What's up Wednesday

Lolz... Imma start day drinking at work soon... Ha! Anyway... We're not here to talk about work, we're here to talk ponies.
So this week/weekend was pretty tame on the horse front. Eros is a perfect gentleman for his hand walking and Shiny is coming along under saddle. We've added canter back in, and I'm asking her toward the end of every ride to come round and work the booty. It's hard for her, and she really can't hold it long, but it's a start! Clearly, she's very worn out from all the hard work...

Saturday she pulled a Shiny on me though... We are supposed to pick feet just inside the barn when leaving the indoor. So I picked the front ones, and when I went to do the back, she got startled by the farrier hammering on a shoe nearby. I tried to grab the reins, but missed, and she trotted herself right down the aisle and outside. Of course it was a randomly beautiful warm day, so the doors were all open. Of course! Lol. Fortunately, she just trotted herself out to the paddocks and visited with her pony friend Misty who was outside. Such a silly pony. This is the THIRD TIME she's gotten loose at the boarding barn. First time from me though. So naughty.

Sunday I needed to pull her mane. It was halfway down her neck and she was looking VERY feral. Apparently though, she's a total turd about it. I wound up having to twitch her and still was only able to shorten it with scissors. Good thing she's not showing any time soon...

Nothing new on the Pammon front. Vet comes Friday to ultrasound Eros, so I'll probably get an update then.

We've already covered everything going on with the puggers yesterday, so that's where we are with them. Artie still isn't into eating his kibble, so I guess I'll have to get more food for him. Kids.

I did manage fill all the time this weekend though, despite being busy with vet visits and Equine rehab. Saturday evening I went to a minor league hockey game which was super fun.

They lost in overtime. Losers.

I've also been taking steps to organize my hoarder hovel, and one of those steps is actually acquiring furniture in which to hide my crap. Thus, both Saturday morning and Sunday morning I put some parts together.

Pretty good, right? I only messed up one thing but it's not a big deal, just a backwards piece that is in the back anyway. I did however drop the top part on my head when trying to lift it up into place.

And I got a booboo. Looks oddly like I got bit, doesn't it?

I have one more piece to put together for that room (it's a pantry room sort of, the fridge is in there... my house is old and weird), and then it should be all neat and organized! One down... all the rest to go. Baby steps my friends. It will be SO nice once everything is organized though. Hope it lasts! ha.

And that's about it from here. If you guys don't hear from me tomorrow it's because my job drove me to day drinking.

Truthful Tuesday

Chaos. My life currently. Pure Chaos. My job is legit out of control. I've mentioned recently that the Coronavirus is having an impact on my job, but it's gotten straight up nuts you guys. China has been shut down completely since Chinese New Year which puts production about two months behind at this point. We're running out of inventory, and it's gotten to the point where we have to allocate what's left based on previous purchases. We have THOUSANDS of customers and products, so you can imagine what a nightmare this is. Orders are still rolling in like everything is fine. But ugh. Everything is NOT fine. If production doesn't resume in the next week or two... well. Let's not even think about it.

Me at work.

And then P had a UTI. Which did not in fact clear up with the first round of antibiotics. So that meant a second more expensive trip to the vet. Fortunately, that seems to be resolving now with a different antibiotic. But will also require another trip to the vet in a couple weeks to be sure.

Since my animals really like to pile it on thick, and not to be outdone by Pia of course, Artie started coughing on Thursday night and coughed so hard he PASSED OUT! Apparently, dogs can do this, and it's not all that out of the ordinary... But I've never seen a dog just fucking pass out. It's horrifying if you've never seen it. Pretty much exactly the same visual as when a horse gets put down standing. HORRIFYING! I thought he died. Right in front of me. Thankfully he did not die, so I rushed him up to the 24 hour vet hospital near me.

