Back To Square One

Oh, well. Some things change, some things seem to change but stay the same.

On Friday (yes, this is a late post), I went out to the barn at about 3:50 pm or so - I was actually sort of early for once! - and went with Alana to get our ponies. Pete - whom Alana was riding - was all the way out in the back of the field, while Zan was right in front of the gate. So we went and caught Pete first, and then when we got back up to the gate I caught Zan and opened the gate to the better-quailty-grass field.

Gracie's mom, Tina (I think that's her name), had her other two kids with her at the lesson. Erica had told me to clean Zan up - brush out his mane and tail, groom him, clip him, etc. - during the first hour lessons (Gracie, Alana, and Isabel's lesson) and then ride during the second hour lesson (Ann's lesson). So, while everyone else got their ponies into the arena and jumped on, I tied Zan up in April's stall (the tractor was in the way of Zan's stall) and went to fetch the grooming box. Picking up a hardbrush, I went to work. I brushed out all of the yucky spots on Zan's coat, got his legs and tummy clean, and even got all of the dirt off of his face using a downsized hardbrush. Then, I got a softbrush and brushed all of the loose dirt off of Zan. I was quite pleased with my work; it looked very nice, and Zan's coat was all shiny!

My next idea for 'cleaning Zan up' was to brush out his mane and tail. I had absolutely no problem whatsoever with his mane - people always randomly pick up the mane and tail brush and comb out his mane when they're standing around - but when I got to his tail, there was a problem. I couldn't get my brush halfway through any single part of his tail! It was so knotted, it was virtually impossible to comb the tail out. Then, I had a brain spark! What about "Cowboy Magic", that mane and tail detangler gel? We used to use that stuff - it was gel-like, but also sort of the same kind of texture that shampoo has - when we would brush out the horses' tails. =D

So I ran into the tack room and frantically searched around in the supply drawers and old tubs of supplies for the Cowboy Magic detangler. I couldn't find it for the life of me; I growled (yes, I literally growled) to myself and started looking in unthinkable places: in the grain bins, on the shelf that the helmets sit on, on the saddle racks, everywhere! Finally, I looked in one last place: on top of the supply drawers. Yes! Bingo!

"Gotcha, little booger," I mumbled to the tube of Cowboy magic. I ran back to April's stall - where Zan was tied - and grabbed the mane and tail brush again. I squirted a dime-sized amount of Cowboy Magic into my palm - per the instructions on the back of the bottle - and rubbed it around on my hands (I set the brush down on Zan's rump). I smoothed the Cowboy Magic through Zan's tail, and then started brushing. I had to add a few more dime-sized amounts of Cowboy Magic to Zan's tail, but all in all it only took maybe 20 minutes to get his entire tail combed out. And then it shone like silver!

Next was clipping. I had to dig through the tack trunk to find the clippers and blades. But when I did find them, I walked back to April's stall. I made sure Zan was okay before plugging in the clippers. I then went and grabbed Zan out of his stall and started clipping. I started on his 'whiskers' on his chin, and then as I was almost done Ann arrived (she had the 5:00 pm lesson). Tina brought her kids over to pet Zan and watch me clip. It was pretty fun, actually. I didn't get very far on his bridle path, though, because he kept wiggling around. I didn't trim his ears, either, because Eric is supposed to be there any time we clip ears.

Then, I got to ride. I put away the clippers, saddled Zan up, and hopped on very ungracefully from the mounting block. We walked and trotted (with Ann too) and had an okay ride. Then, we cantered. Urgh. It wasn't horrible, wasn't bad. Pretty much back to square one, though. Our trot got messy quite a bit. On the other hand, we only had one stopping incident. When we cantered our bad way, it was alright but a bit too fast. Zan picked up the correct lead on the first try. It was alright, if I do say so myself.

Tina also said that her kids might be interested in summer camp! Yay!

Back to square one, yes, but still... Making some progress. We'll just have to see how the next couple of weeks go. Only 13 days left until the HCHC Cinco de Mayo show! Excited yet?