Adjusting to Monday

And The Mud is Back!

I went to the chiropractor this morning to get evaluated for physical therapy to help strengthen my muscles again. I also got an adjustment, so that meant I really didn't want to ride the horses and undo it.

Afterwards, I did a bit of shopping and with an extra 20% off coupon bought some nice sweaters on sale. If anyone has a Kohl's nearby, you will know what I mean about sales. Most of the sweaters in the store were already 55% off with some even cheaper, so I ended up with four. It's been hard to stay warm this winter, so I will wear them all if the cold weather comes back.

Which leads to the mud. It was again in the upper 40'sF today, with sunshine after the rains of last night. The problem at the moment is that the ground is still frozen underneath, so the top layer is holding the water because it simply cannot drain through the frozen layers beneath.

Too bad, actually, because the freeze dried footing was really nice before the rain came. Now, my arena surface is about 4-5 inches of waterlogged sand, with a good number of puddles all over the place. If the ground were fully thawed, this would all soak in, but I don't have much hope of that. Elsewhere, there is a surface slippery layer.

I put Tucker in his stall for the night to keep him out of the mud, so he will be on restricted turnout again until things dry up a bit. But there is more rain in the forecast, so I am not too hopeful.

Meantime, Donna came over to help me do some more poo picking in the riding arena. I have more than half of it all cleaned up for now--until Tucker is out there again. The area not done is the end with the "lake" in it and I don't ride there most of the time anyhow. Until I get those depressions properly filled in, I only ride that far when it's really dry. That still lives me a riding area larger than a small dressage arena, so it's just fine for most work except possibly some of the upper level exercises that need to room. (a line of tempi changes or the canter or trot zig zag) Since I am not doing upper level stuff at the moment, I don't need the full arena.

I let the Boys go naked again for a few hours. They were really romping around when Donna got here--showing off, I think. Once again, Tucker sweated up in his blanket, so I took it off so he could air dry. Strangely enough, Chance was the only one who took the opportunity to roll.

Which leads to another pondering. I'm not sure why, but some horses have coats that are easier to clean than others. Toby and Tucker are both Thoroughbreds, but Tucker cleans up easily and Toby's coat holds the dirt. This was even true when he was young, so it has something to to with the texture of his natural coat. Chance is, like Toby, a chestnut, but he has an easy coat to clean as well, so it's not a matter of color. It's not length that matters either, as all three Boys have about the same amount of hair.

It used to frustrate me if I had a clinic with Toby in the winter. I would have to spend a lot of time grooming him, even using dry shampoo or hot towels to try to get him clean. And even then, a good slap on his rump would usually raise a cloud of dust. I do not have a place to give a horse a bath in the winter, so I make do.

I've just learned to accept the fact that a clean horse, turnout, and winter just don't make the perfect trio.