Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day! We kept it a little boring this week because I didn't have the energy to get creative. It happens! But it's a nice enough outfit all the same. Eros was our model this week. We did photos on Tuesday when the weather was nice, because we knew today was going to be very wet. (And it is!) Anyway, here's what Eros is wearing this week:

Since it was a flat day we didn't have any wraps on. I've been mostly just booting for jump days this spring and the horses seem just fine with this. Also, I really need to fix their manes. He looks like a feral horse. Lastly, I struggle with getting him to the proper weight. I think he looks pretty good here, but he's a little ribby. Put weight on, and boom: Dad Bod. Can't win.

Bridle: Pinnacle
Brow Band: Boy O'Boy Bridleworks

It's a little hard to see in this photo, but I'm really impressed with the Boy O'Boy browbands. I've had these I think seven years now, and they still look brand new. He's also wearing a the Catago poll wrap. It seems to relax him. I mean, clearly. He's asleep in this photo!

Saddle: Butet
Half Pad: Mattes
Baby Pad:Ogilvy

I like him in tan. It suits him nicely, compliments his red hair. 

And here's what I wore Tuesday:

Same color scheme! We do enjoy our matchy farm colors. 

Helmet: One K

This is the brown one I have. It's not a MIPS because they don't make a brown MIPS helmet which I find truly annoying. 

Shirt: MathCat

I am a big fan of these shirts from Amazon. They're a nice weight for the spring and fall. 

Belt: Ponylocks

I picked Jampie's belt for today's outfit. I haven't worn it in a bit! 

Breeches: RJ Classics

I think RJ's green is my favorite shade. 

Boots: Horka

I regularly forget I have these, but they are SO comfy. I really should wear them more often. The only negative is that they are a teeny bit too loose in the leg, so when I'm working very hard (ahem... on AL especially) they kind of slide down and bunch up on the ankle. But that's really a training problem, not a boot problem. 

That's it for today! Any favorites?

What's Up Wednesday

 

I feel like I've lived a lifetime since last Wednesday. Holy moly. It was a little bit of a light riding week over here. Wednesday we were rained out, but I spent the day catching up on some of the things that have been neglected in the barn. 

Boy these walls were nasty! We did get to ride Thursday and Friday though Friday was pretty rushed because I had Aunty duties to attend to. Saturday was my niece's Bat Mitzvah so I was non horsey pretty much all day. I got up a little early and got the horses fed and out so my horse sitter had one less thing to do. Then it was off for services and then the big party! I should have gotten a solid logistics schedule on said party though. I think it would be over by 5ish since it started at 1, but they first fed us at 5! I hadn't premade the horses' meals, nor planned to have someone go and feed. So I had to leave the party a bit early to take care of the horses. Evidently it went until 8pm! What a rager! I missed dessert, but did stay through dinner which was delicious. 

Sunday was normal. I got the morning chores done, rode Shiny and Eros (Al had a lunge), and everyone enjoyed some grassy snackies. I REALLY needed my Monday off to get some things done for my TurnoutHQ job and a bunch of chores around the house too. 

Yesterday, the horses were all pretty great, which was a relief after several days of light or no riding. We actually had sunshine which has been very rare around here. It's gone again, and won't be back until Saturday unfortunately. But we enjoyed it while it was here. 

I've been really happy with how Eros feels lately, and this is before maintenance! He starts out slow and a little blah, but by the end of the ride, he's traveling so uphill and connected. I actually toyed with the idea of taking some dressage lessons on him. Not that I want to go to the dark side. I don't think I have the attention span for dressage. But I do think it's something he would be very good at it. 
Shiny is feeling pretty good too. She takes awhile to get warmed up, but once she does, she's a lot more supple through her body than in the past. The gas pedal is still pretty sticky, but I think that will improve once she gets her hocks attended to. 

And Al... Al has had a few more not so great days than I'd like, but I also had to step back and see if my expectations have changed for him. I don't know that he's suddenly behaving poorly, or if he's been so good so far this year that now I'm expecting more from him. We did have a half decent ride yesterday, but he was pretty behind the leg which is just frustrating. Then again, he was ridden for three days so he should get a little consideration there. I'm not worried. I still think we're in a better place than last year this time. 

This is another ridiculous week schedule wise. They are getting trims and shoes today and have their maintenance appointment on Friday. It also looks like we're getting rained out tomorrow. As for me, I have a concert for one of my niece's tonight and a Bar Mitzah in New Jersey on Saturday. It doesn't start until 4:30 so I can do chores before I go, but the horses will have the day off. Which works out perfectly because they will have it off anyway after getting their maintenance. Sunday I have the horse sitter doing chores, because I won't get home until well after midnight. Self care, my friends! I figure I'll be up before she's done though, so I can pitch in but don't have to be up at 5:30. Solid plan. 

I'm very much looking forward to a less busy week next week! What are you all up to? Have you gotten to any shows or lessons? Has it been as rainy by you as it has been here? Or are you hogging all the sunshine? Send some this way please!

