First posted 24 July 19
Yup after having a fairly mild Summer, after a fairly mild Winter, we were hoping there would be no extreme temperatures this year! But today the temperature hit 31c. Dare I say it? ITS TOO HOT! If I was off to lay on a beach somewhere 30c would be good, nay, expected. But I,m not. I,m out bloody working in it!
Lesson learned last year....Stand under hose every 15 minutes. And wear very little clothing. BHS peeps look away now. We are full on flip-flops and shorts, and in my case a bikini top, which means Jo has to watch my belly fat wobble away as I poo-pick. But at least its tanned belly fat! One good thing is that we are still in the Hill Field, which is....on a hill. Yes, the only hill in Suffolk, but at least we have a breeze. Daisy and the little ponies have a decent shade from the trees. But Lu and Charlie don't as their tree-line is so sheltered its like a sauna. But at least they can get to the top of the hill for some air. Never the less, for the past few days we have brought them into the Barn during the hottest part of the day.
And so on to the Hosing Debate! Every year when it gets hot, horsey people debate hosing their horses. I don't understand what there is to debate.
But there is an old fashioned myth that hosing a hot horse, will cause it to get hotter! I had even been told that a wet horse in sunlight will burn!!!!
Of course none of this is scientific....or even logical!!! The other myth is that the water must be scraped off. Again Not Logical! The only time we use scrapers is if we have bathed (the ponies) in Spring and its a bit cold.
So think about it. Its a hot day (like today). You jump into a pool or under a hose to cool off. For a while you feel cooler. Then the sun dries you off. And thats bare skin. Can you feel that water boiling up? Do you burn? Of course not. In the wild, horses get hot, cold, wet, muddy. They survive.
In Horse-racing, Polo and Endurance, horses get hosed down and walked around, then hosed some more! Buckets of icy water are liberally poured over the horse. Ok that water may feel warm after a few minutes. Thats because the heat is passing from the horse to the water, and is doing its job cooling the horse. The longer the water stays on the horse the cooler it stays.
Ours are not worked in this heat. They are not competition horses, so theres no need. But they still love a good hose down. As soon as we start filling the water bins with the hose, they will appear and ask for a shower. Particularly Lu, Charlie and Lil. Sometimes it takes ages to fill the bins....They just won't go away.
Today I decided to bring Lu and Charlie into the round pen before turning them out for a good hose down. Even in the Barn, Charlie was starting to sweat,as was I. We all had a thorough soaking. I always put my finger over the hose end so the water comes out in a spray, like rain. Dripping wet I went to get my phone for a video, and the Clicker and some treats because Charlie is still wary of coming too close. Up until last Summer, if I picked up the hose near him, he would rear up and leg it. Since last Summers heatwave he has realized its nice, but still stood at a distance.
Within minutes of clicker training, he was standing next to me and the hose while we both got drenched. Cue Big Wet Hug. Sadly my phone had fell off its perch and switched itself off, having died of heatstroke. The only video is this...
Take one young under-worked, not quite broken, still coltish pony, Add one aging, unfit owner with 'dodgy lungs and a dicky ticker.' Attempt to lunge. Result? A great workout for said owner!!!
Yes Charlie has gone a bit feral again. As I have started a drug trial for the above mentioned 'dodgy lungs and dicky ticker', and am up and down to Papworth like a whores....ahem, Charlie has been having a (much needed LOL) break.
Time to start working the boy. When I am poo picking etc, he is as friendly as.. Lots of cuddling, nose blowing, affection, scratching etc (from both of us). However, a day being a jump judge at an Eventer Trial recently, has spurred me on to get the boy ridden. I have to just say here.....The standard of riding at the 80cm was appalling. Riders shouting at their horses, whipping them, cussing them, when 99% of the time the horse stopped because the rider asked them to, or didn't help. Seriously? Sort yourselves out before you start blaming the horse!!
Anyway......I had serious rider envy.(Not the BAD riders) I Soo want to jump x country again. It was always my favourite. So with a new determination, I WILL get himself ridden.
So back to basics.....Step One. Lunge until he understands....I make the rules up! He does as I ask. Today was Day One (again). He bucked, plunged and reared. He came in at me. His eyes rolled with mischief. I am sure I used more energy hanging on, and keeping him out on a circle than he did. Eventually we had a few nice circles. Time to stop and feed him.
With his ever thickening winter coat, he was sweated up. Mild day. Hose down. Oh Yeah? More rearing, spinning and charging. Once I had the hose on his sweaty chest and neck, and flanks, and belly, he stopped and seemed to enjoy it. Result? One exhausted, aging, unfit owner!!
At last summer is here.....Its been Scorchio. So much activity on our behalves.
Baths for one.. Not sure Charlie has ever had a bath, but I was determined to get him clean, and cure the hose pipe fear. So as Jo bathed Lulu with the hose, Charlie had a bucket bath.....No problem (even tipping buckets over him). He was still wary of the hose though. Why???? Who knows. He has been seen to drink from a tub while it is being filled up with the hose. So once he had been bathed i took a small piece of cut off hose and ran it all over him. No reaction. Next step, Get a small trickle coming out of main hose and run it over his already wet body. A small reaction, a rear, a double strike out with front legs, then actually finding it nice.
The following day I worked him loose over some small jumps. He loved it. He even went off when I had walked away and popped them again. As it was Scorchio he was very sweaty so I got the hose running again slightly faster this time. And low and behold much snorting, growling, sighing and rearing. Now I have been taking things very slowly with this boy. I understand his fear, the facts he is a long way behind 4 year olds that have been bathed, trimmed, long-reined and shown since they are 5 months old. But he does push his boundaries sometimes. I know him very well and can tell fear from coltish tantrums. I heard the growly grunty sigh and saw the look in his eye. This was just a tantrum. So this time I held the lead rope close and carried on hosing him regardless. For just a second he stood and admitted it was quite nice on a hot day!
As we are off to the Suffolk Show next week with Lulu, we thought she better have a trip out in the Lorry. Jo had to pick up a parcel from Leiston, so we combined the two. No-where to park a lorry in the high street so we parked in the Co-op car park. Jo went off to the Post Office, and as Lu neighed I went and checked....happily eating hay. Windows in truck open, Dogs hanging out of windows, me in passenger seat. And so a lady came along and said, "Are they ok?" "The dogs?" I said, "yes they are fine". "No", said the lady, "The Horses" "Er yes she is fine", I said. "Well its awfully hot" said the lady huffily, and stalked off. It then occurred to me she must have thought we were doing our weekly shop or something!!
After we had put Lu back after her shopping trip, we left the Lorry open. Walking past it with Charlie on my way to the tack room I let him sniff the ramp while I stood on it. Two seconds later he loaded himself, turned his quarters in and started pulling on the Hay net. On the way back out to the field, he again loaded himself, this time in front of me. I slung the lead rope over his next and said, "whoa boy, we're going this way", whereupon he calmly backed down. What a Star. On the way out we had a few selfies.
