Beanie Bulletin

This was supposed to be a new equipment post, since our shipping beanie broke during a recent trailer training session. Material fatigue, not an incident. As it turns out, the one we bought is too small. It pinches Rodney’s ears. Never had this problem. Didn’t know it was possible. Despite being a giraffe, Rodney’s head is a fairly standard size. Well, if not this one, then another.

Rodney wears a head bumper for shipping. Milton does not. Topological intersection of the beanie, the halter, and Milton’s head causes Milton to pull off his halter when he is wearing the beanie. Odd.

Previous Shipping Beanie Experience
My first three horses wore a head bumper for trailering. Mathilda did not.

Mathilda’s owner remembers that she would pull her halter off, a la Milton. My recollection is that it caused her to panic. Once Mathilda put her hoof down, it was not happening. Either way, she shipped without a beanie but with halter fuzzies over the poll, alongside the nose & over the snoot.

Caesar could not wear the halter fuzzies. They reminded him of the shadow roll he often wore over fences. You can’t load a horse who thinks he’s in a jump-off.

I haven’t revisited the idea of halter fuzzies for this pair. It just seems like one more thing to keep clean, particularly since neither one wears a fancy shipping halter. Rodney doesn’t like leather [Here We Stand]; Milton breaks his [The Halter of Shame].

Addition. I feel I must clarify. Milton has only broken his halter once. However, Previous Horse broke his show halter all the d*mn time – including three times at one show – so we are twitchy on the subject of expensive show halters.

Photo from Rodney Recap.

Your shipping beanie/halter fuzzy experiences?

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott