was sad to see that part go, but his health and comfort are more important.

The round pen is a nice touch to the "mustang look" he has going.  The shortest section of his mane by the withers is just catching up with the rest of his mane.  I have not trimmed his mane in over a year.

I love the soft edge of his mane, frayed by hundreds of combings, the sun, and the elements.

The Haircut: I tried to follow the bottom of his neck, remove some bulk, but keep it legitimately long.  I also evened out the shorter section coming from the withers.

Even though I am going through a little bit of regret at losing the edges of his wild mane, I am glad that his pretty neck is no longer completely hidden.  Thankfully, there is much better airflow under there now and with enough mane left to shake off flies.  I am looking forward to the edges softening with time.

Since I had the clippers out, his fetlocks also received a trim.

He stands like a champ for this stuff.

I just barely nipped the edges off of his forelock.  He enjoyed the shower as it was in the upper nineties!

Harley got all dolled up, so now he just needed somewhere to go.
Thankfully, we had a special event on Saturday!  More to follow.

Related Post: The (Original) Mane Dilemma

Buttermilk Buckskin: More Dapples!

A little soft brush goes a long way to bring out the shine.

As the last bits of winter fuzz have been lifted, Harley's dapples have emerged all over his shoulders, sides, and rump.  Last week, the final little tuffs of cream fur fell from the under edge of his mane and around his long forelock.  Some stubborn dark hairs were scrubbed from his lower legs, leaving only a cute tail at the base of each fetlock.  His barrel is smooth and shiny, with an almost metallic luster, which pictures do not really do justice.

Standing patiently, but...

..."I don't have to like it."

As it turns out, Harley remembered the last photo shoot and had decided that he was not in the mood for more pictures.  My usual ham for the camera was making faces like this:

"I am not an object."

Sorry, Boy.  I guess that I took these photos on days too close together to encourage the same enthusiasm and smiles.  So I decided to compromise!

"Really?"

"Now THIS is a photo shoot."

"My dapples look much better from this angle."

Buttermilk Buckskin: Changing Colors

May is the month when Harley's dapples blossom.  The reddish hairs start to appear on his shoulders and rump first, cascading onto his ribcage and barrel shortly there after.  They are not dark or dramatic.  His dapples are subtle and intertwined like a red webbing, which stretches and recoils as  he moves.  His dark stockings are just about grown, reaching above his knees and hocks.  He has developed some more dark points on his withers and crest.  These dark points are more of a sandy color than the red on his hip and face.  There is still some soft fluff on his belly, but by the time I am posting this, the last wisps of his winter coat have just about gone.

Harley is a quarter horse with withers!

Can you see the darker hairs along his topline?  He has a sandy-red shading that goes to his tail, but is not defined enough to qualify as a dorsal stripe.

Light dapples and the last of the winter fuzz on his belly.

The dapples at his girth area and shoulder are more noticeable in the shadows.

There is a limit to his patience.

Harley: "Let's go!  No more pictures."

"The camera can't see me now."

Red on his hip.

I was waiting for a beautiful day to take these pictures.  The sky was breathtaking blue.

See the red on his face?  And his nose and muzzle have traded black for grey.

Buttermilk Buckskin glory

Later this day, Harley got his first shower of 2012 and shortly thereafter his first good post-shower roll.  A dirty horse is a happy horse, but I sure am glad that I decided to take these pictures first!  He was a good sport about it and smiled nicely for the camera for the last two photos in this post.  As you can hopefully see, his weight is looking very good this spring.  He is eating half a scoop less feed at each meal than he did this winter, but seems to have maintained pretty well.  Cold weather requires more heat generation and more energy consumption, so this makes sense.  I would say that he has dropped from a 6 to a 5 or a 5+ (and holding) on the condition scale and I am more than delighted with that for my hard-keeping Harley.

Buttermilk Buckskin: Changing Colors

And a ride!

Since I was absent from the barn last week, Harley's coat changes have nearly gotten away from me!  His light, cream-colored fur is being replaced by more reddish tones, which should lead to dapples on his rump and shoulders.  The new red hairs are visible along his cheek bone and behind his eye in the photo below. 

I have always enjoyed watching his color changes, but this is the first time that I have tried to document the changes gradually.  His spring transformation seems to be picking up speed!

More red hairs on his nose.  The red and cream together give him that golden look.

Can you see the star on his forehead?

Red hairs on his hip points, croup, and...

...withers.  Sometimes he almost gets bands here, but I think that is in the fall.  The lines that you see are just shadows.

Check out the black patches above the backs of his knees.  Those were not there last week!

The fronts are just about there.  I guess knee-highs are always in fashion for Harley.

A lot more light hair has left his hind legs.

The good old-fashioned grooming block is the trick for helping the short hair shed off the front of his hing leg.

This is a totally insane picture of his mane.  The "frosting" is nothing new, but has grown quite long on top of his dark mane.  The lower section is growing in for the first time since I have owned him.  This is thanks to some foal fencing that I paid for and helped put up in 90 degree weather.  I was happy to have his mane grow in, but I was even more happy to not have him contorting himself through the fence to eat grass.  I do not think that he is as happy with the arrangement.  He would rather have the grass.

"Enough pictures already!"

Sorry Harley, but just look at that blue sky.  Unreal.

We did go on a trail ride after this long never-ending grooming session and photo shoot.  He was extremely pleased to be out and about after a week of waiting around and trying to amuse himself.  Although I am still getting over the cough and I do not sound great, I am feeling better, too.  We kept the ride to lots of walking and some trotting here and there.  I tried to keep Harley slow in trot for the sake of our company (we are always faster than our company), but he was not having it.  I got to feel some beautiful lengthened trot along a sandy trail and he rounded up into an equally powerful collected trot as we navigated a winding path around trees.  The path was cut to slow horses down on the way back home.  I guess no one told Harley that!  It was very, very fun to ride in sitting trot, changing the bend around each tree and feeling him push off his hind legs.  Dressage is beneficial even to trail riding!

Once we got back to our property, I let him canter along a wide path leading to the paddocks.  He did this beautiful collected canter-right and when we approached a gentle bend to the left, he lifted up into an expression and exciting flying change.  Totally clean and totally awesome.  I did not ask him for it deliberately, but I am sure that I shifted my weight and that is all the encouragement he needs for his favorite trick.  The left lead afterward was so full of excitement and joy that I could feel the power beginning to overflow and I could see what he looked like in my mind's eye: arched neck, flared nostrils, expressively articulating knees and hocks, and flying mane and tail.  Harley may be beautiful on the outside, but his true beauty is this fire inside of him.  The desire to show off his energy and spirit.  I feel completely honored that he chooses to share it with me.