Thursday's Threads

Outfit Day! It's another gorgeous day up here in CT. I could really get used to this! Of course rain for the weekend. Boo. But no sense dwelling on future weather. Let's see what I'm wearing today!

I actually changed my shoes before I left, realizing that I shouldn't wear sandals while I'm still icing Jamp's legs throughout the day.

Top: Cabi

These elephants are so cute! This top is really fun. It has a thick elastic type band around the bottom, that holds itself in place, and is pretty fitted. Then the top part is more flowy. It has a tank type lining inside, and then the elephant fabric is a bit sheer. I think I actually have this same shirt in solid black, and I should definitely make an effort to wear it more.

Belt: C. Wonder
Buckle: India Hicks

I've had this belt strap for awhile, and as it turns out, it's the only one I have that fits this buckle! A friend of mine who tragically lost her sister to cancer does a fund raiser each year through India Hicks for cancer research. Last time she hosted this, I picked up this cute initial buckle. Though when your initial is an S it kind of just looks like snakes.

Jeans: Mavi

Just a plain pair of dark blue jeans this week. These are super soft and stretchy. Definitely a regular in the rotation.

Shoes: Sperry

These are what I switched to instead of the flip flops. Probably more work appropriate too. Plus I really need a pedicure. Boat shoes are always the right answer to such problems!

Arm Party!
Lefty:

Lefty kept it super plain today and just wore my apple watch.

Righty:

Righty is wearing a dainty little shell bracelet, along with the cutest elephant link chain from Fornash.

And that's it for today! Maybe this weekend when I get to ride again I'll remember to get outfit photos. What do you have on? How's the weather by you?

What's Up Wednesday: Laminitis & Lobster Rolls

Life's been carrying on around here, despite all the not riding in my life. It was a lovely three day weekend. We had one rainy day, but the other two were nice enough. I had a couple highlights, the first of which was probably this:

Fear not, more fries were coming!

My first lobster roll of the season at the lake! I'm SO HAPPY that lake season has arrived. Mostly for the lobster rolls since I don't really use the lake itself much. I had this bad boy on Saturday evening, but I may or may not have gotten a grilled cheese and more fries there on Sunday.

I didn't really make any plans for the long weekend, and it was nice to actually get stuff done at home. I put a few new bracelets together:

Got some basil started from seeds:

And finally fixed the tail gate on the Gator!

 Though the pieces of hose they gave me for stoppers were way too small. I got creative with Gorilla tape though. Hey, it works!

Saturday was pretty hot.

I checked in with the vet to find out if Jampy's feet could get wet. He said it was fine, so both boys had much needed soapy baths. That was pretty much the highlight of their day. I think Jamp's just happy whenever I take him out of his stall these days. Even if it's for a bath. I tried out some new bath mitts that I got from Riding Warehouse which I half liked and half didn't.

I did Rio first, and rather liked the mitts. I didn't have any water running down my arms which was nice. I'm starting to really prefer grooming tools that work like gloves because you can get into all the nooks and crannies. The only complaint I had was the one I used on Jampy was shedding all over him. It rinsed off, but I didn't really like the shedding. I didn't notice it on Rio, so maybe it was just a bad glove? Hard to say. I'll still be using them again but so I guess it's not a deal breaker yet.
Sunday was rainy and not hot.

 I was able to get the boys out for their walks in between the rain though, so that was nice for everyone.
But the BEST part of my weekend came on Monday. I got to RIDE! My awesome friend Katie (as I mentioned yesterday) offered to share her horse Bradley with me. She's going to be traveling some, and said she'd love it if I could ride him while she's away. Works out great for both of us, but mostly for me because I REALLY miss being in the saddle. I thought it was a bummer the last couple of years not being able to show, but as it turns out, not riding at all is a whole lot harder. We decided to meet up Monday so I could ride him with her there the first time. That way I could find all her stuff, and make sure I'm doing things the way she likes with her horse.
Bradley is a 17.3 hand Danish Warmblood. It's quite a stretch for me to get his saddle on! And you know... get on. But once you're up there, he doesn't feel THAT big. He's definitely long, but he's not overly round, so I can get my leg around him kind of.
You guys. I had SO MUCH FUN! I had a little bit of a tough time with my asthma so had to take a few walk breaks, and it wasn't a very long ride. But it was amazing in every way. PLUS, Katie took a bunch of photos.

 AND she even let me pop over some cross rails!

Well actually she said I could jump whatever I want. She shows Bradley in the high adult jumpers and he's definitely scopey enough for more. But as I haven't been on a horse in almost a month and haven't jumped really since last fall, I opted to stick to the cross rails for now. Another time we'll jump bigger though. I'm ridiculously sore from that little ride, and loving every ache of it.

Yesterday I was finally able to get the vet out to do x-rays for Jampy. The news was ok. Not exactly what I had hoped for, but not terrible news either.

