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??

What's Up Wednesday

 

It's funny how you go from winter with very little to do (other than shoveling snow) to spring and all the things appear on the schedule. All or nothing right? But it's nice to be busy. And remember I have friends outside of the internet. Ha! 

We left off last week with our first round of spring shots and coggins tests. Everyone handled them great this year, with no noticeable stiffness. Eros had a tiny little bump at the injection site, but otherwise everyone seemed unbothered. I still gave them a light few rides for the couple following days. No one wants to work crazy hard after shots! Which also worked out nicely for me because I scheduled a hair appointment for the following morning which had me starting a little later than usual with riding. 

I had braiding jobs Friday and Saturday, but they were easy, just one mane each night. Most braiders aren't interested in a one horse job, but I actually kind of like it. A little extra spending money and still back home for bed by 11:30. Win-win!

I forgot to take a photo of my Friday horse. This guy from Saturday wound up with 42 braids, despite how much thinning he had from blanket season.

Sunday we brought back Sunday Funday. I rode both boys with saddles, but they did both get to use their snackamores and have snackies after. Al had a tough day, and I wasn't feeling the most trustful of him with no martingale on so made some accommodations and just used part of the ring. We kept it primarily to walk and trot (though we did a little bit of canter). He managed to keep the lid on for the most part and earned himself some grass post ride. He was very confused initially when I walked him out to the field. He wasn't sure if I'd lost my mind and was trying to trail ride on an already questionable brain day, but after a moment of stop and stare and some snorting, he figured out that he was being allowed to graze with me on him. He settled in nicely once he knew that was the actual expectation of him. The other two understand fully what the snackamore rides mean and were very happy to be there for it. 

Monday we all had a nice day off, and I got started on cleaning the aisle walls. It was on the list of things my helper has decided not to do anymore and despite my reminding him, it remains undone. So I guess it's another task for my free day. 

That's how dirty the water was after just two stall fronts.

I've been trying all week to have a chat with him again, but yesterday he had his whole family here with him (so that's not the right time to have a this is your last chance kind of chat), and then today he was gone before 10am when my work meeting ended. I don't really know if he came in extra early to get done so early or not, but we'll add that to the list of things to chat about. The good news is that I have someone I already know interested in taking over the job, so if things don't turn around I have a plan B. I met with her today and not only is she very interested and willing to do all the cleaning, but she's also willing to wait it out and give current helper a last chance to redeem himself. She lives right in town, has had her own boarding barn, and later a smaller backyard place, and has worked for other amateurs like me. So she's well versed in all the things. I didn't think of it in the moment, but I bet she could help me with Al too as she used to be a trainer. She gave up that life to raise her kids but they're grown now. So that's potentially good news for my mental health. 

The horses were great yesterday, even Al! But today was a tough one for him. It took like ten minutes to get him to stand at the mounting block which is his big tell that he's struggling. But eventually he let me get on, and we had a mostly walk ride on a circle. In his defense, the state tree cutters were out again (done by the time I started riding) right out in front of the house. He really hates chainsaws, we've talked about that before. And it just kind of stuck with him for the day. Some days are better than others. Hopefully tomorrow is a brand new day for him. Normally I might feel frustrated that he's has bad days so close together after a good stretch of wonderful behavior. But both days that he struggled there was chainsawing happening very close by. Clearly a trigger for him for some reason. Eventually they'll run out of trees to cut down around here. Right? RIGHT?!

Eros and Shiny popped over some of our tiny jumps today, and were so great! Eros never torpedoed. Not once! Even when I was jumping the little end jump and saw a terrible chip coming. That's usually when he'll get mad at me and take the bit. But this time when I used my slow down whoa (which is different from my halt whoa) he actually broke to trot and gave me a beautiful trot jump. Not exactly what I wanted, but he did it so nicely and landed soft. I decided to pretend it was an equitation test and carried on. And Shiny, who has the opposite problem from Eros in that she doesn't like to listen to my leg, was taking me so nicely to every fence! I'm not sure if I'm doing something differently, or they just feel refreshed from their winter vacation, but I'm enjoying it!

