Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day! And we brought some fun color to today's post. Shiny is our model because I haven't worn these boots yet and she's least likely to take advantage of me in a fragile new boot state. #MVP 

Here's what we had on:

Turquoise! It turns out I need to source some additional pieces for this outfit... like some kind of turquoise brow band and maybe something to do with the helmet. One K doesn't have turquoise inserts which is pretty lame. But I'm sure I can craft something for next time. So let's consider this outfit a work in progress.

We'll start with Shiny's outfit:

Do you guys notice how much better she's standing? She's not camped under herself anymore. Must have been tough to support that belly she used to have. She looks a lot more like a quarter horse these days than welsh. 

Bridle: Joseph Sterling

Brow Band: Dark Jewel Designs

I figured the spike brow band was the best match for our turquoise look. Because it's pretty neutral as far as color goes.

Saddle: Custom Saddlery

Saddle Pad: Ogilvy
Half Pad: Le Mieux

I do have a half pad with gray fleece that might have worked a little better here, but it's not shimmable so won't work for Shiny until she gets a better fitting saddle. But the natural ones looks fine too. 

Boots: Punk Ponies

I thought I had silver boots for her, but turns out I only have horse sized in silver. So we went with the iridescent ones. They did the job.

So that's what Shiny is wearing this week, and here's what I had on:

The helmet definitely needs some turquoise. Next time.

Helmet: One K Avance CCS MIPS

I left the lavender inserts in out of laziness, but I do acknowledge it would have worked better if I just made it all gray. 

Shirt: Luyaa

Finally back to short sleeves weather! Yay! You all know I like these tops a lot. 

Belt: Mane Jane

My belt collection has become a jumbled mess (next rainy Monday project is to fix that) and while I would have preferred a gray belt with this look, I went with this one because it was accessible. The gray one is... hiding somewhere. 

Breeches: Tailored Sportsman

I've had these breeches awhile now, and they were such a find! Someone was selling them pretty cheaply on Marketplace and they are my favorite combo of mid rise, size zip, and boot sock. Best find!

Boots: Celeris UK

It's been years since I've designed any boots with Celeris which makes me really sad because I have a wish list. But I have been very lucky to score some samples the last few years. This pair wasn't a sample but rather a second. They had some kind of imperfection, but I've forgotten what it was and I don't really see anything glaringly wrong about them. They fit pretty perfectly though, so I'm happy! They're not my favorite design in that they zip inside and are reinforced. But I just loved the color so much I figured I'd cope. And they are fine! Definitely need more ride time because new boots are the worst, but the ankle is already softening up after one ride, so no complaints! Also, can you believe how exact the breeches color is to the boots? And the saddle pad is really close too. It's pretty impressive because it's easy to have shades like this not match at all. (Like the belt...) 

This was a fun one! Even if I didn't take it too far this time. I'm sure the next time it comes around it will be turned up a notch. 

What's Up Wednesday

 

Well. This week has been interesting thus far with the large dark horse I have... 

He's breathing like that from just hand walking slowly around the ring.

He's gone completely feral again. Stares out the window with bug eyes much of the day, couldn't even walk out to the ring without spooking. So being off the stomach meds is going swimmingly for him. Clearly. He's eating really well though, so that part is nice. 

At least he's nice to look at.

After two days of being nearly in tears whilst working with him I reached out to the vet. Because I have to tell you guys, I was spiraling hard that I am just a complete failure and should sell the farm and put all the horses in a training program somewhere else. Not even joking. I really was there. Because today, after doing ground work and hand walking Al for twenty minutes and him not settling, I clipped the lunge line to him and just had him do some transitions on a circle in an area of the ring he's not generally afraid of. Which he was more or less able to do. But still I only had about 45% of his attention. I felt good that he got some energy used up and did a little somewhat productive work. On the way back toward the barn we did practice a little more ground work, just to see if I could get his mind on me and off the terror of everything else. And just as I thought I'd made some progress, the effing neighbor did something, I have no idea what, that sounded similar to a metal tape measure snapping, you know that sound? But amplify it by like a million times. It was very loud. All the horses were upset. I got Al as settled as I could before walking him in, but man. Not how I wanted the day to finish for him. 

Photos from last week when we actually did a little riding.

