A Brushing Time - Saturday

April 21st. It was a beautiful day. It would have been just like summer if the breeze from the northeast hadn't tempered the warmth of the sunshine. I took Sean out with me to help brush the horses. I had hoped that he and I could brush our Paso Fino, "Rosa", because her winter coat still has a woolly mammoth appearance. But Rosa was not interested.




Instead, "Moon The Magnet Horse" came over to greet us. I don't think we could have kept her away with a cattle prod - (not that we have one or would never use one!!) Moon's just a people-loving horse. While she munched on some hay, Sean got a lesson in using a curry comb. A curry comb, for those not familiar with horse grooming tools, is a round, hard rubber disk with a textured surface. The handle is a strap through which you fit your hand. The strap holds the curry comb in place as you groom the horse in a fairly firm circling motion so that the dust and dirt and undercoat of the horse get loosened. The wind takes care of the masses of fur and dust that get packed into the disk after a few strokes this time of year.

It was a hand-over-hand lesson. Sean's beefy hand fit well into the curry comb, and together we gave Moon a much-needed grooming. She is shedding her winter coat without any help, but it's a great thing for a horse to get rubbed, scratched and generally groomed during this itchy time of shedding.




Sean is not exactly enthusiastic about doing the work but we do try to keep him out there and around us and the horses so that he is involved.