Last night I went to visit Isabella. I anticipated a horrid drive to the barn due to the past rain and early darkness, but the drive went smoothly.

When I arrived, I was amused to see that my grey/white horse had turned into a big brown crusty large creature. Apparently she had a wonderful time rolling around and getting herself as dirty as she could for my arrival. No matter, the arena was completely soggy and wet - unrideable, so I set upon my task of brushing off the caked mud and revealing my white horse once again which was no easy task. Her mane was in large dirt clumps, yet her tail was left unmarred. Her left flank also remained clean, which puzzled me to think of how she could've rolled and left those parts untouched.

After about 40 minutes of scraping, currying, and brushing, I stepped back and admired my work, my lovely (chubby) Arab/Paso Fino mare was a lovely sight to be seen. Her mane and tail were brushed out and looked smooth with the wisps at the end curling slightly in the night breeze. Her fur which was once hardened with slop, was now soft and fuzzy with her dapples shining through. I picked out the mud from her feet and gave her a bucket of beet pulp and all-in-one, a yummy wintertime treat. China and I played for a while until Isabella finished up her bucket and threw it to the side dramatically to indicate she was done.

I cleaned out her bucket and gave my clean fuzzy horse another once over, making sure I didn't miss any big dirt clods on her body. I untied her from the hitching post and led her back to pasture. As I unclipped her halter, she stood for a while, nuzzling me while I gave her poll a good scratch. Once satisfied I didn't have any more treats, she wandered away to finish her dinner. I watched her white figure disappear into the darkness, knowing as soon as I left she'd probably roll and play in the mud again. I called out to her as I alway do, "Be good, Isabella" and walked away smiling, knowing I'd probably repeat the whole thing again on Saturday.