Thursday's Threads: Shark Week Edition

 

Outfit Day!!! And it's Shark Week! You all know I love a good theme. Full disclosure. I don't actually watch Shark Week. I'm just here for the outfit. I don't have an arm party to share this week. Mostly out of laziness. Hey, I'm nothing if not honest.

Helmet: One K Defender

This is the navy snakeskin model. I'm sad they don't make these anymore.

Shirt: Modcloth

I thought for sure this top would be trashed after walking/grooming Pammon in the morning and then doing the horses in the afternoon. It was so humid and hot I was basically sweaty all day. But somehow, the shirt came through okay. It's definitely dirty, but I think it will live to see another day.

Belt: C4

I love this shark belt. Especially that guy on the left that's staring out at us.

Breeches: RJ Classics

I went with blue breeches to resemble the ocean. OBVIOUSLY!

Socks: Dreamers and Schemers

These are the old school D&S socks. Before they had the better material ones. I've kept them around since they are pretty awesome. 

Boots: DeNiro Salentino

Spur straps: Mane Jane

DeNiro Salentino are still the most comfortable boots. I really need to get the black ones fixed. I went back and forth on which ones to wear, and almost went with the gray Celeris. But these went better with the helmet. 

That's what I wore, but the horses dressed accordingly too. Shiny's outfit didn't have any sharks because her saddle pads are too expensive to be themed. But she wore shark gray:

Bridle: Camelot

Browband: Boy O' Boy Bridleworks

Boots: Premier Equine

Saddle: Butet

Saddle Pad: FSS

Eros went with the theme though, thanks to Cricut!

Bridle: M. Toulouse

Browband: Boy O' Boy Bridleworks

Bit: Sweet Billy's

Boots: Punk Ponies

Saddle: Hermes Essentielle

Saddle Pad: no name baby pad with Cricut decor

Half Pad: Ippico

It took my awhile to find the right image for the saddle pad, but I think I chose a winner. Especially with the water done in glitter. Very realistic... Lol

Well, that's it from here. Any favorites from today? Any themes you want to see?

What's Up Wednesday

 

Well. I guess we should jump right in and talk about Pammon. It's a REALLY good thing he's the sweetest horse on the planet. So we did his hocks last weekend and stapled up his wound. He had the weekend off and started back to work Tuesday. All was going just fine. Friday I put him down for a trainer ride because I needed to not get up at 6 for one day. (I know. I'm the laziest. But self care, right?) And I got a phone call around 10 am that he was VERY lame. 

(Warning... there's a bad word at the end of that clip)

I wasn't freaked out though. He was off right hind, which is where the staples are, so I felt fairly confident the staples must have shifted or something and were bothering him.

Fortunately, our vet was in the area and was able to fit us in at the end of the day. My vet goes above and beyond for us honestly. He had a full day and pulled into the farm at 7 pm to see what was going on. First they just jogged him without any flexions or anything. He wasn't sound, but it wasn't as horrifying as the above video. But then doc flexed him, just his ankle, and he was three legged, crippled lame.

So next came the blocks. Nothing got him to block sound, and he was numb all the way up through the stifles.  So what does that mean? It means we don't know what's wrong. Since we did all the blocks, we couldn't ultra sound. Basically, we're hopeful he tore a muscle but we don't actually know yet. Doc comes back this Friday for further investigation. We're hand walking twice a day until then. So cross all your crossables that he tore a muscle because that's really the best case scenario. Obviously, this is super frustrating. I didn't plan to show this year, but I also didn't plan to start over from the beginning either. 

Anyway. I talked about my jump school with Shiny yesterday. MAYBE there's a chance my Pammon stress carried over to my ride. She's been a good girl either way. Here's a little video of the not so terrible parts:

She was rewarded with snacks for her putting up with me.

Eros is back to being a pain in the ass spookasaurus. I know he needs a free lunge but he's not allowed to have one yet. I REALLY look forward to that day though. Like, so much. He's such a good dude, that even when he's bat shit crazy wild. all he does is spook fairly mildly (at nothing). Which I fully appreciate. But also, how can one be wild when it's been 90 degrees with 93% humidity? How?? Despite the spooks, we've been doing our prescribed trot poles.

But we have been struggling with the raised ones. Thursday (after having done them successfully many times prior) he decided to jump into them. Dear lord, I thought we were going to die. We didn't. Fortunately. But since then he does his best to knock them down the first time through. I think he knows I'm too lazy to get off and fix them. He wouldn't be wrong.

Do you think I'll ever get my hands out of my lap? I doubt it.

We are working on his dad bod. The topline... needs work. The more he spooks though, the more I make him put himself together and really work so maybe that will be beneficial. 

