Thursday's Threads: St Patrick's Day edition

 

Outfit Day!! You'll have to use your imagination a little with this one because we didn't get to actually ride in our St Patty's day outfit this year. We're going to use some old photos from our Pinsnickety photo shoot that the very talented Chelsea Lothrop took a few years ago for Eros' outfit. Here's what he would have worn this week if the weather had played nicer. 

He would have been wearing his Joseph Sterling bridle with the Dark Jewel spiked browband. He has a cute Pinsnickety pin in his forelock in this photo. 

He also would have been wearing his Butet saddle, this mattes pad, and that adorable Lettia baby pad. We probably wouldn't have had a number on though. 

That's what the horses would have worn (more or less) and here's what I had on, because I did have high hopes that we might ride.

Nothing says St Patty's like green and gold! I really had no idea I'd get so much use of these $50 Winnie the Pooh colored breeches. 

Sweater: Luyaa

This is one of my many inexpensive wool sweaters that are perfect for the barn. This one has a weird neck line though. I think it's stretched out. But whatever. Horse clothes don't have to be perfect. 

Belt: Unbranded

Buckle: Ovation

I'm not sure what happened to the strap this belt actually came with, but I'm using it on this yellow one today. It doesn't look it here, but the belt and the breeches are pretty much the exact same shade. 

Breeches: Vestrum

These are a ridiculous color for breeches. RIDICULOUS. But here we are. Loving them! Ha! 

Socks: Dreamers and Schemers

I've had a few lucky themed boot socks over the years, but these are my favorites so far. 

Since I didn't ride, I didn't wear boots or a helmet. But here's what I would have worn if I did. 

Boots: TuffRider (embellished by me) 

Helmet: Equinavia

I'm really impressed with how the glitter paint has held up on these boots over the years. Makes me want to paint more boots... but I won't. For now anyway. I'm looking into a fun new green helmet from Fair Play to possibly replace this one. I don't love how this helmet fits me so I hardly ever wear it. But I'm not sure the Fair Play one will be any better. It's really pretty though! 

Okay that's it for this week! Any favorites? Anything you guys want to see soon? Themes, colors? Anything? Let me know in the comments!

What's Up Wednesday

 

As is the norm for March, we've had all kinds of weather lately. 70 degrees, 40 degrees, rain, snow, THUNDERSTORMS! Currently it's 25 degrees outside. So our triumphant return to work is rather intermittent. But that's okay. I know consistent riding days are coming. So close I can smell them! In the meantime, we do what we can when we can, and we're happy with that. 

The snow is pretty much entirely gone except for where the snow plow piles were exceptionally big. I feel like I have so much more space to move around. I hadn't really noticed how confined I felt by all the snow until it as gone. Everything feels better with it gone!

I shared last week that we got to start riding, but we've been taking things slow so no one gets too sore (me included). And then weather made it more slow. So we rode Tuesday and Wednesday, and then didn't get to again until Sunday. A mix of reasons really. Mostly rain, but also wind, and occasionally the cold. 

I'm trying this new thing this year where I base my decision whether or not to ride on what I feel is best for my horses AND myself in the moment. And NOT on whether or not I could be perceived as wimpy by some outside third party. I don't think I need to prove how tough I am, or how brave I can be anymore. After this winter, I know I'm both of those things. I'm also approaching 46 years old, and the body doesn't work the same as it did ten years ago. After not riding for so long, I'm weaker and my balance is probably less good as a result. It will all come back the more we ride. But on days where the wind is gusting in excess of 40 MPH, I don't need to test my ability to "ride through" spring tine shenanigans. 

Which doesn't mean I chicken out of every ride that they seem spicy. Al came out very attentive on Sunday but after some ground work he settled and we got our ride completed as planned. But it does mean that if I decide not to ride one day I don't feel guilty about it. The horses have survived the winter with lots of no riding, and are none the worse for the wear. So if sometimes this summer we have 5 day work weeks instead of six, I'm going to be okay with that. And so will they. At least I hope. That's the plan. I'm Jewish, so guilt is instilled in me very strongly. Not sure if I can just turn that off. But I'm going to try!

Anyway, our rides right now are walk trot rides. We're doing three laps of walk each way, then trotting two laps each way, and then finishing with another three laps each way at the walk. It's about a 20 minute ride. I plan to add a lap of trot each week. Once we're trotting five laps each way we'll add in some canter. I figure we'll be to full work in a 4-6 weeks depending on how much saddle time we get. 

I am very much looking forward to getting back to full work. My plan to keep the weight off this winter has failed miserably and I have 15 lbs to get off. To be fair, I gained about 8 this winter, but I already had some excess to start... (See above, approaching 46... The struggle is real.) It's interesting to see how bodies work because I stayed very active this winter, but more so with strength type exercise and less so cardio. As a result, despite my weight gain, my blood sugar and A1C are still great, but with the lack of cardio my cholesterol has gone up. Could also be the level of cheese consumption... Both of those things. Ha! Anyway, hopefully once I'm back to fully riding three horses a day things will get back to good. I have my annual physical tomorrow so we'll see what kind of lecture I get... (Also, why did I schedule an 8am physical?)

