Wizard Session 72; JR Session 27: One Froggy Evening

Thursday, 4/9/09

Springtime baths for the boys! The temperatures were quite warm today and the air was very dry so JR and Wizard got much-needed baths. I don’t know how they do it, but they get themselves amazingly dirty.

I started with the yeller feller. I longed him for about 15 minutes in the dressage court. Our session was a far cry from last night’s wild longeing. JR was very well-behaved. He started out a little distracted, longeing in paisley shapes instead of circles, but eventually I was able to get a good working trot out of him. As soon as we were done, I gave him a bath. He stood very well- whoever trained him as a youngster did a really good job with handling him- I can hang all over him, wash his face, and put silly costumes on him and he does not care one bit. He is about 66% done with shedding his winter coat. When he’s all shed out, he’s going to look really handsome. Here he is, in all his cleanliness- enjoy it, since he will be a mudball by Sunday!

After JR, I longed Wizard for about 15 minutes. He was far more consistent than his friend JR. I longed him through a big puddle, off grass, onto grass, and he took it all in stride. His tempo increased quite a bit to the right (clockwise), which makes sense if his left hip/hamstring is sore. I kept the workout very simple and easy for him and he responded well. Then he got his bath. He was a little more tense than JR but he was still very well behaved. As a racehorse, Wizard probably got hundreds of baths so this is nothing new to him, but his racing days were ten years ago :^)

When his bath was done, his coat dried in about 15 minutes in the arid air. His dapples were dazzling and his bright bay coat shone. Here are some photos:

Mary the Morgan also got a bath, so be prepared for some Easter Morning Sarah K. Andrew Trademark Glamour Shots :^)

Before the horses’ baths, I talked to a barn buddy outside for a few minutes. When I walked back to Wizard’s stall, my mom told me that Wizard ate a piece of her banana. This was surprising to me since Wizard only likes carrots and molasses treats- he does not even like apples and he barely likes mints. I had never tried to feed him a banana, but I remembered that I read a study about flavors that horses like best and bananas were close to the top. Cool! New treat for Wizard.

So after Wizard’s bath, I ate a banana and offered a piece to Wizard. He looked at it with disgust. I tried to slip a piece in his mouth and he shook his head and spit it out as if I was trying to feed him poison. My mom watched in amazement- the scene reminded me of the One Froggy Evening cartoon, in which Michigan J. Frog only sings and dances for one guy, but does his typical froggy “brrrrrrroppppp” for anybody else who sees him. Wizzigan J. Horse only eats bananas for my mom. Brrrrrrrroppppp.