Thursday's Threads

 

Okay, I know promised lots of weeks of new fun outfits, but I lied a little. Most of my silly fun outfits have cotton tee shirts. And most of this week has been over 90 degrees. That is not acceptable cotton wearing weather. So I had to go boring this week. Sorry friends. I imagine next week we can have some fun. Anyway, Al is our model this week and this is what he's been wearing:

Bridle: Pinnacle
Browband: Boy O'Boy Bridleworks

Okay you caught me. His outfit pics are reused. But this is more or less what he's wearing this week too. But the giveaway is that this is his old bit in this picture. He's currently going in a fidget spinner. Which is what I'm calling this bit:

He loves it. When he gets a little nervous he spins the rollers and sometimes (not every time) he'll relax and remember to listen to me. And of course THIS is the one he likes best because it's stupid expensive. I usually like to have their favorite bit on a few of their bridles so we have options without having to move things around. But I'm not sure that will be in the cards for this one. Unless any of you happen to have one you're not using and would like to sell!

Saddle: Butet
Half Pad: Mattes

Baby Pad: Ogilvy

These really are my favorite saddle pads right now. (Though the Anatomeq ones are my second favorites!) I'm actually considering selling off most of my other pads because I really don't reach for anything else very often. 

Boots: Horze

Tis the season for non fuzzy boots! So these are out here earning their keep. I like the Anky ones better, but these do the job just fine.

So that's what Al is wearing this week, and here's what I had on:

Yep, that's right. I rode in a tank top. Multiple days! I like this one with the high neck though. Feels more sporty. 

Helmet: One K Avance CCS MIPS

While I think my Samshield fits my head a little bit better, I do think the One K's have better air flow. So for the really hot days I tend to reach for one of those.

Tank: Lavento

Last summer I bought a few tank tops in the same fabric as the shirts I like to ride in and this was one of them. It's really comfortable, dries quickly, and I like that the neckline is a little higher so I still feel like I'm wearing clothes even though my arms are out. 

Belt: Vintage Ralph Lauren

I bought this belt AGES ago. Like probably more than ten. I don't recall if I found it on Ebay or Poshmark, but regardless it was pre owned, but in perfect condition. As it remains today because it was buried for awhile in my belt collection. I'm happy to have it back in rotation because it's so cute!

Breeches: Romfh

I'm a big fan of these Romfh breeches. This is the color Maple, and it's almost exactly the same color as the interior of my car. But I think they call it saddle. Ha!

Boots: Celeris UK

I feel like I owe it to all of us to wear the most fun boots when we have a less than exciting outfit. So here they are! My most fun boots! I love them so much.

And that's it for today! I do have plans for something silly next week, so hopefully the weather will cooperate. I haven't narrowed it down to one yet, but both that I'm contemplating are fun.

What's Up Wednesday

 

Shiny's kid came to ride today plus it's still pretty steamy out there (92 at the moment) so rides were short and that all means that I got done SO EARLY in the barn! So early that I had time to type this post out before family dinner! Yay! 

Let's just jump back to Friday last week because that's where all the interesting stuff happened. You may recall we had an appointment with Doc for Al's rescope and Eros was getting an eval. Al got to go first since he had to fast all night and morning for his scope. He had finished his full dose of esomeprazole a few days prior and was getting a half dose to start his taper. I kind of felt like he was reverting back a little to electric Al, but I didn't want to believe that, and so I kept that info to myself. But as it turns out, I think i might have been right. The scope showed that his ulcers are MUCH better. Like nearly gone. But not entirely. And so I do think he was less comfortable on the half dose of meds. He's back on the full dose for another month and then we'll scope again to see if he's finally cured at that point. 

cute photo to break up text

In the past we've just treated him rather than scoping because we knew there was a problem. Didn't really need proof, right? But clearly that hasn't worked because he always gets worse as soon as we stop treatment. This time we scoped before treatment and then again at the end, and this was so informative because it suggests that we've never fully cured the ulcers. Hence why his behavior deteriorates once we stop meds. Because the improvement is so significant I do feel confident we can get them healed completely. It's just going to take a little longer. Hopefully anyway. But I'm really glad we finally scoped. Doc is too, he had the same thoughts. We haven't yet discussed how we're going to approach the mystery ailment that the naproxen is treating. For now we're staying the course while I decide if I want to send him for a scan to try and pinpoint what it is, or if we want to do some flexions and make some educated guesses for injections. The scan isn't cheap, and we'd still need to do injections likely. But just guessing might end up being just as expensive until we find the bullseye. So I dunno what I want to do yet. For the time being we are staying more focused on the tummy.  

