Spa Day ~ A Pictorial

I truly plan to get somewhere this long weekend and ride. Since we have a list a mile long of things to get done at home, we'll split the weekend: part work, part play. You may think what I did this afternoon was horseplay, but no - it definitely falls under the "work" category. Bathing five horses is hard work and 3.75 hours of my life I won't get back.

Windy didn't get a bath at Expo this year so even though she may look good all shed out, she still felt grimy. I longed to feel Show Sheen in her mane. Windy doesn't mind baths, but stay away from the ears! And she is reminding me of that in no uncertain terms.

Windy is blessed with a soft, thick and long tail which I know I've shown you all 101 times. The wind was blowing softly and I could not get a good shot of it today.


Doesn't Ginger look like she is saying "ahhhhh." I was so embarrassed when Tanya (a hair stylist of all things!) rode her last week and her mane had dreadlocks forming! It took quite a bit of combing before I bathed her today to work those out.

But wow! Can you tell where Windy gets her pretty tail from? Mama sure isn't lacking in the tail department. It does touch the ground. And the texture is so soft. Tanya told me she could color my hair like this. I'm tempted...

I forgot to get a bathing picture of Butter. And she was not going to wake up from her nap for me to get a good "drying off" shot of her. So this is the best we have.

Butter's mane and tail are a lot like Ginger's texture wise and has the prettiest colors running through it. I think red duns are stunning, but what I don't like is they don't shine. Butter's coat is a lot more coarse than our quarter horses of other colors.

I absolutely cannot remember the last time I gave Baby a bath. I question now if she ever has had a complete body bath. Her mane is very coarse. It was rubbed out in several places so I trimmed it before I started her bath.

Unlike her mane, her tail is a lot softer; once again, more the texture of Ginger's and almost touches the ground. I let the horses out in the grassy arena after they were pretty dry and Baby was the only one who rolled. Luckily, it wasn' in poop. Yet.

The water on Blue makes him look blue! And look at the reflections. Blue has always liked water. Baths, creeks... he is the only horse we have that will actually swim. It's no surprise that he seemed to enjoy the bath most of all.

He, too, has a thick tail and unlike the mares', his is wavey. Is there anything prettier than a shine on a black horse? Not jet black, Blue will stay this black for another week or so and then begin to fade in the sun. When he grows his winter coat, he will return to black again in the fall.

Someone on Horsetales asked me what I use for product. Today, I used Mane & Tail shampoo and conditioner. I am not loyal to any particular brand; heck, I've used Suave before. But I am picky about the finisher. I love, love love Show Sheen. I've tried the others and always come back to Show Sheen.

Clean horses. Check

Now it's time to ride.

Eight Years

Eight years ago today, it was a very, very windy day; not at all unlike what we have been experiencing lately. As John was making the morning coffee, he glanced out to the corral. “Well, there's a baby!” he said with a smile. On wavering legs next to John's mare Ginger, was a solid bay foal that appeared to be standing vehemently against the gusting of the south wind. The herd mates of the foal’s dam may have been curious when this baby dropped to the ground but were now munching quietly at the round bale as if nothing unusual had taken place.

According to our calculations, Ginger wasn’t due to foal for another few weeks. We saw no evidence of waxing or other signs of imminent labor but perhaps didn’t look hard enough since it wasn’t time. Had we known the time was near, she would have been placed in the foaling stall and we would have started our watch. But she surprised us all.

We quickly went out to the barn, haltered the Ginger and the baby followed as we moved them out of the corral. The baby was strong, healthy and very curious; not at all cautious of us like the other foals were that spring. She was bay like her sire, with dark black hooves and not a hair of white on her legs. She had just a whisper of white where a star would be, barely worth mentioning. I named her Windy.


In 2008, I introduced those reading this blog to Windy, My Dream Horse. At that time, we were entering our 4th riding season together. Since then, our partnership has continued to grow. We have ridden in five states in all sorts of weather and terrain. We’ve conditioned for and participated in a couple distance rides. We have even entered a few classes at a horse show and most notably, picked up some mileage awards from our local trail program. But nothing makes me smile more than when meeting a person on the trail and they are quick to mention Windy, having read all about her here.


Being that she is the “prettiest bay horse in the world”, someone asked me recently if I will ever have her bred to which I easily reply, “no.” What she is to me is not about her breeding (some of Pitzer's finest, but she’s a grade) or conformation (a long back makes for a rough trot) or how smart she is (she has her moments)! What I have with her is in my heart, not her blood.

“In my heart
There is no doubt
You’ve given me, unselfishly,
The best days of my life.”

Happy Birthday, Poo.