What's Up Wednesday

 

Not a whole lot to report on this week. Things are going well for everyone. Al seems to have recovered from whatever his latest ailment was. (I still think he was being sensitive to that dermatitis he has.) And Eros, too, seems to be feeling better finally. 

I was reluctant to let Eros have a free lunge because he wasn't feeling his best, but he was getting pretty wild, so I finally caved and let him go play on his own. (He turns out in the ring every morning, but he apparently wanted my permission to go play I guess? I don't chase, him, just give a cluck and if he wants to play he does. If he doesn't, I don't force it.) Anyway, he bucked a whole bunch. Like big, back cracking bronco bucks. Which he doesn't do very often. I think he needed to give himself an adjustment because he's felt a lot better ever since. I still want him to see the vet, but I'm feeling less worried than I was before. I'm still not sure when Doc will get out here, but we're on his scheduler's list at least. Al is hanging out at the boarding barn a few more days because I think I can get him seen Friday that way. Fingers crossed. 

We've been watching the Devon livestream together.
E was zero percent impressed by the junior hunters, but I thought they were lovely.

I haven't jumped E yet this week, so no fun new media of him, but we did pop over some of the teeny jumps you saw last week on Saturday and he was great. I'm planning to jump him and Shiny tomorrow though, and I will make sure to have Pivo all charged up!

Shiny hasn't jumped this week yet either. She may tomorrow, but we're being a little cautious as I somehow managed to pinch her skin in our short girth when we were riding with the bareback pad on Sunday. She has a pretty good little rub. The regular girth doesn't sit on it, but I do think the rub hits the girth when she's in motion. I didn't notice further irritation after our light ride today, so hopefully we'll be okay to do more tomorrow. But I don't want her uncomfortable. If anyone knows where I can find a sheepskin short girth in 16" that isn't $200, please shoot me a link!

Okay, I know this photo is confusing. I was trying to show what she does to me every Sunday... You see, I get on in the barn for bareback day. And she has only a side pull on for her bridle remember... And EVERY TIME without fail, she steps down out of the barn with her front feet, and throws her head down to eat the weeds growing between the barn and the ring. It's a decent size step down too, I'd say about six inches, so this is ridiculously awkward. Ponies... 

She also likes to visit with Eros on our way back in from bareback day.

Of course, if he does that to her, she kicks the wall and squeals. I'm telling you. Ponies! She's too much.

Al's been great! I didn't end up doing a weekend lesson as there wasn't anything to fit into and I didn't really want a private. But we did the flat lesson yesterday ( SO MUCH no stirrups!) and our jumping lesson today. I finally braved up and jumped sans draw reins and he felt so good! He only spooked once, so that was a positive too. 

Not one of the big fences,

A couple of the fences were pretty big at the end too, which was really fun. This horse is pretty scopey and I rarely feel him actually try over anything. But today, one of the verticals was pretty tall. I think it was 1.2m, but may have only been 1.15m. I'm a terrible judge. Regardless, I actually felt him give a little effort, and it was very exciting. One of the other adults videoed the last bending line of my last course, so I have a short bit of media. The first two fences were small, but the last one was pretty tall. 

It's amazing to me how different this horse is summer versus winter. I really thought I had ruined him last winter. I could barely ride him, and was mildly terrified for most of our rides. But now, here we are jumping tricky courses over decently sized jumps and it's like the winter never happened. I'm a little nervous he might regress a little when he moves back home, but fingers crossed that doesn't happen. Our other trainer should be home right around the same time he gets back, so we should have help if we need it. He will probably get back early next week. Or maybe this weekend. I have no idea since I still have no truck! Still waiting on that stupid glass. 

In other news, my pool isn't quite open yet, but I have lined up a new crew to get it going and keep it maintained this summer, so fingers crossed that goes more smoothly. While I wait for the new guys to come out (I'm about two weeks out on their list) I have gotten it refilled and poured a bunch of shock in to start clearing it up. Since the pump and filter aren't running yet, it's still gross, but it's significantly less gross than it started!

Current Status...

And I took a half hour on Monday to sit next to and attempt to tan my ghostly legs.

I also got to enjoy my first lobster roll of the season, which is like the biggest holiday I celebrate honestly.

And that's about it from here! How's your week going?

Truthful Tuesday

 

Hi!!!! This is Al! (AL as in Casual, the horse.) This is me in case you forgot:

Mom said I should have used one of Aunty Chelsea's fancy photos, but this one looks more like me on the regular. So yeah, it's me, AL, and I have a truth story to share today. I'm REALLY proud of it too!

