Muddy Horses...This Can Be Good

Welp, it had been raining like there is no tomorrow, except for today (of course!). So's I toddled out to the barn this p.m. only to find a nicely dried-muddy mare. Since I keep her in and around cattle (have I ever mentioned that I DESPISE moo-cows, except for the ones that are sliced up and grilled and on my plate with some A-1 sauce going on?) I've noticed that those little bitty, teeny-weeny flies start to bug my girl along about late afternoon when the shadows start overshadowing her pen.

But, today, since she had a nice mud exterior, there was hardly a fly on her. Now this is something that I've forgotten about from way back in my youth with hosses. The mud 'shell' keeps the horse protected somewhat from biting flies. Not that it looks very good but it'll do the trick in case you don't have time to properly brush your baby off and apply some fly spray.

Of course, it's a good idea to groom asap. Since it's a horse we're talking about and we all know they are an accident waiting to happen, it's ALWAYS a good idea to at least brush off the uppermost layers to check for any cuts or abrasions or anything that looks ooky and then deal with it.

Now this isn't to say you can go DAYS without a brushing, it's not. But in a pinch, a mud shell isn't going to hurt your horse as long as she's not limping or you see gushing blood somewhere on them. Also, check to make sure she's not laying down and then up and then down and then up, such as colic but you get my point, I'm sure. You should know your caballo well enough (unless you bought her yesterday or so...) so that at a glance, you can see that all if well or not.

My lambchop was very happy today to let me clean her up and put on the fly spray. I straightened out her mane and tail too and she 'crooned' to me. At the very least, it made ME feel better to get the mud off but the thought did strike me that I was taking away a layer of natural protection. Honestly, the mud shell didn't seem to bother her, just me it bothered to the max.

So, this is just one of those random thoughts I have that I think might be of interest to my readers. Now, get out there and brush your baby and go for a ride!!