I think we'll have a bit of a stretch of short rides and a few extra days off over the next several weeks. I have a bunch of things to attend for my nieces (one is having her Bat Mitzvah next weekend!) and a few other things that will take up some of my riding time. But all good things! The horses will also get their second round of shots in there somewhere and then their maintenance appointment is on the 15th. Which that is perfect timing because on the 16th I was invited to a Bar Mitzvah for the son of one of my very best college friends. She was the first friend I met in college, but she lives in New Jersey so we never see each other. I'm so excited to go! I'm day tripping for it. It starts at 4:30 so I can do the barn early, feed lunch before I go, and be back in time for a late night check. My former weekend helper is going to feed dinner for me. And since I had those braiding jobs, I asked my horse sitter friend if she wanted to do Sunday mornings chores. Money well spent since I'll probably get home around 1:30 am. 

This Friday evening I get to visit with my winter barn friends, so I'm excited for that too. (The most recent one, obviously, not that other one.) It still amazes me the difference between a healthy environment and a toxic one. Because this occasion that I'm going for is a goodbye party for one of the workers who found a new job. They are celebrating him even though he's leaving. And inviting FORMER boarders to celebrate with them! I mean, at the other place if people want a new job the door might hit them in the ass on the way out and all the nasty comments come flying at them on the way too. And former boarders? Not welcome on the property. Even though they didn't have space for me last winter, I'm so glad I had a chance to be at the welcoming barn. I made such good friends and it helped me remember that not all barn families make you feel stupid and worthless.

Rita also makes me feel valuable and appreciated. 

And the last bit of happy for today:

My amaryllis bloomed this week! Just in time for my birthday tomorrow! I have another one that might also bloom, but not for another month or two. I love these plants because both were gifts, and despite my inability to keep plants alive, they just kind of take care of themselves as long as I water them a few times a week. 

That's it from here! Tomorrow's schedule includes possibly talking to my helper (though I don't really want to start out my birthday that way. I might wait till Friday), riding horses, and then off to elementary school for my younger nieces spring chorus concert. Big day!

Hope you're all having a great week and getting to spend time with your horses!

Truthful Tuesday

 

Hahahaha, this is a good one. So this weekend was a little extra busy because I had a couple of horses to braid. One Friday and one Saturday. So the Friday customer paid me in cash, which I put in my jeans pocket. I then put the jeans in the laundry without remembering to take out my money. I mean obviously, right?

So I made a mental note to remember to get the money out of my pocket before laundry day. Which I DID remember to do on Saturday night. But you know what I did with the money? I put the money in the pocket of the pants I had on. Can you see where this is going? I then proceeded to be unable to recall what I did with the money. 

Yesterday was laundry day so I was hopeful it would appear in the laundry. And thankfully it did. But sheesh. The senility is clearly setting in!

Thursday's Threads: French Fries Edition

 

Eros and I had some fun this week with outfit day. We went with a french fry theme because french fries are delicious. Here's what he had on:

You can't really see any of it from this distance. But don't worry. We have close ups.

Bridle: Joseph Sterling
Browband: Homemade

French fry browband! So cute!

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

French Fry ribbon trim! Isn't this a cute print? Also, don't you wish you could eat french fries every day? Why are they so delicious?

Polos: Centaur, embellished by me

Aren't these fry patches adorable? I wasn't sure if they would stay on the interchangeable wraps. And I was right to be uncertain. One did and one did not. And I haven't yet found the one that did not. But, they're still really cute. I just need to make sure I stick the velcro better next time. 

That's what Eros wore for french fry day, and here's what I had on:

You had to know I had a french fry sweater, right? How could I NOT have one?

Helmet: One K Avance CCS with MIPS

I suspect this navy helmet is nearing expiration if it hasn't already passed that date. I wanted to get a closeout navy Samshield to replace it, but I missed the chance on that. Perhaps another will pop up someplace. 

Sweater: Asos

I love having a french fry sweater. My only small complaint with this one is the pink trim. Why would they do that with a red fry box? I was planning to wear red breeches because I forgot about that pink trim, so I had to pivot to navy instead. 

Belt: Homemade by me

I had a hard time finding the perfect fry fabric and/or ribbon for the belt. But I like this one. This is still my first prototype for the interchangeable belt. I want to make something a little nicer, maybe leather lined. Same for the brow band. They're both a work in progress. 

Breeches: Tailored Sportsman

Guys, I'm still worked up about my preferred fabric being discontinued by TS. And I'm even more annoyed that they never actually got cheap on closeout so I could stock up. Rude.

Boots: Celeris UK

This photo is darker than I realized, sorry about that! These are my navy boots with silver trim at the top. They were demo boots, but pretty much exactly my measurements. Can't beat that! Quality, nearly custom boots without the wait and discounted! Total win.

That's it for today! Are you fry lover? What's your favorite potato? I don't have a favorite, I love all potatoes equally. Never met one I didn't like.