Anyway, I sent a text to the vet, and just asked him, do you think this is just a behavioral problem and not medical at this point? And he said there's a possibility, but he's still convinced there's something else going on. Which is somewhat reassuring for my self esteem, but honestly, I'm not sure that I'm convinced. Maybe I did just really, royally screw this horse up. But I'm not one to admit defeat without a thorough check of the possibilities. Spiral into a deep depression and lose all faith in myself? Yes. Definitely those things. But not admit defeat. Ha. So anyway, rather than just keep on throwing stomach meds at him, we're going to scope this time and see what we're dealing with. I don't think that can happen until a week from Friday because doc is tied up with some family stuff this week. But we've suffered this long, we can suffer a little longer. I'm going to call his office in the morning to get us scheduled though. He also suggested a supplement we can try in the meantime that's supposed to be really great for anxiety. It's one of the Chinese herbs and while I'm very much pro western medicine, I've also had some great results with these herbs for various things. And whatever, I'll try anything. 

A rare moment looking pretty nice

So yeah. The lessons and animal communicator and vet stuff can't all happen soon enough. Because I'm a little bit coming undone. I'm going to do Al last tomorrow because he's really ruining my rides on whoever is number three lately. Which has been Eros the last couple of days. And I know he doesn't mind a little bit of a lighter ride, it's not helping him get stronger either. Plus, I really shouldn't let one bad apple ruin the whole fruit salad ya know? 

Speaking of Eros... I don't know if I'm imagining it, but I think he's starting to feel better already with the doxy on board. He's also been a little spooky, but nothing like his brother. (Thank goodness.) He's feeling stronger and he hasn't had a missed lead change in at least a week. Which normally he has one that's tricky for him. I even let him pop over a handful of baby sized jumps the other day and he felt good! A bit of a torpedo but that's to be expected. Lol! 

I'm not working him overly hard or for a very long time since he's on the meds and all. But just enough to keep him progressing and getting stronger. I'm so grateful for him. He really is my rock when my emotions get broken. 

Speaking of reliable rocks... Miss Shiny is also that. While she may not be perfect, she's the same pony every day. She comes out and trots the slowest trot any pony has ever offered and then goes to work. Every day. No surprises from her! Well, almost none. She is a living breathing pony mare after all! She is still a little lazy, but I mean, she is who she is. I'll take that over spooking and spinning any day. 

We only jumped one day last week, but she was so great! She's the only one I can jump courses on at the moment, so she's really stepped up to be kind of my main ride. Maybe I should just collect myself some ponies and give up on full sized horses. I seem to be less likely to screw up the smaller ones. Anyway, I continue to be really impressed with how much better she feels since dropping all that weight. She hardly ever trips anymore, and she's so supple on both sides. We still have to talk about the left shoulder at the start of every ride, but the conversation is a lot shorter than it used to be. I just think she feels a lot better. She still thinks I'm starving her though. She broke the crossties on my worker the other morning because she could see her hay net but couldn't reach it. She's rotten! But I can't blame a girl. Diets are hard. 

In other news, I went to a little party at the winter barn on Friday and it was so nice to see everyone! I can't get over the difference in atmosphere between this place and the old one. Like people are genuinely happy to see you. And I didn't feel all anxious on my way there. So nice. The clinician whom I lessoned with there is coming back in July, so hopefully Al will have turned a corner and we'll be able to ship over for that. We shall see!

That's about it from here. I hope summer is treating your horses better than it is Al! 

Truthful Tuesday

 

Thanks to all of you for the recommendations for communicators for Al! They are all apparently VERY busy, but I have an appointment scheduled for a week from Friday. Very much looking forward to it. I also have a trainer coming out on Tuesday to meet Al and hopefully get us started on the right path. Sometimes I just need to say things out loud to get the ball rolling. I truly believe we all have the power to turn things around, but sometimes it's hard to get started. So thanks for listening to my trauma dump last week. Things are in motion to get us to a better place. But none of that is my confession today. My confession is much worse... 

I think I've mentioned that I've been enjoying a little treat after doing barn chores on the weekends in the form of a breakfast sandwich delivered by Door Dash. I've also mentioned in the past how GrubHub would bring me Taco Bell. So clearly I have a bit of a problem with using delivery services for treats. I'm obviously not alone or there wouldn't be so many of them in business. I also think there's some novelty to it because I live in the country where these things weren't an option until very recently. 

