We finally had some decent weather and the time to give the horses a bath! I wish I had a camera to take some before and after pictures cuz those girls were nasty!!! You can really see the difference on Zoe because of her lighter color and Star's coat just glowed! I had wanted to give their tails a make over too but I was running out of steam so only their manes got the attention.
On a whole, the first bath of the year went good. Zoe dealt with the water being sprayed on her until I got to her back. After that getting her to stand still so I could get her but and belly was virtually impossible to do by myself. Hubby saw my struggle and came to my rescue. He was able to hold her while I finished spraying. Then middle daughter and I got to scrubbing! Zoe got a little anxious at first because Star was running around in the field - not waiting patiently for her turn. But Zoe relaxed eventually and really enjoyed the scrubbing. All the winter fur was very itchy, I'm sure! We got a good portion of winter hair off but she still has more to go! After the final rinse, hubby took her to the yard and held her while she ate. Can't turn her out while she's still wet because all that hard work of washing would've gone to waste - turning her into a big mud ball.
So while Zoe was drying, we got Star out. She just wanted a bath so she could eat while we washed. That would've been fine but she kept walking while we were trying to scrub and that gets annoying. So we had to move out to the driveway so she had to just stand there. Star had more winter hair left than Zoe did so we got TONS of hair out (and dirt!). Oldest son was there to help with the scrubbing this time so I was able to just hold her while the kiddos did the work. :) After the final rinse, middle daughter took Star to eat some grass while she dried.
I gave Zoe and quick brush down and turned her out. First thing she did was roll. Dang horse. So I went back out with a brush and tried to get the dirt off right away. I got one side done before she just wanted to play. Oh well. Hubby came with some hay and she got to eating.
I took over with Star and just relaxed in the sunshine while Star ate. What a beautiful day! Once Star was dry, I brushed her quick and turned her out with Zoe. Usually Star will roll ASAP but she didn't want to miss out on the hay so she ate instead of rolled....I may be on to something here...
After bath time was all done, hubby and I decided we need a wash stall so I can do the horse bathing by myself if need be. So I guess we just added another project to our already too long list of projects! I'm sure that by the end of summer, Zoe will do MUCH better. We do a lot of baths throughout the summer so she will come to enjoy them on those hot days. She showed a lot of curiosity with the water and almost tried to take a drink. I remember Grace (APHA mare that we had to put down a year or so ago) used to enjoy drinking directly from the hose. I miss that mare and her puppy dog attitude. Some day maybe I will write a post about her. Still hard to talk about her without tears.
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Peace begins with a smile."
-Mother Teresa
