The weather seems to be distinctly schizophrenic at this time of year, which makes managing ponies a little difficult. With highs fluctuating from the 70s to the 50s, and lows in the 40s, layering is pretty much the name of the game. But for horses, that’s a little difficult.
A before image of the giraffe
Jack is a bit of a ninny in some ways, especially when it comes to bath time. I’ve discovered that the key to getting him not to dance around is to use hot water. Even if it’s 75* outside, cold water is still an affront on his soul. So with that bit of knowledge tucked away, and the work load getting no lighter, it was only likely that he would get clipped sooner rather than later.
If he’s moving it’s harder to see how jacked up it is!
Normally I like to wait until mid-end of November to clip, and clip once and be done with it. I’m a fan of a full body clip if I can get away with it, and admit that I hate the look of hairy legs on a svelte body. But Jack isn’t so hairy at this point, just enough so that getting him dry quickly after a good workout is still tough. So I opted to leave the legs on (for now) and leave a patch for the saddle, since he has some pressure bumps (or something) that makes clipping a little precarious anyway in that area.
hello dapples!
Blending his face was a little difficult, and I bet I’ll be doing my fair share of tidying him up before our next show in a couple weeks. But still, I’m hoping he’ll be more comfortable now and maybe we can avoid baths altogether for the most part.
When do you plan to clip? Do you have a multi-clip timeline? What pattern do you intend to do? Or do you prefer your pony au-natural for the winter? Does anybody plan on doing a fun “brand” or marking on their horse?
However, in time all things change, and BGD no longer emphasizes design in all its aspects. While I won’t rule out any identity projects that come my way, my real focus is the photography that I love so much. That said, I felt like my logo was doing me no great good in suggesting either anything equestrian, nor speaking to the demographic that I typically serve. So I hired a calligrapher and went down the path of creating a new identity with her, and I am so pleased on where we landed:
Have any of you gone through a rebranding exercise for yourself, or your blog? What visual components did you feel were needed to communicate who you are? What drove you to making the change in the first place? Did you outsource the rebranding project, or tackle it yourself? What would you keep today, or what do you think could be tweaked to meet your present image?
Red on the Right 