Outfit day again already! This is kind of a repeat of some of my favorites, but I do have a new addition to the outfit. Let's start with the horses so you can see the new part right away. Here's what we wore:
It's tough to see in the photos actually, but I got new reins for my unicorn bridles! I think Laura directed me to them on Etsy, and well. I have no self control. Here's a close up of them:
They mostly look purple in this photo, but they have an iridescent look to them in real life.
Anyway, let's look at the rest of their tack this week:
Bridles:
Shiny- Nunn Finer Eros- Royal Sports
Browbands:
Shiny- Dark Jewel Designs Eros- Evoequine
Neither of these bridles is my favorite, but they do the job! The horses seem to like them well enough anyway. Shiny has a rainbow leather bit en route too, so next time we do a unicorn outfit, hopefully she'll have that.
Boots: Celeris UK
Love these! They have the same fit issues as the cow ones, since they're the same brand. But look how fun they are! They match my boots exactly.
Saddles and pads:
Eros- Butet, Dover baby pad with cricut bits, Ippico half pad
Shiny- Custom Saddlery, Echt-Lammfell
Nothing new here, but I do have a craft project for a new pad for Eros for this outfit. We'll have to see if it turns out... Lol! You never know!
Okay, my turn! Here's what I wore:
It was tee shirt weather here again, which I'm not complaining about!
Helmet: Samshield
I know Samshield is on the poo list since they refuse to make a helmet with MIPS. But I still love this thing. The emblem and rails are holo! So fun!
Tee shirt: no brand
I grabbed a few of these tees in different colors from Walmart awhile back and have been decorating them with the Cricut. This one has my farm logo in holo, but the horse is a unicorn on this shirt.
Belt: Unbranded
Snagged this magnificent belt on Ebay years ago, and I still love it! It also is holo, and leans purple or green depending how the light hits it.
Breeches: Ovation Aqua-X
I wish they still made these because I need to size down. But I love them so much I just wear them baggy.
Boots: Celeris UK
These are also a bit too big for me, but whatever. LOOK AT THEM! I just love these boots. I think they're ridiculously fun and super comfy. They are sturdy enough not to slouch or anything even though they're loose, so they're just fine. And so shiny!
Big week over here! Guys! I actually left my property for an overnight away! It's been a solid two years since I've gone anywhere that required me to pack. (Other than braiding overnight, that doesn't count since I'm awake the whole time, and all I needed to pack for that was some snacks.) I'm happy to report I only forgot to pack two things- toothpaste and my watch charger. Fortunately, my brothers were both able to supply these needs for me. More on the trip in a few, first we talk horses.
The best part about our little family trip is that we left Sunday and came home Monday, so I only missed one day of riding. Shiny jumped twice as usual this past week. The first day we stuck mostly to some lower fences just working on her listening skills. The second day was a more normal jumping day. She was good, though it took some time to get her moving off my leg. And maybe also for me to remember to count strides and ride at the same time...
Yep. That's what happens when you forget to count. Good girl Shiny. Sorry for the tooth flossing. Once we got on the same page though, she jumped around really nicely. I think getting her to hold her shape out of the turns will forever be a challenge. But maybe some day we'll get there. Her preference is to come up out of the frame, which I'll take that over her pulling down and getting heavy in front any day.
This is better...
And a little clip because some of y'all like videos.
Eros is plugging along. He doesn't feel quite 100% yet, but he's feeling pretty good. It's a little hard to judge honestly, because he always comes out a little stiff, and never feels his best until after we've done some loose rein canter. But right now we're just doing a few minutes of trot each direction. Thus, it's tough to say if he's not himself, or if I'm just not getting him loosened up all the way.
Not bad in the stills anyway! I also had my usual lesson this week with Bellino. He was great, and we even jumped a couple slightly bigger jumps (2'6" ish, nothing crazy, and just a one stride, the rest of the fences were still teeny). He felt the most in tune to me this week, not yanking me out of the tack nearly as much as he normally does.
I think I only get to have one more lesson on him this year before he heads back to Florida. I'm a little bummed he's leaving just as we're figuring each other out. I'll just have to try and fly down to visit him this year.
Okay, now for my visit to my little brother's place! As mentioned, we left Sunday morning, but not until ten, so I had time to do a couple of chores and visit Pammon before we left. We arrived around 2-2:30 (who remembers) with plenty of time to do some exploring and play with horses!