I had to delete GrubHub off my phone though as they had become terribly unreliable. Like I'd place an order and then it would never get picked up. And they wouldn't want to refund me. Total BS. They also removed most of the options for places that would deliver to me. No good. And DoorDash doesn't have Taco Bell as an option for me either. I love Taco Bell. (Definitely one of today's confession, that stuff is nasty, I KNOW! But it's also delicious.) The closest one to me is about a half hour away though. So I don't ever go. The last time I physically went myself was back when Jampy passed. But just this weekend I found out that Uber Eats delivers to me too. And they offer Taco Bell! So that's today's confession. Not only did I get my egg sandwich delivered on Sunday, but Monday night I had Taco Bell delivered to me. I won't tell you how much it cost me. But it was worth every penny. I can't wait to get it again some times. Perhaps it will become a monthly treat.

Any of you have a disgusting fast food treat that you love? Are you lazy enough to get it delivered like me? As an aside... This isn't new for me. In college I lived across the street from Dominoes. For the most part I would go down and pick up my order, but every once in awhile I would have that delivered too. Some things never change!

Thursday's Threads: Throwback edition

 

Outfit Day! And I had a little fun this week. The outfit itself isn't terribly exciting, but putting it together was incredibly entertaining for me. I recently acquired a new pair of breeches in the color "Dirt Road". Which is exactly the same shade of vomit green that all the cool kids wore back in the late 90's and early 00's to show. Most of you might not recall, but fear not, I have photos! And you'll see them in this post as we get going, because this is a very special edition of Thursday's Threads. A first of it's kind even! Today I will be recreating an outfit reminiscent of outfits of my youth. I know you're excited. Eros is our model today because he's chestnut and I had a chestnut horse named Cosmo during this outfit's era. 

Here's what E and I had on this week:

It's an ACTION SHOT! Because we were attempting to recreate this photo:

I mean... it's similar... Ish. It's not easy to get hunter Eros to look like jumper Cosmo. But we made a solid effort.

Bridle: Winner's Special

I couldn't exactly match up bridles with the era because most all of mine now are either wide or padded or both. But I figured this clincher bridle was reminiscent of the time when many people used clincher browbands in the jumpers. Cosmo actually wore a thin hunter bridle (which was cool then!) with a flash as seen below:

Back then thin bridles were the thing to have. I probably still have some in my mom's garage, but I can't imagine they're safe to use as this point after sitting around for all these years.

Saddle: Butet
Half Pad: Mattes
Baby Pad: Smartpak

My saddle is much nicer than the one I had back in the day for Cosmo (sorry old buddy), and the half pads we used were these big thick wool ones from Beval. But I used a similar baby pad, even back in the old days. Cosmo's saddle was a Pessoa Jubilee and the baby pad was probably Franconia.

Boots: Heidi

I no longer have the open front bell boots Cosmo is donning in his show photos, and while I DO have some similar leather show boots in my trailer, I thought it would be more fun to use an actual vintage pair of boots for Eros this week. These Heidi boots were for my horse Bud that I had in high school. They sure don't make things like this anymore! They are at least 28 years old, and while I haven't used then much in the last many years, they were used daily back in the day. And they still are pretty perfect.

That's what Eros was wearing for our throwback edition, and here's what I had on:

It's giving 90's meets 2010's... I felt nostalgic the whole day I had this on. 

Helmet: Current Samshield, late 90's version was a Patey

I had a tough time deciding which helmet to use today. I actually still have the Patey helmet, but it's definitely not safe to wear anymore. Honestly, it probably never was. I'm not sure if you all knew of these helmets? They were, for the times, VERY expensive, and they were custom shaped to your head. I saved all my braiding money that summer to buy one. I think they were around $700 which is what a lot of helmets cost these days. Whatever they were made of could be heated and then shaped to your head. If you left it in the hot car you'd have to get it reshaped because it would melt out of shape. I loved this helmet. Eventually it turned completely brown. I only stopped wearing it when the rule changed requiring approved helmets. (Young Stacie loved her helmet more than her brain evidently.) I have it displayed in my house next to a vintage pair of Vogel boots, some old puke green TS breeches, and a wool coat. Boy am I old. Anyway... I decided to go with this Samshield for the outfit because it's alcantra which is kind of similar to the velvet cap from my youth. 

Shirt: Ralph Lauren

I was all into striped polos for the non classic classes at shows back in the day. And I wore them pretty much all the non show days too. This one is more modern, but it's probably still 8 or 10 years old. It definitely gives early 00's vibes though. 