I don't have too much else to report. We took yesterday off for wind, and today we'll be off due to frozen footing. But the rest of the week looks promising for rides every day. Fingers crossed!

Any tips or tricks for weight loss that won't make me cry? Share away! 

Truthful Tuesday

 

I'm a little ashamed of this one... I cleaned out a coat closet last week and you'll never believe what I found. FIVE pairs of paddock boots. Two winter pairs that I clearly got on sale because they are a half size too small (those went straight to the donate pile) and then three pair of perfectly good regular boots. While I am ashamed of myself for hoarding boots, it was actually a great discovery since I had several pair retire at the end of last year. I still think I want to find something waterproof for doing chores in, these finds will definitely go to use in the barn this year. I guess look for them on future Thursday's Threads.

Any of you find any weird hoards recently? We're getting to spring cleaning time, so let me know if you do!

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day! AND I have a RIDING outfit today! It's not a crazy exciting one, cause you know, mud everywhere. But still. I HAVE BREECHES ON! And my new helmet that I bought two months ago. But first... Here's what Eros wore this week:

They've all lost a ton of muscle so we have a lot of work to do. But his weight isn't too bad for all that time off. And I can see his summer coat coming in! Pretty shiny too considering we haven't done our first baths yet. 

Bridle: Pinnacle

Browband: Boy O'Boy Bridleworks

I'm still really happy with these bridles. They aren't the softest most luxurious, but for the price point they are really holding up beautifully. And the horses like them which is most important. 

Saddle: Butet
Half Pad: Mattes
Baby Pad: Ogilvy

Oh how I've missed sitting in this! I was very happy to discover my saddles to be mold free after I've ignored them for several months. I did dedicate a day to cleaning and conditioning them at some point during our hiatus. But I haven't looked at them since. 

I don't have a wrap photo today because we go bare legged in muddy conditions.

Okay, my turn!!

Man it feels good to wear breeches again.

Helmet: Samshield

Look at this glossy bad boy! It's so shiny you can see my phone taking the photo. They had a navy one too that I was hoping I could get soon, but looks like it's since sold. Bummer. 

Sweater:THML

You've all seen this sweater before. It's one of my favorites!

Belt: Mane Jane

Good news if you ever wanted one of these Mane Jane belts but never got around to getting one. They've brought them back! I love them so much, 10/10 highly recommend.

Breeches:RJ Classics

You might remember that my TS brown breeches met a possibly embarrassing demise during a vet appointment last summer. I was planning to replace them with another pair of TS but hadn't gotten around to it. Back in December I went to a tent sale at my closest tack store and they had these RJ's for under $100 so I got them instead. I was worried they might not fit after this very long winter, but they're good! (Phew.)

Half Chaps and Paddock Boots: HKM

I like how these half chaps attach to the boots rather than having that bulky bottom with the elastic under your foot. Especially during mud season! They aren't the most durable but they're also not very expensive, so my expectations are low for them. They're very comfortable and I think very attractive, so I do recommend them, even if they might not live forever. I absolutely would buy them again. 

And that's it for today! Any favorite items from today? How about that glossy helmet?! 

What's Up Wednesday

 

Guy! GUYS! I sat on my horses yesterday! (And nobody died!) We couldn't do much because 1/3 of the ring is still frozen, 1/3 is too muddy, leaving only 1/3 to ride on. But I'll take what I can get. Also it was 70 degrees and I rode in short sleeves. It was glorious! 

Also short lived as winter returns tomorrow, but again, I'll take what I can get! I do think it's kind of nice for the horses to have a couple riding days and then a day or two off after having so much time off. Ease into things. Okay, now that the best part has been discussed, we can look back at the week. 

Good news, the furnace was fixed on Friday! (Even better that it hasn't had to come on the last couple of days.) Nice to have something checked off the get fixed list. 

We had some rain on Friday which helped to melt a significant amount of snow. That brought more mud of course, but definitely progress! Saturday I spent most of the day on cleanup outside. We've been keeping up with picking up manure outside everyday, but it's hard to get it all in the snow. Some falls down so deeply you can't see it. Sometimes it freezes solid to the ground before you get to it. That sort of thing. Since I turn out in the ring it's pretty important to get that out of the footing. It was a productive day. I thought I'd have a lot less to do on Sunday but with even more melting, it was just as busy. But it felt really nice to have it cleaned up. We don't have too much snow left at all, just unfortunately along the one side of the ring. But honestly, that's Al's dream because it's all along his danger zone. Not gonna lie, I appreciate the excuse to not ride over there the first few times in the saddle!

