Thursday's Threads

 

Okay, well if you've been on Instagram in the last two days you might be expecting something exciting today, but you're not getting that this week. Not yet! I had no idea those would be here already. They weren't supposed to be ready until the end of next month. I saw that Celeris received them yesterday, and then they shipped OVERNIGHT and arrived today. From UK. Unreal. Okay, okay, I'll give you a sneak peek. 

A low quality screen shot sneak peek is all you get! Ha! Sorry. I'll have them on for outfit day soon. But not next week. Stay tuned! 

For now, let's see what Shiny and I wore this week. We've had highs in the mid 40's so we're fairly bundled up these days. But it's still comfortable out for riding, especially when the wind is light. Here's what Shiny is wearing this week:

She's just the cutest nugget. 

Bridle: Pinnacle

Brow Band: Boy O'Boy Bridleworks

I really like her in a wide noseband like this one. Breaks up her rather large head a little better than the thinner ones do. 

Saddle: Butet
Saddle Pad: Ogilvy

Half Pad: Stephens

Quarter Sheet: Catago

This is Shiny's new magic quarter sheet from Contago. I like how these have a pretty long drop so it covers their full bum but it's also set back enough that my leg makes contact with the horse. They don't notice spurs sometimes if the quarter sheet is in the way. I got her a cob size, but I think she might have been okay in a pony too. I'd rather it a little big than too small though, so I'm content with this one. 

Boots: Anky

I actually meant to pick out some fuzzy boots when I was getting our outfit from the shed this week, but I wasn't really paying attention and just grabbed these. It's probably because they're my favorites. 

That's what Shiny had on this week, and here's what I was wearing:

Yes layers. Tis the season for layers! During the day just a vest is all I need, but for end of day chores I usually have to add a jacket on top. Tonight when I was finishing up all the weather apps claimed it was 35 degrees at my house, but my thermometer said 28. Probably still warmer up on the hill where the weather station is. (Fun fact, the weather station that the apps and news channels get their info from for my town is just up the road, about a quarter mile, at the airport so it's usually pretty spot on for me.)

Helmet: One K Avance CCS MIPS

Had to wear the helmet with my new blingy front shield this week! 

Vest and Sweater: Old Navy

Nothing new here. You saw both of these quite a bit last winter, and I suspect you will again this year as they're staples for me. I love the shade of green on the vest especially. I went back and tried to get a second one (and also a second matching jacket) but they were sold out. I figured since they're Old Navy they aren't going to last a full lifetime, but I guess I'll have to try and make them last forever! 

Belt: Tory Burch

Another favorite! Tory Burch often has really pretty green things available. Good thing the only outlet I know if is far far away in Florida! 

Breches: Dover Wellesley

You saw these often last year too. At some point, probably after the holidays, I need to head north to my nearest Dover and see what they have for breeches. I don't like that every brand is going to tech fabric, because as nice as it is in summer, tech fabric is NOT warm enough for winter. I need some more substantial fabric pants! I'm not a tights person, and it seems like the majority of winter breeches are either tights, or breeches made out of tights material. Neither of which is what I'm looking for. Though I did just get a pair of Horze winter breeches that are the material I normally don't like and they were very comfortable to ride in. So maybe I have to be willing to alter my opinions on winter breeches.

Paddock Boots and Half Chaps: Celeris

I broke the snap on these last year but forgot about it so I haven't fixed it. So just pretend you don't see that tab hanging up there. These are both sheepskin lined making them super cozy for the colder days! I figure these will work on the non windy cold days, and the full chaps for the windy ones. Should have me covered (literally) for winter! 

And that's it for today! Any favorite items? Is it getting cold where you are? 

