Thursday, December 29, 2022

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day! No horsey clothes today but I rarely share non horsey clothes anymore so it's kind of a treat? I didn't realize when I packed however, all my summery clothes are a little too big. It's all good though, makes it more comfy for all the sitting around I'm doing in them. 

Here's what I have on today:

Comfy stuff, right? We're not doing anything fancy on this trip which is a-okay with me! 

Top: Rose & Olive
I love the details on this top. It's almost like macrame, with little brass beads in it. 

Belt: Tory Burch


Yesterday's big outing was to the fancy outlet mall and I got this cute Tory Burch belt. (And a purse...) It was my first time shopping at actual stores since before the pandemic! (Liquor and tack stores aside.) I really didn't get much otherwise, things were pretty picked over from the holidays I think. 

Pants: 1822 Denim
These are probably horribly out of style. I have no idea when or where I got them... But they're very comfy and perfect for the weather here this week. 

Shoes: Yellow Box

No shoes on the boat, but should I decide to leave it today, I'll wear these flip flops. 

And that's it for today! Change of pace from the norm, clearly. 


Wednesday, December 28, 2022

What's Up Wednesday

 


The weather was crazy this week. We had rain and temps in the 50's but it dropped down to the single digits that same night. Gross. Ice everywhere. Despite that craziness, the horses have been mostly good. 

Shiny skipped her lesson this week. She got trimmed a hair too short and was feeling a little sore on her tootsies and I didn't think she needed to jump on sore toes. She didn't mind the break. I still kept her flatting lightly, and by the weekend she was feeling much better. 

Al also wound up skipping his lesson this week. After his free lunge Thursday morning, he was feeling a little sore behind. It's not the first time this has happened. He very much enjoys his free lunges but does not pay attention to his own feet. Sometimes he winds up whacking himself and then feels sore after. He's not the most stoic horse I've ever had either so he makes it very well known when he has a booboo. So we just observed the lesson we were supposed to be participating in. He's already feeling mostly better thankfully. Our vet will be out Friday this week, so if he has time, I'll have Al looked at just to be safe. 

Eros DID have his lesson, and he was wonderful as has been the norm lately. He was a touch fresh, but no torpedos, so that was nice. 

One of the things I enjoy most about the boarding barn is that they don't close for holidays. Staff gets Christmas off (other than feeding) but boarders are welcome. They even do potluck breakfast. This year, after breakfast we did an obstacle race bareback. Obviously, I chose Shiny for this particular shenanigan. We had to trot through (as in parallel to) some poles on the ground, trot over a little crossrail, canter a circle around some cones, grab a Santa hat from a standard, canter through a line of poles, then open and close a "gate" (a lead rope clipped to a standard that we had to unclip, walk through then re-clip, much easier said than done), then finally gallop through a set of standards that acted as your finish line. There were about ten of us participating and it took about 2-6 minutes a piece (depending on how the "gate" went mostly). Shiny went last, and I thought for sure I'd struggle to get her moving. But I gotta tell you. I think games is Shiny's calling in life. She was PUMPED! We only lost because of my lack of hand/eye coordination. I missed the Santa hat like three times. It took her a bit of time to figure out her role at the "gate" but I do think we were one of the fastest through that particular obstacle. We finished in fourth. Someone video'd but I don't have it yet, otherwise I'd have shared. It was super fun. You'll have to take my word for it. Afterwards I rode Eros bareback and decided to just handwalk Al since by then everyone had gone and he still wasn't quite 100% the day before. Figured a little break wouldn't hurt him. 

As mentioned yesterday, I'm in Florida for this week, so the horses are having training rides and/or hacks from whoever is a capable match for them. I got a video of Al yesterday in which he looked pretty good. Maybe a little stifle-y but that's kind of how he goes. He's definitely got some weird stifle action, probably from all the breeding he did before he came here. I may go down south and visit my horsey friends tomorrow morning. I have to see who's around. 

Florida has been fun so far. The day we arrived was a quiet one in which we just hung around the boat. (We're still staying on it despite not going anyplace.) Yesterday, our first full day, the kids went to the pool, and pretended I knew how to hit golf balls with my dad and stepmom at the driving range. They actually do know what they're doing. I do not, but I managed a few times to hit the ball straight and with some air. Lol. I'm really terrible at golf. It's fun though!