After waiting awhile (it was a busy night there) he got some x-rays and I was told it appeared he had heart failure. Best case scenario the vet said was about a year if the meds worked. Needless to say I ugly cried the whole drive home... and most of the night. Artie is only around 8 or 9 (he's a rescue, so we're not sure exactly) and has always been my healthy dog. So this news was out of no where for sure. He stayed the night at the hospital so they could run more tests in the morning and we could formulate a plan for him.

Looking at this x-ray, his heart appears  VERY enlarged. That is, if he wasn't a Pug. At our follow up appt with our regular vet on Saturday, she explained to me that what appears very scary on this x-ray is actually pretty normal for Pugs. I don't think the ER vet was as familiar with the breed as the specialist and our regular vet.

In a very rare turn of events, once the tests were run, it was determined by the specialists that he does not in fact have heart failure. THANK GOODNESS! He does have a heart murmur and we'll want to keep an eye on his heart as he ages, but definitely not heart failure. He also has a case of pneumonia. No fever so it wasn't obvious until the ultra sound, but it's definitely there. He didn't eat well this weekend, but I picked up some different food (back at the vets...again) and he's gobbling that right down. So I think he'll be feeling back to his old self very soon. He has a follow up in two weeks as well. Needless to say, between the er visit and all the office visits, the vets have gotten my entire pay check for the last two weeks. Sigh. The things we do for our fur kids! I'm just grateful everyone will be okay. I can always make more money (hopefully, assuming my job doesn't implode).

So yeah... Last night I binge ate Italian cookies and feel very little remorse. And that's my confession for today.

Thursday's Threads

Outfit day! It's still winter here, despite us seeing 50 degrees sporadically recently. It would be SUPER if winter stayed like that until spring. (Sorry I know... global warming bad. But warm Stacie good!) So I went with cozy for last night's ride.

It wasn't SO cold that I needed the fuzzy boots. The day was actually pretty warm, but the temps were falling quickly once the sun went down.

Helmet: One K

Same old. I know... But hey. Convenience.

Top: Herd of Zebras

I have a few fluffy sweatshirts like this, but a lot of them aren't actually warm. The wind and cold seems to go right through them. This one though? This thing is SO warm. Big fan! But not to be worn if you're handling shavings. Good luck getting them off.

Belt: Mane Jane

I did the light gray strap with the rose gold buckle for this outfit.

Breeches: Noble Outfitters

Noble Outfitters is going to be sold exclusively at Dover moving forward, so you'll see their stuff being closed out pretty much everyplace else. I snagged these from somewhere for super cheap. They are the winter lined softshell style. I may grab a tan pair if I see them again.

Boots: De Niro

Putting these navy ones to WORK to see how their zippers will survive everyday use. So far so good. And update on the black pair: The new zippers arrived yesterday. I haven't yet really researched where to get them fixed, but Ashley gave me a good somewhat local lead, so I'll probably check them out first. Not sure when though.

So that's what I wore last night to ride Miss Shiny pants! And I have a shiny work outfit to share too... (See what I did there?) You will...

See? It's a shiny sweater! Ha! Sorry. It's been a long week.

Top: Silence + Noise

It's really hard to photograph the fun oil click effect on this sweater, but it's basically the same as that bracelet there in front. I'm not sure why I love this oil slick stuff so much, but I just do!

Belt: Mane Jane

I've been unsuccessful finding an oil slick belt, but I have found some hardware so I'm planning on making one at some point. In the meantime, I went simple with this black belt strap and gunmetal buckle.

Jeans: Vintage America Blues

These are a gray with vintage wash stretchy denim. Cute and super comfy.

Shoes: Keds

I know! They're amazing. And Keds so obviously comfy too.

Arm Party!
Lefty:

Lefty is wearing a bangle bracelet that I put together. The bracelet part came from Etsy, and the unicorn charm is from Coach. Along with that are my tech; the Fitbit and the apple watch.

Righty:

Righty is wearing that super fun vintage snakeskin bangle along with a memory wire bracelet I made, and a cuff that I think came from Poshmark.

So that's it for today! Any favorites? Do you like the oil slick/unicorn look?

