Clinic Auditing

What does one do when an international dressage star comes to town? Audit her clinic, of course! Debbie McDonald is giving a dressage clinic at Traumhof in Carnation this weekend. Auditing is limited due to parking limitations, and Emily is very pleased to be able to attend. More during/after the weekend! More info about Debbie and and her horse, Brentina here.

Hair...EVERYWHERE!

I showed you a photo (below) of the fence where I'd rubbed my side because I'm starting to shed my winter coat, and now I'll show you what was on the floor of the grooming shed after Emily brushed me for only fifteen minutes and clipped my mane off. Nicely groomed Fjord horses have a lovely long-roached mane, generally clipped at angles on the sides so you can see the black dorsal stripe, but mine has been shaggy and cozy this winter! Now it's time to get shaping up for Spring when I'll be enjoying my times with riding students in lessons, and that means a mane cut and regular grooming. Look at all that fur and hair on the floor!! If any birds are ready to make nests, my old fur will be handy interior decorating!

Zebras

While we have been here in Washington state enduring winter weather (snow, ice, rain and melty messes here, flooding elsewhere), Emily went on a very exciting trip.... to Tanzania in Africa! I don't really know how far away that is, but she told me about the striped equids called zebras she saw there! I have my exotic dorsal stripe but zebras have stripes all over, and vertical stripes in their manes! They are so handsome, and lucky Emily got to see babies and adults walking, trotting, cantering and just having a good natural time in the wild. How many zebras do you see in this photo? I see eight.... good luck finding them all!

The Days are Getting Shorter.... Really!

The days have been extra dark feeling lately because we've had fog. Fog: down to the deck, can't see more than 100' in front of you, you know there's blue sky above, but it's thick and dark outside kind of fog. Really eerie at night, when Emily has to shine her light on us to be sure we're where she should be. Last night she fed us just after darkness fell, and it was very quiet and muffly outside as well as difficult to see very far. Emily thought she knew where she was in the big field, but she underestimated and she was two fence sections away from the gate when she was finished feeding us! She looked surprised, but just re-aimed her headlamp and went on to feed the others.

With the darkness of fog it is difficult to tell that the days are, indeed, getting longer! The sunrise is a few minutes before 7:47 a.m., and sunset is at 4:54, so it is dark for 14 hours each 24-hour day.

However.... as evidenced by the photo above, I am beginning to shed! What?! Yes, the days are getting longer, so my coat is starting to loosen and itch and I rubbed on the fences the last two nights. That's why there is fur in the fence! The daffodil and tulip bulbs have sprouted also, so I'm not the only one thinking that Spring and longer days are in the not too distant future! What do you see around you that makes you know Spring will be here in two months??!

It's Melting!

The snow is melting... melting... and the world is turning green and grey once more. I missed our green fields! I missed our easy temperatures in the 40's and 50's, and now they're back! The ice is melting in our stock tanks, and getting water to us is much easier for the people. Next year they'll have an insulated water spigot right by the paddocks and field, but this year they don't, so it's been a week of carrying water with the little electric golf car. I think Nils, Britta and I enjoyed the snow most of all. We Fjord horses have no problem warding off ice and snow! We had snow and ice on our backs and manes, and little balls of ice on our leg feathers and beards. It's good to be so shaggy when the weather is so wintery! What kind of weather are you having?

Merry Christmas

There is about 15" of snow on the ground. Our street is plowed and smooth going, but many of our Island neighbors are stuck at home. Power is on. Phones are on. Even cable is still flowing. Water is flowing, but hoses are mostly frozes, so the humans carry water to us a few times a day. It is lovely. It is not cold. It is time for the snow to go away! Emily heard from a smart Fjord horse owner in Bothell (thanks Corinne!) that plasticky feed sacks make great sleds. She's going to try it today. Maybe Alex or Annie will take a photo and I'll put it on my blog! We horses will be very pleased when Santa Claus and his reindeer bring us Christmas carrots on Thursday morning! Merry Christmas to you and your family, and especially to all your animals.

Snow!

We have about 6-8" of snow and more is falling right now. It's been really cold (19ºF), but is warming up a bit now. That's Nils looking through his pasture gate. Do you like his furry coat?!
Isn't the blue light at sunrise beautiful?
Have a great snow day like we are!