What's Up Wednesday

 

Things have been going just fine around here, even though it is definitely getting chilly out there! We had a few more intensely windy days last week, but we're having a wind reprieve at the moment which I am VERY grateful for. We've been riding pretty consistently which makes me very happy, but we've been on a five day a week schedule instead of six lately. Last week I mentioned taking a day off to go to Equine Affair. This week I took Saturday off from riding. I was a little late starting chores which made me late FINISHING chores. I had a couple of horses to braid that evening, and I just decided I didn't feel like rushing like a mad woman to get everyone worked and groomed before shoving food in my face and racing off to work. So instead, I let the horses stay out longer and then spent a little extra time doing some cleaning in the barn. And then I ate a relaxed dinner and hung out with my dog a bit before heading off to braid. It was lovely, and worth the missed saddle time. 

The braiding was actually kind of fun for me. The horse show the horses were heading to was a breast cancer benefit and wearing pink was encouraged. So I got to braid with pink yarn, added pink ribbon charms, and even little forelock crowns. So fun! 

I won't share the photos from the show because I don't know the kiddos on the horses and don't want to share photos of stranger kids without permission, but the little crowns were ADORABLE in the photos. Very cute.

Anyway, back to the stars of this blog. My new quarter sheets arrived last week, and it's possible they are magic. I'll share a photo tomorrow for Thursday's Threads, but they're from Catago and are the Fir-Tech material. It is supposed to be similar to Back on Track. Which you all know I drank the Kool Aid with those! I've been riding in them since they arrived and while I don't see any difference in how Shiny and Eros are going, Al seems much more relaxed since we've started using it. Like we're using almost the entire ring the last few days with very little to no drama. Of course it IS Al so it's possible we're just having some good days. He is randomly good sometimes. 

We've been kind of playing around our last several rides. I have all the jumps itty bitty so we walk over them in warm up. It gives him something to focus on other than the leaves moving on the trees, and seems to keep his mind busy. I've been using them in our trot work too once he's had a chance to move around some because sometimes he trots them like cavalletti and sometimes he jumps them. So I like him to be a little warmed up for that first. And instead of trying to canter round and round with only the sad little four beated canter he's been giving me, we've been doing short canter bursts. Like five or six strides worth. And I'm asking him for a BIG canter in those few strides. Well. it's relative. But it's a real canter with the proper number of beats. And then we go back to trot or walk and pop over one of our little "jumps" or make a circle or whatever. I like that he's responding with forward movement that has impulsion even if it's just for short bursts. We'll see if all this randomness leads to some "normal" work eventually. But for now, we're actually having fun together, and the things we are doing are more proper than they've been in months. So I'll take it. Even if it's still not "normal". Maybe it's OUR normal. We've always been weird, and I'm pretty okay with that.

Eros is definitely going to earn himself a visit from Doc. He's perfect as always, but I still think he's not right, and I can't pinpoint where I think it is. So it's time to call in the professional and see what's going on. We've been riding very lightly just to check in with his soundness. So lots of walking and just a little trot and canter. Normally I wouldn't canter with a horse that's obviously NQR but I have to with Eros because sometimes a little canter fixes him. Not currently though. He's not horribly unsound still, I just don't like what I'm feeling from him and it especially bothers me that it's been going for so long. I still think it could just be the Lyme sticking around but I think we need a vet's opinion. I'll call this week to get an appointment. 

And then there's Shiny. This mare just kills me. I've never known an animal that is so 100% sure of herself the way this pony is. So the other day, I had just gotten on her when the farrier arrived for Eros. He came out to the ring to let me know he was there, and I was just walking Shiny and was up at the far end of the ring. I tried to trot over to him, and Shiny would NOT. Like literally would not trot. I kicked, I smacked her with the whip, I spurred her! Nothing. She hadn't finished her walk warm up and until she had there would be no trotting. You have to laugh. I wish I had her confidence. I wonder if it's my fault since our warm up is the same every day... but I'm also not entirely sure which one of us dictated that to begin with... Once we get passed the warm up routine she's been great lately. We've been jumping the little course a couple times a week. I think she's insulted that the jumps are so small, but she can jump higher in the spring. It's winter break now. I did leave one at 2' so she doesn't get too mad at me. 

