Trot Sets and a Bath

We're planning to go to an open show tomorrow, so I wanted to just have a fun ride this morning with Lynx, then give him a bath.  The dogs came with us, Pascal keeping up pretty well even during our trot sets and cantering, elderly Mahzi wisely cutting corners when needed.

When we were done we walked back to the barn and untacked, we all had a drink of water, and then I gave Lynx a bath.  Thankfully he's close enough to dirt colored that it's not a big project.  When I was a kid I showed paint and pinto with a medicine hat patterned mare named Docs Bit of Honey, and yes the barn is named after her.  I certainly paid my dues in scrubbing with purple whitening shampoo all summer for years in order to do showmanship...  sometimes I'm surprised my fingers aren't still stained purple!

Anyway, Lynx stood like a champ for his scrub, only moving when those darn humongous horse flies would go after him. Mostly I could hit and squash them once they'd landed on Lynx, which he very much appreciated. There must be something about him that they like extra well, because they don't go after my other horses like they do him. Everyone is about the same color (it really is bay watch around here), eating the same food (just in slightly different amounts), and if anything Lynx gets bug spray and swat applied more frequently because he gets hosed off more often being in training. Another question for the ages.

He's mostly clean now anyway, and his tail conditioned, detangled, and shiny.  We're ready for our next batch of show photos!  He got turned back out with his friends and they all wandered back out to the pasture.