Next Eros got looked at. His back is completely back to normal which is such a relief. Doc thinks getting his weight down is why it's so much better, but I really think it was the Lyme that was the problem. Eros has always been... a curvy dude. Haha! Either way, I'm just glad he feels better. AND that I can stop buying Robaxin. 

night night juice hits this one hard

The flexions went well. He was a little positive in the hocks which I expected. (Turns out it's been 13 months since we did those last, so definitely due.) Nothing really notable up front with the flexions, but he did come out noticeably unsound and then got better and better as he worked. Which is his normal, he has that defective front leg. But we also researched the last time we did his coffins and it was 2023 so we decided to do them again to see if we can get that feeling a little better to start. And we also gave him a shockwave treatment on his neck since he always responds so well to that. He then enjoyed a weekend vacation while the new go-go juice did its thing. And now? He feels AMAZING. Better than he has in a long time. Oh! Also, we pointed the thermo camera at his legs after working and he didn't have any blue legs this time. So whatever weird circulation problem he was having seems to have resolved. Doc once mentioned that he sees horses with Lyme have cold legs sometimes, so I'm chalking that up to the Lyme also. 

Shiny will have her evaluation next month when Al is due to be scoped again. Gotta space the bills out a little bit, ya know? 

So that was the most interesting things this past week. Otherwise we've been plugging along. Everyone is putting in nice work, though the last couple of days we've kept thinks short and sweet due to the weather. 

The photos you find when the teenager gets your phone for you

Shiny's been busy with various pony rides and small children "brushing" her. She's such a saintly little nugget to just let kids do whatever. I really appreciate her. She has all of her opinions but she also knows who she can and cannot share them with. And that's pretty special. 

Al had been a little spicy pre-vet visit, but once back on the full dose of tummy meds, he's back to being mostly good. I'm really struggling to get him going forward, but it's 94 degrees and humid. I also don't want to work that hard. I'm happy with him though, he's trying to be a good boy. I also feel like he's happier in general. He's been just generally more relaxed and his old personality is coming through more and more. Hopefully we stay on this track! 

I think he's ready to think about some bigger jumps. But I'm not sure I'm ready just yet. Soon though! Soon!

Eros feels so good this week with the fresh go-go juice in his joints. I was worried the torpedo might happen if we jumped, but it didn't. I think he's more comfortable so he's not worrying about the landing and rushing through it. 

That could change of course once it's not surface of the sun hot outside... but that's my current working hypothesis. We just popped over maybe four jumps today, just to see what it felt like post vet visit. Maybe this weekend we'll do a little more and test the waters for real. 

And that's about it from here. We don't have anything too exciting coming up this week. Well, I do. I'm finally getting the leaking oil tank in my basement replaced. But that's not really blog worthy. Other than that it's mostly more of the same stuff. But we like our same stuff, that's so just fine with me!

Truthful Tuesday

 

I am starting to wonder if there's something just not quite right with me... I mean, aside from the general not rightness that comes with being a weird horse lady of course. See, here's the thing. It was like 97 degrees at the heat of the day today. And I dunno... Felt just fine to me! The news was all heat advisory this, high humidity that. But honestly, it wasn't that humid. There were cooler days last week when I was dripping in sweat just making grain. Today though? I mean yeah it was hot. But not like dripping standing still hot. We had a nice breeze too. Even the horses didn't seem to bothered. We did ride, lightly. 20 minutes each including the walk parts. I dunno. Maybe we've all lost the ability to feel heat? 

What's it like by you? Seems like it's hot everywhere right now, but definitely the humidity level makes a huge difference. That and whether or not you have a breeze. 

I mean obviously, I did think it was hot enough for a dip in the pool after the barn day was done. So it must have been pretty warm out there. 

