Meet Matilda! Pictures 10/1

[George_T_Mule]

@moonlitoaksranch

This mare is 12 years old.

Hi MoonLitOaks
I didn’t read all of the way thru, so pardon it if this has already been mentioned:
Re. Pink horses and sunburn. My young horse “El Rosado” (Rosy) has a very fair complexion, and blue eyes; he is the Pinkest horse I have ever seen. (El Rosado = The Pink One)
That, plus we live at an elevation of about 6500ft, in a semi-arid climate, so the sun can be intense.
The best face mask I have tried is one made by Nag Horse Ranch.

Nag Horse Ranch - Home

They are expensive, but durable, and they stay on. Weatherbeeta makes a long-nose mask with good coverage, but Rosy ditches those routinely. Other brands don’t seem to cover his nose as well. I also use Bananna Boat “Sport” sunscreen, sparingly, on his snout, and around his eyes to give him a break from the mask routine.
I have observed that his pink nose has darkened somewhat, and appears to have developed at least some resistance to the Colorado sun, but he still gets the Rudolph Syndrome, and he got a pretty good sunburn on one occasion. Didn’t seem to bother him much, but it bothered me, and I have resolved to be more vigilant on hot, sunny days.
Just for grins, a foto of my Pink Horse, doin’ what he does best. (On an overcasty day . . .):

[moonlitoaksranch]

Thanks! Yes, we have sunscreen for her nose.

Her nose was wet from grazing, so it looks more pink than usual. Good point about light colored muzzles, though.

[luckymaverick]

Wow she is looking fabulous!! Great job

[moonlitoaksranch]

We’ve had a lot of rain recently, so I moved Matilda’s paddock to a fresh spot. There was a pile of leftover rocky sand from improvements that I spread out over the middle of her paddock with the tractor. She has no trouble at all standing on the hard middle of her paddock. Her feet were so sore she needed a continuous pile of shavings to stay comfortable, even with ill fitted front shoes. Now, she stands barefoot on course sand and rock. How far she’s come since June!

[moonlitoaksranch]

Pictures from today. She has a layer over her ribs now and her winter coat is soft and thick.

[Edre]

What a lovely update!! Her progress has been so wonderful to follow. Kudos to you giving this wonderful lady such a soft landing. She’s stunning.

[SillyHorse]

She looks wonderful!

[Paint_Party]

She’s a good lookin’ horse! No one would know what terrible shape she was in back in June.

[fivestrideline]

Has it really only been 4 months?!

I’ve been lurking mostly, but what a lost princess indeed. Her face says she KNOWS she’s pretty

[candyappy]

She is looking so good!

[moonlitoaksranch]

The temps dropped, so the bugs aren’t active tonight. I take her mask off at night to give face a break and prevent rubbing. I think she could use a bit more over those ribs, so we’re holding her senior feed level steady for at least another month. Might keep it up all winter. I don’t want her to lose any ground.

She has a nice trot.

There’s that ‘thank you’ look.

[BatCoach]

she looks so happy! Bet she is happy about the cooler temps too!

[moonlitoaksranch]

Oh yes. The herd was running and playing today.

We had enough rain recently that our son is truly learning the joys of keeping a white horse clean.

[FjordBCRF]

Love love love

[SillyHorse]

She looks wonderful. You’d never guess what awful shape she was in when you got her.

[Bluey]

Her skin looks good now, good to go into winter with that protection.

[redandwhite]

yeah i feed it in its unground form. it takes their systems a while to handle it but then it causes the most beautiful coats/adds weight

[redandwhite]

just caught up on all these posts. you’ve done such a wonderful job with Matilda! i cant wait for more updates

[moonlitoaksranch]

Thank you!

[Paint_Party]

Wow, look at that step! Her ears are up, too, so she looks eager to trot on over to you.

I remember how awful her poor skin looked when you first got her. It’s amazing how great her skin and coat look now. I’m happy for you and happy for Matilda.