a day at the spa...

Trudi's quarter crack is looking bad, so I didn't work her yesterday. Instead I took her to the wash stall and put her in the crossties. It was her first time in them. She wasn't bad, but she kept walking out into the aisle as she wanted to be at their absolute limit- so I had to keep running around to the front of her to push her back in. I groomed her and then did a partial bath, washing the top of her hindquarters where the dirt goes so deep I can't brush it out. I also washed her tail-- not as thoroughly as I would have liked, but at least got most of the dirt out. She didn't really mind the bathing (warm water is nice). I washed her socks and ran a scraper over her hindqarters, then spent over an hour combing out her tail. About 20 minutes in I was really wishing I had conditioned it, or that I had a bottle of sleek n' shiny (or whatever it's called now). At any rate, I finally had it combed out and hadn't sacrificed too many hairs. I combed her mane and pulled a few of the really uneven spots, and finished up with some conditioner for her hooves, though nothing but a trim, shoes, and time are going to fix that crack. She's still shedding (and thus fuzzy vs. sleek) but at least she's less dusty now.
I enjoy giving my horses a bath and cleaning them up. My horses have usually been good about baths, but it's always a lot of work. It's worth it though- it's like unwrapping a present- though you already have a pretty good idea what's inside. They just look so much better after you get them nice and clean. The colors of their coat, mane, and tail change and get brighter. The texture of the hair changes and gets much softer, and they smell really good ( I always use apple scented shampoo for my horses ^_^).
Of course then they'll roll, and make you sad when you see them again...