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day!!! This is one of my favorite newly put together outfits, and I was just waiting for a day that wasn't crazy humid to wear it. And we finally got that! So without further ado, here is this week's outfit modeled by Eros and me:

I know, you can't really see what it is from this terrible lit photo. I think that is dust surrounding us. We could use a little rain here... But anyway, fear not, we have closeups! We'll start with my outfit today.

I know, it's still hard to see. Close ups coming!

Helmet: One K Avance CCS MIPS

My helmet is also covered in dust. 'Tis the season! Also, I think I need to start using eye cream. 

Shirt: Dapple Bay

Dapple Bay had a toile saddle pad set awhile back that I thought was really cute, but didn't feel the need to own it. But then this summer they released this green version and I was like YES! And immediately added the shirt, saddle pad, and boots to my cart. But then I saw how much it cost to get three saddle pads and three sets of boots (and plus Eros shouldn't really wear boots) and I was like okay no. Can't do that. So I mostly emptied the cart and just got the shirt. It's green and white, I have plenty of things to wear with it. But then I got to thinking and I checked my favorite fabric website and what do you know? Dapple Bay gets their fabrics from them. And you can buy it! So I put together a whole outfit for less than the price of a saddle pad. Nice work self! Okay, let's see the rest.

Belt: Homemade by me

Alright, well this here is a real first draft prototype. But yes, it is an interchangeable belt to go with my horse boots. It needs some tweaks definitely, but it's a solid start and did the job. I wore it all day and it behaved as well as any store bought belt I've owned.

Breeches: On Course 

Believe it or not, I don't have any breeches in this shade of green, and I didn't really like anything with the top except show colored breeches. But I don't want to wear my show breeches for everyday use because I'm a dirty animal. But then I remembered that I have a huge pile of these On Course show breeches that I don't plan to show in again. I have enough Tailored Sportsman and Equiline now to sacrifice the old on course ones. So I wore them for this week's outfit. I'll probably sell or donate them though as they're not my size anymore. 

Boots: Celeris UK

This is the real reason I wanted the green toile outfit. I KNEW it would be perfect with these boots. And it was! But then after I rode in them, I remembered why I wear these boots so infrequently. 

They bleed all over my saddle. I think I still have the leather sealer from when I painted my neon boots though. I need to find that and try to seal these up. Because I'd love to wear them more, but I don't love having to scrub this off my saddle. And for the record, this is not indicative of normal Celeris quality. These boots were made during Covid, and they no longer use this leather supplier. They made it right with me, and I don't want anyone to think this is normal for the brand. It was a one off defect. Well... two off. My lavender ones do it too, but I got them at the same time and it was the same circumstance. Otherwise though, the boots are beautiful and fit like a glove. 

Moving on... Here's what Eros wore this week:

I know it doesn't look like much from a distance, but that's why I like pairing the fun with black. It's subtle from afar, but fun up close!

Bridle: Joseph Sterling

Browband: Homemade by me

Yep, I made a browband with the fabric too. I just love it!

Saddle Pad: Ogilvy, embellished by me
Half Pad: Ovation
Saddle: Butet

I needed a shimmable black half pad for Eros since his old one doesn't shim. And I was trying to be cheap so I went with the Ovation one, but it turns out, they run really small. I got a medium since we use medium in every other brand, but this one is too small. So if any of you have tiny 16" saddles and need a half pad, hit me up! This one's for sale!

Polos: Centaur

Okay, I know I complained about these last time I used them and said I wasn't going to again. But then the cheap economical side of me decided I could fix them. So despite my minimal talent at it, I whipped out my thread and needle and sewed them up to make the Velcro meet properly. And now they're working out just fine. The sewing job certainly isn't perfect, but for use at home they'll do just fine. Yay for that!

And that's today's outfit! What do you guys think of my handy work? Did I pull it off? I kinda like the subtle trim saddle pads more than the all over print types I think. What about you guys?

What's Up Wednesday

 

This week we're just doing our thing! We didn't have anything exciting planned and it was lovely because I've been able to really just focus on the horses. Especially Al. I'm enjoying this less insane version of him. And I've been pushing the buttons to see what we can do before setting him off. And so far, nothing fully sets him off. He still hates the places he's always hated, but he's allowing me to use the whole ring with only minimal attempts on my life. So I consider that a win. 