That about catches you all up on our adventures this week. Nothing too crazy, but things are mostly good. Friday, Saturday, Sunday are a little busy this week because my nieces have all kinds of things for me to attend. A play, a music recital, another play... So we'll see how much riding gets done. My guess is Eros might get some extra vacation days. Which isn't the worst thing for him at the moment. I just need to be careful he doesn't get too bored because he starts to eat the walls and dump his water buckets. (My horses are all a bunch of characters aren't they?!) 

Sorry for the lack of media this week. I'll try to pay more attention and get some photos for next week. Hope you all had a great week!

Truthful Tuesday

 

Oh man. This is a good one. Remember last week when I was like Eros felt really good for a few days and then not good again? Yeah. there was a good reason for that. And I should have noticed it much sooner than I did. He twisted his shoe! Not a lot, just a tiny bit. Enough to be uncomfortable, but not enough to do any damage thankfully. But my confession is that it took my like three days to realize it. I noticed a little chip in his hoof right away, but didn't think much of it. I should have realized right away the shoe was shifted. But I didn't. 

Eros always has his front shoes set back a bit, so it's normal to be kind of under his toe to some extent. But he should have roughly the same amount of shoe peeping out on either side of his heels. And he clearly does not in the photos. Fortunately, once I did notice, my farrier was out the next day to fix it for us. He's feeling much better now that his shoe is on straight again. Sheesh. I can't believe I missed that! 

So that's today's confession. I'm an unobservant horse mom who owes her perfect boy an extra few cookies.

Thursday's Threads: Soup Season Edition

 

Outfit Day! No one even ventured a guess last week about which boots I wanted to bring back. But I brought them back anyway! I'm making you wait till after Al shares his outfit though. We are solidly in soup season now with all the cold windy weather, so it was only appropriate to dress in an Andy Warhol inspired theme. 

He was too busy being an equine periscope to model properly. So I guess we better get to the closeups. 

Bridle: Joseph Sterling
Brow Band: Homemade

You can tell he's having feelings because he's making the parrot mouth face. He's done that since I got him. He does NOT have an actual parrot mouth. It sure does make accentuate his roman nose though. Weirdo. 

Saddle: Butet
Half Pad: Ippico
Baby Pad: Ogilvy, embellished by me

I know it's hard to see. So fear not, I took a closeup:

Soup cans! Hee hee. I love this print, especially for fall when I'm eating soup on the regular. 

Boots: DSB, embellished by me

I found fabric too. But the fabric wasn't licensed so instead of Campbell's it says Cookies, and all the flavors are cookie flavors instead of soup. But close enough. 

That's what Al had on this week, and here's what I was wearing:

I've been building this outfit for years. I had gotten my portion many years ago, but never got around to building the horse version until this summer. And this sweatshirt is huge. I don't think it fit when I originally got it either. But it's perfect for this time of year because I can layer away underneath it.

Helmet: One K Avance CCS MIPS

Okay, so I went with the gray because that's like the silver top of the can. Get it? Ha! I'm such a weirdo.

Sweatshirt: Unknown brand

I got this so long ago, I have no idea where I got it. Probably Etsy. Maybe Amazon. Who can remember.

Belt: Knot Clothing & Belt Company

I thought this was extra adorable with the little grilled cheese sandwich on it. 

Breeches: Dover Wellesley

I really wasn't sure what pants to wear so I went with these. I suppose grey would have worked too. 

Socks: Dreamers & Schemers

These don't have the soup can on them, but it does have bowls of soup AND more grilled cheese sandwiches. So they're definitely on point.

Boots: Imperial Riding

At last! The part I'm most excited about! The BOOTS! And yes, you are seeing them right, they are mirror finish silver. Possibly the most ridiculous boots I own. And I LOVE them. I don't wear them a ton because I want them to live forever. And I haven't had them on here in AGES. You might be asking what they have to do with soup, but I used the same thought process as the helmet. It's the bottom of the can! Silver! 

So.... what do you want to see next week?