In other wacky news... Saturday night, just as I finished cleaning pee off the floor (my dogs are housebroken and RARELY have accidents, but this is 2020 so here we are) when I heard tires squeal and a crash. It's been awhile, so I'm not sure if you remember, but fairly regularly people crash their cars at the end of my road. Apparently this dude didn't realize the road was ending and tried to take a 90 degree turn going about 50 mph. He didn't make it around, obviously, and flipped his truck on its side. He was very lucky and walked away without a scratch on him. Always some excitement in the neighborhood.

Other than all that... things are the same! Just working and horsing. How was your week/weekend? 

Truthful Tuesday

 

Guys. I'm feeling a little stressed out lately. Pammon is back on the DL (more tomorrow). And my job. Ugh. Basically we have a secretary and a call center manager running things, and let me tell you. They haven't a clue what they're doing. It's not going well. I need to learn to stop caring so I can just get through the work days. But it's tough. Still have a job though. so yay? But that's not what we're going to talk about today, because that's annoying and who wants to read a bunch of whining? Not me!

So let's talk about something a little more relatable, illustrated with kind of hilarious photos. And a video. Shall we?

So I love to post about how perfect Shiny pants is. And you've all seen lots of video clips of her popping over little jumps looking just as adorable and perfect as ever. And really that's all pretty true. Every now and then she can be a little sassy though. Like doing this when I ask for canter:

But some days, the two of us just aren't on the same page. And that was true on Sunday when we had a little jump school. It started out fine. We maybe were a little under paced to start out, but the fences came up out of stride and it was okay. But then? It was like the distance fairy just left me high and dry. And I was pulling on that poor pony and making all kinds of bad decisions. Mostly we just chipped a bunch, but we had two particularly hideous jumps. Wanna see? Yes. Yes you do. 

Told you. Shiny really was still her perfect self. It was me. I was the problem. Maybe you're thinking, okay, well those weren't that bad... It's way more apparent when you stop the video:

Let me just pull your face off Shiny... You don't mind do you?

It looks like I'm laughing
But really I'm saying a bad word.

Poor thing. We did have plenty of good jumps too though. 

And I'm a good mom so as an apology for my bad riding I iced her legs.

Anyone know if they make these ice boots in pony size though? These do the job, but she finds them a little annoying because they're too long. Not that I mind icing her knees too. 

So my confession is that somedays I live up to the bad riding ammy stereotype. (Who doesn't?) Shiny also has a confession today... She's in raging heat and pees any time Eros makes eye contact with her. Super classy.

Anything you need to confess today? Any major ammy moments this weekend? 

Thursday's Threads

Fear not friends, I ALSO have an outfit to share today. It's a little abbreviated since the horses wore the same outfits as last week and I don't have an arm party (sorry). But here it is!

I modeled on each horse too. Ha. Thanks Pivo for photographing!

Helmet: One K Avance

That brim looks enormous from this angle... I've been wearing this one a lot, but I cannot wait for my MIPS version to arrive! I hope they come out with a wide brim MIPS soon, too.

Top: Back On Track

I love these t-shirts, but they don't make them anymore. I've really drank all the Kool Aid when it comes to BOT. But seriously that material is magical. I feel fantastic when I wear it (and after too) so I can only hope that it's real and not placebo. Ha.

Belt: Rebecca Ray

This belt is supposed to be cow print, but this one doesn't show a lot of spots. It's okay though, close enough.

Breeches: Ariat

I was so excited when these breeches came out awhile back in my barn colors. But it took forever for them to go on sale. Worth the wait!

Socks: Dreamers and Schemers

These are version two of my logo socks. I wanted inside of the horse shoes to be green, but I couldn't seem to make that happen. User error! 

Boots: Celeris UK

Spurs: Punk Ponies

I know, you've been waiting this whole post to get to them! I know how ridiculous these boots are. Really, I do. But I still think they are AMAZING. I mean, look at them! Just look! Also, they're super comfy too. Best boots!

So that's it today. Any favorites? You guys have any colors or themes you want to see soon?

What's up... Thursday?

Okay... Who had multiple day power outage on your 2020 Bingo Card for August? I sure didn't. But here we are. Tropical storm on Tuesday and now no power and no cable/internet at the farm. (Hence my delayed post!) The no power thing is tolerable since my dad gifted my brother and I on demand generators that run literally everything. SO nice because without power, I don't have water otherwise. Which is tough with the horses. So thankfully that's a non issue. But the no internet thing is a bit of a problem when I'm supposed to be working from home. For some reason, my phone won't allow me to use it as a hotspot all of a sudden (I mean... 2020 right?) so that's not an option right now either. Poop. Our office is at max capacity with the covid rules so I'm not able to go there either (not that I want to). So I was given the option to use vacation time, or find myself somewhere to work. Fortunately, my dad's guest house didn't lose power and is uninhabited, so I'm covid safe there and can work. Phew. Kinda lame they'd make me use vacation time when they can't accommodate someplace for me to work... but whatever. I figured it out. So let's recap the past week!