Belt: Brighton

This is another vintage piece, and another of the things I saved braiding money for. I thought these were the coolest belts ever when I saw them. I had a choker I wore with the same beads. (The 90's were a time, let me tell you.) I think I only had to braid two horses for this, so not nearly as big a deal as the helmet. But I was younger for this one. I got this the summer before college which was the most amazing summer of my youth. Some day I'll have to tell you guys all about it. I couldn't find a throwback photo with this belt because usually I had a hunt coat on. Most of the old photos I am wearing a silver belt, which I also still have, but couldn't dig it up for this post. I'm also not sure it would still fit. Our breeches sat ridiculously high back then, and I was MUCH thinner. This one just barely made it around me as it was! It looks a little funny here with my new breeches because back in the day the waistband and belt loops were narrow. These days we like a wide belt. 

Breeches: Tailored Sportsman Trophy Hunter in Dirt Road

I really can't get over this color... It's so close to the old pants. But like a million times better. The old TS had no stretch. NONE. They were just thick unforgiving pants. They had weird seams all over them that might wound you if your legs swelled in the heat. The patches were actual leather which were always ruined at the dry cleaner. Oh yeah, they had to be dry cleaned. And no lie, they came up to your rib cage. They were pretty awful. But we all wore them. EVERYONE. All the cool kids. The famous grand prix riders. Everyone. I'm so glad we now have tech fabrics and STRETCH! And slightly lower rises. Lol! Photo below for late 90's reference:

That rise doesn't seem as high as I recall. Perhaps my memory is skewed a little. I will admit to missing having that body though! I think I was like 110 lbs here. And also like 19. Can't expect 45 year old me to look like 19 year old me. 

Boots: currently day Parlanti, throwback boots were Vogels

My Parlantis are the definitely the most similar looking in my collection to the old Vogels, short of wearing the actual old Vogels. But the old ones didn't have zippers. You had to pull those suckers on and get two people to help you remove them. Kids these days don't know the struggle! They were custom, TIGHT, with no elastic anywhere. If your legs swelled in those forget feeling your feet for the rest of the day. And you might need three people to get them off. But the quality? Nothing compares. They were heavy duty leather that shined BEAUTIFULLY. They lasted for years, and you could get the soles replaced to extend their life. I'd say of all the boots I have now, Celeris is definitely the closest match in quality. 

Alright, that's it for today's special edition of Thursday's Threads. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! Makes me nostalgic for my heyday of showing all summer long. But I'm so glad breeches have stretch now and boots have zippers! I guess I'm also glad helmets are safer. But I do kinda miss that helmet.

What's Up Wednesday

 

I haven't been very good about documenting our days, and honestly I can't remember a whole lot about our rides this past week. Which suggests they were fine, and mostly uneventful. It's been raining a fair amount, off and on, so we missed riding on Thursday, but managed to get saddle time all the other days. 

I did finally get the results back from everyone's Lyme titers, and the results surprised me. And the surprise went in every direction honestly. 

First the bad news is that Eros had a VERY high number in the chronic column meaning he was exposed sometime between his last titer (which oddly was in 2022, I usually test more frequently, not sure how he slipped through without one) and a year ago. So he's been dealing with Lyme for a very long time. This is particularly interesting to me because it might explain his painful back. He's gone comfortably without back pain in saddles that I found out later didn't fit him for most of the years we've had him, so it was odd that all of a sudden one with a pretty mild poor fit would cause so much discomfort for him. It might also explain that weird cold let we discovered a few months back. His antibiotics arrived this evening, so he'll start them tomorrow. I'm really hopeful they'll help him and get him feeling great soon. He's going pretty well, so this really was surprising to me. 

Al had a negative, but his F protein came back just below the range for a positive, so we're going to want to retest him at some point this summer or fall. He's been pretty spooky the last few weeks (you know, cause there's a breeze and the trees move) so I was a little bit hoping Lyme could be an explanation. I'm glad it's not, but it would have been nice to have an easy fix. It might actually be time I admit that Al's issues are behavioral and not in fact medical. Sigh. Horses are hard. 

I was also surprised by Shiny's results. She's tested as chronic in the past and didn't really respond to the meds, so I kind of assumed that would be the case forever. But this time she tested negative across the board. So that's wonderful news. Especially considering all the tick bites I've been finding on her. I think the weight loss has really done wonders for her health overall. She looks and feels like a young pony again. Which, she's only 12, so it's not like she's old, but the difference just since last summer is pretty impressive. I'm really proud of her. 

