Life on the Horse Farm

Fun Friday for today starts with a question.  Any idea what this is?  From the photo you don’t have the full context so I’ll let you know that it’s in our footing in the indoor arena.

For a couple days running I’d come into the indoor for a lesson or a training ride and see this somewhat odd image in the footing.  Upon closer inspection I realized it was horse hair that was discoloring our footing.  Then of course I realized it was an imprint of a horse’s body.

So the answer is, this is what’s left after a horse rolls in the indoor arena and specifically it’s when Buddy (our free-range pony) takes a roll.   As I’ve blogged before, we’ve given our hurricane surviving old man the run of the place to eat what grass he wants or to stand in a stall if that’s what he wants, or even to wander into the indoor arena and take a roll, if that’s what he wants.

He likes rolling in the outdoor arena too, but not if it’s too muddy.  He finds the consistency of the footing in the indoor to his liking.  Almost every day he’ll wander in,  lower his head, starting turning around in a tiny, tight circle, then you see his knees start to buckle, and the next thing you know he’s dropped into the footing and there he rubs his back, neck and head, kicks his legs around, rarely actually rolling all the way over, but when finished, stands up, shakes his body a bit and then wanders back out of the arena.  He’s cares very little if there’s a lesson going on in the arena.   I suppose I should stop him, but it’s so much fun to watch the “Buddy, stop, drop and roll” routine and the other horses just ignore him.  It’s like the most natural thing in the world, and I suppose it is.

Hollie McNeil, Owner/Trainer:Riding Right Farm, Author:40 Fundamentals of English Riding

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