Grooming

No, I'm not talking about grooming the horses. This post is about me. (And no, not that sort of grooming. Tsk. What is wrong with you? Filthy!)

My eyebrows are currently modelled on Liam Gallagher's monobrow circa 1998, and my hands are dry, cracked and resemble those of an ancient raddled old crone. I'm not alone in this - Madonna also has the hands of a woman who's much older than her face. Just saying.

As for my hair, it's permanently either windswept from turning out in gale force winds (the girls' livery yard is at the highest point in the Chilterns) or limp-yet-tufty from wearing either a riding helmet or the woolly hat I immediately replace it with to hide the hat hair. I'm in a vicious hair cycle.

What I need is a spa day. But as I have two horses now, and as a result, no money, the closest I'm likely to get to a spa is the 7-11 in Lane End. (That's actually a Spar but it seemed a shame to let a good pun go to waste.)

Anyway, if anyone has any tips on how to muck out in winter without ending up with finger nails that are as black as night, I'd love to hear them. I have some Sealskinz gloves but they appear to be massive gauntlets like knights used to wear - I may have got the wrong size - and they're a bit chunky for tasks like tying up haynets. Or opening doors. Or holding things. Alternative suggestions welcome!

As for grooming the horses, they're both woolly mammoths and I've just purchased a pair of Lister Star clippers (more expense!) with the aim of transforming them into sleek beauties at the weekend. This could be interesting as a) I've no idea how Angel will react to being clipped and b) I've never clipped. In fact, I've never cut any hair other than my own fringe and Roxy's tail. Hairdressing has never been my forte - the only hairstyle I've mastered is the basic ponytail. Even that usually has bobbly sticking out bits. I'll be posting the 'before' and 'after' clipping photos on here, of course. Something for us all to look forward to.

Ian says that since I've forked out for the clippers, I can save him the expense of going for a Grade 2 every couple of months by clipping him, too. That actually sounds really fun. What could possibly go wrong...?