Muddy Pony Party!

The west coast mid winter struggle is well and truly here. There has been so much rain for so long. Then it snowed and melted. The ground is completely saturated and there is standing water everywhere there isn't mud. The outdoor arena is in a forested area and actually covered with snow, so it's unusable too. It's against the rules to longe in the indoor, so this week I've been at a bit of a loss as far as letting Sophie have the good run and buck she's desperately wanting.

Bonus extra hairy llama impression

As for riding, that's also out because Sophie has some lovely skin funk between her front legs and up to her girth area, I think because she insists on laying in the muddiest corner of her paddock rather than her dry stall. Her blanket saves most of her, but her belly is perpetually filthy. I'm going to clip the worst of the yak hair off so I can put something on it. Wish me luck, she's so ticklish and fussy there it's going to be an adventure :) Note to self: Next year pony is getting clipped!

Currently failing every standard of proper pony turnout, ever. So much mud, so much hair.

How is it that my hairy Welsh Cob is substantially LESS hairy than my "fancy" Sophie pony?

If only we could send some of this moisture to those who need it. In light of what's going on in Australia, I'm pretty grateful mud and some related pony skin funk is my biggest weather worry.

In the spirit of being grateful and making the best of things,  I organized an impromptu pony party today. Sophie's sacrifice paddock was entirely ankle deep in mud and standing water today , but Bridget's is still holding up really well. Bridget also has access to a small grassy area in the trees that I've been saving for a day like this, so it hasn't been used since fall. I opened that gate, then brought Sophie over for to a day to play and dry out.

Spoiler alert: Sophie was excited.

It's a win/win because they both get exercise and Sophie gets some ettiquite reminders courtesy of Aunty Bridget. You might remember me mentioning a bored Sophie is a bad Sophie and one of her favorite things when bored is to kick the fence between her and Bridget and generally make nasty mare faces in her direction.

I was surprised that when put in with Bridget, she took that to the next level and immediately went on the offensive. They're obviously neighbours, are ridden together often, and have lived together before, so I thought they had things figured out. I guess they had enough time apart things needed sorting again, or maybe S had got a little too confident being a bully on her side of the fence. One of Bridget's many awesome attributes is that she's firm in her boundaries without being unfair, so S got a wake up call quite quickly and was put in her place quietly and effectively.

Trying to act tough

After that, it was game on, and they had a great time playing, napping, and grooming each other for a few hours this afternoon.  They absolutely trashed the small field and Bridget's paddock is looking a lot worse for wear too but they had so much fun running and playing and generally being silly. It was well worth it.

Part of me wishes it could be a regular thing, but the winter sacrifice paddocks don't have shelters big enough for two, plus Sophie gets stupidly herdbound and Bridget gets tired of it. Fingers crossed, maybe we'll get a week or two of drier weather soon and they can go back out into one of the bigger fields.

Maybe one day if I have a bigger space and room for three or more out together. I'd like them to have group turnout, but for now the best I can do in winter is to give them the odd pony party together :)