unrelated photo of the boys getting their feet done last week

I've been trying to get the horses back on more of a consistent work schedule, and for the most part it's been successful so far. Eros and Shiny are easy. They mostly just do what you ask of them. It's Al that always proves more difficult. I really need to get my poo together and find a trainer to help us. Otherwise I should consider finding him a better home for his needs. I'm not getting anywhere with him on my own. I mean not really. Yes, he's doing better than he was last year in general. But I haven't been able to successfully get him jumping around here at home. Not because of the jumps. The jumps are the easy part. But he's so distracted and spooky. He's not actively spinning like he used to do, but he's propping and breaking an awful lot. And as much as my brain wants me to just sit back and be tough, I'm having a really hard time getting it done. I don't really feel afraid, I don't think that's the problem. I think where I'm stuck is that I can't predict when he's going to be startled. Like certain things I know. When the wind picks up and the leaves really start waving next to the ring, that's a thing for him. But the biggest unknown is the neighbor. We can be cruising along and everything's going great and then BOOM! Neighbor does something loud. And it's a pretty legitimate thing to startle at most of the time because it happens out of no where and they can't see where it's coming from. All three of them can be startled by that guy. But for Al it's just different. I think because I don't truly have his attention. I have been working with the TRT method with him because that seems like it SHOULD be what we need. But it's not really doing the trick. Al can do all the things in the pattern but when he's really worried about things, it still doesn't get his mind on me. And the more I ask of him the more upset he gets. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. I dunno. I'd love to see Tristan do a video with a horse while there are completely random unknown terrifying noises happening next door that they can't see. That would help me. Lol! But also, I don't think I can use the neighbor as an excuse for bad behavior anymore. It doesn't make sense that I can't ride this horse if there's wind or the neighbor is outside. That's just silly. The other two can do their jobs despite those things.

I'm going to be completely honest here for a minute. This weekend I got really down because of how things are going with Al. I felt like a real failure and started thinking about all the horses I had that didn't work out. Badger, Pammon, Romey. That's enough horses to make me question if the problem is in fact me? Which it probably is. I mean, they had different reasons for not working. Badger was kind of in line with Al. I wasn't comfortable on him. Pammon and Romey both had physical reasons for not working, but truthfully I wasn't doing a great job with Romey either. I REALLY don't want to give up on Al. Spooking and lack of attention aside, he's so easy to ride. The flat work is all there (except counter canter, which I'd like to work on...) and he's SO simple to jump. He makes big (to me) jumps feel like nothing. But if we can't successfully do the work when we're not jumping? Well that's not going to work. 

Cute horse is cute though

But after getting a little dark and having a little pity party, I turned my attention to finding some solutions. I preach that if you're not happy, you meed to make a change. Figure it out. Life's too short to be unhappy, but we all have the power to try something different to improve the situation. Even if it's hard. ESPECIALLY if it's hard. Like asking for help. That's really hard for me. I feel often like I'll ask and not find any. And that's scary. And hurtful if I'm being honest. But we all need help sometimes. 

So the first thing I did... (Remember, I was feeling desperate and sad) was email an animal communicator. Unfortunately, I have not heard back yet. (See what I mean? I ask and get crickets!) I'll give that a few more days and then see about finding another to try. (I think some of you have used them? Molly, you had one, right? Feel free to leave recs!) And my next plan is to reach out to that trainer I started talking to last fall. He never got back to me with his availability and I didn't follow up because we all know how awful Al is in the winter in the indoor. Seemed like money not well spent. But I don't want the indoor problems to turn into my outdoor problems too. So now's the time. This particular trainer I think would be perfect to help us, but I also know he's a little like Al. Easily distracted. So I need to do my part to stay on top of getting him scheduled. If I know me (and I do!) getting a few successful training rides on Al will help me immensely. Sometimes just seeing the horse do the thing gives me the confidence to do it myself. I wish I was more confident and didn't need that. But at 45, I don't think that part of me is changing.

The other thing I did to pull myself out of the deep dive spiral into crazy was reflect on all the horses that did work. Bud, Cosmo, Rio, Jamp, Shiny. (I can't claim Eros, he arrived perfect and will forever be perfect.) And the bumps in the road along the way. There were moments with all of them where things got hard, but we worked through them every time. And came out better than ever. That's just horses. And there's nothing wrong with having help to turn things around. I've never called myself a horse trainer, because I'm not one. So I will need help sometimes. And then I'll be able to do the hard things. Hopefully with a willing equine partner who trusts me to do the hard things with him (or her, but usually it's a him). 

A hard thing I did once... Show Bud at Devon in the 3'6" juniors

And another hard thing: Showing Rio in the 1.25M Amateur jumpers

So anyway, that was my breakdown this weekend. I think I've moved on from it, but time will tell for sure. I spent Monday reorganizing my feed room which may or may not have been a metaphor for my emotions. The room came out great though, and it brings me joy every time I look in there now. So there's that at least!

