Cob Jockey

First of all, thank you for the kind words, comments and emails on my post yesterday.  This little blogging community is really something, you guys are wonderful!

Nick and I are starting to think that my depression is unusually severe Seasonal Affectivity Disorder - I have never handled my move from growing up on the extreme eastern edge of Central time (sun always up by 7:15am) to the extreme western edge of Eastern time (sun doesn't rise until 8:15am in fall/winter) very well, and I started taking my lunch at my desk in the windowless basement instead of going home at lunch (where I would often rake or walk the dogs over lunch last fall) to save money when Nick was unemployed, so I have gotten zero sun exposure this fall - not even through a window!  We are tackling it from that angle, and hopefully it works.

Now, for some clipping photos!  This is my first year clipping Connor by myself, and I ended up doing a trace clip with my own light-duty not-body-clippers instead of a full clip borrowing my trainer's giant Oster's.  Honestly, the decision to go trace instead of full was mostly based on the fact that the Oster's are not mine and are expensive/intimidating enough that I knew I couldn't afford to replace them if, say, the motor went out while I was using them.  I knew my little clippers could handle a trace since they were freshly sharpened.  So, a trace we did:



It's...okay.  The lines are straight, but it's not level, and both sides look slightly different, but hey.  He's not going to be sweaty or cold, and I don't think the judges at the Dressage schooling shows we go to this winter will complain much.  It's a clip only a mother could love, but I'm the only person that sees him without a blanket or a saddle, right?!

(That said, he's only half-done growing his coat and there's still a chance I'll buzz the whole thing in frustration next month.  People who succeed at a nice looking trace clip on a hairy draft or native pony breed should be given a medal!)