A muddy day for a ride
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (381837)
Rockingham, Australia
July 18, 2021 9:34pm CST
These before and after photos shows a Clydesdale which not a breed you’d expect to see at a horse endurance ride. However, it was entered in the 10 km ride and would have had no trouble covering such a short distance. Possibly they’d do more than that in a day if they were pulling a plough. But of course they’re not fast enough to be competitive in endurance rides.
I love the draught breeds with their hairy legs. The ‘proper’ name for the hair on the legs is ‘feathers’. There are several draught breeds which don’t have feathers and they are/were favoured for work where the ground is particularly wet and muddy.
You can see the owner will have a bit of work to do to get Nickie’s legs clean. Vince was out on the course and asked the rider what colour her horse was. When she said it was bay, Vince said he’d call it dirty. Luckily she thought it was funny and wasn’t offended. lol
18 people like this
16 responses
@Torunn (8606)
• Norway
19 Jul 21
I didn't know if was called feathers, that's a cool name. We call it hoof beard (hovskjegg) in Norwegian. Both my horses have decent amounts of it. I like it, they get less cuts etc when I leave it on. I hardly ever wash it with soap, so underneath the thick fur it's very clean. Once you start washing with soap, you have to keep washing with soap, so I usully only wash the tail.
2 people like this
@Torunn (8606)
• Norway
20 Jul 21
@JudyEv Yes, before shows most people use soap, and four white legs and a white belly, that must take some time.
It'll dry much faster when it's warmer. One of the reasons I try to keep the protective layer of the fur intact is that even if it's muddy outside, when I just rinse it with water, it doesn't get wet all the way inside and I don't have to worry about how it takes forever to dry.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
20 Jul 21
'Hoof beard' is very appropriate too. I understand what you say about washing with soap. Maybe with our hotter climate, it's not such a big deal if you wash with soap. Or maybe they just washed off the mud with water. Certainly they'd use soap of some sort if they were showing their horse.
2 people like this
@allknowing (153544)
• India
20 Jul 21
You not only are a good photographer but you also know a lot about horse breeds. I know only one breed and that is horses
2 people like this
@allknowing (153544)
• India
20 Jul 21
@JudyEv You are right there You could ask me a few questions on gardening, cooking, reaching out and I will have answers. (lol)
2 people like this
@DocAndersen (54399)
• United States
19 Jul 21
i suspect the easy button for cleaning here would simply be walk into a lake!
2 people like this
@DocAndersen (54399)
• United States
20 Jul 21
@JudyEv i have good ideas once a year, i just wasted 2021!
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (174281)
• United States
19 Jul 21
I'm glad I'm not the one cleaning those legs/hooves.
2 people like this
@wolfgirl569 (135601)
• Marion, Ohio
19 Jul 21
Very pretty horse. Some of them do have a little bit of speed to them. I would hate cleaning him after that.
2 people like this
@LindaOHio (222285)
• United States
19 Jul 21
It's like a dirty dog times ten to clean a horse! Nice looking horse.
2 people like this
@snowy22315 (208783)
• United States
20 Jul 21
It is a shame to get those white "feathers" dirty.
1 person likes this
