Horse Blanklets or "why do I have do wear a sweater when my mom's cold"

Dressing horses, hmmmm.  Three years ago, there was one pony and he lived outside,  mostly.  New friends, more horses and then Heather went back to work.  That left me,  a greenback, even that sounds like someone who has a least been on a horse, to look after horses in the morning.  I was sooo reluctant, shaking in my boots reluctant.  New young friend, Sarah, has to come and help me most mornings.
 First things first, the halter... what a strange thing, made of straps and buckles.  It only goes on one way... really? "Here, this way " Heather would say, repeatedly. So hard to do,  mussle goes though here; gotta get it over both ears; don't lift your head up, you stupid horse! I hope the animal stands still so I can snap up the buckle. I can remember going into the stall with a crazy  thoroughbred, thinking OMG he is going to kill me! Most times it was a tussle, him and me.  He'd back up, toss his head, move around, look really big and really scary ... oh I 'm glad those days are behind me.
 More thoughts on dressing up horses later.

This morning was very cold.  I thought it was a good idea to bring the outside horses inside to warm up.  I put them in the nice, what I thought warm box stalls, loaded them up with hay and water and took their blankets off. When I went back to check on them, I found the barn was just about as cold inside as outside since all the other warm bodies were outside and the door was open a bit for ventilation.  Poor things, when I took off their blankets this morning they were nice and warm eventhough they were outside.  Now they weren't freezing cold but they weren't cuddly warm as they had been.  So much for good intentions...

The Reluctant Horse Mom

Welcome to my new blog “The Reluctant Horse Mom, by which I mean I am the mother of a beautiful horseloving daughter, I am not a horse owner” Thats it! (in competition for longest blog name)

My career as a Horse Mom began when my husband and my daughter decided to buy a run down cow farm and turn it into a horse boarding barn. Years before when my daughter started riding and got her own horse, I occasionally held a leadline, also reluctantly and was very unhappy if I had to go in the stall with “it”. Now I drink my first coffee every weekday on the way to the barn to dress 10 horses to go play outside. Now I whip on their blankets, my daughter describes it as kindergarden: Where’s your coat? Is it dry? Oh, your mom bought you a new one that I don’t recognize…

I am feeling proud of myself. I am not afraid of horses now. I happily get in the stall with them and get them to do what I want, well… maybe not all the time. I help them find their brains when they lose them. I have been boring my friends for three years with my horse stories. They are very good at listening to me, maybe they should tell me to shaddup. Now I am telling everyone my stories because I think horses are funny … and I like horse cuddles in the morning.