My little brother is very much a do it yourself kind of guy. He bought this property in VT several years ago. It's in Worcester, VT and he owns a few hundred acres. For the first while he lived in a little cabin, totally off the grid without running water or anything. He had a wood stove for heat, and some propane powered lights and that was it. He has a forestry degree from UVM, and spend some time just out of college learning to build. Once he has this land, he cleared the space for his home and used those trees to build it. He had some help building since that's certainly not a one man job, but it's impressive nonetheless.
He now runs a maple syrup from his land called Rugged Ridge Forest. He has a buddy that uses horses to log, and he thought that was interesting so that is how and why he has horses now. To be fair, my little brother has almost no horse background at all other than being my brother. So I cringe a lot when he tells me about his journey with them. But he's finding his way, and his horses are healthy and happy, so I try to hold my tongue when it's not a safety issue.
He has two horses, Hildy and Hugo. Hildy was his first horse, and she came broke to ride and drive. She's very patient and was absolutely the best first horse for him and his needs. She's a percheron/standardbred so heavy, but not very big. Hugo is a purchase we all told him not to make... He's a two year old of similar breeding to Hildy. I don't think a green horse person has any business working with a baby horse, but Hugo is probably the most laid back animal I've ever met. My brother already has him ground driving (lightly, my brother does occasionally listen to what I have to say). Anyway, part of our exploring, included playing with ponies.
I hopped on Hildie but just walked her up and down some hills. My brother's western saddle had stirrups that didn't adjust short enough for me and he pretty much only has hills to ride on. I'm a weenie on a new horse with buttons I don't fully know (since she's broke to ride western-ish- she's an amish horse) without stirrups, so I opted to just meander.
My family is lame and didn't take any photos of me actually on the horse. What am I gonna do with them? Once we were done playing with Hildy, my brother showed us what Hugo knows:
We also met his free range laying chicken and did some hiking to see some of his syrup lines out in the woods. It's peak leaf peeping season up north, so it was a great time to be out in the woods! Leaves are first starting to change where I live. So I'll get to see two nature shows this year!
Who knew those turf rails we jump over were modeled after something actually found in nature?
For dinner, we had chicken and veggies from the farm and a fresh from the garden pumpkin pie for dessert.
It was a really fun getaway, and I even got to stop at my favorite Country Store on the way home to stock up on snacks.
The Vermont Country Store
I used to always go to this store on the Monday in between weeks of showing when I used to compete at the Vermont Summer Festival. It's been years, so it was nice to be back for a visit!
How was your week and weekend? Do anything fun and exciting?
So... I have some arts and crafts projects in the queue which hopefully I'll get to soon so I can have some fun new things to share for outfit day. But that's not my confession. My confession is once I have an idea, I get kind of obsessed with seeing it through to completion. And then I find myself wasting so much time on the interwebs trying to find what I need to put it all together.
Which is what's happened this morning. I try to keep my obsessions to evening time when I have the time to waste. But sometimes I just can't wait. And then my entire day feels rushed because I childishly spent my entire morning shopping for arts and crafts supplies. Sheesh. Some day I'll grow up and learn some self control. Not today though apparently.
Happy outfit day! I did an experiment with some of the extra inserts for my One K helmet and figured outfit day was the perfect day to share! Let me know what you think!
Here's what we all wore this week:
Why yes, it IS a cow print experiment! I won't make you wait till the end, we'll start with my outfit. Here's what I wore:
I have a giant fluffy cow pullover that I had planned to wear, but then it was randomly warm out so I went back to this shirt that you've seen before.
Helmet: One K CCS MIPS
Heehee... I covered my extra black inserts with some cow print vinyl. It has some lumps because I did not have the patience to get them out. But I think it's fun! It's hard to see, but I paired them with the green side rails so it matches my boots perfectly.
Top: Twenty Second
Snagged this either from Zulily or possibly Amazon awhile back. Super comfy!
Belt: Brighton
Back in the late 90's when I was in high school, these bullet belts were what all the cool kids were wearing. It came in black and brown, but also this amazing cow print and I HAD to have it. I saved my braiding money for it, and was so excited to get it. It's kind of in rough shape these days, with a lot of the fur no longer there, but I'm still wearing it! Though it did have a brief hiatus when super low rise pants were in style and then it was too small. But welcome back mid rise pants!
