Ode to the horse vacuum - and keeping it together in high winds

Always having owned horses that loved to roll and grew heavy winter coats to top it off prompted me years ago to invest into a vacuum cleaner for horses. Not the big stationary kind, but the one you sling over your shoulder like a purse and then go about cleaning. Even though it’s pretty noisy the horses just love it. Even skittish Saumur leans into it. A friend asked me why I didn’t just use my ‘shop vac’ (the industrial grade vacuum we use for the barn and garage). Well, that one would probably suck the horse right in!

Glorious fall days with high winds… add dusk and deer to the recipe and things in the riding arena can get animated. I was very proud of Remy, aside from a buck at the longe line he handled everything like a pro, even the stroll down the road. With Chambord I was the one who had to do the animation, as he clearly was bored and not inclined to put too much effort into exercise. After all, it was close to his dinner time (what was I thinking?!).

Saumur was last to go (not my usual choice) and he alternated between being fascinated by the lights of cars and bikes going by and checking out the wildlife around us. At one point Saumur jumped so high he had his front leg over the longe line. In the old days this would have driven him into a blind panic. This time though he stopped abruptly, looked at me, and waited for me to untangle him. Then he went back to work as if nothing had happened. That called for a ‘sweet celebration’: Mrs. Pastures cookies for him and Ritter Sport for me!