What's Up Wednesday

 

The only trouble with my new take the days as they come attitude is that it doesn't make for very exciting blog discussion. For the most part, things are the same around here. It's getting colder, but we're still plugging away, having our rides, doing our thing! It was actually pretty warm over the weekend which was so nice! I definitely made sure to appreciate it. 

Something spooked Al while he was eating his hay in 
turnout on Sunday. So then he just stood here staring at 
whatever it was for the remainder of his outside time. 

Al has had an interesting week. We talked last week about the hole I thought I'd found in his training. But turns out, it's not a hole. It was just one of Al's bad days. Man this horse is frustrating to try and figure out. I opted to lunge him a second day last week because we've been having the craziest winds, and I do not have a death wish. And this time, he had no issue staying out on the circle. Which is great! But like, why was that so impossible the other day? I'm starting to wonder if horses can have split personalities, because honestly, you never which Al is coming to the ring on a given day. 

Riding hasn't been magical with him at all. He's very concerned about the neighbor's side of the ring, to the point that I cannot keep his attention when we're on that side of the ring. I've tried adding a circle each time he wants to be distracted. I've tried counter bend. I've tried haunches in. Haunches out. Shoulder in. But turns out, we can't actually do shoulder in when he's not paying attention. Doesn't happen. None of it helps to keep him with me. But despite this challenge, I do think we have made some progress in one area, and that's coming a little more forward. I won't say we've achieved actual forward. I'm not a liar! Lol! But it's improved. And I think I've discovered a voice command that he knows. I was trying to get him to walk forward on the lunge line. He kind of knows that BIG means more, like I'll ask him for BIG trot when I want an extension, and I do think he gets that. But I was throwing all kinds of words at him to see if anything got him really marching along. So I said what I wanted "March! Guys, I shit you not, that horse strutted off with the most delightful working walk I've ever seen from him. I figured it was a one off, but he did it every time I said March!  Who knew. I'll just tuck that right in my tool box thank you! 

I bought this jogging sheet ages ago and never used it.
But I busted it out for Al's lunge yesterday and I think 
he was very glad to have it! It was only 38 degrees
with wind gusts up to 30 mph. Glad I had that! (And it's
exactly these types of circumstances that perpetuates my 
borderline hoarding.)

Today was warmer, mid 40's and significantly less wind, so I womaned up and rode my horse. He was medium. Still a disaster about the one side of the ring. But I made him walk up the quarter line over there several times. He hated it. Tried to stop and turn away repeatedly. Then he started with his nervous tick. When he's very angsty and trying to get out of doing hard things, he gets itchy. He'll bite at his shoulder sometimes, or if he's feeling very dramatic he'll stop dead to rub his face on his leg. I've nearly toppled right off before when it's happened at the canter... Horse has no manners some days. But he did do the hard thing I wanted several times. Not without complaint, but he did it. And so I told him he was wonderful. Then we went and worked for real on the easy part of the ring. We did a bunch of spiraling in and out on the circle. A few canter transitions. I really liked that he was jumping right in to the canter. He'd kind of peter off some after the first few strides, so forward is still very much a work in progress. But even if it's just a couple strides of forward right now, that's more than I was getting before. So I'm taking the small win. Hopefully some day all these little wins will actually accumulate to something more. Hopefully.

Winter attire

Shiny is feeling herself finally with this temperature drop! I'm so relieved because she's just been so quiet for so long, I really was a little concerned. But sassy Shiny has made an appearance! She's been having a good old time in turnout, doing some zoomies and some bucks. She even kind of spooked both yesterday and today in our rides! I mean, tiny ones. We are talking about Shiny after all. Yesterday in the crazy wind she kept doing the wild horse head shake. You know the one I mean. It would be terrifying on another horse, but on her I just giggled. Which probably annoyed her. She's been great though. Still warms up at the western jog, but once we get past that she's been perfecr. Her step is opening back up and she's putting forth some actual effort lately, which is so fun! I jumped her around a little bit today and it was just so easy. I have everything really tiny in the ring. I think the biggest fence is 2'. But she's just going around so nicely. I put my leg on and she moved forward off it. Miracle! Love this pony.

