can't you smell that smell?

These past few days have been hotter than hot and I have't been to the barn because of class. I finally made it out today, but it was way to hot to do anything fun. I feel like such a boring horse owner. 

Reba and Clutch were the only sane horses that stayed around to be sprayed with the hose, the others ran away. Reba even played in the water trough!

I am trying a new fly spray concoction on Shyloh. And it smells awful. It is the Skin So Soft and white vinegar mix. So far, I have been unable to determine if it works any better than any of the store fly sprays, which don't really work all that well. All I know for sure is that it smells nasty. 

The smell of it surrounds her

Jaime got a hinny at the barn. A hinny is the opposite of a mule, it is the result of a male horse and a female donkey. I guess mules are made from the other way around. He is super cute. 

Gunny!

He is super cute with a soft eye. And I personally think he is part zebra.

He has zebra stripes on his legs.

Shy seems to like Gunny. They hung out together when me and Jaime were grooming them. 

He can make quite the noise, too!

Then we noticed that the horseflies were bugging him. So she got out her fly spray. And Gunny was not a happy hinny!

Up, down, and all around! He was not a fan of the spray.

After, he tried to roll it off of him. Hilarious! He rolls, then digs his head in the ground and scoots it forward. He is going to be a lot of fun!

Step one, lay down. . .

Step two, slide forward!

And even after multiple hand washings and a change of clothes, I still smell that pungent mix of fly spray. Ugh.

battle

The battle has begun. Don't worry, we are armed and hopefully dangerous. . .

My killer team

The purple bottle is our homemade tick repellent. So far, it appears to be working because I have not found any ticks on Shyloh. Other people at the barn have been finding ticks on the horses, but in the couple days since I first sprayed, we have been tick free!

I also use fly spray, but I am always looking for new stuff to try. There was a review over at She Moved to Texas for a few different fly sprays that I plan on trying. But I also want to try some homemade sprays that people have been saying works. I spray all over, then spray in my hands to get her face. Full body coverage.

Next up, attempt to Swat the ears. Even though I did not get all the Swat in there last time, the glob seems to have kept the gnats out. Then Swat the undercarriage. This has also worked to keep the gnats or whatever bugs have been biting Shy off of her.

The final step is to put sunscreen on the pink parts. I don't want Shy's nose to burn. 

I have contemplated putting on her fly mask, but the flies don't seem to be bothering her face (aside from her ears). And since she is out all the time, I worry about rubbing or if the mask will even stay on if I don't make it out to the barn for a few days. 

After putting on all of Shy's bug repelling armor, we worked on side passing. Why? Because Shy wanted no part of side passing during the trail in hand at the last show. She did not want the ground pull under her, she wanted to walk right over it.

Now I know Shy has no problem with poles and I also know she can side pass without a problem. She even went through that phase when she was being ridden where she only wanted to walk sideways. Ugh. Of course, since we were not being judged, Shy was a wonderful side passer. . .back and forth with out a problem and just a point of my hand. 

Shiny pony can side pass

I put Shy back with her herd and discovered how she keeps the flies off of her. . .

All boxed in!

She squeezes herself between two bigger horses! Silly pony. . .

I am open to anyone's successful stories about the bug repellent that they use.

gonna spray

Shyloh is being a cranky pony this week! Yesterday, Beth was riding Bob (Shy's first boyfriend) in the arena for the first time, so we steered clear of it. Shy met some new people and a Chinese Crested dog. One lady that she met said that Shy was beautiful and she was just what a Haflinger is supposed to look like (yes, I was beaming with pride)! I got the new supplements in today, so I am going to start those tomorrow and hope they work. . .

I took Shy outside to graze and the bugs were attacking in full force. So I decided to spray her, but I wanted to spray her outside. She tends to be a little jumpy at the first spray, every time. So I started saying Gonna spray right before I sprayed. My logic was to give her a verbal warning that the spray was coming. Well, the first couple times I sprayed her, she began to lunge herself, trotting around in a circle on her lead rope. Then she caught on real quick that gonna spray meant that a spray was coming, so as soon as I said it, she trotted in her circles. Then she came to realize that I would only spray her once she put her head down and began to eat grass, so she would grab a mouthful real quick, then lift her head to chew it up, and repeat. I guess there is no fooling her. . .

After Beth as done riding Bob, we went into the arena to attempt to practice come showmanship exercises with Robin and Ryleigh. Shy can step up and back up, but she cannot pivot. And for some reason, she will not trot when I try to get her to do it when I am on the ground. I know she is not lazy and I know that she knows what clucking and trot means, so I will have to get to the bottom of that. . .

I heard the cutest story about Shy and Chick yesterday from one of the boarders who comes to feed. She said she was filling their water and they both walked over to her. Then they looked at each other and drank at the same time. Chick finished drinking first, waited for Shy to finish, then they trotted off together!  I just wish Chick would explain the new "love bites" that are along Shy's one side. . .

Today, Shy got the royal spa package! She got a pedicure (the all natural farrier came out and trimmed her hooves) and she got a massage! Kathy took good care of Shy with the farrier and said she was wonderful for her! The farrier said her hooves look real good! Then Kathy gave Shy her first massage! Lucky girl! I think the massages will be good for her; they will let her know that people won't hurt her and they will reinforce that touch is good. Kathy said that Shy was a little leery at first, especially around the face, but then she excepted it well and she was an angel! I am so happy, even though I cannot imagine Shy being an angel this week. . .