Monday was warm, in the 60's and I initially felt guilty not starting the horses that day. But there wasn't enough good footing yet and it was pretty windy. Which sounds like a cop out, but adding wind to a first ride in two months... Meh. It eased my guilt. And yesterday was so perfect! Definitely the better of the two days to start horses. 

I don't have a big enough space to lunge yet, so I just got right on. Well. Al had a handwalk first. But otherwise I just got on them. I kept them all to short rides 15-20 minutes. 90% walk. We trotted just the one long side a couple times each direction. Everyone felt good enough, but we have a lot of fitness work to do. And probably some vet maintenance stuff to, but they need a baseline fitness level before we get to any of that. 

I started with Eros. I figured he was a good first one because he might be a little spicy, but he'd be fine. I wanted one confident ride before I did Al. (Riding is such a head game isn't it?!) He was good! He was anxious about the end of the ring, but it's also pretty wet down there so we didn't quite go all the way back. (Fun fact, when he's turned out, he won't go all the way down there until after Shiny is in her paddock. She's his security blanket.) 

Al was surprisingly pretty good. As is the norm, as soon as I swung a leg over Al, Bang and Clang next door started his nonsense. First he wandered out to the shed in the back next to my ring and rifled around in there for awhile. Then he wandered back and forth along the tree line for no apparent reason. Then he dropped a bunch of milk crates because putting them down quietly would be too difficult... But despite all that (and two months of vacation) Al kept his poo together. He even offered a nice stretch for one of his long side trots! I was proud of him. I am confident that if I had asked for actual work we might not have had the same outcome. But I also think that would have been an unfair ask so he would be justified. 

Shiny was great of course. Her trots were... slow and silly, but that's who she is as a pony. It was enough trotting to get her past her shuffle phase. But that's fine. We're just getting started. I think she was happy to do something finally. 

We're going to do the same thing again today. It's cooler today but still really nice in the lower-mid 60's. I'll definitely take it this time of year! Tomorrow is one of those days that starts out in the 50's and then just gets colder and colder as the day goes on. It will be raining and then mixing to snow. So kind of a rude return to winter, but it's okay. No accumulation expected. I'll refrain from complaining about it! And then we'll see what the weather does if we get to do more riding after that or not. We'll just have to see how the footing is. Even if we have another break it won't be too long, and it was such a nice recharge to get a little time in the saddle. It should hold me over for a bit! 

That's it from here! Things are looking up!

Truthful Tuesday

 

Okay, I remembered what I wanted to confess last week. Took me until the weekend but I got there! The confession is that I prefer to do stalls in paddock boots because they have smaller treads on the soles. When I do stalls in my winter boots the treads grab all the shavings and track them absolutely everywhere making a mess once I walk out of the stall. Drives me bananas! So I clean stalls in paddock boots, then switch to something else to climb through the snow to pick paddocks. In the summer I just stick to paddock boots for the whole process. Trouble is, stall muck is TERRIBLE for paddock boots. Rots the leather pretty quickly. So I thought I'd get some rubber boots that LOOK like paddock boots. 

Unfortunately, the tread is super deep, and I kind of hate them for that. I'll probably throw them in the trailer because they would be very useful at horse shows. So I guess I'm back to destroying paddock boots until I find a better alternative. I may look at some of the synthetic ones out there, but my past experience with synthetic leather boots ripped me feet up. I think they've made great advancements in materials since then though. So we'll see. For now, I'm not allowed to buy anything until I get caught up from everything breaking around here. 

Do you have any weird reasons for choosing a particular footwear? This very much might be a me problem. 

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day! Another grooming outfit this week, but this one is horsey. 

See? Horse sweater!

Sweater: Luna Ivy

In the fall Marshall's had tons of cute horsey stuff, and I snagged this sweater. I think it's adorable.

Belt: Ponylocks

I thought Jamp's tail belt was the perfect accessory for a horsey sweater.

Jeans: DL1961

I love the center seem that's in style right now. Even if the one seems to be twisty. I got these at Marshall's too which might explain the imperfection. Apparently these pants retail for $225 according to the brand tag on them. I paid $35. That's more my speed. 

Shoes: Easy Spirit

These are my new old lady shoes. I have a green pair that I wore to the theater a few weeks back on a very cold night and my feet were so warm and cozy! I didn't want to ruin the pair I have but wanted to try them out for the barn, so snagged this cheaper color from Amazon. They will be perfect for days when the snow isn't past my ankles. Though lately I've been cleaning stalls in my winter paddock boots and then switching to a different taller boot for outside cleaning. I can do that with these too. They are really warm and super comfortable. I also sized up a half size so I have plenty of space for wool socks when it's very cold. 

That's it for today! Are you so bored with non riding clothes? I am. I can't wait to wear fun boots again. And I got a closeout Samshield to replace my expired one which I'm dying to wear and share on here!