How well turned out are your field ornaments?

Wagtail

Wagtail

Horse servant
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My field ornament was my horse of a lifetime and injury forced her early retirement at age 16. She was always emaculately turned out, clipped, trimmed and shined and she enjoyed every minute of it. Last year was the first winter I have ever not clipped her (in ten years!). I let her grow her mane long and also left her fetlocks untrimmed, but still gave her regular grooms. But when she lost her winter coat, I just couldn't help myself getting her in and trimming her up. Once again she looks stunning, and extremely pleased with herself!

What do you do with your field ornaments? Do you let them go feral or keep them pristine?
 
My mare is having a year off to rest after an injury, Im like you in that shes clipped, trimmed and bathed. Shes grey so the hair is in abundance when she moults. I will still keep her clipped and trimmed as shes too pretty to go au naturel. Shes hanoverian/tb so being hairy doesnt really suit her. Im so used to her being clean etc it would be a hard habit to break I think. Besides she loves the attention and clipping her legs sends her to sleep, tho prob wont do that in Winter, just wont tell her.!
 
Well, they really need to be feral to help cope with the elements, flies etc. My mare is (hopefully) in foal, and although it nearly killed me LOL over the winter when we were still riding her I let her mane grow longer, and avoided doing any trimming. I did trim the bottom of her tail to stop it trailing in the mud, but it has not been pulled since the end of the last show season. I also stopped brushing her pretty much in the last few weeks before she went to stud ( a turn of phrase, she's still on the same yard, just living out rather than in!) just using a jelly comb for the worst mud and dirt so she could build up some grease in her coat. It does feel weird for her to be dirty - at the mo she's covered in green 'kisses' from her broodmare companions - but I'm getting used to it, and after seven years of being preened and primped for nine months of the year she's loving being a 'real' horse :D
 
My two shetties definitely go native in the winter , but come spring i just can't abide tails that drag on the ground and general hairyness so i do go to town with a bath ( weather permitting ) grooming to help out a winter coat and they also get regular hoof polish , to which Beau Jangles looks down with this sort of expression :eek::rolleyes:
 
2 of my field ornaments were clipped yesterday! Cushings pony and old donkey either of whom shed their coats, as its 10 degrees colder today they are now both rugged.:p Other field ornament is groomed fairly regularly through the summer and had her tail washed last week but her mane is no longer pulled as she is a nightmare to do.
 
My retired TB has a lovely long mane. :D She doesn't really enjoy being groomed too much, just a quick brush once in a while and she's happy.

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The best thing about the arab filly is that you shouldn't trim or pull manes. I like that as I'm rubbish at it, my poor anglo had a right bodge job when I smartened her up for showing. :( It's all grown out now. :D

I don't clip either because the anglo doesn't grow enough winter coat and she only hacks now.
 
I've decided she will be feral in the winter and pristine in the summer. She is brought in at night during the winter along with all the others, and wears a fly rug in summer when the flies are bad.
 
Wagtail said:
My field ornament was my horse of a lifetime and injury forced her early retirement at age 16. She was always emaculately turned out, clipped, trimmed and shined and she enjoyed every minute of it. Last year was the first winter I have ever not clipped her (in ten years!). I let her grow her mane long and also left her fetlocks untrimmed, but still gave her regular grooms. But when she lost her winter coat, I just couldn't help myself getting her in and trimming her up. Once again she looks stunning, and extremely pleased with herself!

What do you do with your field ornaments? Do you let them go feral or keep them pristine?
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When Starla was out of action and turned away because of injury this winter, I roughed her off and wintered her out - She was looking at a good year or two before we could even think about ridden work. I left her to get nice and hairy, and other than making sure she was adequately fed, hayed and watered, and a de mudding session most weekends she remained a mud covered hairy monster for most of the winter.
I felt horrendous when she died, and felt SO guilty that I had not spent more time on her, grooming her every day and rugging her/stabling her. I did what was right for her at the time, but I must admit I do make sure my other ornament gets a decent amount of fuss now. You never know what's around the corner.
 
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Faracat said:
My retired TB has a lovely long mane. :D She doesn't really enjoy being groomed too much, just a quick brush once in a while and she's happy.

Melodytwo.jpg


The best thing about the arab filly is that you shouldn't trim or pull manes. I like that as I'm rubbish at it, my poor anglo had a right bodge job when I smartened her up for showing. :( It's all grown out now. :D

I don't clip either because the anglo doesn't grow enough winter coat and she only hacks now.
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Love the long mane. I am toying with the idea of leaving my girl's to grow out but trimming the rest of her.
 
