Monday 20 December 2010

My Hair Turned White!

It was minus 10 when I took Bar-Os to the paddock this morning. By the time I'd walked back home, my hair had frozen and the frosty, foggy atmosphere had turned it white. Brrrrrrrrrr.

There's a field not too far away that has a selection of horses and ponies on it. Yesterday there were several concerned looking RSPCA officers at the field. I have noticed that the horses are being fed; there's hay on the ground, but they aren't rugged up and there's no shelter for them.

I thought it a very ill considered statement a couple of weeks ago, when an RSPCA spokesperson said (on the news) that the Charity were tired of people calling them up to report horses in fields without rugs. The spokesperson said that this wasn't a problem because horses are capable of withstanding sub-zero temperatures. Well I beg to differ. Sure, they will withstand a frosty night of minus 1 or 2 without too much hardship, but the current weather is too harsh for many horses, particularly the older ones or the finer thoroughbred types. I suppose the RSPCA have shot themselves in the foot here because they can hardly prosecute people for following the Charity's own advice.

Bar-Os is very grumpy at the moment. He doesn't like the cold weather and he particularly doesn't like my woolly ski hat. As I approach the stable, he flattens his ears back and once I'm inside, battle commences. He's determined to grab the hat off my head and doesn't mind if he grasps a mouthful of hair at the same time. Barman stands looking through the kitchen window, laughing at the sight of it all. If I put both hands to my head, he grabs the zip on my jacket and yanks that down. If I take my hat off, calmness prevails, but it's bloody freezing. Oh, and he also doesn't like having the belly straps done up on his rug (I assume because they feel cold against his skin?). As I bend down to pull the straps through, he makes a grab for my bum, or even worse, the back of my knee. I'll be a battered and bruised wreck by the time the weather improves.

Still, I'm not complaining. At the end of July, I was told that he had 3 months to live. Here we are, 5 months later and he is such a lot better. His previously limp tail is regaining movement, he goes to the loo quite nicely too. It's just his bladder that is a little weak. I have to smear his 'bits' with petroleum jelly each day, as the drops of urine freeze to his skin and make him sore. It is slightly troubling that Bar-Os loves the warm flannel and subsequent smearing of Vaseline around his nether regions. Wonder what Freud would make of it all!


9 comments:

simply wondered said...

it's hardly odd he's going for yer bum the way you've been getting jiggy with his!

Barmaid said...

SW - Yes, poor lad's body is on the mend, but his mind is completely warped:-) How's the heating, dare I ask?

simply wondered said...

heating is fixed and going full kick - the only issue is now we are scared we can't actually get there or get food for christmas. but there's always something to worry about in our house. like the oxygen running out.... personally, i try to let it all flow over me.

simply wondered said...

just to be topical, when your hair turned white did you look like julian assange?

Michael said...

"I have to smear his 'bits' with petroleum jelly each day," ... is this bar-os or barman we're talking about here? :p

I assume word verification has picked up on bar-os' digestive improvements, too - as I was asked to type in "turden".

Lovely.

Barmaid said...

No, SW, I didn't look like Julian Assange or Boris Johnson for that matter, but I did look very freaky.

Michael, apologies for word verification's smutty sense of humour - and as for the petroleum jelly - well I have to use both hands, so I'll leave you to guess whether it was Bar-Os or Barman:-)

Tulsa Divorce Lawyers said...

BM I can understand why Bar-Os was grumpy. Freezing temps cause me to feel the same way.

Tulsa Divorce Lawyers said...

BM I can understand why Bar-Os was grumpy. Freezing temps cause me to feel the same way.

Oklahoma City Divorce Attorneys said...

Being from Oklahoma, we have to deal with freezing temps, but nothing that cold - that sounds miserable!