No Shave November!

Now, if you are under the age of fifty, you've probably heard of No Shave November... It's pretty much a guy's excuse to go full lumberjack. Or hipster. Either way, it's not sexy. Not sexy at all.

Beards: Not sexy. Ever

Anyhow, in keeping with my rebellious nature I just cannot embrace No Shave November. And not just me, but my horses (and poodles, obviously).
Now, there are tons of things to love about Texas: the ability to knock out two shows before the new years, not having to shovel roofs (sorry, New York), an overdose of state pride. However, this lovely pseudo-tropical retreat leaves my ponies feeling like they brought the wrong wardrobe on vacation

See the difference?

 So what is the conscientious rider to do when every ride ends in a lathered, sweaty horse?

Shave them!

Be Forewarned: This is a picture heavy, super adorable and probably itchy post.

Scratch that. Very itchy. There will be little itchy horse hairs everywhere. I think I need to shower again. Maybe twice.

Since it was a lovely 60 degree day and the arena was still too wet to ride in so it seemed the thing to do by starting my day off with a pony bath.

Tilly is not impressed

Of course, my normal handy (lazy) front of barn area proved to be too wet me to continue my morning baths at that location. So we moved to our otherwise abandoned wash stall.

Bucky in all of his fluffy glory

Really, it's super handy... but we dumped a yard of lime in front of the barn door that leads to the wash stall... so you have to walk out the front door and around the side of the barn.
Tedious. But at least my feet dont get  wet and there is no mud. Win-win!

Then it was time to whip out the clippers!
Mwahaha-AHAH!

 By the time I finished with half of Tilly and all of Bucky, my elbows were buzzing and i was covered in hair. Not my own.

Why only half of Tilly, you ask?

Because I'm freakin' creative. And honestly, I kind of assumed what could go wrong?

 So I took a quick lunch break and made a stencil out of a manila envelope. Like a boss...
I taped the stencil onto Tilly's unclipped butt, and let the fur fly!

It's all about the bass

Now.... wait for it....

Brace yourself. 

For So. Much. ADORABLE.

Ready? Are you really?

AWWWWWWWWWW!


Encouraged by my success, I had to find an appropriate stencil for Delight.
I mean, the Blackfish cannot do bout sporting bows and hearts. That's just not her. And there's a distinct possibility that she would buck me off just for offending her. It's a risk.

So the list began.
Bows? Adorable on Tilly, but Deli doesn't want to be a copycat.
An Orca? Perfect! But too tricky for an amateur body clipper like myself. And no one else would get it...
A shamrock? Celtic knot? Blah.
 So, in the spirit of the season... And for ease of application, Delight earned some Christmas Bells!

Not quite as vivid as the chestnut

 All in all it's not too bad of a look, if I do say so myself.

Now I need to see if I can get a picture of the clip jobs out in the sunlight.

And now I need another shower. I feel itchy again just thinking about all over again. So many tiny itchy little hairs!