BJ, Easter of 2006;
I just thought I'd supplement my
"woolly mammoth theory" with some evidence. ;)
I just thought I'd supplement my
"woolly mammoth theory" with some evidence. ;)
Today I gave BJ a bath. Anyone who has met BJ knows that indefinitely, he loves to be dirty. Whenever he gets wet, he immediately rolls, which is a frustrating habit. Aside from today, I don't think he'd had a real bath this entire year because most of the time it's useless and a waste of time. Since winter will be rolling around the corner soon, I decided it was time to get the layers of dirt and dry skin washed off of the filthy boy before his winter coat started growing in, deeming the task impossible. The winters are generally mild in Washington State, so I rarely blanket the horses, even at night. Usually, if it snows (which happens on occasion) I'll toss a blanket on Andie so she doesn't get quite as wet. As the temperature drops, BJ adopts a coat representing that of a wholly mammoth. Apparently there's still a few around! This means that grooming anything beneath the surface of his coat is impossible. In the dead of winter, he could be soaking wet, but if I pat his rump, dust comes wafting up out of the depths! It's quite hilarious, actually, but even if he IS dirty, at least I know that his skin is staying nice and dry! :)
After his bath, I trimmed his bridal path (the hair from that alone would have been enough to give Andie a complete mane), ears, whiskers, beard, fetlocks, and some really long hairs that never shed out on his neck. He's starting to look really sharp! I also took the hair tie out of Andie's tail (I had to use one of my own out of my hair yesterday because I don't have any rubber bands left that don't break) and French braided BJ's tail since his drags on the ground. I trimmed it a little at the bottom also, so hopefully it won't get as nasty on the bottom as it was before I bathed him.
He made a BIG fuss about standing still today. I had his lead loosely wrapped through the horse fencing and I gave him a little pile of hay to keep him occupied. I walked over to the shed to grab a brush to comb out his mane, and he pulled himself free and went running around the paddock, refusing to be caught until I started calling his name really sweetly and crouched on the ground, acting like I had a treat. Good thing he didn't kick up enough dust to ruin his shiny new coat! He was still really wet. In general, he did well, but the hose makes him nervous. In general, he dislikes being sprayed, even by a spray bottle. I'm not exactly sure why. I don't remember this particular "fear" of his when I first got him. It seems like it's just recently become a problem, although If I'm able to hold him still, he usually is able to handle it well. He especially disliked getting his tail hosed off today, and kept moving away from me. When I'd ask him to move "over" to his original area (where the sun wasn't shining in my eyes so I could see what I was doing), he would refuse to move, lean towards me, and a few times he even pointed his rear in my direction. Either that, or he'd move over a baby step, and then next time I'd give him a litle poke/push/shove/smack (depending on how many times he had ignored/disobeyed without doing what I asked) he'd step back towards me and try to "shove me." He really is the sweetest pony EVER, but when he gets nervous, he is SO emotional! When he gets all upset, he usually gets fiesty as well, which doesn't help the situation AT ALL since I tend to have major issues controlling my own anger and frustration. I took a major step today, though, because even though that little squirt was trying my patience, I was able to keep my cool and ask him to do things nicely, if he obliged, I'd lavish him with praises, but if he disobeyed, I would discipline him in steps that would increase in severity each time he didn't listen. After a while, he figured it out, calmed down, and stood perfectly until I was finished. :) What a good boy!
I kept him tied until he was dry (one of the reasons I trimmed him up so nicely, because normally I wouldn't have paid so close attention to all those tiny details), otherwise he would have rolled and ruin all of my hard work. I had to shampoo him twice and scrub him really good in order to get most of the dirt and loose hair washed away. His mane and tail look gorgeous, and even though I didn't wash his forelock or face, I was able to get them brushed off well enough that he looks really good. After I untied him, I immediately fed them to insure that he wouldn't roll while he was still a tiny bit damp.
After the ponies had settled with their hay, I did some more work in the shed, mainly organizing the random drawers thrown on top of the desk/cabinets, organizing all my stuff that needed to stay in there, moved a cabinet so I could get into another cabinet which my stuff had been stuck in for several months because it was blocked off. Everything is situated now so even though it's cluttered with stuff that shouldn't be there, at least I'm utilizing the drawers and cabinets, at least while they're still in there. There was also some trash that I was able to get picked up (an empty bag of oats, some strings and broken fence insulators, etc.). The black mildewy layer of hay and straw is starting to dry out now, so hopefully I'll be able to get all of that scraped up and swept out. Everything is looking SO much better.
Tomorrow I will take pictures of their current condition, I promise! Thanks for reading. :)
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