The boat is docked in one of those developments that Florida is known for. They're like mini towns. My dad and stepmom own a small house in the same development so that they can have access to all the amenities. There are multiple golf courses, a couple restaurants, a playground, pools, etc. So it's like staying at a resort. For this holiday week, they have all kinds of events planned. Last night was Carnival night, and they legit brought in a full carnival just for the evening. Games, rides, all the food... It was pretty impressive. The kids had a blast, and honestly, us grown ups did too. I'm still full this morning from all the donuts I ate. 

My brother and I each won these purple ponies
for the girls at the water gun game. I think the 
one on the left is a mare.

These guys looked even cooler when it got dark out.

Literally all of this was brought in for a single night.

Tonight there will be retro arcade games and ice skating. I think it's that fake ice skating with the plastic sheets, but it sounds fun either way. I'm about as good on ice skates as I am at the driving range, so I imagine hilarity will ensue. Will report back on that. Lol!

That's it from here! How was your holiday weekend? Are you still off, or do you have to work in between xmas and New Years?

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Truthful Tuesday

I don't have much to confess today really... The holidays are mostly over (just New Year's left) and I'm down here in not so sunny Florida for a few days. The original plan was the Bahamas like last year with my family, but the boat broke. The best laid plans and all that, right? Lol! Florida is a solid second choice though if you ask me. It's cool here right now, in the 50's, but should warm up soon. Still much more pleasant than the 15 degree high that I left at home!

I'm not sure if I'll get to visit my horsey friends this trip. We're still staying on the boat, and we don't have extra cars here for us to each do our own thing. We'll se though. I'm here until Sunday. 

Did you all have a nice holiday season? Get any fun new horsey stuff? 
 

Thursday, December 22, 2022

Thursday's Threads: Chanukah Edition

 

Outfit Day! And we have a few pro photos for this one, so it's a real Chanukah miracle! (Big thanks to Chelsea Lothrop Photography for taking and letting me use these photos!) Eros is our model this week, and here's what we wore:

Ugh, blogger kind of kills photo quality. You should see these photos on my phone. Much crisper. But you get the idea. Yes, these photos were from our photoshoot earlier in the week, hence us wearing a number not at a horse show. Also, this is going to be part of night 8 for my 8 days of sweaters, so uh... act surprised if/when you see it on the socials.

Bridle: Joseph Sterling
Browband: made by me
Bonnet: Hooftrack Designs
Menorah Headband: unbranded
Unicorn Pin: Pinsnickety

Eros is such a good sport. He still manages to look ridiculously handsome despite wearing a silly outfit.

Saddle: Butet
Saddle Pad: Equine Star
Half Pad: Mattes
I love how this set came out. You saw it last year, so it's not new, but since it's only used annually, it feels like it's new. 

Boots: Equine Star

The boots though, right? I know. I can't handle it either.

That's what Eros was wearing, and here's what I had on:
Normally I would have worn navy or blue breeches with this outfit, but since I also had to wear six other outfits, I went with black. They worked with all the outfits. 

Helmet: One K CCS MIPS Widebrim
Probably the cutest helmet pic I'll ever share here.

Hoodie: Artscow
This is the exact same print that I used for the pad and boots. Artscow is a chinese company that lets you design your own stuff. They don't do horse things, but they do all kinds of clothing and bags.

Belt: Zazzle
I didn't do a belt with this print... but maybe I will next year! Instead, I have this one with ugly Chanukah sweaters.

Breeches: Dover Wellesley
You all know already that these are my go to breeches for the cooler months. They aren't as warm as actual winter breeches, but they're considerably warmer than Tailored Sportsman. 

Socks: Dreamers and Schemers
I think I've shared these already, but they're so cute, I figured I'd share again. I wish it was cheaper to design your own socks... I'd have so many! Maybe next year I'll do some Chanukah socks.

Boots: Celeris 
I could't resist using this photo for the boots. It's so artsy! These are my sample boots from Germany. I don't think I love that they are stiff dressage boots. But it's not bothersome either. Just less comfortable than the soft boots I'm used to. 

That's it for this week. Any favorites from today? Do you have a fun holiday outfit planned to ride in? 

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

What's Up Wednesday

 

Not sure where the weeks go these days. But I hope the winter ones keep going quickly! Things are going well in these parts. Getting lots of saddle time in that's for sure! I even got to ride a small pony last week! Which was pretty hilarious and probably the most fun I've had on a horse all year. I've wrapped all the presents and even distributed the vast majority of them already. We had our family Chanukah party on Sunday evening which was a lovely time. My mom made a delicious dinner, and once we ate, we all opened gifts. (My mom, me, my brother, and his family.) 

