Pretty in... Anything but Blue!

Before Madge was born, I bought a large, expandable foal blanket. It was sold for Warmblood and Thoroughbred foals, so I was certain it would last--at least a little while.

During the summer, the blanket got quite soiled. Seems I was using it more as a training device on the stall floor than as a blanket for my baby. In late August, I thought it was time to get it ready for winter, so I tossed it in the back of the pick-up to take home for cleaning. That was the last time I saw it.

At first, I was heartbroken. Her first blanket, gone just like that. I searched high and low, but never found a stitch of that burgundy cloth.

When the weather turned cold, I resigned myself to buying a new one. Unfortunately, foal blankets are tough to find in local stores. I started looking at pony blankets instead, but the only thing I could find was blue.

Personal observation: Now, I'm not a vain gal--my Maxine wears blue as her primary color--but I really wanted Madge's first blanket to showcase her "mareness."

Fortunately, our local Wilco store has a very helpful woman in the horse section. She knew that she had "the cutest purple plaid blanket," but it was nowhere to be found. We waded through the sea of blue pony blankets to no avail. Soon, I was ready to move on to the next store, but she refused to give up hope.

"I just know I have one of those blankets somewhere," she said as she began searching her computer. "I found it! What size was she?"

I had to admit that I hadn't been able to get her size yet. I wasn't scheduled to drive to the barn until the next day, but the weather had turned quickly, so I was eager to get a blanket on my girl.

"No matter," she said. "I've got two in another store. I'll have them shipped here tomorrow. If you don't want them, I know I can get rid of them."

I thanked her and left the store. Still, I was annoyed that I would have to spend money on a new blanket when I had owned a perfectly good one just one month before.

The next day, Travis and I went down to the barn to do some work to pay off a little of our board fee. While we were there, we borrowed my trainer's tape to measure Madge for her new blanket. As I unrolled the tape, I was amazed.

"She's 56 inches now," I said.

"What was she before," asked Travis.

"I'm not sure, but the blanket she used to wear only expanded to 45 inches. She's grown well over ten inches! I guess we would've had to buy another blanket anyway," I laughed.

When the blanket arrived at Wilco the following day, I called to confirm the size.

"The blanket is 57 inches," said the woman's voice over the phone.

"That's perfect," I exclaimed, astonished by my good fortune. "I'll be right down to pick it up!"

Photo: Madge in her new Weatherbeeta blanket that just happens to have hot pink accent lines to match her hot pink halter. What luck!