Breeches: Dover Dalton 9000
I've always been a fan of the Dover Wellesley breeches, but they are pretty heavy and I don't wear them in the summertime. Well, I was perusing the Dover sale a couple of weeks ago and found these 9000 series breeches. They come in the Wellesley style and also this Dalton style. The Wellesley are on sale for $50 and come in a ton of colors. These Dalton style are $60 and have fewer color options, BUT this green is gorgeous! They fit fantastic, and even though they are mostly cotton, they feel like a tech fabric. They are heavier than something like the Ovation Aqua-X, but I would compare the fabric to the current Tailored Sportsman breeches. Not exactly the same, but very similar. Best of all, they fit great with no gapping at the waist despite being a higher rise. I would say they have more room in the legs, with a snugger waist which is how I'm shaped. The dalton have these cute bit print gel knee patches, while the Wellesley has a self patch with the gel over top of it. Definitely check them out if you're looking for new breeches! Not an affiliate link: https://www.doversaddlery.com/search.aspx?w=9000
Boots: Celeris UK
Sigh. I just love them. I mean... look at them! Amazing.
Okay, stop staring at the boots. Let's move on to what the kids wore this week.
Saddles:
Eros-Butet
Shiny- Custom Saddlery
Saddle Pads: Eros-Hopeful Equestrian, half pad is Mattes
Shiny- The Hangry Mare
I know you're probably getting tired of Shiny's green saddle pads. It's almost winter though, so soon you'll be tired of her wearing navy! Lol. Sorry. Even if you are tired of this pad, I'm not! I'm still so thrilled with how it came out!
Boots: Celeris UK
In all honesty, I don't love how these boots fits these horses. BUT they are kind of a weird fit these horses of mine. Eros has short cannon bones but wide legs, so these are a hair narrow around his leg. The height is okay, but definitely are as tall as he can deal with. (Size Large for those wondering.) As for Shiny, she just has teeny legs. They're skinny and not especially long. These are size small, and JUST make fitting her. They do offer an XS now so if I ever do boots again, I'll maybe try that size. Sometime XS is too small for her though. Cobs are tricky to fit, what can I say? Size issues aside though, the boots are amazing. They have real wool on the inside and Celeris' beautiful leather on the outside. They're soft in all the right places, but the patch part is nice and sturdy for protection. This particular pair can't really be cleaned as the cow part is hairy. So that's an issue. But the regular leather ones can be cleaned the same as any other leather boot. (I usually shampoo the wool and use regular leather cleaner on the leather parts, then condition the leather.)
Bridles: Joseph Sterling Browbands: Homemade by me
I really have a lot of fun with these homemade snap on browbands. They're so easy to change around and when you DIY they're pretty inexpensive. Especially the dog leash ones, these were a little more. But still under $30 a piece.
And that's it for this week! Any favorite parts? What do you think of the helmet? Have you tried these breeches from Dover?
It's been super quiet around here this week. The seasons are definitely changing and it's getting chilly! And with that change in season comes fall shots for the ponies. They had then on Friday and Eros was mostly unbothered by them. But Shiny always gets a very sore neck from her shots, so she had a really easy weekend.
Before we get to that though, she did have a jump school on Wednesday as usual. I honestly don't really remember it, so I think it must have gone fine. Oh! We did finally try one of the bending lines that's available, but unfortunately, Pivo lost us when we did it so I don't have proof. I shared some cute snaps on Thursday's Threads last week, but here are a couple more:
She had good, working flat rides Thursday and Friday, but the rest of her week and weekend were bareback rides. Saturday was an easy walk/trot day and Sunday included some canter but I didn't make her come round at all. Tuesday I started to ask again for some shape, but she's still struggling a bit. Or at least she's acting like she is... also possible she has my number. Lol.
able to eat grass comfortably...
Eros is starting to rehab from his random foot injury. We're doing the five minutes of trot routine (2.5 minutes each direction) and we'll see how that goes for a little bit. He feels MUCH better than he did initially, but I don't think he's quite 100% yet.
Feeling good about Sunday Snackies though
We were twinning on Saturday:
I had my lesson with little B on Thursday. Trying to enjoy them to the fullest since he'll be heading back to Florida in a few weeks. He was a good boy!
I don't have much else to report... A few things in the works, but nothing worth talking about just yet. Did you all have a good week/weekend?