Truthful Tuesday

 

So the other day I was filling up Shiny's hay bucket to soak her hay, much like this:

But I was also scrolling the phone whilst filling. And I was thinking, this is taking a really long time. And when I looked up, I wasn't filling the bucket at all, I was watering the grass behind it... Ha.
So, uh... You know. Pay attention to what you're doing and maybe put the phone down sometimes. 

Anyone else do something silly like that recently?

Thursday's Threads: May the 4th Edition

 

May 4th fell on a Monday this year, but that didn't stop Shiny and I from wearing our best Star Wars outfit for this week's Thursday's Threads! Here's what Shiny had on:

I've always loved the robots in Stars Wars (the droids if you will) so obviously Shiny is sporting her finest R2D2 outfit. 

Bridle: Punk Ponies
Bonnet: Etsy

We haven't used our holo bridles in AGES! In fact, that last time Shiny wore hers was before she switched to her leather bit. So that's several years. Time to bust them out again, clearly! This bonnet is a little big on her because it's horse size. I'm pretty sure I got this set before I Shiny came here. 

Saddle: Butet
Half Pad: Le Mieux
Baby Pad: Etsy

I cannot for the life of me remember who the seller was I bought this set from. But I know she was on Etsy. It might have been Hopeful Equestrian, but I'm not confident on that. 

Shiny didn't wear boots this day, so I don't have anything to share here. So I guess it's my turn!

I dressed like space. 

Helmet: Samshield

Shiny helmet is a must for a Star Wars outfit on Shiny pony. Obviously.

Tee: Star Wars

 

I loved this opening scroll shirt when I saw it on Zulily a million years ago. Had to have it!

Belt: Buckle Down

Buckle Down makes the most fun belts! Fun fact, my brother was (is) a huge Star Wars fan. We even named our family dog Leah after Princess Leah.

Breeches: Tailored Sportsman

I would have preferred black breeches for this outfit (these are charcoal) but sadly my black TS went to breeches heaven over the weekend. I should replace them before I can't... I do have a few other pairs of black breeches but none were the weight I wanted for this day. 

Boots: Imperial Riding

Yes, I forgot to snap the top popper. Oops. Don't be distracted by such things, instead, enjoy how ridiculous these mirror boots are! I love these, and should definitely wear them more often!

That's it for today! What did you think? Did we pull off Star Wars Day? 

What's Up Wednesday

 

So.... I gotta stop talking about good things because that always seems to ruin them. My potential backup barn worker plan fell through right after I told you all about that. She was concerned about having to climb up into the dumpster to dump the buckets. Fair concern. But bummer for me. I have put off my conversation with current worker because in case he decides to walk, I really need the help this week and next. The result of NOT having the conversation though, is that so far both days this week I came into Eros' door being like this:

Honestly. How do you just not latch the door? Monday I found an empty muck bucket in Shiny's stall. Just sitting there by the door. I don't get it. Definitely need to find someone new pretty quickly. I wish I could do it all myself. Lots of other people do. But the days I do chores and ride all the horses, those are 12-13 hour days. And I know I can't do that seven days a week. My body won't let me. I know lots of people do, but I guess I'm just not as tough as those people. Or maybe they are just much younger than me! Ha! Probably that one. 

Anyway, things are going well with the horses. When we did our first round of shots I did a follow up EPM titer on Al and a Lyme on Eros. Both came back very low which translates to negative and that's great news. I didn't do anything for Shiny because her numbers have been great. Though she now has a bunch of tick bites, so I'll probably pull a Lyme at some point on her. 

Al and I had a few tough days which I mentioned last week. And it did continue another ride before he got back to being more settled again. The last not so good ride though, I think he was honestly just a bit fresh rather than being unsettled. Because I was able to get a little tough with him and he respected that and decided to get to work. What's so tough about him is trying to decipher when he's being sassy and when he's unsettled. If he's sassy you can really ride him, and put some pressure on, but when he's unsettled you cannot or he spirals. But the behaviors can be very similar so it's tricky to know for sure how to work with him on a given day. We had a really nice ride yesterday in which he was actually forward thinking, and did all the things asked with very minimal Al drama. I did opt out of riding him Sunday though. The wind was silly, jumps were all blown over. Neighbor was out there with all kinds of machinery. Instead we did some work in hand and then had a nice graze. I think it was the right call for him that day. Just letting him know he can stay focused on a bad day without adding in riding I think was good for him. I'll just keep testing theories until I figure this horse out! 

Eros is feeling pretty good these days! I can tell he's getting stronger, he's more flexible too. At least on the warmer days. We have our spring maintenance scheduled for the next week, and I'm sure he will benefit from that too. I jumped him around over our little 18" jumps a couple times last week and he was soft and lovely. And yesterday he offered up some pretty impressive extended trot in each direction. I'm going to keep taking things nice and slow with him, but knock on wood, he's coming out of winter very nicely this year! Maybe that time off was really beneficial for him. 

I think Shiny is the most looking forward to her spring maintenance. As long as I take my time warming her up she's actually giving me great work. But if I try to rush any part of it? So many opinions. That's what I love about this pony. She's adamant about the rules (her rules) and makes sure I follow them to a T. I'm pretty happy with her overall though. I'm excited to see how she feels once she has her vet appointment next Friday. 

