Getting Ready for Company...........

WPart 1

hen my alarm went off this morning, I cursed under my breath even though no one was around to hear me. Embarrassed to be so crabby first thing in the morning, I'm glad no one heard me.

I tried ignoring the thing but it just would NOT shut up. I thought if it ran long enough it would stop which it actually did. It put itself on snooze alarm and gave me a brief break. That break only made me crabbier when it was interrupted by the sound that cursed alarm. The only thing that got me out of bed was the thought that lytha was coming this afternoon.

Still I drug myself out of bed and pretty much forced myself to eat. If my grumpiness wasn't gone by the time I hit the barn, the sight of the horses completely changed my mood. I had "things" that needed done before lytha arrived and I knew I didn't have enough time to get them all.

Normally I would have clipped all the horses, just their muzzles and bridle paths but on thirty horses that's a lot of clipping. I have visitors who say I didn't need to go to such trouble but I think it's good schooling for the horses. I never get them all done just to do it. Visitors coming at least give me a reason to make the time.

The end result is after a few times the horses have learned how to be clipped. Occasionally one horse or another will take a bit longer but sooner or later I can clip any of them without even putting on a halter. With lytha coming I had the opportunity to make up for clipping time I missed this summer because I was doing lawyer stuff instead of working with my horses.


Many of the mares have grown out their bridle paths long enough they are beginning to lay over. I decided I would just let them be since all of them are very good about being clipped and I was really short on time. Instead I focused on the boys because.......well, ,they are boys. That means there's always at least one or two testing me and I knew a couple of them for sure needed help when it comes to clipping.

Since Storm has returned home, he has been a little on the unpredictable side. I used to be able to clip him without a halter but currently I can barely brush him without one so I figured clipping would probably be out of the question. The horse didn't give me any trouble putting on his halter and he didn't even wince when I turned the clippers on. I was thinking he might just have let me clip him naked after all.

One of those always testing just happens to be Rhet. When I got this colt , I couldn't even touch his poll, let alone clip anywhere near there. A lot of things have changed since then but the horse is still very sensitive about his poll. I have not been able to clip his poll without some kind of restraint..............that is until today.

I did put a halter on him and I turned the clippers on nowhere near his neck. I expected when I moved closer he would throw his head into the air and try to go over the top of me BUT instead he just stop there. His head was about as high up as he could get which makes it a good thing that I am tall. Still, he just stood there and let me clip his whole bridle path without making even ONE naughty move. Two for two..........we were on a roll.

Next up was Suede. He's one of Aana's babies and with that goes that bit of trepidation that makes him unpredictable. He can be as good as gold if the fear doesn't get him BUT who knows when that's going to be. I put the halter on him and other than a very wide eye, he stood like a rock as well. Three for three............whooda thunk??

Then it was time to clip Reflection. He's another question never to be taken for granted. I don't know why sometimes those clippers get him and sometime they don't but he can be the perfect angel or my worst nightmare. Today, he followed in the shoes of the others and just stood there. Four for four...............WOW!

Next I was onto Legs and that's not a problem. He shakes sometimes and gets those prickly little stubs of hair down my shirt but that's about it. Today, there wasn't even any shaking. Can't remember when that happened last. Five for five........and counting......

Now, I know my luck is running out. The next two boys to clip are the three year old colts. Andy and Patriot just have not had the kind of work done with them that I would like. I have a lot of missed time to make up for but they are coming around......Andy much faster than Patriot.

I was not all that surprised when Andy tolerated the clipping ok. His eye did get a bit bigger but was no where near as concerned as Suede's had been. Something about that horse is worming its way into my heart. I fondly patted him on the neck as I counted six for six.

I was not expecting any miracles from Patriot. He has been a bigger bugger to clip the last few times than even Rhet. That's saying something. I was just hoping to get through without getting stomped on. I didn't want to be limping when lytha arrived.

Would you believe, Patriot held IT together. I had to put his nose in the corner where he could get some comfort from Dare AND his eyes were bugging out of his head but he stayed there and let me get it done. This is an all time first for this colt and you can bet I'll be out there tomorrow doing it again to see if we can build on it. Seven for seven.............I couldn't believe it AND the really good news only another few minutes before lytha would arrive.

To be continued.......................

The Arrival

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