Remember that little guy I featured on yesterday's blog, the toddler who got into the mud?
Well, he can't hold a candle to what horses can do when they find some nice squishy mud.
Spring mud is like a candy store for horses.
They lie down, roll and then roll some more. Then they get back up and pretend to shake it off. Heavy on the "pretend."
Last evening my sister Laurie posted the photo above of Maizy after she had gone out to work the young mare and found her looking downright disgusting.
A good grooming job later, and finally Maizy was ready for her morning schooling.
Maizy pretty much exemplifies the typical scene this time of the year when horses take their mud baths.
Besides the usual daily grooming, the Tibbs barn served as a setting for Tom's Pedicure Shop yesterday.
Tom is fully known as Tom Selberg. He actually grew up in Colburn just a mile or so from where Barbara and Laurie live. Tom now works as a farrier and horse owner from his farm near Coeur d'Alene.
He's been Barbara and Laurie's farrier for more years than I have fingers, toes and nose hairs.
Well, yesterday he pulled in and parked his truck in the usual spot on the cement slab on the south end of the barn.
Then, one by one, horses with long toes came in from the mud for their early spring trims. Dusty, "the champ," also got fitted for some new front shoes.
During the sunny afternoon session, the line-up included a couple of babies, stall mates CB and Arty, having their first real experience with a farrier.
In both cases, Tom, who's dealt with hundreds and hundreds of horses representing all sorts of temperaments and hoof care experience, calmly approached each young'un and with a little help from Laurie and Barbara, convinced them that he was not gonna be the boogie man.
Working with first timers takes patience, and it can be dangerous, but when you had three lifetimes of dedicated horse experience there working with the novices, it all turned out pretty pain free (for humans and horses), and the little guys decided it wasn't that bad after all.
Little CB experienced a double dose of beautification yesterday. Shortly before I drove over to my sisters' the UPS truck came and the driver handed me a box containing CB's very own horse blanket.
It's an expandable version, so he can wear it off and on through the fall and maybe even during early winter.
He seemed to like the blanket, but uncharacteristically did not appear too excited to pose for Mom's photo session.
There's an awfully lot that goes into enhancement of "all the pretty horses."
It's a daily thing. It involves considerable expense with feed, supplements, pedicures, grooming, veterinary care and wardrobe.
More than anything, though, it involves a genuine, loving and committed relationship with these special animals/friends.
We love them. They love us back.
And, when the mud goes away in the spring, leaning on a fence and watching them frolic or graze out in lush green grass-----nothing beats that.
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| Dusty, the National Champ, got some new front shoes. |
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