This week will be pretty light riding wise for the horses. We're getting rain this afternoon, and I have tickets to & Juliet tonight so they're getting a day off. I plan to spend the afternoon working on cleaning in the barn to try and get a little ahead on that. Tomorrow will be a regular day and Friday I should have time to ride everyone, but a little abbreviated because I have to be at the Synagogue at 7. And I imagine I should be showered for that... Lol! They'll have Saturday off too because I'll be attending my niece's Bat Mitzvah! Services in the morning, then the big party after! I hired our horse sitter to do the morning chores and lunch which was the best decision for everyone. That way the horses get their full turnout time and I don't have to get up at 4am to get done in time. I'll be home in time to feed dinner. Then Sunday I'll have lots of clean up to do I'm sure. But that's okay. I'll have the whole day to do it. Hopefully, anyway. I need to see if my mom is okay with celebrating Mother's Day another day. (May is really silly with so many things going on!) Assuming mom is on board, I do plan to ride Sunday. 

Next week will be normal until Friday when the vet comes. But that timing should work out well because they'll have a rest day Saturday from the injections. I'm driving down to New Jersey for a Bar Mitzvah that day, so the day off works out perfectly time wise. I'll do stalls and hand walks in the morning, feed lunch, and get on the road by 12:30ish. Bar Mitzvah stuff from 4:30-10 (maybe I'll leave a little earlier) and then home by 1:30am. I have my former weekend helper feeding dinner for me, and then I was smart and hired the horse sitter again for Sunday chores so I can get some sleep. With the timing of the vet appointment, I probably could have just fed and then gone back to sleep since the horses will still be off from riding Sunday. But I hired her before I made the vet appointment and I don't want to cancel on her. She's a college student so I know the extra funds are a big help. It will be nice to have an easy day anyway after a very long day Saturday. Things should get back to normal after that weekend thank goodness! 

That's about it from here. How are your horses doing so far this spring? 

Truthful Tuesday

 

I think we can all agree that I can have bouts of bad luck. I mean anyone can of course, but the whole if anything can go wrong it will adage is pretty true around here. Well today's confession is that I managed to spread my bad luck to one of my favorite tack stores. Oops!

Here's what happened. May is full of occasions around here. Like, so many. And there are a couple extra this year too. Both of my nieces, my mom, and my stepmom have birthdays in May. Then of course there's Mother's day, and both a bar and bat mitzvah this year. It's a lot! So last week I set about purchasing all the necessary gifts for said occasions. There was a tote bag I wanted to get for my stepmom from The Tack Room, so I went on their site and filled my cart with a schooling shirt, the tote bag, and some treats to make up a nice gift. But it was erroring out when I tried to check out, saying there weren't enough of an item to fulfill my order. So I removed the item, replaced with another and tried to checkout. Same issue. It kept changing which item didn't have enough stock. Clearly a website issue. So I figured I'd try later in the day. They then had a note on the site that it was malfunctioning and to call in orders. But I had time so figured I'd try the next day. The note was gone, so I was hopeful they were back in business. But alas. Same issue. So I reached out via email to see if they could send a Paypal invoice. (I wanted to pay with real money rather than a credit card.) They said the site should be fixed and if I wouldn't mind, give it another try. So I did, but the same thing. Turns out, the problem was only with my items. Guys. I broke their entire site for a whole day! Ooops. Thankfully, they were able to send me that Paypal invoice and hopefully their site is all fixed up now. But man. I felt bad!

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day!!! On my birthday! I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't plan a birthday themed outfit, but I will try to remember for next year. Instead, we went with our old standby farm colors today. Al is our model, and here's what he's wearing this week:

I swear, in real life his weight looks pretty good, but in photos he's looking quite thick... No judegement though. I look thick in both scenarios. Haha!

Bridle: Pinnacle
Browband: Boy O'Boy Bridleworks
Hat: Back on Track

He's awfully cute. Especially with his thinking cap on!

Saddle: Butet
Saddle Pad: Ogilvy

Half Pad: Mattes

I must confess that I am very overdue for a good saddle cleaning. Sorry saddle.

He didn't wear boots for this ride, so nothing to share there!

Here's what I had on:

Keeping it casual over here this week! This oufit feels a little 90's era to me, what do you think?

Helmet: One K Avance CCS MIPS

You know I keep it real over here based on the extreme dust level on that brim...

Sweater: Sonoma

I picked this up sometime last year from Kohl's on a clearance rack. It's the perfect weight for this time of year when the temps go up and down every 20 minutes.

Belt: The Sugar Lady

Rio's been on my mind since his birthday just passed last week. So I wore his belt today. It's absolutely one of my most favorite things. 

Breeches: RJ Classics

Snagged these over the winter at a (very chilly) tent sale. My brown TS have given up so it was perfect timing!

Boots: TuffRider Regal, embellished by me

I don't wear these a ton because I'm so worried about messing up the glitter paint. But then I had the realization that I can always re do them. So I'm using more frequently. They're so fun!

And that's it for today! Not a wild outfit, but a nice one all the same. With just enough bling to keep it fun!

What should I wear next week? Or more importantly, what should the horses wear??