It was busy! Friday I took a half day because both Pammon and Eros had rechecks with the vet. 

Pammon got a good report on the front leg, but was positive on his hock flexions (not surprising) and is quite back sore. I haven't done any maintenance on him and he is 13, so the hocks were expected and we went ahead and injected those. 

Hock injection cocktail hit him hard... hahaha!

The back didn't surprise me either. I've been using the Voltaire on him and it's not fitting him well unfortunately. So I guess I have to actually get moving on looking for a saddle. I'm long over due, but was hoping to wait a little longer to save up a bit more. Oh well. That's why credit cards exist I guess. I think I want to do something new, just can't decide between Hermes and Butet. I plan to contact reps for both and see what I can get scheduled. ANYWAY, Pammon had the weekend off due to his injections, so we spent our time hand walking. 

Oh and he also had to get staples in his leg... because you know. 2020.

I was worried he'd be a cuckoo bird Tuesday morning for my ride, especially with the storm coming, so I rode indoors. Just in case. I needn't have worried. He was great. He's been good all week so far too, though today he was LAZY. I expected a beast since it was almost cold this morning (in the 60's) after being sweltering for the last several weeks. But nope. Lazy. I'll take it though. I much prefer that to the crazies!

Eros had a good check up too. The leg is looking good. BUT he's very unfit and dragging his feet behind. So he was prescribed LOTS OF TROT POLES. ALL the trot poles. He is allowed to do a little canter now too, but doc wants my focus on the trot poles to get him using himself and build some fitness. I was a little skeptical of trot poles so soon, but doc pointed out that he never actually had a tear or lesion on his leg. it was more of a strain. So he's not worried about the poles causing any troubles. So basically, he can do unlimited trot work (with lots of pole trotting) and a little bit of canter. That little bit of canter (or maybe all those hard working poles) have made a big difference with his mindset and he hasn't been quite so spooky. Thank goodness. Getting my mellow boy back! The consensus was, he probably does need his hocks done, and possibly his SI, but we are going to wait and get some muscle built back up first and then see what we have. I like that about my vet, he's not quick to inject. 

So I've set up some trot poles on the ground on one end of the ring and some raised ones at the other end, and we've been going through them over and over and over... 

Shiny didn't have a vet visit, so she's been business as usual. We jumped around a little on Sunday. It was hot and we were both just a little off our game I think as I could NOT flow to a nice distance... there were a bunch of long ones and a few pull and chips... but she went around and really doesn't ever take offense at my mistakes. Much appreciated.

She jumps a little wide when I miss...

In other news, I was supposed to fly up to VT with my dad and older brother (& fam) on Saturday, but little bro posted photos of himself on a sunset cruise boat the night before with a bunch of friends... so we canceled that. I'm surprised that was even a thing right now during Covid. Also surprised my brother would do that with Dad coming to visit. But I dunno. Kids. 

I went inside my first public building (other than the barn) for the first time this week too. My dentist appointment I scheduled six months ago wasn't canceled so I figured I should go. I had a Monday morning 8 AM appointment so I thought that's as safe as it gets. All went well and in two weeks time I'll know for sure I didn't catch anything! Kidding (sort of). It was very clean, and quick. 

So that's about it from here at my remote, remote office.

How was your week? Check anything else off your 2020 bingo card?

Truthful Tuesday

Just hanging out up here in the home office this morning waiting for the tropical storm to arrive and hoping really hard the tornadoes don't happen... Artie has abandoned his post up here with me today, so I hope he doesn't know something I don't... 

Anyway, I have a few confessions today. First, Staples keeps delivering things here that are not addressed to me (and obviously, I did not order). I have three packages sitting here waiting to be picked up. I was told they would be picked up within five days. Then I was told by last Friday. But alas:

They're still here. I probably should bring them in out of the storm... but since Staples doesn't seem to care about them, I'm not sure I do either. But I would like them to go away. I wonder how mad the correct recipients are at this point? I mean, the one box has been here for over two weeks already. My confession regarding this story is that I'm probably not bringing the boxes inside. 

Confession two? My brother has one of the new Iphone SE 2020 phones hanging around, so I bought it off him just for Pivo. Yes. You read that correctly. I just bought Pivo it's own phone. Also... I upgraded from my red to the silver. Before everyone asks if I'm selling the red, I'm not just yet. I haven't yet had success with silver, so I'm hanging on to red for a bit. Also want to maybe compare the two for fun. Maybe this weekend, weather depending. In summary here, while I've been behaving myself and not buying much other than food lately, I clearly fell of the wagon with Pivo and phones... Oops. Admittedly, though, I have never regretted upgrading tech. Not once. So hopefully that won't change.

Anything you all need to confess today?