I feel like quarter sheets tend to accentuate Eros' belly

E's still the same. Some days are better than others, but nothing is bad. I thought I might have solved the nqr-ness, but alas, it still comes and goes. I think I'm going to talk to my vet about doing a second round of doxy for him. His chronic number was lower than before we treated, but it's still in the unequivocal range. I feel like maybe now that it's cold, he's still dealing with it? I dunno. Just a hypothesis. But that's not what I thought the problem was briefly. He has this... thing on his elbow on the right side. Like on the very top of his leg in front of the girth. Sort of where you'd see a shoe boil, but it's not that. He's had it forever. 

The thing.

It resembles a callous, and I think it's probably from when he lays down. I've shown it to the vet a few times because it will grow once in awhile, and then I'll put some Animax steroid ointment on it, and it will go back to its usual size. Well I noticed it had spread again, and thought it was possible he was hitting it on the girth when he's working. So Saturday I smeared it with bag balm. I figured that might soften it up, so if that's what was bugging him, maybe getting it softer would feel better. Plus, bag balm is so sticky it would stick to the girth so I could confirm my hypothesis. And he did feel much better that ride, so I thought I was on to something. But alas, when I dismounted there was no bag balm on the girth. Which was a little disappointing, but also good because I didn't want to have to go buy another girth. I though maybe though the bag balm helped, so I continued with that this week, but he's been back to a little nqr this week. (I've also been putting the Animax on the callous thing, and it's shrinking back up again. Either way, it wasn't the culprit.) Saturday, the day he felt better was really warm I think it may have hit 70 even. So my current hypothesis as I mentioned earlier is Lyme. I dunno. Might be time for a vet visit and just really figure out what we're dealing with. 

Anyway, that's where we're at with the horses! I did end up taking Sunday off from riding, and headed up to Equine Affair right after I finished chores. There's definitely still a lot less vendors than they used to have, but I think it's building back up. The Covid years really hurt Equine Affair. I've heard chatter too that none of the European vendors came because they're avoiding our country... So yeah, I don't blame them! I had hoped to chat with the company I got my trailer from because I want to have a few things done on mine, but they weren't there. Guess I'll have to call them. Blech. I hate the phone. 

I struck out completely on the hoof picks I wanted. There weren't very many full tack store type vendors, so only handful even had grooming items. I was hoping to find some winter breeches that aren't stupid expensive. Specifically I wanted to see and touch the ROMFH Willow. But alas. Most winter pants I came across were tights. I'm not a tights girl. And the rest were stupid expensive. I'm just not spending $250 or more on breeches. Nope. I'm also not that girl. 

So what DID I get? The Back on Track Haze coolers I wanted! I've been low key stalking them online for awhile, but like I mentioned last week I really wanted to touch them before committing. They're never on sale, and at $199 a piece... I wanted to make sure I liked how they felt. Well, they felt very nice. The outside is polyester, but more like the type of fabric you'd feel on a stable sheet, definitely not fleece. So that bodes well for minimal static. And it's pretty soft, not stiff like I was concerned it might be. The best part? They were 20% off! I had to have them shipped as they didn't have them in stock at the booth, but shipping was free. They should be here tomorrow, so I'll try and remember to grab some photos next week to share. I'm excited for them. I also snagged an Essex Classics sweater that was on sale for $40 (and is a wool blend, yay warmth!) and an unexpected find:

A rhinestone front shield for my One K. Now, I have seen the black rhinestone shield for years. It's all over. But I have never seen a green one! So I had to buy it. How could I not? No brainer. Thankfully it's the same green as the pieces I already have, so everything matches. 

And then I also got a butterfinger caramel apple for the drive home (they cut it up for you for easy snacking). All in all, yes I spent a bunch of money on the coolers, but otherwise I was pretty well behaved! 