He unfortunately did both rotate and drop some. The right foot has about a 10% rotation and the left about a 7%. The good news is, he has more than adequate sole depth left, and the rotation is pretty minor. As long as we keep it from progressing any further, he should be able to get back to more or less a normal life after this. As in, I'll be able to ride him again and he'll be able to have turnout. He'll have the same boring diet forever though. Sorry buddy. On the bright side, I was told he could eat celery, and he loves it!

At least for now. He loved peanuts the first time too, and then changed his mind.
He is not quite done with this episode yet though, which is not the best news. So we have to keep up with the Banamine and the icing for a while longer. My vet is feeling very positive with how he's walking though, and thinks we're on the right path. More waiting until we're out of the woods, but I think we're approaching the edge of the forest at least.

That's what's up this Wednesday! What's up with you? How are your horses doing? Any shows coming up? Do any fun things for the long weekend?

Truthful Tuesday

You GUYS! I got to ride a horse yesterday! Not one of my herd obviously, but my wonderful friend from Katie Wanders let me ride her triple XL sized pony yesterday.

17.3 hand Danish Warmblood does in fact make my butt look smaller.

I'll talk all about it tomorrow on What's Up Wednesday, but I'm mentioning it to day because it leads into my confession...
I've really let my self go. I mean, I rode for maybe 20 minutes (cause old asthmatic lady couldn't breath) and I'm definitely feeling it today. My arms are sore, my legs are sore, my BUTT is sore... Someone clearly needs to start working out! But it's so completely worth it. That twenty minutes was the highlight of the last three weeks for me.
Have you ever taken a hiatus from riding only to discover how much of a work out it REALLY is when you get back on?

Thursday's Threads: Flamingo Edition

It's AMAZING out there today! Not a cloud in the sky and I think we're going to be around mid 80's. THIS is my weather. Finally! To celebrate, I decided to dress for the tropics.

It's hard to tell from far away, but there are a lot of flamingos happening here. I'm extra bummed the horses aren't working because they have matching flamingo outfits too. I'm sure eventually I'll get to share those though. And I mean, you can't have too many flamingo posts can you?

Top: Velvet Heart

How adorable is this loose fitting button down? I saw it at Marshalls and got super grabby hands about it. I already had the shoes (you'll see them soon, be patient) so I obviously had to own this too.

Belt: Mane Jane

To mix things up a little today, I paired a Mane Jane belt strap with an "H" buckle.

Jeans: Kut From the Kloth

My camera wasn't picking it up, but these actually have a really subtle pink wash to them. Perfect for a flamingo theme!

Shoes: Bucket Feet

I know. So Cute! I got these either last year or the year before, but have only worn them a few times. Definitely perfect with the top!

Accessories:
Tote: Kate Spade

I've been using a tote bag as a purse for awhile out of laziness, but it's pretty convenient because it holds so much stuff! The one I've been using is one of those ones  you can print a photo on. The photo on it was my holiday card photo... Clearly not appropriate for the season. So I switched to this one today.

Arm Party!
Lefty:

Left is sporting a Stacie original. I found this tutorial on a bead store's blog, and altered it to have a Flamingo theme. I think it came out pretty cute!

Righty:

Righty is donning this ridiculously cute rhinestone flamingo cuff and two beaded bracelets from Pura Vida. The first has a little rose gold flamingo charm. So tiny!

That's it from here today! What are you wearing? Have any favorites?

What's Up Wednesday

Not a whole lot going on here this week really. But to balance out yesterday's Negative Nancy post, I thought maybe I'd talk about some things that have been really positive during Jampy's bout with laminitis.

 First, I'm super grateful that he wears clothes without issue. He has been wearing ice boots 24/7 since this all started, and that is made a lot easier by him being willing to leave them on. My junior hunter used to tear apart every piece of clothing you put on him. He was a total houdini at getting out of blankets and wraps.

I also want to acknowledge what a good patient he's been. He's been stuck in a stall with no turnout and only 2-3 minutes of hand walking per day. He can eat nothing but soaked hay and his salt block. (He's also allowed to eat peanuts, but he's decided they are gross.) And while he's sometimes a bit sassy or a little rude, he's really behaving well. I can put him on the crossties to groom, and he just stands there like a good boy. Some days our three minute walk is cut short by antics, but most days he keeps it together. He seems to even know that he can't drag me to the grass, because he's hardly even tried.

I have the less local vet scheduled for Tuesday to take x-rays. I'm crossing all the crossables that everything has stayed put and hopefully we can start making a plan to move toward normal life for him. I'm hoping he'll be allowed to at least go out in the tiny walkout on Rio's side of the barn soon. When I was building the barn, I wanted to have run outs for the horses. Unfortunately, due to the layout of my property and zoning regulations, I had to make them really small. The side Rio lives on has the smaller sized walkouts, but in trade, they are also covered. They're about 12x20 in size. The one on Jamp's side of the barn is larger at around 20x50. Rio is currently using the larger one for his turnouts while he rehabs that bowed tendon. But hopefully soon Jampy can hang out in the smaller one for at least a few hours a day.