He's still a little unreliable on the very windy days. But I mean, he is who he is, ya know? At least for now he's handling the breezy days which he wasn't before. The gas pedal is still very sticky, but the longer we ride the more forward he gets. I'm sensing a pattern... seems all my horses are like that and perhaps this is a training issue I have caused. Or maybe it just takes them a bit to get all the parts loosened up. Maybe a little of both. Something to keep working on anyway. I won't say that we're having magical and amazing rides together, but we're having pretty normal rides, which is a huge change. I can walk trot and canter both directions, pretty much all the way around the ring. There's still one corner that is apparently suss (to quote the kids). We can also make circles without him panicking that I'm going to run him into something. (I swear, the only time we ever hit something was when he spooked at another horse at the old winter barn and ran himself into a jump. I DO know how to steer. Even if Al doesn't think so.) We haven't really graduated to doing real lateral work or anything that exciting because of the gas pedal problem. But I feel like we're working towards that stuff. It's definitely all still in there, I just need impulsion to get it. 

Don't need much impulsion to jump less than 2' though...

Oh he did talk me into a day off on Saturday. Friday night when I did night check, he was chewing a little funny, but had finished all of his dinner and dinner hay. And he was eating his night check albeit a little slowly. No quidding or anything, and no signs of colic or anything equally emergent. So I figured I'd just see how he was in the morning. He seemed fine by morning. Ate breakfast, ate hay outside, all good. But then when I went to tack him up he had a tough time chewing his tummy gummies and I noticed some swelling on his cheek. Checked in with the vet who seemed not too worried about it given he was eating everything else well and where the bump was located was too high to be an in the mouth problem. I had a feeling he might have been stung by a wasp. I keep seeing them around, but can't figure out where they're living. I opted not to ride him Saturday because who wants to wear a bit with a sore mouth? By Sunday he was perfectly fine, so he did work that day and he's been fine ever since. I think perhaps he just wanted a day off. Dude isn't really used to all the work he's suddenly doing! 

He nearly dropped me yesterday. Twice in about 40 seconds. But that was just when we were first starting and then he was an angel so we're going to pretend that didn't happen. And today we did some little jumps. It wasn't great. He was behind my leg, and definitely distracted, but it was still nice to pop over a few small things. 

Our new trainer had a death in the family, so I'm not sure when we'll have our next lesson. I feel so sad for him, and hope he's doing okay. We look forward to cheering him up when he's ready! 

We did have an adorable visitor last week though, and Al was so sweet and gentle with her. I was so proud of him. 

He loves kiddos. Which tracks since he's a giant forever child himself.

Our adorable visitor also enjoyed a ride on Shiny. 

Her mom has horses too, but no ponies. So she's sat on a few before, but she's never been on one that's moving. She walked many circles on Shiny with absolutely no fear! She loved it, and I think now she needs a pony. Hopefully her dad will come around on that... 

Shiny's been putting in good work lately too. I didn't do a second jump school on anyone last week, so I have no jumping photos of her or Eros for this week. Her regular kiddo is coming tomorrow and Saturday so she'll get plenty of fun jumpy time in then. But we've been focusing more on flat work. I think I've been settling for good enough, but there's more in this pony. She's just not terribly motivated, so I need to do my part to bring it all out. We had a few moments of amazing trot work today in which she lifted her shoulder and her back and really stepped under herself and used her whole body. It felt amazing but was difficult to keep. I imagine it's pretty hard for her, so we'll just keep plugging away at it so she can get stronger. 

I also need to keep plugging away at SHORTENING MY DAMN REINS!
And maybe keeping my shoulders back while we're at it.

For Sunday Funday this week we "trail rode" around her paddock and then around the back and side yard. One of these days I really need to take her on a real trail ride. 

Eros is doing just fine too! I'll probably jump him a little bit tomorrow, but the first part of the week he's been putting in some good flat work like his sister. He's kind of like her in that he'll only put out what he really has too, so unless I get a little demanding, his work is mediocre. But once I insist and do my part, he also feels great. It just takes some coaxing to get there. Today he worked in his equibands for a little extra difficulty. 

