Does this haircut make my ears look big?
Yes, I did it again. I roached off Mark’s mane. Last year my friend Jen helped me braid it so it all lay mostly to one side and then she thinned it out and it looked almost horselike. But this year, it all grew in, completely bushy, growing like a thick hedge up the left side and down the right side of the neck and standing straight up in the middle. I tried braiding it over so that it would all fall to the right side of the neck, which is the proper place for a horse’s mane to fall. But the braids ended up standing straight up. So I then began pulling it, to thin it out and then….oh, why go on. I destroyed the mane, and I ended up clipping the whole thing off.
But today I thought he looked very smart with his fresh new look, and so I loaded him into the trailer and off we went to Steep Rock. When we arrived, a pair of riders was just returning from their ride and Mark seemed to very much admire the bay.
We did our usual jaunt along the old railroad bed, up above the tunnel, around the clamshell, through the Shepaug River and then back to the trailer. I sponged him off and he decided to strike a series of poses in order to show off his new hairdo:
Then we came home and Mark took a nap. Oh dear, time to go. I served him his dinner, as he demands, at 6:00 and now it’s time to turn him out into his field for the night. He prefers his cool stall during the day in the summer.
He thinks he’s a very expensive show horse. ”You look nothing like the donkey from Shrek,” I often assure him while massaging his vast ears.
And he believes me.
The buzz cut makes his neck look lovely, and he certainly likes to show off his pretty arched neck! I am half tempted to do that to my Icelandic girl. Her mane is extremely thick and with the temps at 100 degrees for the norm down here, she would probably enjoy the cut. But it will make her look “Butch”, rather than the Tina Turner look she has now
Mark is such a huggable beast 
He’s such a gorgeous animal… er, I mean movie star. Truly regal.
Notice that I’m only showing him from the shoulder forward. Somebody didn’t exercise much this winter and has become a little chunky. I don’t like to call attention to it because he has, well, body issues.
Mark is beautiful.
Swimsuit season can be such a difficult time of year!
It’s true, Christine. We keep stressing how beautiful his face is, and most importantly, how beautiful he is inside.
And we’ve stopped calling him fatso.
yes that works with a Mark I know too…
Here’s my swimsuit shopping secret for Mark: buy what’s called a “performance” suit, with compression, designed to help competition swimmers glide & zoom through the water better.
It’s like swimwear made by Spanx
Your whole body – sans head, neck & limbs – is effectively sucking its tummy in!
The best part are still his eyelashes..
And he is a movie star!!! And yes, his ears look a wee bit big, but in two weeks you would not be able to tell the difference, and it will be summer anyway.
I love a good roached mane, it reminds me of polo, and with polo comes…well, hot polo players. I think Mark was at the Veuve Clicquot match in NYC a few weeks ago.
Yes, he was there, KC, but not playing. He’s a hoof model. He has a very comely hoof and it may be seen in many ads – Ralph Lauren, Hermes, that kind of thing. So he was there as a sort of celebrity.Not that he couldn’t play polo. He used to play, as a kid. You know, pick-up games in the neighborhood.
Okay, it’s officially time for me to go to bed.
oh my….does Mark know Nacho Figueras? I can imagine he has modeled with him for Lauren….I love that you left his forelock, Ann……tres sexy! He did strike a pose for the bay, didn’t he?
Oh what a man he is! Do you think he feels bare without it? Kind of like a “hippie” horse without his long mane. What a sweetie he is.
I have enjoyed reading all e-mails about Mark and all your adventures with him. It doesn’t matter what he looks like, he has such heart and soul and you can take him anywhere. Anyone who has horses knows that is priceless!
p.s. But he is adorable.
Mark is beautiful – Ann, did you get to buy the fantastic painting of the two of you?
My husband and I were on Governor’s Island playing goofy golf on the day of the Veuve Clicquot match, and we’ve been wondering ever since how they get the polo horses out on the island – do any of you good horse people know the answer to that burning question?
More horse & dog pictures, please Ann!
There’s a bridge to Governor’s Island, right? So they would just trailer them in, Unless they do a whole Misty of Chincoteague swimming of the polo ponies across the East River from Manhattan. Which would probably tire them out too much.
That’s what puzzles me – I don’t *think* that there is a bridge to the island… I’ll have to do some research on this…
I LOVED all of the Marguerite Henry books when I was a kid!
Sherrie,
Lots of “big” show horses and international polo players fly their horses everywhere. Can’t imagine doing that with any horses I have ever owned.
Thank you Stephanie, for the info. Fascinating stuff, horse logistics…
Your mane story reminds me of the multiple times my mom messed up cutting my bangs as a kid. She would keep going until they were “even”…this was usually achieved about two inches above my eyebrows. Mark looks much better than I did.
Mark is very handsome, very strong neck! And I love reading everyone’s comments, so fun.
Mark and I had quite an adventure today which I will blog about tomorrow. I’m too tired now. Here are highlights. Balked at bridge for 15 minutes, pooping from terror (him not me) as my friends drove past, waving. Then, deciding to trust me, he crossed the bridge and we entered a forest. The plan was to ride a short trail through land trust to a barn where my friend rides. We got lost. Up and down ledges and through swamps we went, branches whipping our faces. Mark was so trusting and honest as I guided him up and down one wrong treacherous trail after another. When I was an hour late meeting my friend, she called the state troopers. Two hours later we staggered to the friend’s barn. Mark was so exhausted that I had to get off and walk the last mile. The poor beast. So trusting. He knew the way home and several times tried to turn that way, but when I turned him the opposite way, he went where I asked. Because he’s an honest and trusting fellow, worth his weight in gold.
Now he’s been bathed in a cooling liniment, and massaged and fed apples and has been covered with kisses and is very pleased with himself. I even let him out on the front lawn for a while to graze on the special grass. Love.
Glad you both made it out safe. I would have CRIED!
Gosh, Ann, that story had a bit of anxiety to it, edge of my seat on that one! Glad all is well.
I’ve done that seemingly never-ending maze of one wrong turn after another before and it is a helpless feeling. Well, more than helpless, really, because I remember with each new path I thought I *was* helping myself closer to my destination – only to be proved wrong, over & over.
I’m grateful you weren’t out in truly horrible heat like we’re having in TX, Ann. I’d hate to think of you and Mark suffering a 104 heat-index on top of your exhausting frenzy of lostness ;( Glad you both made it to your friend’s safely, if not swiftly or easily.
Mark is rocking the roche! It takes a brave horse to pull it off. He be styling!