Truthful Tuesday

Today's confession should probably be labeled short girl problems. So you know that half of my horses are fairly tall. I'd say about 16.3 ish. Give or take. You also know that I really like them shiny and full of dapples... Cases in point:

Right? Shiny and full of dapples! Even Jampy is getting on the dapple band wagon. But I have a dirty little secret to share. Literally. It's dirty! My tall horses both have a spot I can't see nor reach when I'm grooming. And they both are ALWAYS dirty right there.

Yep. That spot at the top of the rump. I just never get it clean without a bath. So there you have it. My horses are mostly all dirty at the top of their butt.
Do you have any dirty secrets to share? Of the literal kind folks, this is a family show! Tell me about it in the comments! It can't only be me...

Truthful Tuesday

I had so much fun at the horse show last week, it's SO HARD to come back to work and get back to my 13 hour days. And here's both WHY and my confession....
When I go to these away shows... I have a GROOM! No really. My horse is bathed, lunged, and tacked up for me to show. When I'm done, they take him from me and give him another bath if he needs it, wrap him, and feed him. They clean his stall too. I clean my own tack and braid. That's about all I do.
I was never one of those kids to have that stuff done for me. It was always just my trainer, me, and my horse at the horse shows when I was a kid. We did everything together. And as I got older, I did everything myself. Usually for two horses! But since I've started showing with a BNT (Big Name Trainer) and am a full time working adult, I've taken advantage of the grooming services.
I often read on various sites all of the people who don't have grooms slamming those that do. Saying how they only get half the experience, and they aren't bonded with their animals. Or that they aren't REAL horseman. While this may be true if these riders never handle their horses, I don't agree with it completely. I know I'm not the only one who has the luxury of a groom on the road, but do it all myself at home. Lots of us riders do that! While I don't think it's absolutely necessary when I'm only showing one horse, when I had two or more showing, it was almost impossible to have them where they needed to be all on my own. So often their classes wind up overlapping, and you need to be in two places at once. Not possible on your own!
I do my best to take Jampy out for a handwalk or a graze during the day because he is used to me handling him. Plus we spend time together while I put his braids in his mane and tail. So I think he's no worse for the wear being handled by someone else as well. And you know what? They do a much better job than I at getting him clean!
So there's my confession. I get to be a little lazy when I'm showing at Saratoga and Vermont. And I'm pretty happy about it!

Grooming!

We have reached that time of year where my horses are, well... dirty. I brush them every day, but it's too cold for bathing. These guys love rolling in the mud and sleeping on their poo (that I will never understand!) and thus, they are dirty. Despite my best efforts with the brush and the curry comb. Now that the days will start getting longer again (yay!!!!!!!!!) they are also shedding.
I have researched off and on, the idea of getting a horse vacuum. The most popular model amongst horse owners is this one:

Which retails in the $600.00 range. Now we all know I hate vacuuming. We also know that I am rather frugal. Thus, I'm obviously never getting the Electro-Groom. I once, long ago, tried to use my shop vac on Jamp. He was tolerant of it, but it was too powerful and was sucking his skin right up the tube... I'm pretty sure that's not how it's supposed to work. But then a few days ago, I had an epiphany. Maybe I just needed a less powerful vacuum! The Electro-Groom is a 3 horsepower vacuum. My shop vac is a 5.5 hp... Ah, well that makes sense! I did a little Google search for 3 hp shop vacs and came up with tons of options. So exciting! Then I found a $50 gift card from Sears in my house. ("We're sorry we screwed you over and you never got your $250 rebate, but here's a $50 consolation." I vowed to never shop there again after that, but the statute of limitations has expired on my boycott apparently.)

So after the free shipping offered for the holidays, my gift card, and my rebate by shopping via ebates, I got a brand new 3 hp shop vac for about $20.00.

Now the fun part... introducing the Vacmaster to the fur kids. Some advice: Perhaps don't get one that looks like R2D2. He is apparently quite frightening.
I started with Ducky. There wasn't even a real introduction. I just parked the Vacmaster next to the crossties and tried to ignore it. Ducky snorted at it the whole time I groomed him. I'm not sure I'll ever get to try it on him... Time will tell!
Next up was Jampy. I knew he had tolerated the 5.5 hp so I figured he'd be ok with this more suitable version. He too, snorted and stared at it, but he did allow me to turn it on AND vacuum him! WIN! He didn't love it, but I think was more afraid of the hose and the cord than he was of the actual sucking. That I think he actually liked. And he looked soooo shiny and handsome after grooming and vacuuming:

Last up was Rio. I really had no idea if this was going to be ok to him or not. He can be really skittish, but in his old man, mildly handicapped state, he puts up with a lot more than he used to. I let him just see it parked next to the grooming stall while I took off his blanket and swept up the aisle some. And then I showed it to him while it was off. He snorted and looked mildly appalled, but seemed ok. Then I turned it on, which was totally fine. He did think it was pretty uncool when I approached him with the hose however! Eyes bugged, he backed away, but he eventually let it touch him. And then he was all, "hey, that's kinda nice!" Success! He too looked shiny and amazing after grooming and vacuuming:

So for any of my equine friends on a budget, if you're looking for an alternative to the pricey horse vac's out there, try a 3 hp shop vac. They are readily available at places like Lowes, Home Depot, or Sears, and are pretty affordable. I splurged a little since I had the gift card, but I did see some available in the under $50 range. Just make sure to take your time, as the horses thing R2D2 is pretty scary!