He preferred his Sunday ride in which he pretty much just ate grass while I sat on him bareback. Solid Sunday if you ask him! 

We have doc coming back Friday to rescope Al and also have a recheck for Eros. I'm hoping now that he's finished his doxy that maybe we can get him off the robaxin too. He also might be coming due for his hocks. But we'll see what doc thinks. He's getting both changes pretty reliably which usually we lose the right to left when he needs them done. But we're coming up on a year, so I dunno. We will know on Friday! 

That's it from here. Any fun plans for the weekend? We don't have anything on the docket since we'll see how the visit goes on Friday. But regardless, we'll have a fun weekend I'm sure!

Truthful Tuesday: The one in which I repeat my mistakes

 

Guys. There is something wrong with me. I've done it AGAIN. What is it you ask? I let the truck batteries die again. I kept meaning to drive it. Really. But the thing is, I don't really leave my property all that regularly except for family dinner on Wednesdays and occasionally for some errands. Mostly things that don't lend themselves to good truck parking. So I take the car. Plus you know, better gas mileage and all that. But I realized if I ever want to take the horses someplace, or godforbid have an emergency, I do need to make sure the truck is in working order. So I thought I'd hop in there and take it for a little ride. Ha! Hahahahahaha... Jokes on me. He was dead as a doornail. Zero attempt to turn on. Fortunately, one of my dad's employees is here in the apartment for the summer and he had a battery charger. So Jorge is back up and running, at least for now. And though I repeatedly say it ever year... (perhaps this year I'll mean it) I do plan to take it for a spin a few times a week moving forward. Hopefully. Maybe. Perhaps you guys could remind me...

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit day! Today I'm unveiling half of a new outfit. Shiny is our model and her outfit is new. Mine has been on here before, but not for a few years, so it might seem fresh and new. We'll start with what Shiny had on:

I was pretty impressed I got her to stand mostly square in front, but clearly I didn't look at the rest of her... Haha! A conformation pony she will never be. But I love her anyway. I think she's perfect.

Bridle: Joseph Sterling
Browband: Home made by me

Can you see what's on her browband?? It's today's theme! GARFIELD! He seems to be having some kind of moment. Hot Topic had a whole line of clothing with him on it during the winter. And no I didn't buy any of it. But I kinda wanted to. Ha. I'm the weirdest human. 

Saddle: Custom Saddlery
Saddle Pad: Ogilvy embellished by me
Half Pad: Le Mieux

I used the same ribbon for the saddle pad trim as on the browband. It's so cute!

Boots: Premier Equine, embellished by me

I don't know why she looks frighteningly over at the knee in this photo. She's not at all in real life. She must have been about to move when I snapped this. Should have cropped it more... Anyway, I was happy to find fabric with Odie on it too for the boots. I love Odie even Garfield tortures him endlessly, or maybe because of that.

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

I kind of picked the wrong week for this outfit because the humidity is just silly and this cotton tee was pretty much just a sweat sponge. But anyway... it started out looking cute!

Helmet: Samshield

I used some risky behavior and wore my expired Samshield for this ride. It's been bedazzled by a friend of mine and it has very few actual rides on it. So I'm using it on occasion. Hopefully I won't regret that choice. 

Tee: I'm not sure on the brand of this

I built my portion of this outfit many years back, so I can't remember where this shirt is from. But it's adorable! 

Belt: Buckle Down

I have a few belts from this brand, and I just love the seat belt clasps on them. So fun! I got my first one which wasn't the same brand but had the same buckle back when I was in high school from DeLia's. And I still have it!

Breeches: Tailored Sportsman

With a shirt as bright and yellow as this one, black pants seemed like the only correct answer.

Boots and half chaps: HKM

It took me a little bit to figure out what to wear on my feet. All of my black boots with the exception of my show boots, have broken zippers and are un wearable. But then I remembered I had these half chaps and paddock boots. The stitching on the swagger tabs and the fronts of the boots kind of reminds me of the black coloring on Garfield, so I thought they were perfect!

That's it for today! What do you think about Garfield? Cute right? Any guesses what we'll have next? I'm not actually sure yet, but I have a few options.