HAIR

Give me a head with hair, long beautiful hair, shining, gleaming... WAIT STOP NO! NO MORE HEADS WITH HAIR!

Today was bridle path trimming day. Minis can grow more hair than any beauty parlor has ever swept out at the end of the day. I just cut hair 3 months ago and every horse in the barn was wearing a 4 inch tall mohawk. 3 months ago I trimmed all tails to an inch above the ground and today every adult horse in the barn had at least 3 inches of tail dragging the ground behind them.

Tired of them all looking like drunken ladies wearing bizarre plumed headdresses, I got out the shears and hauled the first victim out of a stall. The first victim was little Weena who sports a kinky, curly, nappy, mop rather than a mane. Her hair has gotten so that it takes 5 tries to get her halter on without trapping wads of frizz in the buckle. She's still not quite used to the fact that life is no longer going precisely the way the Weena wishes and did not want that buzzing beast anywhere near her Queena crown of nappy locks. Queenas don't like wash racks either, by the way.

Just shearing the Queena Crown and bustle took about 45 minutes out of the morning because Queena had to be convinced the wash rack was not a place to murder woolly pot bellied pigs, nor were the clippers instruments of torture and doom. Once we got those two issues out of the way, then we had to deal with Weena boredom. "Okay, none of this is going to kill me. I got that. Can I leave now? I want to go over there and see that. Can I eat that over there? I think it's lunch time. Mind if I nibble your jeans? I need to go over there. I'M BORED!!!!!!" She doesn't look great, but at least I can get her halter on and off easily and she doesn't have a bubble butt anymore... much.

Weena has hair that would make a sheep jealous. One of her great joys rubbing her back and butt on low hanging branches and tree trunks. This wears down the wool on her back and the sides of her rump but left a woolly mohawk down her butt that made it look as though her front legs were about 4 inches shorter than her back legs. She at least doesn't look like she's walking down hill all the time now... much.

Next victim was little Godric. Except for the normal "I'm the baby, gotta love me" attitude that seems to be born into all mini foals, Godric and Weena are as different as fish and birds. Queena is utterly carefree. Godric has to consider everything, even feed buckets, before he gets too close. As you can imagine, shearing the head of "Brave Godric" took another good chunk out of the morning. That's okay though. This was the "children's" first hair cut and if I hadn't taken the time to do it right it'd just take more time next time.

Every day when I'm working with Godric, I am struck by his elegance. His daddy sure did put a mark on him. He's the absolute best of both Mom and Pop. He is refined, small head, tiny fox-like ears, bright expression, wide chest, graceful neck, gorgeous legs and perfect bite. He's not the flashiest color in the world. We think he's a silver bay, but under all that baby hair it's difficult to tell. He's going to make someone an extraordinary horse. He's simply that breathtaking.

Once the babies were done things went smoothly. Well, okay mostly smoothly. Lucy had a momentary memory lapse. For a few minutes there she acted like she'd never had to endure such torture in her life. Then suddenly the cogs in her brain turned and she remembered, relaxed and got a beautiful trim that compliments her pretty face and neck. Honey, Blaze and Brave took about 3 minutes total. Walk them in the rack, zzzziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip off that hair, walk them out to their paddocks.

Desi, I don't even want to discuss the Desi-tude today. Honestly. As many trims as that child has had! That's okay though. He and Martini are slated for a "trim" at the Vet clinic and I'm betting they'll be really happy if all they lose is hair after that.