The Emperor’s –uh, horses’- (new) clothes… and being naked is not an option

January thaw is happening this week, which brings the question of:  “What to wear?” or better “How to dress the boys?”. Saumur and Remy are typical guys and hate being too hot. I, OTOH, am almost always cold. People with offices next to mine are not too thrilled that the control for the air-conditioning is in my office; the young guy (type T-shirt in the midst of winter) complained that “it’s like in a sauna”. OK, point taken, but I honestly think he’s never been in a sauna!

So, back to the boys. If Saumur get’s too hot he just rolls, and rolls, and rolls some more. Preferably in any muddy spot he can find. Remy has found another solution: he takes his clothes off! A couple of weeks ago JP found Remy’s blanket in the pasture. He somehow had slipped out, the belly buckles were still closed and the leg straps attached. No idea how Remy managed that! Now, any other horse would have panicked when feeling the blanket sliding down the legs and then trying to untangle himself. Not so Remy, he actually looked darn pleased with himself! Then last week Lisa, Judy’s barn manager, noticed that Remy had his head stuck inside the blanket while turned out. Lucky for Remy, the girls straightened the blanket –and him!- out.

When I first brought the boys to Judy’s and temps were in the 40s I left them without clothes. Sure enough, I got a concerned email from Judy “Do the boys stay naked??”. Don’t I wish! But I rushed to the barn with a load of freshly laundered blankets and sheets.  Realistically, with Saumur being trace clipped and Remy not sporting a woolly coat, adding the usual Michigan winter freeze into the equation… being naked is just not an option.