Just had a nice nap and am up and alert again finally. It was an absolutely exhausting morning. Got up very early (while it was still comparatively cool) and headed for the barn to clean everyone up. With the girls I only had to brush out the dirt and dust, clean out their feet, go with the Cowboy Magic to detangle their manes and tails, and wash their faces - not THAT much of a hassle but still a good hour or more each.
But Duke . . . whew! That boy was FILTHY. After brushing for a good while and still getting clouds of dust every time I touched him, I finally gave up and realized I would have to give him a bath. Wow. Bathing him, compared to bathing the girls, is like washing a motorhome compared to washing a car! The boy is HUGE! I got some citronella shampoo a while back to see if it would help any with the flies, but from what I can see, although it works GREAT to get the dirt off and makes them incredibly shiny, it does NOT discourage those horrible horse flies. So I'll use the stuff to bathe them, but they're still going to need to be sprayed with the good fly spray.
Here he is "objecting" to a buzzing horse fly. Wonder if those fly predators work on horse flies or just the regular ones? I'll have to check into that. Anyway, he looks really good now, doesn't he, except for the sunburn on his nose.
Sun screen does NOT work because he sticks his whole muzzle in the tank when he drinks and rinses it off. Those long nosed fly masks work, but he works with other horses and they get them off too often. I have some "Minards" ordered to see if it works. Hope it gets here soon!
Just got a note back from ScoutsHonor.org that Joey IS still available! The person who would be handling his adoption is out of the country at the moment so it may be a while before I hear from her, but at least we know now that he's still there. Sure hope this works out. Rocky is apparently very lonely what with Niki no longer agile enough to play with him. He's always been a real sweetheart, but these days he's practically velcroed to me constantly. Don't know if I'm anthropomorphizing or if he really IS taking it personally that she no longer wants to play with him.
Well, time to go see what I can come up with for dinner. I HATE cooking just for myself. Well . . . actually, I hate cooking period -- for anyone, but I don't even like getting things out to eat just for me, even if I don't have to cook it. I'm entirely too prone to eating anything that can just be eaten "as is," like fruit or frozen dinners . . . or junk food. Funny-I don't mind in the least preparing complicated dinners for the animals. I just don't want to do it for myself. Mark knows how I am and is constantly asking me what I had for dinner when he calls each night. Probably a good thing because it does encourage me to eat something I won't be embarrassed to tell him about! So . . . on to the search.
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