Horse Hygiene Problems

My old war horse Hightower has a personal hygiene problem. In his defense, he is 27 years old and is way past the point of caring for such trivial matters. Still, I’ve never known a horse with such a penchant for filth. I don’t ride him very often, which is a shame. I ride horses at work three or four times a week and coming home on the weekends and riding some more just doesn’t seem to be a priority. However, as I had the day off and hadn’t ridden since Thursday, I decided to take Hightower out on a short ride this morning. He is a good horse. He stands quietly during grooming and tacking and accepts the bit easily. He seems to like these little excursions. It may be because it gives him something different to look at or maybe it is just because he likes being given something to do. It exercises his body and gives his mind something to focus on. Standing around in a pasture day after day is fine but perhaps a little boring. We didn’t go out for long as he is not in good shape. Riding him is a chore. Although ancient by horse standards, he doesn’t seem to know that. He prances and pulls at the bit like he is late for a meeting or something. I put up with it because I don’t have the time and inclination to change his behavior and, well, what’s the point? I’d hate to think that someone would try and change my irritating behavior when I’m a crotchety old man. Anyway, we rode for about an hour and scouted out the neighborhood in the process. We had fun. He was pretty sweaty when we got home so I commenced to groom him. It took about 15 minutes to comb out his coat and remove all the sweat. He enjoyed being brushed and combed and placed his nose against my chest to show his appreciation. When he was all cleaned up, I turned him loose into the pasture. Hightower walked straight to the manure pile and knelt down and rolled in the muck like a pig in a sty. As he rolled he groaning like a wounded water buffalo and then stood up and shook himself like a giant dog. Dirt and manure flew off him in all directions. Now, completely covered in dirt again, his morning was complete.