The Moose Gets a Wardrobe Change

First, to follow up on the chiropractor visit, Jabby started off feeling great, and then I'm pretty sure he tweaked himself all out of place again on our first ride back out on the trails.  Sigh.  He does seem to feel better physically, but mentally, he's still the same.  (Today:  anxiety about transitions, yet completely oblivious to the ride-on mower that was towing a chain drag through the pasture next to our "arena.")   Improvement keeps coming, but it's still slo-o-o-o-ow going some days.

Anyway... Last year I lucked out by managing to avoid clipping either of the boys.   I still blanketed, mostly out of convenience for me, but left their coats intact, and it worked out well for all of us.  I was also lucky enough to inherit a heap of blankets for Jabby so I didn't have to spend a fortune dressing him.

When I took inventory at the end of summer, though, I realized that Jabby had only about four usable turnout blankets (compared to Willie's dozen!).   He had heavy blankets and sheets but not much in between -- one blanket with about 100g of fill, which doesn't fit all that well.  He does have one medium-weight liner that I used last year, but unfortunately I set it aside for washing at the end of last winter and forgot about it, so it's currently a bit grody until I can send it out for cleaning.   Also, it gave him rubs on his shoulders, so I wanted to avoid using it unless absolutely necessary.

Luckily, a few weeks ago I happened to have an interview up near a tack store with a particularly large consignment section, so I decided to raid their blanket bins.  Even more luckily, the bin for 80"+ blankets doesn't ever seem to move, so I dug in with relish.   After much hemming and hawing, cheapness won out over vanity and for a grand total of $26 (including tax!) I picked up these two beauties:

Okay, pretty they ain't, but they'll provide nice warm layers for the Moose underneath something waterproof.

It turns out, he's going to need all the extra layers he can get, because this week I made the decision to clip him after all.  He just got way too sweaty, even on the cooler days.  I tried to do a bib clip -- just his throat and belly -- but this morning he STILL worked up a heavy sweat, within ten minutes of easy work.   Part of it is still in his head, but I think he's just going to be better off without a massive yak coat.   I have enough layers now that I can hopefully keep him warm and cozy in all temperatures, though I'll probably need to pick up a heavier neck cover for him at some point.

After our ride I gave him a bath, then turned him out in the grassy pony pen while I went to lunch, hoping 1) he would be too busy grazing to roll, 2) if he did roll the thick grass would keep him from getting too dirty.

It was a good thought, but unsuccessful.  He indeed roll, and did indeed get dirty!  I scrubbed off as much as I could without giving him another bath (we have no hot water at this farm, so two cold baths in one day would have been mean, even with the temps hitting 70!) and tried to extend the clip.  But it was a fight with my little blue Osters, intended strictly for dog grooming, and before long the clippers and I had both given up. HJ Lady offered to bring me her big fancy clippers to finish up the job tomorrow.  For now Jabby is sporting a trace clip:

I'm hesitant to take off TOO much more hair, since he WILL be living outside, but I know if I'm going to do it, I have to do it now.  I should have clipped him a few weeks ago when I did Willie, because Will already grew back some fuzz!   Next year I think I'm going to do what I had originally thought about doing this year -- hunter clips in September/October. Willie can get fuzzy again, with another trace clip later if he absolutely needs it, and Jabby's further haircuts can be dictated by his workload and our location.  Hey, you never know, by then I might finally take someone up on an offer to go to work in Aiken for the winter!   (...Because I'm totally that rich.)

The good news is, the Moose is totally awesome about being clipped, and naps in the cross-ties just like Willie while I perform three full acts of Clipping Positions That Will Get You Kicked Out of Pony Club 101.  Except for the part where he stood so hipshot that I first ended up with a clip that was lopsided by a full 3".... Whoopsies.


In completely unrelated news, Jabby's "nephew," who you may or may not have caught me drooling over for the last few weeks, totally just set a new sales record for a STB yearling by bringing in a whopping $825,000.   Small potatoes compared to some of the prices the Thoroughbreds go for, but Kind Of A Big Deal nonetheless.  His full brother was a champion, so it should be exciting to follow his career!