Thursday, November 29, 2007

A Word About Static Cling

Is there any point to brushing a horse that's supercharged with static cling? I mean, I swipe the brush across my horse's coat and all I do is draw along a jet stream of grit and dust so that my horse's back looks like an Etch-a-Sketch. Or a really dirty chalkboard. Take your pick of visual images.

And then there's my horse's tail. The hairs are splayed out in every direction like the tips of a well-worn paint brush. I do make an attempt to dampen it with water and comb through the moisture. I even add a dollop of conditioner. But then I'm the one who's supercharged with static electricity. Without thinking I grab hold of the metal latch on the tackroom door and I'm momentarily set aglow like Frankenstein's monster. ZAP!

So I'm guessing that you get that it's really, really dry out here right now. At least we have a chance of rain. It's a major news event for us in Southern California. The mere hint of rain clouds and it's deemed "breaking news" on the Los Angeles networks. I stock up on hay, put a bag of shavings in each covered corral and wait for the storm clouds. In reality we'll be lucky to get some light drizzle. But it's a start.

I really shouldn't complain about our winter weather... or lack thereof. Some of you have shared your winter weather experiences. In Michigan, one reader wrote, the saddles have already been stored away for the winter so she's riding bareback (when the freezing weather allows her to ride at all). A North Carolina reader shared that she is usually treated to ice storms and frozen trees. And in Montana, another reader wrote that the weather varies widely from relatively warm to snow flurries.

So I probably shouldn't get in a dither about static cling. At least my trees aren't freezing and I'm not forced to ride bareback. Yet.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

i know exactly what your talking about!

Anonymous said...

Know what you mean when you say that the static goes from the horse to you. I shocked my poor horse to death when I patted her. She was probably thinking, what did I do?

Anonymous said...

Haha! I remember this one time my horse's blanket had massive static cling, and I wasn't thinking and threw it over her. Poor mare literally jumped three feet in the air and landed with her legs splayed. Sounds mean, but I about died laughing.

Then there was this other time I patted Seeker with a gloved hand and scratched her with my other hand. Poor girl's mane was standing straight up after I was done.

Too bad I sold her. She was a lot of fun. :)

Cindy Hale said...

Thanks for sharing your comments. So much for dry weather. See what happened? I was complaining about static cling and we ended up with rain. Lots of rain! Next we can all be sharing our thoughts about mud.

Anonymous said...

I live in Wisconsin. We get cold. I've never used a saddle between November and March. Recently, I rode Eunice, my 6 year old Walker, in a Christmas themed parade. I didn't wear appropriate footwear and ended up with rabbit skin mittens on my feet. I looked like a monkey.