He gets a rug put on in October/November and unless its a nice day, doesn't really get it taken off much til March! :eek:

Come spring his bounteous amounts of winter coat are curried off him - for a TB he has a lot of hair. This year the hot weather came too quickly, and he just couldn't lose it fast enough. I cut (badly!) about 8 inches off his mane a month ago, he looks great. Just a good thing he doesn't go out in public! :D

Otherwise doesn't need trimming, fetlocks etc as has no feather, but does get his tail cut to make it neat :)
 
Lady La La said:
When Starla was out of action and turned away because of injury this winter, I roughed her off and wintered her out - She was looking at a good year or two before we could even think about ridden work. I left her to get nice and hairy, and other than making sure she was adequately fed, hayed and watered, and a de mudding session most weekends she remained a mud covered hairy monster for most of the winter.
I felt horrendous when she died, and felt SO guilty that I had not spent more time on her, grooming her every day and rugging her/stabling her. I did what was right for her at the time, but I must admit I do make sure my other ornament gets a decent amount of fuss now. You never know what's around the corner.
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That is so sad! You poor thing. Yes, it's true, you never know when something like that will happen. But she was obviously awell cared for and happy horse.
 
My field ornament is 18, been pretty much retired since he was 16 (only ridden a handful of times over 2yrs) but now it's official due to a collection of injuries.

He isn't clipped in the winter, but is well rugged up so doesn't get much of a coat, he's in over night in the winter and out in the day unless weather's awful (he just stands by the gate complaining otherwise). And in the summer he's out in the night and in during the day (he doesn't like the flies!).

He's a TB x hannoverian so no real feathers but his mane is pulled, tail is tidy and he's groomed daily and bathed a few times in the summer... he looks fab and he knows it :D :D :D
 
My two year old is currently a field ornament, during winter she goes Native, but come spring she has her mane pulled and her feathers off :D

Pre-Spring tidy up
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After Spring tidy up
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Out 24/7, wind, rain, 3' of snow, blazing sunshine, and everything in between, temps from -30 to +30C.

Nope, none of my horses rarely get anything more than curried in Springtime, a whizz over with a body brush each day before fly spraying, manes and tails are brushed and baby oiled (helps with the burr and bramble tangles) bridle paths and feathers on riding horses are trimmed. I have never been a fan of short manes, most of my horses have been, and are, arabians and natives and I like them to have decent manes, long manes can be braided just as smartly as short ones. Tails get trimmed to ankle length if need be.

I am perfectly capable of turning horses out to a decent standard, I appreciate a well turned out horse as much as the next person and I wouldn't dream of going anywhere (publicly, hacking doesn't count) on a less than spotlessly clean and tidy horse. I just don't see the point, especially as there are so many horses here that I'd never get anything else done.

Zeus, bless him, is self cleaning. One minute he can be covered in mud, an hour later it dries up and simply slides off, he has a naturally shiny and silky coat.

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Ni ni gets a bit fatter than she should (we call her the hippolusian!), but she still gets bathed and trimmed with the rest of them, she'd have a strop otherwise!
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Sid is rugged over winter but not clipped.
His mane looks like an andalucians and he only gets the ocassional flick with a brush. In some ways it breaks my heart because he was so stunning but he's just being a horse now and loves being muddy, green and hairy.
(I wouldn't mind nut hes a very very well bred Hanovarian which somehow makes his feral state even harder!!!)
 
I still don't "do" manes tails or any extraneous hair so even the ones that never leave the field are kept with short pulled tails and manes etc! Once had an ancient ex cavalry farrier (as was father of same thinking!) who was adamant that long manes made horses feel downtrodden and drilled it into me from a young age to keep them smart - don't for a second believe that of course!!
 
Our ornament is also the farm 'mascot', so it just wouldn't do i he looked scruffy! Honestly, I think that even if they aren't ridden and just sit in the field all day, a bit of pampering is important to make them feel a bit loved. It's quite easy to overlook Napoleon with all the rushing round I have to do, so scheduling in a grooming session every other day gives me some time to chill, and him a chance to be fussed over and generally adored!
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All of mine are left 'au natural' with regards to pulled manes, trimmed etc. They do get rugged however and depending on mud etc, may have to trim off feathers from one or two but normally, they are left to get a long mane etc, i would feel such a nasty owner if there were out in the rain with a pulled shorter mane etc as when long, it really does help it run straight off them.
 
All are left over the Winter to become hairy, apart from tails to prevent mud and clumps of ice dragging in them. In the Spring/Summer they are groomed to help with the change of coats, manes are long but get a tidy and a trim, feathers are left on still and tails are trimmed again. Basically, they get a little tidy up but left mainly natural.
 
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