Okay, so you know those things that they put on my halter when they want to brush me and put my saddle on and stuff? They're like lead ropes, but they're stuck to the wall? You know those things, right?

(Stacie here... he means crossties.) 

So yeah. Those things, they have clips on them to hook to my halter, right? They're really easy for mom to use and the other humans too. But horses? Horses can't really work them. At least MOST horses can't. But you know who IS able to work them?! That's right! ME! AL! I can take them off whenever I want. Mom thinks it's funny. Sometimes I do it, but then I hold the clip in my mouth so she doesn't realize I'm not tied up anymore. It's so funny! 

I don't yet know how to put them back on. If I can figure that out, I'll be the smartest horse EVER! Can any of your horses take off the wall ropes? 

That's my truth story for today! I'm so proud of me! I know mom hasn't been sharing as much about me lately, but I'll be home pretty soon, so expect more stories about me, AL!, soon.

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day! My favorite day! We went with pastels today, though I must admit that I later kind of ruined these breeches when I was pouring shock in the pool and it splashed back at me... Now they're kind of tie dye... Oops. This is why I shouldn't have nice things. Good thing I got the breeches second hand! 

Anyway... Shiny modeled for us today and she's wearing an outfit that I haven't shared with all of you yet, though we've had it awhile. I'm not sure why I never used this stuff for Thursday's threads last year. But better late than never! Here's what she had on:

She looks so cute in minty green! (An aside: Her legs and butt are SUPER dark this year, I think she's trying to be a chocolate palomino, I swear it's not dirt! Before owning a Palomino I had no idea how much they change color.)

Bridle: Joseph Sterling

Browband: Dark Jewel Designs

Her butt might be super dark, but her eyes very light. Pretty lady!

Saddle: Custom Saddlery
Saddle Pad: Eskadron

These evo-wool pads are really quite nice. The "wool" is synthetic, so not AS nice as like a Mattes pad, but it's very plushy and Shiny seems just as happy with this as she does with the fancy ones. It also has some silicone grip under the saddle area which is nice for added security. Especially when you ride a wine barrel with legs. The color of this pad is a minty green, but it tends to photography more gray. Same with the boots below.

Boots: Eskadron

You already know that I really love the Eskadron boots because they're one of the few brands that actually fit Shiny. These are "glitter mesh" so the part that's not the strike pad is meshy with sparkles. They're nice for summer too because the evo-wool is just around the edges and the actual lining is mesh so they aren't too hot. 

That's what Shiny was wearing, and here's what I had on:

All the pastels! 

Helmet: One K

I'm not sure if I've told you guys, but I had to retire my pastel helmet as it reached its expiration date. So instead, I went with the green and gold One K. The green isn't a pastel, but whatever. Close enough.

Top: The Tack Hack

So this shirt is almost an identical match to the saddle pad and Shiny's boots. I also can't capture the color accurately. These shirts from The Tack Hack are meant to be just like the TKEQ ones, but in reality are literally the ones you can get on Amazon. Which to be honest, I'm also pretty certain are the same as TKEQ. I have a couple from them, and they're identical. I bought this one from The Tack Hack when they were having their moving sale as it was actually less than the Amazon version in that sale. I really love the color too.

Belt: Tory Burch

I snagged this gold TB belt at the outlet in Florida several years ago now... Like at least five? I'm not sure exactly. But it's still in great shape, and I thought it looked pretty with the pastel outfit.

Breeches: Tailored Sportsman "Mixed Berry"

Well... this is the last time you'll see them looking quite like this... Haha! Oops. Anyway. I snagged this pair from Poshmark along with the brown pair. Both are a little stretched out and nearing the end of their lifespan. Which makes the bleach incident slightly less sad. 

Boots: Celeris UK

These are the Celeris boots that came to me practically white instead of mint green. But I found some mint green polish on the interwebs and darkened then up. I love how they came out! They aren't quite the same shade as the shirt and Shiny's outfit, but matching mints is pretty tricky. So, like I've said before... CLOSE ENOUGH! Also, these boots are nowhere near broken in and I should have wet them before riding today. I need to wear them more. 

And that's it from today! Any favorites? Anything you all are waiting to see again? Or suggestions for future outfits? What do you all want to see??

What's Up Wednesday

 

So last week, as I mentioned, Al just had the one lesson, on Thursday. It went well, and he was a very good boy. So I was pretty excited for today's lesson since head trainer was back this week. Unfortunately, Al came out a little funny today. So I didn't end up jumping. I don't think it's anything major, and in fact it might still be that "wound" we've been dealing with forever. I keep getting it almost cleared up, but can't quite get it done all the way. And I *think* that's what is bugging him. But I'm not positive. I have him on the vet list now, but of course, the vet was just out yesterday. So it might be a bit of a wait until I can get him back out. Hopefully Al will feel better before then. 

