Brush Me Not

Wednesday April 24 2013

Ever since I've known Stormy, starting on the racetrack in 1997, he has always hated being brushed. Many of my Thoroughbred racehorses hated being brushed; I assumed most Thoroughbreds were 'thin-skinned' for lack of any better idea.

With Stormy, it doesn't matter what I try - a hard brush (forget it!!!!), a soft brush (no!), a soft rag (no!), rubber glove (no!), a steel curry comb - most excellent for removing thick itchy loose hair (heck no!), a rubber curry comb (no! no! nothing!). You'd think he'd like his itchy hide being brushed, especially with the still-long winter hairs that are still clinging, but any brushing of the sort irritates him. He'll pin his ears, and if I keep brushing, he'll turn his head and snap with his teeth, and if I dare ignore that, he'll threaten to kick, or even double barrel, with his hind feet.


Of course he LOVES it when I scratch him all over with my fingers; you'd think a curry comb with finger-like projections would be similar, but NO!

A wise horseman once told me that if you brush and brush and brush (and bathe and bathe) your horse, he won't have his natural protective dirt and oil layers that can help keep the bugs from biting. It makes sense to me, especially when Stormy rolls and coats himself with a thick layer of Owyhee dirt.

Or maybe he's still re-living his childhood, always playing in the dirt and avoiding baths and preferring to stay unkempt.

Groom Wanted

Tuesday January 31 2012

The dirtbags are really going at it.

Rolling is actively supervised, encouraged, and cheered.

They're so dirty (how dirty are they?) that the brushes have run off in terror.

They're so dirty it may take till spring to get them clean, unless a groom shows up here and gets to work. 

I'd do it but… I have to go wash my hair or something.

[slide show here]

Down and Dirty

Saturday January 21 2012

The best thing about the 12 straight hours of rain we had, besides the great quenching of this dry, thirsty winter desert?

The canyon became a giant dirt bathtub for the horses. Our soil has a lot of clay in it, so it sticks GOOD to horses. It really grinds in the tangles and helps snarl the tumbleweeds in the manes and tails. The gray ones especially went to town. 

[slide show here]

I had a little trouble seeing where the horse ended and the desert began. 

[slide show here]

I really had trouble telling them apart.

It makes for very happy horses.

Owyhee Dirtbags

Wednesday August 24 2011

This is one gang that truly loves to wallow in dirt and mud. Naturally, the whitest horse likes to find the thickest mud hole.

When a human puts up a sprinkler on a plot of dirt on a hot day and makes you a custom mud patch, how can any rational equine resist a shower then a good roll in the mud?






Some of the horses accidentally get sprinkled on and it's enough to make them want to roll. Jose has already shown he loves sprinklers, and he loves to get good and wet.

The herd stands around taking turns, watching each other roll (unless they just can't wait their turn and have to crowd in there), scoring each other for style and dirtiness.






Jose obviously won for Best Shower-er.
[slide show here]


They all had a go at the rolling,




but Mac hands down won the Dirtiest Horse Award.








They are Owyhee Dirtbags and proud of it!



No, Rushcreek Mac has not turned into an Appaloosa!

Dirty Beloved...

Thursday December 9 2010

Snow has mostly melted, slowly, leaving behind a sea of mud, sticky sand and slick clay. The Owyhee Spa clay is particularly scrumptious for rolling in right now.

Stormy already had a couple of coats of dirt on him, and he went for another thick layer.








He may have won the prize for dirtiest horse at the Spa.

Could you kiss this dirtbag when he comes up to you wanting kisses??

What Are You Looking At

Wednesday November 17 2010

What - is there some kind of problem?

( - Rushcreek Mac, a.k.a. Pigpen)

Down and Dirty

Tuesday November 16 2010

The Owyhee herd just never gets enough of rolling in this soft, fine clay dirt!

I'm really going to have to try this one day.

The Dirt

Monday December 14 2009

Are you one of those who thinks your horse has to be clean? Do you
obsessively brush him to get all the dirt and dust out of his hair? Do you frequently give your horse baths, thinking it's good for him to have a clean shiny coat?

What's the first thing he wants to do after you bathe him? Go straight to the dirt and roll.


I'm not big on brushing horses - never was. Maybe that's because almost all of the Thoroughbred racehorses I groomed on the track did not like it, no matter how soft the brush. (Thin skin?) I was not known for sending a clean horse to the racetrack in the mornings. My trainers were not always pleased with me. The horses didn't enjoy the brushing, so I didn't do it. Why aggravate them?

Stormy will still try to bite me if I take a brush to him. I bathe him once in a while, really just to turn him loose immediately and watch him have a good roll. There's just something humorously satisfying about that.


Here's the real dirt a horseman once told me. The dirt and oils on their coats help protect them from insect bites. When we bathe them, we wash that natural protection off that Nature gave them.

Of course, it doesn't keep all the bugs away, and if we do coat them in insect spray, it's nice to wash that toxic stuff off sometimes, because that's certainly not natural either.


Maybe that's true, and maybe it's not, but I know the horses prefer being dirty to smelling like a human hair salon. It makes us feel good, seeing a shiny coat and smelling a Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Lemon Sage mane and tail, but maybe the horses have a different opinion about that.

Dirt - it does a body good.