Too much of a good thing

"Flo"

I had a nice time at the barn yesterday. Of course riding is fun, but I like all the other work that goes along with it. Which is a good, since the chores are a big part of the horse package. Movie stars and queens have wranglers to bring their horses in from pasture, groom them, tack them up-- then do it all in reverse after they jump off and fling the reins to their groom. I think that mostly happens in the movies.

Is it any wonder recreational riding is a sport dominated by women? Sometimes there are lonely men horse owners at boarding facilities, but most of them will tack up fast and just get in the saddle. While the ladies enjoy all that fussing with their big, pampered animals. Not to mention we're usually chatting with friends the whole time. No surprise the men try to get out of the barn as fast as possible.

John once said (as another package arrived in the mail from a horse supply company) that he never knew you could "hang so many things off a horse." When I showed him this picture yesterday, he asked if Flo was "biting" and had to wear a muzzle? Ha! I educated him (once again) on another highly specialized piece of horse equipment.

Flo is wearing a "grazing muzzle" to prevent her from eating too much grass. It's been so wet this year and the pastures are still lush. Flo isn't fat, but there are other diet-related hoof diseases that come from rich feed, and her owner is taking no chances. Although it looks cruel, the muzzle allows her to be out with the herd going through the motions of grazing, instead being penned up in a small enclosure.


The little gray circle in the center is her lips. Funny! She can drink water but grass is another story.


Being an elegant Arabian, she manages to look regal even with her humiliating mask.
No harm in trying. I noticed she was already good at twirling the muzzle in a small circle and sucking up blades like through a straw. Where there's a will, there's a way.