What's Up Wednesdays

Might as well jump right in with the most pressing news. Friday the vet came out to see what's happening with Eros and his limpy leg. After watching him go under saddle and then flexing him, doc was pretty confident we were dealing with the same foot/ankle troubles as last year. BUT after blocking him, we were less certain. At first look, he definitely needs his feet fixed. His heels need to be opened up to relieve some of the pressure on that ligament he has trouble with. The weird one that wraps around the ankle down to the foot. Don't ask me what it's called, I can't remember. Anyway... that's an ongoing issue that we will forever deal with for him. Doc does still think that is the root of the problem. However, when he blocked the foot and then the ankle he was only marginally more sound. He didn't get the most sound until we blocked... The Suspensory. UGH! You guys. These ligaments are going to be the death of me.

Yeah, I'm closing my eyes to all of this too Eros.

The problem though, since the area was blocked it can't be ultrasounded the same day. (The block just lights everything up so you can't actually see anything.) The leg is pretty tight though, and not overly sensitive to palpation, so we're very hopeful that there's no real injury there, and it's just very sore from compensating for the foot bothering him. My vet is in Florida this week, but will hopefully be out a week from Friday to ultrasound that just to be sure.
In the meantime, we need to hopefully get him re-shod (he's due anyway), ice, wrap, and hand walk. I'm legit so over nursing and hand walking horses. SO OVER IT! Not to say I'm not doing it. Of course I am! And I really do enjoy the extra time just hanging with my horses. But like... I also really enjoy riding, lessoning, and showing... Just throwing that out there...

From a normal, not over-reacting perspective, he'll likely be just fine in a few weeks. But from MY perspective where my horses frequently take year long vacations, I'm worried. I'm sitting somewhere in between "everything is fine, this is no big deal" and "I should probably sell the farm and take up competitive eating."

Fortunately, Shiny is back in light work. We even added in some canter over the weekend. So now we just have to build up her fitness slowly. She's also pretty over due for a trim, so hopefully the farrier comes out sooner than later. She's been a good girl though and seems to be sound. Hard to really tell because she's not all that interested in working and gives me the littlest western pleasure jog when I ask for trot... But it seems to be even at least. Once she's a little stronger and has some fitness we're going to need address the whole leg means go thing. Plenty of time for that though.

So that's really all we're up to here. Eros is walking and icing, Shiny is jogging with a little canter.

"Mom, this boot is really cold." -Eros probably

In non horse news,I've been making some headway in reclaiming my house from the hoarder hovel it had become. I just ordered some shelving for my bedroom and some cabinets for my pantry. So this weekend I'll be swearing a lot trying to put it all together. But it will (hopefully) all be worth it when everything is organized and neat! Once those two rooms are done, I can figure out what to do with the craft room I want to make upstairs in the smallest bedroom. And I think once THAT room gets accomplished I'll have a nice house again. But now that I've been looking at furniture and what not, I kind of want to replace my living room stuff. I have always disliked my couch. It looks nice enough, but it's really uncomfortable and I never sit on it. Be nice to have some furniture I actually want to sit in. But that's probably gotta wait till next year. We'll see.

And that's about it from here. How are things with you guys? Horses sound? Do anything fun with them this week? Is your house in order, or is there stuff all over yours too?

Truthful Tuesday

I alluded to today's confession a few times... It's that I had put a deposit on ONE MORE pair of Celeris boots back at holiday time. They had a chance to win a free pair, and I just couldn't pass that up! I didn't win the free boots, but I did win a nice discount. But here's part two of my confession: I haven't actually ordered them yet. I seem to have what I can only refer to as Boot Block. It's like writers block, but for boot design. I think I've got all the colors covered at this point.

Green

Blue

rose gold

more green

purple

teal

brown

pink glitter

silver

more pink and purple

Moooo cow and more green

You get the idea. Yes there are others. One of these weekends I'll get all the boots together for a photo shoot and you'll get that post you've all been waiting for. But we're not here for that today. Today we're here to discuss my Boot Block.