Oh and I wore this:
I wonder if I'll ever meet anyone as weird as me? 

But you're not here for my antics, you're here for the horses! Let's start with Al. He's the most... interesting. So he's been spooky. He hates the indoor. This isn't new. Wednesday he had a training ride in which he was very spooky and trainer really got after him for it. We were hoping that by the end he might have decided that being afraid of the big doors is silly. Unfortunately, that's not what happened. Instead, he learned that when he's scared and wants to spook, he should also be extra tense and scooty. So not the lesson we'd hoped for. I had a lesson scheduled for Thursday afternoon with him. But he was feeling very electric and spooky during the warm up/flat portion of the lesson, and I opted out of trying to jump him. I just wasn't feeling it. I'd had a long (but super fun) day before that lesson, and I think my tank was just empty. (Lessons on both Shiny and Eros, and rode two additional ponies.) I'm not one to give up though! So we tried again with a lesson on Friday. It started off iffy with him still being a spooky idiot, but once we started jumping he settled into that job nicely and was his usual good boy. I swear he just wants to jump all the time, but that's good for him! I was really relieved to have a good jump school on him though after how the rest of the week had gone. He was pretty good for the rest of the weekend too. Though I'd be lying if I said I used the whole ring on Sunday... hey, some days we have to choose our battles. This week's been going okay with him. Instead of a training ride this week, we decided to try the lunge rig instead. So he did that today. I hopped on later in the day just to see how he'd be. He started out wanting to spook, but after a couple laps he used the full ring nicely. So I let him quit after 15 minutes of just walk/trotting since he'd worked so hard in the rig earlier. Tomorrow we lesson again. I'm hopeful he'll be a good boy!

Shiny's the next most interesting but for entirely different reasons. Her injections a couple of weeks ago did not have miraculous results like I'd hoped, but they did improve her somewhat at least. She was much happier in her jump lesson last week and while still cranky for the first canter depart each ride, she's more willing once we get past that. So I'll take that for now. 
Our body worker was here yesterday, and found Shiny to be improved from the last visit slightly, but still not quite her usual self. She was also concerned because she felt a slight digital pulse in both front feet. She's standing squarely on both, and there's no excessive heat, so we don't think she's foundering, but she's obviously uncomfortable. She was trimmed on Monday, so our current hypothesis is that perhaps she was trimmed just a touch too short this time. She doesn't feel bad to ride, but I opted to skip our lesson tomorrow. She doesn't need to be jumping on sore feet. So, is a small part of me worried that she's foundering from her injections? I'd be lying if I said no. But I really don't think that's what's happening. For now, I'm just keeping a close eye on her and working her lightly as long as she feels okay. I ordered her a new hay pillow with smaller holes to try and slow down her hay consumption more too. I'm sure she'll be just fine, but I'd really like to get her back to feeling like herself. I'm starting to think she just has a tough time during the colder months. We always seem to struggle in the winter time. 

Photo credit to Chelsea Lothrop Photography
Also note: he really is a wide load. 

And then there's Perfect Eros. He's been great. Like really great. He's feeling good and has not been a torpedo in our lessons, despite my asking him not once, but TWICE for a long spot on the diagonal. (His favorite place to torpedo!) Last week, he even jumped a bending line MULTIPLE TIMES without taking out strides. What a star. So proud. Do we free lunge on lesson days? Yep, sure do! But does it help? Also yes. 
He had a fun and busy day yesterday. We are helping out our friends at Pinsnickety with some marketing material. So our favorite photographer friend Chelsea Lothrop came by and we did some modeling. Six or seven outfits later (I lost count) it was a long day, but so fun! Look for us on the Pinsnickety Instagram in the coming weeks and months!

I think that's about it from here. Did you all have a good week/weekend? How are your horses? Looks like some crazy weather happening all over the country in the next couple of days (rain and very high winds here followed by a deep freeze) so stay safe everyone!

Truthful Tuesday


 Heh… I guess the obvious confession here is that I forgot to write a post today… but I did remember eventually!

Anyway, my other confession is that despite being a full blooded Jew, I love me some Christmas light displays. I don’t put any up myself, other than my electric menorah in the window. But I do love to see what people do with their displays. And honestly? The tackier the better. Five vintage plastic Santas? Yes please! Oh you own every inflatable ever made? Put ‘em all up! 