I do think it's possible it's time to start hock injections for Al. Which also may be what I'm feeling. The last time Al saw the vet, he said we should think about doing the hocks soon, but that he didn't need them just yet at that point. (This was early in the winter. Maybe January-ish.) Al jumped a lot of big fences before he came here, so it's not surprising that he'll need maintenance sooner than later. Plus, suddenly, this weekend, the counter canter broke tracking to the right (so cantering left lead, going to the right). It's always been the harder lead for him, but he's never not done it. Sunday, at first he would pick it up, but then either break or swap when we'd get to the turn. The more I tried, the less willing he was to even pick it up. I didn't fight for it much Sunday, figuring it might be a battle for a different day. So I tried it again Tuesday. And he wouldn't even pick it up. I got him to at least pick it up and canter part way down a straight side and then shelved it for a lesson day. I was feeling pretty sure the problem was likely me, so it might be best worked on with some supervision. Today in the lesson, we tried it again, and again he didn't want any part of it. Due to him coming out not so great, we did the same thing, got a few straight strides of it and let it be. It's very possible this counter lead problem and the mild unsoundness are related. 

Also, before anyone gets worked up that I was working a lame horse, I needed to get him unlocked and moving forward before we could really assess if something wasn't right. And the more he worked the better he felt, so I don't think it hurt him any. I don't see any real swelling or heat anywhere, so I don't think this is the type of problem that light work will make worse. Hopefully I'm not wrong in that assessment. 

I've been using the silver/honey ointment on the "wound". (I don't know what to call it, it was dermatitis, but now it's just like.... I dunno... a scab? A scar? It's not actively infected anymore, he's not stocking up from it anymore, but it's always either kind of a hard scab or it's like a sore.) I had been using Krudzapper which worked great to a point, but then it seemed like I needed to dry it out more, so I switched to the silver/honey stuff. I thought that was finally going to clear this thing up, but then today happened. So tonight, I went back to the Krudzapper. We'll see what we have tomorrow. Horsing ain't easy guys!

So anyway, that's what's up with Al. Things at home are pretty good though! Shiny is loosening up some in her neck via lots of hard work. So today I let her jump some fences. 

I kept everything under 2' except for the one little box because I can't put a rail lower than that on top of it. I wasn't planning on even jumping that one, but she was having fun and seemed to be having a great time, so I let her. And uh... there were some antics. 

You see, she was going a little too slow on the way to it, which isn't ideal... And I had this feeling she was going to cut down with her back end a little early. Which is exactly what she did. But Shiny has big feelings about having rails down. I was ready for the scoot and buck like she sometimes does when she has a rail, but instead I got a scoot and a leap. Probably because I grabbed her face when she scooted. My bad. But also, don't do that and I won't grab you! It only lasted about a stride and a half. I had to get off to fix the fence, but then we jumped it again with zero drama. So I let her finish there. She is fun to jump around once the motor gets running. 

Eros is feeling more or less the same. He comes out stiff, and then gets mostly better. But I still want doc out to check him. I was trying to wait for Al to get home to schedule, because I have a better chance of getting him here if I have more horses for him to look at. I'm going to call Monday anyway to get on the vet's list and then however many horses are here when he can come is how many he'll see. Al should be home in about a week anyway. I let E pop over a few teeny jumps today because he does thoroughly enjoy it, and I didn't think they'd do any harm. He actually felt better at the trot after we jumped than he did before, so I'm confident there's no harm done. I iced him after anyway just to be safe. 

OH! But he did almost spook me off before we started...

That was a close one.

The weeds on the other side of the fence have gotten to the height that Eros thinks is terrifying. He's a perfect boy, but not always the brightest. At least he didn't drop me! Anyway, back to the lil jumps. He was perfect, and really seemed to be enjoying himself. We didn't do much, just popped over each fence once or twice. He was ridable and happy so that was lovely. Being in the smaller ring tends to keep the torpedo in check. Not always. But often. 

That's really about it happening here. Things aren't perfect, but they're okay. And really, that's not so bad at all. I feel pretty confident that everyone's creakiness will be patched up pretty easily once the vet comes out. So staying positive! 

Hope all is well with you guys! Are you getting to go on some adventures with your horses? Any shows or clinics? Or fun trail rides? 

