Just because you're cold doesn't mean I'm cold!

Oh, I remember those very sentiments as a girl, my mum insisting that I wear a cardigan because she was feeling chilly.

I think I have the same scenario with mighty Max, who laughs in the face of frost!

Well, not totally true. Of course he is a robust Fjord, built to withstand what winter throws at him; he can tough it out with the best of them! But he's also Arab, built for the desert. And though his Fjord side may be more than able to deal with dry cold much colder than we experience here in the UK, he's maybe not quite so genetically geared up for the damp, rainy brittle cold of Hampshire. Being Canadian, I understand that one well!

However, yesterday morning, YO told me my Bay City Roller came in with his hood neatly undone and folded back over his neck. No damage, no ripped velcro straps, no sign of a ruckus, just sitting back away from his neck like that's where he wanted it to be.

Hmmm...

Then this morning, same thing. He came in jauntily from the field led by the YO's husband, but the neck cover was again placed back to lie flat along his back, all tidy. Again, no sign of damage, straps intact.

We surmise from this, that he's telling us that it's just not cold enough to merit a turtleneck. He has a perfectly adequate scarf in the form of his beautiful long mane on one side, and he's furry enough on the other to keep him plenty warm, and the neck piece is not just surplus to requirements, it's rather irksome, thank you very much!

"Itchy! Gah! Restricts movement! I'm burning up in here, I tells ya!"

So I've removed the offending coverage from his rug, and he's out tonight still in his medium weight rug, but unencumbered by the "turtleneck". We'll see how he goes.

I'm sure he'll welcome his hoody again when the temperature dips a bit lower, or if we have a night of relentless rain, but for now, on these clear, still nights, with the temperature just hovering around freezing, Max politely requests no molly-coddling with fussy neck warmers.

Ran out of time to do anything with him today - I guess it will be a rare winter Wednesday when I get through the yard work fast enough to still have time to whiz him round the school before I have to shoot off for the office, but that's OK. Tomorrow is another day, and a midweek day off won't hurt him. He's in fine form, looking really fit and well, and with the sunshine beaming into his box, I removed his rug all together and admired him in all his nekkid glory, while I slipped on the ice and froze my hands cleaning out water buckets.

Always a gent, Max allowed me to warm my frozen fingers under his mane, and helpfully breathed steamy snorts on my numb hands to bring them back to life. In his interests, really. Warm fingers are much more nimble for releasing polos from their tight silver foil casing than frozen ones.

He's no fool, my boy!