Colored lights or white? Depends on the venue. Classy establishment = white lights. Anywhere else? Whatever you want! I love it all! 

There’s a house up the road from me that really goes all out. It’s absolutely way too much, and none of it really makes sense together. But you know what? It’s fabulous. I feel like every time I drive by I see something I’ve not noticed before. I hope they never stop. 

What about you? Do you drive around during the holiday season just to see the light displays? 

Thursday, December 15, 2022

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day! Blues again. But fear not! Chanukah and Christmas outfits are coming! Shiny is our model today and here's what she had on:

Bridle: Camelot RCS Gold

This bridle still looks lovely on Shiny. But I am itchy to replace it with something new. All in good time. If any of you would like it, it could be for sale (cob size)! (Would come with the matching browband, not the one pictured.)

Boots: Eskadron

I like these little boots for her. They're a great fit, which I've mentioned a million times can be tricky for Shiny. 

Saddle: Custom Saddlery
Saddle Pad: Mattes
I'm still a really big fan of these pads with the sheepskin attached. They wash up great, and have sat so nicely on all the horses, despite them all being very different shapes. I got them some new ones for this winter that have sheepskin along the edges as well. I'm hoping they'll help with the rubbing they all seem to experience once winter really sets in. Fingers crossed!

So that's what Shine had on, and here's what I wore this week:

I really need some sun... 

Yep all the blues! And the wool. Wool is the best.

Helmet: Samshield
Will I ever remember to take a new helmet photo? Hard to say. Probably not. Lol! The helmet still looks like this though, so it's an accurate representation. And I probably still look this tired too. Haha!

Sweater: Black Horse Equestrian
I've had this one for a few years now, and it was a great purchase. It still looks great despite the fact that I wash in the washer. It's not too scratchy for wool, and I love the colors. 

Belt: Sandy Duftler
Navy croc is always a fun choice for a belt.

Breeches: Tailored Sportsman
I think I like the tan patches best on TS breeches. I've had these awhile now and you've seen them plenty. I was able to snag them second hand from Second Round Equestrian after I sold my old ones that didn't fit anymore. 

Boots: Celeris UK
Yep, reusing this photo too. What can I say? I'm the worst. But again, the boots still like this. So you're not missing much. 


Wednesday, December 14, 2022

What's Up Wednesday

 

Well, I've had a good couple years of not getting sick, but I've finally caught some kind of crud. I think it's just a cold. Covid tests have been negative and I don't have a fever, so not likely the flu. But ugh. It started innocently enough with a sinus headache and a sore throat on Saturday. That all seemed to work itself out and I just felt a little run down. I thought I had kicked whatever it was! But alas... last night I was awoken by my sinuses being so miserable my teeth hurt. Yuck. So here I am now, all stuffy and cranky. Already looking forward to bedtime. I have three lessons tomorrow, so I'm hoping this is the "worse before it gets better" day. Anyway. Enough of my whining. 

I again have no media so enjoy these old photos from my favorite
photographer Chelsea Lothrop Photography

We finally got Shiny's bloodwork back and it wasn't terrible. Her leptin was high, which isn't great, but her non-fasting insulin was normal. So that's good and we were able to go ahead with some injections. We're still very careful about how much steroid we use in her, and opted to just do the hocks with that. We did coffins with Prostride. She had the weekend off and went back to work yesterday. I wish I could say she feels amazing since getting the work done which is what I was really hoping for... But so far, she doesn't feel much better. Sometimes it takes a few days for it to really take, and to be fair, it got really cold starting yesterday which I don't think is at all helpful. Otherwise she's fine though. Doing work, having mare feelings... You know, the normal stuff. Last week's lesson I cut short because she was tripping all over the place. Fingers crossed it goes better tomorrow.

Another photo from Chelsea Lothrop

Eros has been mostly perfect as usual. His jumping lesson last week went fantastically well. He even jumped around courses without being a torpedo. So proud! It was like having Summer Eros around. I really love Summer Eros. He was good for yesterday's flat lesson too. Today though? He was sassy. Gave the hairy eyeball to all kinds of imaginary monsters around the ring. He's scheduled for a free lunge tomorrow though, so hopefully the jump lesson won't be a mess. Time will tell!

