I finally got tired of dealing with her mane being at that awkward between long and short stage, so I whacked it all off. I've finally come to terms with the fact that she'll look stupid showing in Halter and Showmanship with a long mane. I might as well get it short and start doing the maintenance now. Of course that's what I said to myself when I first got her last summer, and it didn't stick...but it's more realistic this year since she will actually be showing.
The second shot I have of her shows how much her conformation has changed. Part of it is weight gain and winter fuzz, but she's definitely filled out more and begun to look stockier. I'm not sure how she will look in the end, but for now I am thankful that her shoulders are starting to catch up with her butt height-wise, and she's getting some nice muscling (hopefully also from the longe exercise). She now measures 14.1h at the withers. Two more inches and she's not a pony! Keep your fingers crossed. :) She looks a bit cresty in this picture due to her mane sticking up from the haircut. When she sheds out a bit darker this spring I'm planning to do a full conformation critique with a comparison to last year's photos.
It was another cold and windy day today. We did a brief, saddle-free longe session and then got her tail washed up. Halo has some guests coming to see her tomorrow, which I will post all about tomorrow night or Monday. I think they'll come armed with cameras and carrots, and she won't have to work, so I imagine she'll be glad to see them!
3 comments:
So are you going to actually roach her mane or just leave it at that length? I finally gave up on Jaz's and roached it. He rubs it so it's always ratty and knotted. I think he's more comfortable this way an it's easier to treat his myriad of skin problems this way too. I can't bear to chop Poco's frizz.
So on quarter horses is it called roaching the mane or hogging the mane? Or are those two different things? From what I've seen they look similar, but I'm no showmanship competitor.
Leah: I sorta goofed up. I didn't mean to get it quite as short as it is now! Oops. Luckily it will still have time to grow before show season. I'm not going to roach it off completely.
Meg: Roaching and hogging are the same thing, to my knowledge. Halo's mane is still actually about 3 inches long, but it's hard to tell because it sticks up so much. Ideally it should be between 3-5 inches for showing. I think I'm going to let it grow to about 5 or 6, and then shorten and thin it rather than cutting again.
Post a Comment