Otherwise, I've been hanging out at the farm, doing farm stuff. And staring at the sky because mother nature gave us this last night:

She might be back for more tonight. I'm going to check it out when I do night check. Never thought I'd see the northern lights in person, and now I have THREE times. And from my own house! The world might be imploding around us, but at least we get to see some beauty. 

Truthful Tuesday

 

Today's confession is that I forgot how nice it is to have a heated barn. Sure, I have to ride outside in the elements (which was a CHALLENGE today with insane winds once again) but having a more temperate space to do the rest of the things in is lovely. I keep the barn at 45, so it's not like it's hot in there. The horses still wear blankets. But my feet stay unfrozen and I can do things without gloves on. And the horses aren't that angry about being naked while we groom and tack up and whatnot. Plus the water doesn't freeze and we don't have multiple blanket layers to deal with. Kinda makes me wonder why I've been boarding at unheated barns all these past few winters. I mean I know it's the indoor access. But still. Heated barn guys. It's great.

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day! After a particularly ridiculous outfit last week, we toned it down just a little bit this week. The horses were actually a little boring with their choice of outfit, but I had some fun with mine. Eros is our model this week, so let's start with what he had on:

I told ya! Kinda dull in the outfit department this week. But I think Eros kind of likes it that way. I have to note, I think his dad bod has actually trimmed up a little this summer! 

Bridle: Joseph Sterling

Browband: Dark Jewel Designs

Peep the tongue. Haha!

Saddle: Butet

Half Pad: Mattes

Baby pad: Ogilvy

Lol, who tacked up this horse? That saddle is not in the middle of the half pad, that's for sure. Definitely should fire my groom. Oh wait. That's me. Guess I'll give me another chance.

Wraps: Catago

This color is called Kangaroo which, I've never seen a kangaroo in real life, but I imagine it's an accurate description. I'd like to get the Catago quarter sheets for the horses this year. They have the fancy fabric like Back on Track uses so I think the horses would benefit from that. It comes in this color which is why I brought that up. But there's also a pretty green. I'm having trouble deciding which to get. But I'll probably go with the green. 

So that's the somewhat dull outfit that Eros wore this week, but here's mine which is a bunch more fun. 

Told ya! More fun! 

Helmet: One K

I've gotten a lot more use out of this brown helmet than I expected. Which is great cause it's nice to feel like you're getting your money's worth.

Sweater: Brodie

I've been making an effort to tackle one of the many projects on my to do list on Mondays, and a couple weeks ago I went through all my sweaters and sweatshirts. I filled three bags to donate which was nice. I love a good clean out! And I discovered this sweater in the cashmere drawer. Last year I transitioned a bunch of my older cashmere into barn clothes. This year I've added a few more to the barn pile, including this one. I've never really been a huge leopard print person, but here and there I find something I like in that print. And I like this one.

Belt: Tory Burch

I know. I'm as shocked as you are that I don't have a leopard belt. But actually up until a few months ago I had a really cool one. It was like a metal mesh with a furry leopard strip in the middle of it. But on the Monday that I went through the belts, I noticed that the leopard part had dried out and was coming off the belt part. It really wasn't reparable, so I had to let it go. Didn't think much of it at the time, but I might have to keep an eye out for a replacement. 

Breeches: Dover Wellesley

Yeah. It's cold enough for the winter pants. These aren't technically winter breeches, but the fabric is a lot heavier that my Tailored Sportsmans and Equilines. But I also had to choose these because look at the pocket trim! LOOK AT IT! It's leopard like my sweater. I kinda wish the knee patches were too. But I also like that it's subtle this way. 

Boots: Horka

I almost grabbed the crocodile boots for this outfit, but then thought that might be a lot of exotic animals for one outfit and decided on these instead. I like it, I think it was the right choice.

And that's it for today! I'm not sure what I'll wear next week yet, but I think it might be time to bust out a particularly ridiculous pair of boots that I haven't worn in a very long time. Any guesses which ones I'm thinking of?