Another bonus that I've never considered a bonus, is that my horses turnout in the ring since they both hate the back paddock. Jampy won't be able to have grass anymore, so fortunately, once he's cleared for exercise, he can go back to his normal turnout routine in my sand ring.

So this past week and weekend has been spent grooming the boys and trying to hand walk them between rain storms. Rio's gotten to graze a bunch too. He's like snow white out there, all the animals want to graze with him!

I decided Saturday that I needed to reintroduce exercise into my own life now that I'm not riding. But since it was pouring and my asthma has been terrible, I opted for a treadmill walk. I felt so much better afterwards! I need to make a real effort to take care of the old body. Easy to forget or just not want to when life's busy taking care of the ponies. The pugs joined me on my walk, but they were way lazier about it.

Sunday was supposed to be another nasty day, but we actually got to see the sun for about a half hour around 3PM. So I quickly grabbed the pups for a walk.

We wound up getting a little drizzled on, but it was nice to get out for a bit. It was really humid, though not super hot. But I think we're not used to it, and the pups were WIPED OUT after!

That's about all that's up over here this Wednesday! What's up with you? Do anything fun this weekend? Or exciting plans for next?

Truthful Tuesday: the one with some feels and blurry old screen shots

I made a pretty silly mistake over the last week/weekend. With my new found spare time, I decided to start converting my old riding videos into digital files. This seems like a great idea on the surface. And it was pretty fun to watch my very first horse show.

 Although, I didn't realize how terrible VHS quality was at the time! Holy grainy batman!
So why was it a bad plan? Because I can't ride. Watching old videos of Rio flying around the 1.2m A/O's,

 and my old junior hunter Bud doing his thing at Devon, and even Cosmo throwing his legs around in the adult jumpers,

 REALLY made me miss showing. This is the start of year number 3 without a show on the schedule. I was coping ok with that the last couple of years. I mean I didn't LOVE it.  But I was still riding and jumping around at home. So it was ok.
But now? Now that I haven't swung a leg over a horse in almost three weeks, it was super depressing. Then I start to feel guilty about feeling all woe is me because I can't ride when my horse was suffering through a painful bout with laminitis. Selfish much?

 On the bright side, Jampy is looking great! I'm super frustrated because I need to see the x-rays before we can move forward with things like figuring out his new diet, and if/when he can have turn out again. I just finally heard back from the local vet that he can't come until NEXT THURSDAY! Unacceptable. So I'm trying to see if the less local vet can get here sooner. The horse needs to get out. He's been such a good patient, but he's really bored, and not super happy with life right now. Not to mention, I'm still icing his legs regularly, which means I haven't had more than a six hour night sleep in close to three weeks. I'm also not sure how much longer I can get away with taking an hour and a half lunch away from work.
See? I told you there were some feels. Nostalgia, envy, disappointment, frustration. UGH. Fortunately, there's also some happy and relief that Jampy is feeling a lot better. And in time, I'll get to ride again. A good friend offered to let me sit on her horse this weekend, so hopefully we'll make that happen. In the meantime, I'll be hanging out with my old men waiting for the vet to come out.

Thursday's Threads

Outfit Day! Sorry I skipped Thursday's Threads last week, but I was working from home and practically in my jammies. But I'm back with a work outfit this week! Might be awhile before I have a riding outfit to share again unfortunately.

It's another cool and rainy day here in CT. We're hoping to hit 60. Ugh. I need some sunshine in my life! And my horses would really like to not have to wear sheets again. On the bright side, when it's cool out, Jamp's ice boots stay cold longer. So there's that I guess.

Sweater: Ralph Lauren

This sweater is perfect on these weird in between season type days. It's cotton, so it's lightweight, but still warm enough. I think the pink cord on the hood is really fun too.

Belt: Mane Jane

Nothing new here, but you all know by now how much I love my Mane Jane's!

Jeans: KUT from the Kloth

Over the weekend I brought my sweaters back upstairs for the season, and brought down my spring and summer clothes. So the frayed hem jeans are back in rotation!

Shoes: Aeropostale

I figured my kind of drab outfit needed a little sparkle so I grabbed these slip on sneakers. I like how the glitter has an ombre effect to it.

Arm Party!
Lefty:

Lefty is donning one of these vintage bracelets I love so much, along with my trusty apple watch.

Righty:

Righty decided to coordinate with the hood strings on my sweater. First is probably my most favorite bracelet I've gotten from Nicole's Creations. I love the beads and the fun spring colors! And the other is a bangle that I think came from Express several years ago.

And that's it for today! Maybe one of these days I'll get back to running and have a running outfit to share. I really need to do SOMETHING since I'm not riding. The handwalking is something I guess, but I really think I need a little more cardio in my life. Not want mind you. But need.

How's the weather by you? Have any fun new clothes in your life? Or a new favorite riding outfit?