Truthful Tuesday

 

Today's confession is that for dessert tonight I'm just eating Nutella out of the jar with a spoon. Like an animal. I considered eating it on a banana. But my level of lazy at the moment is so great, that seemed like way too much effort. (I rode five horses today. I'm POOPED!) So I here I sit, shoveling Nutella into my face like a wild rodent. #noregrets

Do any of you have anything pressing you need to confess this week? Tell me all about it in the comments!

Thursday's Threads: Glitter and Glamour edition

 

Got some new stuff to share today... And by new, I mean I bought it all many months ago, but have been waiting to get home to use it all! I'm still sticking with a green theme this week, but there's plenty of glitz and glamour too. Eros is our model this week, and here's what he wore:

Um... also, we have to do a little work on that dad bod... I swear, this horse gains weight just thinking about food. (I can relate.)

Bridle: Ponyo

The glitter bridles aren't new, you all saw them last summer too. But they were the perfect choice with the rest of this outfit! If anyone is curious, these bridles are synthetic, not leather, and are definitely not as lovely as a high end leather bridle. But they are still super fun and the horses don't seem to find them uncomfortable. 

Saddle: Butet
Saddle Pad: CanTack

Half Pad: Mattes

I saw this set on the Instagram, and initially it was shown along with some LV pads that I almost bought instead. But this one with the G's was more inline with my usual color scheme, so I got them instead. And I'm glad I did! The pads are very nice and fit my saddles well. 

Boots: CanTack

The boots are super cute too. 

That's what Eros had on, and here's what I wore:

This olive outfit matched the trim on the pad pretty nicely.

Helmet: Horze

This helmet isn't all that comfortable for me. It's not exactly too small... but it kind of is? I think the problem is that it's pretty round and my head is more oval. But if I keep my hair down, it gets the job done well enough. Plus it's GREEN and has GLITTER on it, which is not easy to find. So I'm hanging on to it.

Shirt: Luyaa

This is one of those Amazon shirts that is a knock of the Lululemon tops. I also fully believe they must be made in the same factory as the TKEQ ones. They are identical. But these are $23. 

Belt: Mane Jane

I went with the olive Mane Jane strap, but in retrospect, I should have worn a Gucci belt to match the pad. That just means I'll have to do another outfit with this pad set in the future!

Breeches: Ariat

These breeches are insanely old. Like easily could be close to ten years old I think. Nothing special about them, but they are comfortable and seem to be holding up quite well. 

Boots: Cavallo

New custom boots are no longer really in my budget these days. But these aren't customs, so I found a way to get them... Cavallo introduced this "Nature" line of boots this past winter. They are water resistant leather and came in this dark olive color, so I REALLY was interested in then. Hufglocken was carrying them with an introductory price that was tempting, but still higher than I really should be spending. (I think around $400.) But THEN, they had a 30% off code for the entire website, and these boots were included. So I wound up getting them for $290 with free shipping from Australia. Now that I could get behind! And here they are! They have a huge range of sizes, so these fit like a custom boot. I've ridden in then two days now and they are already pretty comfortable. If you're in the market for a bad weather boot, I highly recommend these. They are available in black, navy, and brown as well. 

And that's it for today! Any favorites? Impressed with Eros' dad bod? You should be, he's worked hard for that all winter.

What's Up Wednesday

 

Things are actually a little quiet here this week. Most of the boarders at the other barn are away at a horse show so both the head trainer and the assistant are at the show. So this week, Al will only have one lesson (tomorrow) with a guest instructor who we've ridden with a few times over the winter. She give a good lesson so I'm looking forward to it!

We did have both lessons last week with the assistant trainer. So we didn't jump as high as with head trainer, but we worked on some fun things, and Al was great! The second lesson was Friday, and it was hotter than we're used to, (85 degrees, which isn't crazy hot, but it's been in the 60's and low 70's here, so it was a shock to the system) so we actually quit a little early. Al is what I call a delayed sweater. It's not that he doesn't sweat, but he tends to wait until he's finished working to really let it all out. So he gets out of breath, and struggles a bit until the sweating starts. We did jump a few courses though, and he was great. A little lazy and not super excited about going forward.... but he did all the things and wasn't spooky. So I'll take it. Tomorrow should be more comfortable temperature wise, so I imagine it will be an easier time for him. 

I haven't really jumped the horses at home yet. They both were really long in the foot so I wanted to wait for the farrier to come. (He came Sunday morning, phew!) 

Eros just hasn't been feeling the best, ever since his shots. I was hoping getting his feet done would help, but it hasn't really. So I think we're probably going to schedule the vet to come out. I really think the problem is in his neck, not his legs/feet, but who really knows? He's not exactly lame, he's just not feeling his best. I may let him pop over some cavalletti height things this week just to see if that helps. Oddly enough, sometimes jumping makes him feel better. Usually it's when we're stuck in the loop of lame or lazy and the answer is probably lazy. So I'm not sure if that will help here... but cavalletti height isn't going to break him if something is brewing so it might be a good test. We shall see. I'll let him tell me what he wants. 

