Much to Connor's Aunt Mary's chagrin, I am not the World's Greatest Groom. Mary likes to keep her horses "a bath away from the hunter ring" and pretends to be mortified by Connor's feathers on a semi-regular basis.
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| Two years ago |
But Mary's going to start being proud of me now. I have a copy of Emma Ford's grooming book on order, and I also clipped for a third time last weekend, which I've never done before.
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| "...this again?" |
I did it because the clinic will coincide with peak fugly coat time. His summer coat won't have visibly come in yet, his winter clip is still obvious, and the grey guard hairs stand out like crazy.
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| Sexy grey hairs |
With a little encouragement from some awesome bloggers, I committed to the third clip. I'm glad I did. This was about the latest I could do it and not significantly affect the summer coat, so I got on it.
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| Before |
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| After |
I...loved it. I might be doing this every year.
This clip actually turned out the best out of all my clips this year, which is weird because he hasn't had a bath since October and it's the same two sets of blades I've been using all year. The only thing I did differently was soak him in Vetrolin Shine Spray before I started.
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| NOW STAY THIS WAY! |
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My trainer agreed, and in her very British way, said, "This clip looks a lot better than your last clip." Which translated means "Your last clip looked terrible and secretly drove me crazy but I didn't say anything." I just laughed. This is how we roll. Outside the barn, we're great friends. Inside the barn, I both try to be the easiest boarder ever and also push her buttons sometimes. Life's about balance, right?
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| Everything turned out great, except when my trainer walked by with hay when I was doing detail work with my little clippers and he slung his head around and gave himself that beautiful black clipper mark. It adds character? |
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He looks faaaaabulous! 😍
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you! :)
DeleteWhat a handsome pony!!
ReplyDeleteNow that he's an ambiturner maybe he can be a pony model!
DeleteCan I hire you for pony care pls?
ReplyDeleteYES! NEW JOB!
DeleteOh man, now I want to clip again! Also, Vetroline Shine is my favorite!
ReplyDeleteI'd try to stop you, but man, it's going to feel so good not to look at those guard hairs for another 3 months! Do it! I'm with you on the Vetrolin, I like it so much better than ShowSheen.
DeleteGuard hairs are the bane of my existence!
ReplyDeleteRight? They're fine from a "horse is not hot" perspective but SO ugly.
DeleteYaaassss
ReplyDeleteYour turn!
DeleteHe looks fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteSimon is such a hag right now with the LONGEST guard hairs. This is the only year I haven't done a second clip, but my trainer insists his summer coat is growing in (I don't buy it) so she doesn't want me to clip. It's driving me nuts. Connor however, looks amazing here.
ReplyDeleteThat's tough. You're still in that "establishing the relationship" period with that trainer. I think you're doing the right thing playing by her rules this year, but next year all bets are off!
DeleteCome do Roscoe!!! He only needs a baby trace, but I have not been able to find time between rain storms. I did manage Rosemary since she is going to camp and was surprised how fuzzy she was.
ReplyDeleteI felt ridiculous clipping Penn a few weeks ago, he barely had any growth... but he had ridiculous guard hairs that were driving me batty, and a solid case of goat face (long hair on his face and jaw). He looked SO MUCH BETTER and I love it. He's actually a bit hairy faced again and I'm trying not to go too crazy on it, lol.
ReplyDeleteHe looks great!! I’m actually still on my first clip of the year but Katai is looking scruffy. It’s just been so cold this year and with our increased blanketing she hasn’t grown too much. With warmer temps on the way I may make it my mission to get her clipped at some point this week :)
ReplyDelete