I got really excited yesterday when they posted some ridiculous hologram spur straps and was like YES! (Not for full boots, I'm not quite that tacky, just the accents!) But alas. That was a special order they had done and they can't get more of that leather. Boo. So I'm stuck. What I probably should do is just get plain black boots for my next show pair. But my Parlantis are still fine for showing. And let's be real, the chances of me showing this year are once again quite slim. So fun boots would make me much happier I think.

So what would you do if you were me? Any color(s) you think I'm missing? I'm not a red/burgundy/orange person so not those please.

Thursday's Threads: The one with the recent repeat

Outfit day! I have a classy (ish) riding outfit and a REPEAT work outfit... kinda. It's more of an improved variation on something you've seen before... Let's start there today.

So, the sweater you saw just a few weeks ago, but I wasn't really happy with what I put together that day, so I had to try again. Maybe it's too soon... but it's my blog and I can do what I want.

Sweater: John + Jenn

I almost paired this with some awesome acid wash jeans but I thought maybe that would be taking it a little too far back to 1986. Expect to see those pants soon though. Also, I don't care what anyone thinks or says, neon will always be in my wardrobe.

Belt: Mane Jane

This is one of favorite Mane Jane straps, but it doesn't really go with a lot, so it doesn't get a ton of wear time. Kinda perfect with this sweater though!

Jeans: Kut from the Kloth

It's a challenge finding jeans in my closet that aren't ankle length. I had sorted them at one point, but they've since jumbled themselves back up again. Fortunately, these are full length and work great for this outfit.

Sneakers: KangaRoos

These are the shoes I was thinking of for this sweater the last time, but I didn't remember them when I got dressed that day. I've been organizing the shoe hoard in my house, and was SUPER excited when I dug these up. Most of you are probably too young to remember KangaRoos, but they were super popular when I was a little girl. All the cool kids had them. And what made them different from other sneakers was that they had pockets! They started making them again a couple of years ago, complete with pockets! That flap that says ROOS is where the pocket is. These pockets velcro but back in the 80's they had zippers. I think the remakes have both, depending on model, but I'm not positive on that. Anyway, I love them. The color is a little off in this photo, but they actually match the sweater PERFECTLY!

Arm Party!
Lefty:

Lefty is wearing these fun stretch bracelets along with the trusty watch.

Righty:

Righty went full neon today! First up is a bangle bracelet from Rustic Cuff, followed by that inital bracelet that's either from Fornash or C Wonder... I can't remember which. I got it second hand on Poshmark though. And last is my Fitbit in a fun neon pink band.

So that's my repeat sweater outfit, but I think it worked out much better this time around. I mean... the shoes, right?! Anyway, I have a really cute and mostly classy riding outfit to share too.

There's some fancy stitch... you just can't see it here.

Helmet: One K

I ALMOST brought my navy helmet, but I was lazy. So old faithful it is!

Sweatshirt: Horseplay Apparel

This cute fancy stitch top popped up on my Instagram feed one night when I should have been sleeping, but instead was scrolling through social. Total impulse buy, but it's super cute. The hood and the sleeve cuffs are lined with that gray and white striped fabric. Plus it has thumb holes!

Belt: Rebecca Ray

Made the most sense to pair this top with my navy, fancy stitched belt, right? I love this belt, and I wish I had also gotten it in black to show with. If anyone sees one in their travels, let me know, as it's been discontinued.

Breeches: RJ Classics

These get a fair amount of wear time. They are incredibly unflattering in that you can see all the lumps and bumps. Ew. But they're also super comfortable and sometimes that wins over looking nice. I like the color a lot too.

Boots: De Niro

As I mentioned last week, I swapped these navy boots out with the black ones I've been wearing to test the longevity on these zippers. We'll see how they do with daily wear! Hopefully they hold up just fine.

So that's it for today. Any favorites? Thoughts on neon? And fancy stitching?