Another Chelsea Masterpiece

And Al... Oh Al. Al's great! But you know, he's still 7. And somedays he's a very young seven. We had TWO jump lessons last week! Every time I get to jump him, I remember why I deal with his spooky shenanigans all the days I don't get to jump with him. He's just such a good dude to the fences! The crack seems to be doing okay without shoes, so hopefully we're still on the right path with that. 
I normally lesson him Fridays, but this week we're doing Thursday (hence three lessons tomorrow). He had a training ride today, in which he was not a very good boy. He's always extra spooky at the far end of the ring. It's not a new problem. He's afraid of the big doors at the end. When it's warm out, and those doors are open, he is mostly fine. But when they're closed, he's not cool with that. Trainer seemed very determined to fix it today and he got in some trouble for his persistence. By the end he was a lot better, and seemed somewhat more humble, but I don't have faith that it is cured. No fault of anyone, I just think it's a thing we'll always deal with there. No horse is perfect. As long as he keeps me on top of the saddle, I can deal with whatever. But like... it would be lovely it is cured! We'll see tomorrow. 

That's really about it from these parts. I've been keeping busy wrapping gifts and addressing holiday cards. Tonight I look forward to doing absolutely nothing and hoping I can kick this crud asap. How are you all holding up this holiday season with the trifecta of plagues going around? Staying healthy I hope!


Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Truthful Tuesday

 

I don't have too much to confess today. I don't recall doing anything particularly embarrassing this past week. It's really gotten cold here though, and I've been doing a LOT of whining about that. I'm trying to figure out how to wear three thousand layers, yet still be able to move. I fear it's going to be a long, cold winter. Send help.

I'm still watching way too much Below Deck. But in my defense, each time a season ends, one of the other locations starts a new one, so how do I get away? I don't. I just accept it and keep watching. Besides, it's cold here. Those sexy deckhands warm me up.

Anything you all need to confess today?

Thursday, December 8, 2022

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit day! I even remembered almost all of the photos this week! Not quite all... But close. Eros was our model this week and he's excited to show you our first Ogilvy baby pad. 

Bridle: Joseph Sterling
Browband: Boy O'Boy Bridleworks

I sold Eros' Camelot bridle right off his face the other day... And I also had a little taccident recently and found him a used Butet bridle to use if he ever shows. So I'm letting him use his former show bridle for everyday for right now. I really want to get them all the Brentwood bridle from Riviera Equisports for everyday, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet. Need to sell some more stuff first!

Saddle: Butet
Saddle Pad: Ogilvy
Half Pad: Mattes
I never really understood why everyone loved these baby pads so much. But I found these for $45 (after the conversion) at Sprucewood tack in Canada and decided to give them a try. Big fan. We may or may not have acquired a few more already. Pads often shift on Eros because he has a great big shoulder with tons of reach, but these stay put really nicely. 

Boots: Premier Equine
Gonna need to wash these soon... Lol. But they're still great. Big fan. Highly recommend.

That's what Eros wore today, and here's what I had on:
More blues! It's not as fun as all green everything, but at least blues are also pretty and fun too.

Helmet: Samshield
I said I remembered almost all of the photos. But not this one. Haha! I've been wearing the Samshield a lot because it's so fun and sparkly. And according to new research it's more safe than my MIPS helmets so I feel less anxious about wearing it. To be clear, I'm not knocking the new research, nor my MIPS helmets. It's new data. I'm here for it! I still think my helmets are relatively safe and will continue to wear them until the expire. I think MIPS is definitely better than no MIPS in certain crash situations which were not focused on by VT. I am hopeful the new research will bring some new, even safer helmet tech in the future though!

Sweatshirt: Unbranded
Bought this sweatshirt a couple years ago from the barn. It has the farm logo there on the chest and the farm name down the one sleeve which you can kinda see here. It's cute. They do a great job picking out fun swag for us to buy and wear. And we all know I'm a sucker for matching swag.

Belt: Zazzle
I had this belt made awhile back for spirit week, and still wear it now and then. I kind of want to make it over again a little differently. The lighter blue didn't really come out the right shade, and I'd like the logos to be a little bigger next time. This one is fine for now though.

Breeches: Tailored Sportsman "Aqualina"
This color is so fun! I snagged awhile back used, but barely used. Such a good find!

Boots: Celeris UK (Sample Boots)

Heh... yeah the other photo I didn't remember to take. This shot is pretty close to reality though!

That's it for today! Any favorites?