May 3, 2012 Meaghan's Afternoon With Jasmine

Today, I came home from work to see Meaghan in the field, sitting on Jasmine, combing out her coat and for a brief moment, I saw a remembered glimpse of an 11 year old Caitlin Delaney with her horse. At that age, Jasmine belonged to Caitlin’s best friend, Katlin Baker. Those girls were as inseparable from each other as they were from Katlin’s horses! They learned to ride by trial and error, but by the time Caitlin purchased Jasmine (at 15), she could ride her just as well bare-backed, as she could saddled. Cait could even stand on Jasmine’s back and swim with the horses in a local lake! I don’t know how many afternoons Caitlin spent stretched out reading a book, reclined on Jasmine. It makes me smile to see Meaghan picking up some of these old habits from Caitlin’s past.

Anyway, as the cold Maine weather changes to embrace spring’s slightly warmer temperatures (and frequent rains), Jasmine’s winter coat is shedding, leaving unsightly clumps of dead hair all over her body. This means that Jasmine needs to be brushed out regularly to look and feel her best. Meaghan does a good job keeping up with this chore in the afternoons, after school.

The black flies were out in force this afternoon, so Meaghan decided to put a fly mask on Jasmine. It covers her eyes and face, but leaves her hungry mouth free to graze. The mask is made out of a soft, mesh material that allows Jasmine to be able to see where she is going, too. Most importantly, it helps to protect her from black fly, horse fly, and mosquito bites to her sensitive face.

 

Meaghan has been practicing riding bare-back.  This mostly entails Meaghan sitting or lying down on Jasmine’s back while Jasmine grazes in the field. Like her older sister, Meaghan sits comfortably on Jasmine’s back- either forward facing or backward. Jasmine barely notices either way. Sometimes, Jasmine will walk to her stall. Sometimes, she walks beside the road. But, mostly, she chooses to stand fairly steady, feeding herself from the fresh greens beginning to grow in the field.

After her brushing, Jasmine looked great… until she decided to walk, hock deep, in some mud! It is still too cold for a good bath, but as summer approaches, I am sure Meaghan will spend lots of time attending to this chore, too!

Talk to you later!

Sonja ♥