Cob Jockey

This is the time of year in which Connor has the heaviest feathering.  He's just now starting to shed his body, so the feathers will go soon and eventually they'll be their usual summer wisp:

Summer first, for comparison (back when we still used shavings, a long time ago!):

Summer wisp, with nothing down the back of the tendon.

This is what they're like right now:

So. Much. Hair.

He doesn't get to keep them this season, because I've made up my mind to clip him.  If only we could make it to WPCSA shows I might think about keeping them, but I haven't managed to get a ride to one in three years.  Time to clip him appropriately for the sport he does get to compete in!

I am a little sad about it, because I feel like I'm taking away his breed's calling card and that he'll get mistaken for a Haflinger more often now.  But who am I kidding, feathers or not, he's always going to get mistaken for a Haflinger.

The BO and I have this running joke, he sees me at the barn so often during weekdays lately that he asks if I actually have a job or not.  When my reasons for being at the barn are "It's the primary election day, we get the day off," or "I dunno, my boss just told me to get outside and see my pony this afternoon," it's pretty understandable - or unbelievable, I guess.

Today was another one of those days, since I got up early and rode before the visitation.  It was my first time riding in *mumbles* over a week...

Nothing like seeing this face for the first time in a week.  Love him. Also love the people that take such good care of him while I'm gone.

I tried to duplicate my last lesson, thinking a lot about riding soft in my right knee and ankle.  It's amazing
1. How supple Connor was after a week off
2. How much better he goes when I "ride soft"
3. How grateful I am that he's his same old self whether I ride five days a week or zero.  Sometimes as an adult ammie, life happens, and I'm glad I have a horse that's okay with that.

Obviously it's buckle-down time with FRV being a month from now.  With that in mind, we rode in the grass Dressage arena where the big plastic letters had fallen over due to wind, into the arena in some places.  He was spooky at first, but that's what I wanted - riding him in scary places at home is the best approximation of show atmosphere I can get, and he's never been to the facility we're going to next month before.

He also continued to shed out while I was gone and is getting shiny:

Girl look at that body.

Have you ever heard of shedding feathers?  I hadn't, but then, I've never before owned a feathered breed.  I came to the barn on Thursday to find that his left fore looked like this:


See that one wimpy wisp of feather sticking out off the very back of the fetlock?  That's it!  For comparison, the other feet look like this one:

After yesterday's downer, how about a good post?

First of all, (this is both a good and bad thing...) he's finally started shedding in earnest!

I felt like I was trying to erase his blaze.

Second, we jumped on Thursday for the first time since December, and it went really well!  It's clear that we need to do more of it, and it's not because he was bad at it, but because it improved his way of going at the canter from beginning to end, and also because he really enjoyed it.

She started out with five trot poles in a row, which then became pole -> crossrail -> four more poles, which eventually became pole -> crossrail -> pole -> crossrail -> pole -> crossrail, all one strides.  Summarized, here's how it went:

- She was impressed with his body awareness and understanding that the poles meant he had to think about his body in relation to the fences.  Specifically, she liked how he knew to fit his body in a smaller space instead of going through all strung out.
- She loved his jump and said he's got tons of scope.
- She liked how the jumps improved his canter.  There were plenty of times that he landed on the wrong lead, but there were also several times that he landed on the correct one and we were able to keep going.  The quality of the canter that we got after the fences was immensely better than his usual canter.
- He's careful, and not spooky at all - completely shocking, since he spooks at fences when he is just walking past them.
- For my part, asking me to think of each fence as an individual fence instead of an exercise helped me sit up more.  Also, she had me shorten my stirrups two holes from my Dressage length, where they've been since January, and OH MY GOSH that's different.  If it wasn't for my other hobby , I probably would have been cripplingly sore after that...but even still it was an interesting switch at first.

I think we've got a jumper on our hands, folks.  Now if he'll just start liking Dressage more...

Blankets.  Blegh.

I've posted before that I'm a low-maintenance horse owner that fell in love with a low-maintenance breed.

But.

Now that I'll have, as Stacey over at The Jumping Percheron said this week, "...an athlete that deserves to be properly maintained," I'm coming to grips with the fact that yes, I'm going to have to trace clip, and yes, I will have to blanket.  This is also partially because my amazing barn is blanket happy, and 'when in Rome...'.

The problem is, I've never seriously paid attention to blanketing before.  Mary bought Venice's no-fill turnout blanket, and the only other blankets I've used have been:
- Coolers on the racehorses
- Sheets on greys and palominos the night before IHSA shows, after baths
- Blankets on the show horses we took to away IHSA shows in the dead of winter

This was a DAILY ritual with Shae! For weeks!

There's also the fact that Welsh Cobs are the hairiest animals I've ever known, and were bred for their ability to survive harsh winters without pampering.  I mean, look at this.

My ever faithful partner, always willing to groom.

New grooming technique.

And you were wondering what to do with all that hair, ha!  Some people wonder, and some create ART!

 So if I'm buying one blanket for a Cob that will be in at night, out during the day, and ridden 4 days a week (and also possibly buying a cooler off of another girl at my barn after it shrunk in the wash), what should I get?  I'm thinking maybe medium weight.  I'd love to hear some input in the comments, especially from the blanket collectors.  Don't hide your faces shamefully, you blanket collectors you, I know you're out there!