May 10, 2011 Polish practice

Today's lesson was about standing on the crossties while I messed around with him.  I groomed him well, braided his tail, mane and forelock, and oiled his hooves.  Rory was pretty well behaved.  He shifted side to side a few times while I was braiding his tail, but accepted the activity. 


They were still wearing their flymasks today, but...


Braiding his mane was another adventure.  I decided to try a new-to-me technique for tying the braids up which meant I could do fewer braids, but also meant I was trying to figure out how to make the technique work while Rory was walking forward and backwards on the cross ties.  He stood at times, but those times got shorter and shorter as we went along.  I wasn't sure I liked the result - the braids were interesting, but there was something that bothered me. 

Once he was polished up I had to take some pictures so we went outside.  Rory stood for a minute or two, then he had to move his feet so I let him walk around me for a few minutes while I took some more pictures. Taking the braids out took only a few minutes and I put Rory back outside with some pats and carrots.

All polished up with nowhere to go.



Top - the illusion of a dip in his neck
Bottom - back lit showing the true topline


When I was looking at the pics later I realized what bothered me about the braids.  A long time ago I read that the line along the bottom of the yarn hunter style braids is what catches the eye, making it more important to get the loops the same length rather than making the bumps on top the same size.  I wasn't sure I believed it, but I started paying more attention to the loop length.  On Rory's pictures the line along the bottom of the braids caught my eye and it made his neck look like the topline dipped down in the middle instead of having a nice arch up to his ears.  I don't think I'll be using this style of braid on Rory again.