Evil Comes In a Silver Spray Bottle August 31, 2007
Posted by kimayars Arena Work (Horse)
Digg! this story.
, trackback
Ray is 15.2 hands at the withers (base of the neck). A hand is 4 inches. This means Ray is 62 inches at the base of his neck. Not exactly a short guy.
The fly spray bottle is 12 inches tall, or roughly about 20% of Ray’s height. It’s a dull silver, very non-descript. Yet, it’s evil. Very, very, evil.
The girls only had a half-day of camp today, so that blew my chance to tack him up and work on our homework for the week. Instead, I went out to see him, clean him up, and *try* and fly spray him. I emphasize “try”. I should have had my Polar on as my heartrate got pretty darn high. I was reminded that Ray can be preeeety darn quick on his feet.
We start by “sacking out”. I rub the bottle all over his shoulders, neck and back, showing him that it’s not going to eat him. This went very well. He stood still, looking rather bored. Then I would give a squirt of the fly spray in the opposite direction of him. Again, he looked rather bored. “Ah hah,” I thought. “This will be easier than I thought.” I squirted him lightly on the shoulder. He was gone.
I had his halter and lead rope on, and the lead rope is 12′ long. He was probably moving at about 12′ per second because one second was all it took to nearly rip my arm out of it’s socket.
Evil fly spray.
It doesn’t matter if I use fly spray or water, he does not like it when spray touches him. (Although he’s an excellent with the hose.) This called for drastic measures: treats. Or dispensing fly spray through a hose. The treats seemed a more feasible course.
Ray’s a treat whore. He’ll endure anything for a treat, especially if said treat is a Stud Muffin. This includes evil fly spray. So the job is done, and he’ll be much more comfortable now that the flies aren’t bugging (ha ha!) him so much. I do feel bad. I think the other two horses were laughing at him.
The diet went well again today. The girls and I celebrated the end of summer by having lunch at Red Robin, and I had only half of my BBQ chicken wrap. I was so happy because I didn’t want the other half. I was full. It was easy to leave it, and that’s a first for me. I usually have that plate cleaned in record time. I don’t have a calorie count today, but it should be reasonable. I ate Kashi for breakfast, the 1/2 wrap for lunch, and a small pizza with lots of veggies on it for dinner. Those three things alone add up to about 1000 calories, and I didn’t eat anything else besides a bananna. I’m trying to wean myself off of the calorie counting so that this style of eating becomes more automatic.
I’m also trying to recruit my friend to do at 5k at Run Wild with me. I’ve been wanting to do it for a few years, and this goal would fit nicely into my plans… But, I don’t want to do it alone. I’ll keep working on her. I have amazing powers of pursuasion. (Look deep into my eyes…)
Comments
haha… how funny is that. your poor horse!!
good job with the healthy eating! I would run that 5k with you if I could, it looks like a fun tral!
Looks like a fun race. I hope you can talk her into it.
My horse hates spray of any kind. So I mixed up some vinegar and water and a tiny bit of soap and use a sponge to cover him with spray, This seems okay, except he smells like salad. His previous owner swore by having him eat a small bit of garlic every day.
I’m a WannaBe dressage rider. I need to drop a bunch of weight before I feel I am actually training in dressage…and so begins my adventure. More horse stories, please!