Badger's Story: The Three Blankets (Weeks #7-8)

Before I left for my trip, I decided to visit Badger one more time, and take his blanket with me as well. Now that the weather was finally (abruptly?) getting colder, Tracy suggested it was about time for the winter wear to come out of storage for the rest of the horses too. So, off to the ranch, miscellaneous straps and D-rings in tow. Still never quite figured out where all of those things connected.

After the usual day of care and fussing, I took out Badger's blanket, unfurled it, and draped it over his back. He seemed fine, but somehow, something didn't...look quite right.

I stepped back and burst out laughing. The blanket didn't even come close to covering his rear end. There was no way the straps would buckle around the front of his neck and chest. ...What the heck?! My brain raced. Did we somehow end up with the wrong blanket when we picked Badger up? (Couldn't be, he was the only horse there...that was the only blanket there...) Had I shrunk it when I washed it? (But the drier wasn't on a high temp, and it didn't have the irregular rippling I would have expected since the straps are a different material from the blanket itself...) Had someone else somehow shrunk it? Was it just the wrong size from a long time ago?

There was nothing to be done...so off it came, and on went a big, rather dusty blanket from the ranch's few extras. If anything it seemed a little oversized, as the neck opening kept sliding down around Badger's withers. Still, he seemed happy enough with it all, so I left him with that one (the peculiarly undersized one left to warm another smaller horse at the ranch) and headed off to my plane ride across the Pacific.

When I got back, the recent trade I'd set up had gone great. I'd arranged to trade one of my Breyer model horses with a gal in Ohio for a classy blanket and a nice new lead rope. Keeping my fingers crossed that I'd measured correctly, I took the new blanket out to the ranch as soon as I'd gotten home.

As most things have been turning out with Badger, it was just the right piece of equipment at the right time. The new blanket not only fits him to a T, but it also matches the blue of his halter quite nicely. The new lead rope is great too, a dark green cotton which was exactly what I'd been thinking of buying since the original red one was strangely unbendable, and made it quite hard to tie a good knot. Badger had been starting to figure out that if he jerked his head around, the red rope would start to come loose...so thankfully this one has put a stop to that.

I'm very grateful to Ann in Ohio for agreeing to the trade, since not only did it get Badger a blanket that fits (as well as making him look quite handsome), but this also ensures that other horses at the ranch can use the blankets that will better fit them. Sure, California doesn't get *quite* as cold as the great white North, but Bakersfield has been known to get down into the freezing temps, and since a lot of the horses are in their 20s, it's a nice thing in the middle of winter to have a snuggly blanket. :)

So without further ado: