...in its natural habitat...
Oh look, not so rare after all. Just two good mates hanging around in the sunset.
They like to stand nose to tail and swish the flies off each other's faces. Phoenix doesn't like to wear his mask. If my Dad puts them out in the pasture for the day, Phoenix just ambles over to the gate while the Little Lady waits at the barn door for her mask. She'll practically drop her face right into it. The skin around her eyes is mostly pink, like her muzzle, and her eyes run. Poor little thing. The flies to cling to her, and she doesn't even have enough forelock to shake the flies away. Dad will do her the favour of covering her delicate face. When I'm there, I grab the big horse and tell him he's gotta wear it too. It won't kill him.
We get people asking what's wrong with our horses. Have they got their faces bandaged? Are they blind? Are you trying to hide something from them????
Nope. Just keeping the flies from bugging them.
It's still summer.
15 comments:
No kidding! It hit 29 today. It hasn't been that nice since July. I feel bad for the kids that are in schools without a/c - like my kids.
More.
Horse.
Pictures.
I needz dem.
They are so sweet!
I am soaking up as much nice summer weather as I can!
And there will be lots more horse pictures. Not much time for the thoughtful kind of blog posts. So it'll be pictures for a bit longer...
Hey Heidi,
Cool blog. I got here from colleen's blog. As a former canadian (yankee transplant who grew up in montreal) former horse gal, and writer / rock chick i had to stop over. I want to know about lyric permissions too. What's your book about?
I love to see horses w/fly masks on. They remind me of Adam Ant! I can't keep one on my gelding. He tore up 2 last year within one week so I said no more big boy.
My two stand like that too. Jones, my mare has a nice long Morgan tail while the gelding has a really short tail, especially for being an Appendix.
Poor babies! I had no idea what the masks were for.
They are beautiful!
That's awesome! I always hate seeing flies hovering around their faces. It seems downright cruel that they can't really get them out of their eyes, so this mask is such a cool idea!
Great pics, as always. They're beautiful animals.
Well hello, Pseudosu! I agree, you absolutely did have to drop by! My book's about disillusioned teenagers struggling with their faith and rebelling against authority after a friend kills himself. Surprisingly uplifting, believe it or not... lots of 1988-era Axl Rose, squealing tires, groping hands, illegal fun, all that good stuff. I jammed so many lyrics in there and always knew I'd run into a permission thing.
Trailboss- Adam Ant! hee hee hee, and here I'd never even thought of that! Our horses are the opposite to yours: our mare has a short thin tail, like most appaloosas, but our gelding has a long thick tail that I rarely see with a spotted rump like his! Not sure where he got that from. But she likes his long tail!
RLL & Heidi- thanks for complimenting my lovelies!
I hate seeing flies on their faces too. They don't bother him much but with her runny eyes, the poor little thing, I just feel so sorry for her. She's much happier with it.
It's hard living so far away from them but I know they're being well taken care of!
Hi Heidi, I've been reading your blog for a long time, and just thought I'd let you know I've got one too! (A blog, that is). So drop by, you'll probably be the first one...I mean, you don't hafta, or anything.....but it's about the country, and horses and stuff (or it will be).....
poor girl has a sunburn on her muzzle and her eyelids!!! :(:(:(:(
Is the mask like gauze or some similar material? Can they see through the material? Do they have cups at their feet to collect tips from passers by thinking they are blind?
Hmmm... never thought of that... maybe a bucket on the fence?
The masks are made of a nylon mesh. It's sort of like a very light and flexible window screen. I've looked through it (no I didn't put it on. I would have tried but my head isn't horse shaped, haha) but it does shade their eyes a little bit. That's good on a bright day but the masks have to come off at night.
There's fuzz at the edges but the Little Mare's coat is so fine that she still gets some rub marks on the bridge of her nose. Small price to pay for relief from flies.
Hayseed- with a name like yours, how can I resist?
Tribble- you should go to Smart Person school in the future and invent horse sunscreen!
I always wondered about the masks -- it's so nice having a source for horse info.
I thought the masks were for a game of pin the tail on the donkey...
your horse phoenix is colored just like my old horse Dusty was! =( I've never seen one colored like him before until now. You've got a gorgeous boy =)
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