Shiny's been good though! I have both horses doing a couple tubes of ulcer guard (I like to do that when we move, just in case) and I'm now wondering if all the kicking out all winter was due to tummy trouble. She hasn't kicked out at my leg nor the canter transitions yet since we've been home. Imagine that? She's still lazy and often ignores my leg... but she's not getting mad about it, so that's something. I was actually hoping to jump her today, but we had crazy wind here and everything kept blowing over. Not the best day to jump if we don't have to. I'll probably pop her over some stuff on Friday instead. 

I also want her to see the vet whenever we're able to get him out. That shockwave treatment we did was amazing for her, but two weeks after it she got her shots and she's been locked up ever since on the left side. Next time she's getting vaccines in her bum! I'd like to shockwave her again and see if we can't get her feeling looser. 

I'm going to charge up the Pivo so hopefully I'll have some more fun media soon. This blog is pretty boring without photos and videos! 

Hope you're all having a great week!

Truthful Tuesday

 

Today's confession? Old habits die hard... Lately, I've been staying up much too late and then struggling to get up in the morning. There is not any good reason to stay up late either. With the writers strike going on, the late night shows are all in reruns. (I do love me a good late night talk show...) But it seems like I get a second wind right around what should be bedtime and then I just stay up. I guess the trick might be to go to bed early and avoid that. But I dunno. Often if I go to bed too early, I just wake up in the middle of the night ready to go. So that's not what I'm after either... As a younger person, I was definitely more of a night owl than a morning person. And that hasn't changed with old age apparently. But when I was young, I didn't require that much sleep. Now as an older person though? I actually have to eat right and get ample rest. Ridiculous. 

I think this falling into old habits is the result of my late night braiding a few weekends ago. It's so easy to mess with your circadian rhythm, but not so easy to set it back on track. I don't know how people with rotating shifts manage this!

Anyone else? Do you also have terrible sleeping habits? Or are you one of those people who just falls asleep on time and wakes up bright eyed and bushy tailed? 

Thursday's Threads

 

Finally! It's the first edition of Thursday's Threads from home this season! I thought the choice of theme was obvious. I had to go with the farm logo, clearly. Shiny is our model today, and here's what she wore:

Bridle: Pinnacle
Browband: Boy O'Boy Bridleworks

Today is also Shiny's gotcha day! She's been a member of the Winthrop Corner family for four years now! Can you believe it? Time sure does fly. 

Saddle: Custom Saddlery
Saddle Pad: Equine Star

Sheepskin under pad: Eskadron

Admittedly, these pads don't fit this saddle all that well. But look how pretty! It did the job anyway.

Boots: Equine Star

I think these are my favorite boots from Equine Star so far. I love that they did tan straps on them. (I didn't specify when I ordered, so that was a nice surprise.)

That's what Shiny had on, and here's what I wore:

All the logos! Logos everywhere! But like... classily. 

Helmet: One K CCS MIPS wide brim

I found the shiny gold front shield and rails last fall, but I can't remember if I've shared them here or not yet. I'm definitely here for it though. Expect to see a lot of this combo this summer. 

Sunshirt: It's a Haggerty's

I've had this top for a few years now. Still love it! It's a Haggerty's makes really comfortable shirts. Very light weight and fully customizable. 

Belt: Zazzle

These Zazzle belts are really fun to design and are fairly inexpensive. They are usually $32, but Zazzle frequently has great sales, so you can usually get one for around $25 or sometimes even less. They are reversible too, so you can have two fun designs for one price. The reverse of this one just has the farm name with a logo on either end. 

Breeches: Tailored Sportsman

You've seen these brown TS before. I found them secondhand on Poshmark for super cheap, but they are pretty stretched out and approaching the end of their lifespan. No holes yet though, so I'll keep them going a little longer!

Boots: Fama-4-All

I haven't worn these in FOREVER. And I think there's a reason. I mean, they are the coolest pair of boots I own for sure. I mean, my logo is on them and looks amazing. But, they aren't very comfortable in the foot/ankle and the calf is ridiculously too big on me now. So I'm considering retiring these. I'll keep them forever, because look at them! But I'm not sure I'll ride in them anymore. Perhaps they'll become decor in my house. We'll see. 

So that's it for today! Any favorite items from today? Anything specific you're looking forward to seeing now that I have horses back at home?