I also finished washing all 33 blankets, sheets, and hoods from the winter. That's a legit chore in and of itself. I will need to get started on washing the ones we use here soon too, but I'm waiting until mother nature remembers it's supposed to be warm out now before I start that. The blankets never really get dry in the dryer so they'll need a few days to hang after washing before they can be used again if we need them or to get packed away so they don't get musty. 

And that's it from here. Sorry for all the emotions this week. Sometimes they just spill out all over the place. Now that I've gotten them released, I'll pick them up and pack them back away where they belong! I have a fun (or maybe just funny) outfit for tomorrow, so the mood shall be lighter!

OH! I keep meaning to thank you all for nominating me to be an ambassador for Celeris. They didn't pick me, but I appreciate you all for doing it!

Truthful Tuesday

 

Today's confession is that occasionally when one of the horses poos while I'm riding, I will forget to go back out and pick it up. I don't leave a muck tub and fork out there because I turnout in the ring. If you've been here for any length of time, you know my rotten animals would dump the bucket and probably stomp it to pieces. 

But, I have come up with a solution! I made myself a poop bracelet, so I can put it on when there's ring poo and then take it off once I've retrieved said poo.

Behold! The Poop Bracelet

Now, I obviously can't leave the bracelet in the ring because previously mentioned rotten animals would probably eat it. So it's not a perfect solution. I have to remember to put it on when I get back in the barn. But I got to test it out today, and it worked! So we'll see. I'll report back on future tests.

Anyone else forget these things? Have a better solution? Let me know if you do!

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day! I didn't ride today because it's been raining non stop since 9pm yesterday. (That's a full 13 hours at this point.) And the high was only 51 degrees today. I'll ride in the rain... but not when it's this cold! BUT, fear not, as I planned ahead and took outfit photos yesterday. Eros was our model this week. Here's some of what we had on:

Our theme this week was brown and rose gold. I think rose gold's moment is kind of over, but I'm still here for it. So expect to still see it happening over here!

Here's what Eros was wearing this week:

He's still a work in progress, but I really think I see a summer bod starting to show up under that dad bod! 

Bridle: Winner Special

This was my super inexpensive Italian bridle that I actually love. Although, I'm generally not a fan of buckles for the big ends of things. (I like the little hidden hooks personally.) But I make an exception for this one, because the hardware matches the clinchers and that's super fun. 

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

I really can't believe the difference in how this saddle feels with just the tiniest of shims in the back. It even looks more level. What a relief!

Polos: Catago

I loved that pair of tan Catago wraps so much, I snagged a pair in brown when they were on sale. I'd like to get a black pair soon too. They're on sale at Tack of the Day this weekend, so it could happen!

So that's what Eros was wearing, and here's what I had on:

Yeah. It was cold out yesterday too. I had on this sweater and two layers under it and I kinda wished I'd had a vest too. Funny how quickly we get used to the warm weather!

Helmet: One K

I still long for a premium Samshield in brown. But until that happens, I'm pretty happy with this helmet. 

Sweater: Rock and Roll Cowgirl

I bought this sweater in a different lifetime when I had an office to go to everyday. And then I stopped having that and I never wore it. So instead of letting it sit around, it is now a barn sweater! Maybe not exclusively, but for this week anyway.

Belt: I forget the brand...

I cannot recall the brand on this belt, though I think a few different companies offered something similar. I got this one in a Forelock and Fringe box. Love the rose gold bling!

Breeches: Equiline

I think it was last year that I went on the hunt for new brown and rose gold breeches. I was pretty set on trying to find the ones from Samshield at a better price which proved fruitless. But then I found these Equilines for a reasonable price (from Riders House) and decided they were way cuter than the Samshield ones anyway. I love the details on these!

Boots: Imperial Riding

I think I'm finally admitting defeat on these and will probably sell them. I will replace them with the correct size though! I love the boots! Just not that these are still too tall even with the heel risers in there. They're pretty though! 

And that's it for today! Are you pro or anti rose gold? What about brown? When I was a kid, my barn I grew up riding at had tan and brown as their farm colors which I really wasn't a fan of back then. (How times have changed...) I mean, it was the 80's and 90's when color was everywhere! But my trainer liked dirt colors. Eww. Now that I'm a solidly middle aged woman, I embrace the dirt colors. But I do like my green to brighten them up.