Truthful Tuesday

 

It's been awhile since I did something really stupid. Slightly stupid things happen on the regular, but REALLY stupid? Been awhile. But ya know, I haven't had a lot of great Trutful Tuesday topics in awhile so this was good timing. 

The other day I was waiting for Shiny to come in from turnout before giving her the AM dose of her Ventipulmin. The horses are out half days at this barn, and she goes out in the morning. I had gotten to the barn later than normal, hence my giving it to her a little later. Anyway, once she was in, I gave her the meds, and then placed the syringe in her feed tub for a moment so I could take off her turnout boots and change her blanket. Important to note so you don't think I'm truly irresponsible, it was just a syringe to squirt the meds in her mouth, no needle. Anyway, I regularly place things in the feed tub for safe keeping and never have any issues because my horses are usually semi intelligent. Like sometimes I'll put one of Eros' wraps in his feed tub while I wrap the first leg to keep the shavings off the wrap for the other leg. Or I'll put a brush in there while I curry or something. I don't usually put smallish things in there. Like never a hoof pick. So I don't know why I put the syringe in there, but generally Shiny isn't the type to put things in her mouth that shouldn't be there. GENERALLY being an important word here. 

So, I've removed the boots, and I step just outside the door to put them in their bag when I hear "CRUNCH". OMG. She was eating the syringe. So I reached all up in her business and fished that thing out as fast as humanly possible. I swear guys, she was going to full on chew and swallow that thing. Thankfully I got it out before any pieces broke off and she didn't actually eat any of it. But holy crap. I nearly caused a very large vet bill for no real good reason at all. So that's my confession today. I did something REALLY stupid but thankfully no one died. Although I kind of wanted to. 

Anyone else basically invite your horse to eat something they shouldn't? No? Just me? Yeah... Hopefully this is a lesson I'll keep with me.

Truthful Tuesday

 

Today's confession is that tack walking Al today was as much work as a regular ride. His foot is doing much better after a vet visit on Friday (more on the foot tomorrow), but we're now waiting to get his shoe back on before we get back to work. I figured though, he can handle a tack walk without the shoe. He's been a little ridiculous lately, and I think his brain needs something to do. So I hopped on, planning to walk for 20 minutes, and do some actual walk work, rather than just meandering. Which was a good plan, because I think if I let him meander there would have been much spooking. So we worked on going forward, which was absolutely exhausting. I didn't think I'd need weapons for walk day, but next time I'm definitely bringing Mr. Tappy. We did a little bit of lateral work, but not too much. Just enough to move his body around a little. But yeah, I was as tired from trying to get him moving at the walk as I would have been if we'd done all three gaits. Guess I know what we need to work on!

Truthful Tuesday

 

Today's confession is that each of my horses has a different water bucket set up. Which I'm sure sounds ridiculous. And it is kind of. But they're not actually that different, and there is a reason for all of it!

We'll start with Eros' buckets. I actually had bought these buckets for Pammon when he came home that Covid summer and I couldn't find my regular buckets in stock anywhere. But now they are Eros' and after I show them to you, I'll explain why I gave them to him.

So normal buckets have that flat back area on the one side so they sit nicely against a wall, but usually the flat part is shorter than the ones you see here. You can kind of see a normal one behind that top bucket for reference. These buckets are also a much heavier duty that my regular ones. Which means when they are full, they're pretty heavy! But worth it. Okay, so now that you know what's different about them, I'll tell you why E has them. As we all know, Eros is almost perfect in nearly every way, but he does have a few quirks. One of them is that he LOVES to throw his buckets. I feed him on the ground in a rubber tub because he would throw his feed tub against the wall all night and keep me awake. But he's just as happy to throw his water buckets. With the wider flat area on these, they don't bounce as much against the wall so less water ends up spilling. Which is nice. And since they're heavier duty, they're holding up well to the abuse. This is his second season with them, and they still look great. You may also notice I have guards on the handles just to protect them from that part of the handle that folds back on itself. 

These guards are great

I've seen horses rip noses and eyelids on those, so these little covers just protect from that. I get them from Schneiders. There are other ways to cover them that might be cheaper (and you'll see one such way shortly) but I like these guys. 

Shiny's set up is my "normal" if you will. Regular buckets with the guards on them:

Occassionally she will damage a bucket by rubbing on it, but for the most part, she's pretty gentle on the things in her stall. These are holding up just fine! 

And then there's Al's buckets:

He has the normal buckets like Shiny because he's also not particularly abusive to them. But do you see what's different? 

His handles are wrapped in vet wrap. Why you ask? Because Al enjoys removing the guards. Every time I put them on. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. So finally I just gave up and used the vet wrap. Which isn't a guarantee. He also removes this sometimes, but it seems to stay on a lot longer than guards. He's such a child. 

So that's today's confession. I apparently cave to every whim of my horses. But you know, happy horse, happy life! So here we are. Do you have to make any adjustments like these for your horses? 

Truthful Tuesday: Eros' confession

 

Hey guys, Eros here. Mom said I had to come on here to tell you about what I did. But really it's all HER fault for ABANDONING me for a whole week. A WHOLE WEEK! She just... didn't come here. Can you believe that? Just forgot all about us kids. What I should have done is call the authorities. But I didn't. Instead, I did the next best thing. I pulled my shoe off. And a little bit of my foot. Not enough to cause damage. Just enough to make sure mom noticed something was amiss when she picked my feet. It was especially funny because no one told her, but they did get my farrier out asap so it was back on when she got home. 

So picture this guys. Mom noticed something looked off when she picked my feet in my stall. Then she stared at my feet while we walked to the crossties. THEN she stared at them some more. Then barn owner lady was like "oh didn't anyone tell you he lost a shoe?" And I was laughing! Like, not on the outside where she could see, but inside, I was CRYING laughing. Mom was all, "Ohhhhh, that explains this odd looking foot." 

So yeah. That's what I did. I took my shoe off. I mean, I had to do something. No one had paid any attention to me at all for SEVEN DAYS! I mean, I was fed, watered, and turned out. And wrapped in the evening. But like. That was it. And I mean, I know I keep saying I'm retired. But even a retired horse wants to be groomed. And told how handsome I am. It was truly awful. Desperate times call for desperate measures, right? 

Truthful Tuesday

 

Welp. I'm not one of those people who can't admit when they were wrong. So I shall tell you, I was wrong to withhold jumping from Al. So very wrong. Like the wrongest wrong to ever wrong. That boy is BESIDE himself. Practically unrideable. 

You see what happened was, I thought I had beat the system by signing him up for a training ride last week. But I wasn't specific in my request and it was just a flat ride. In which he was just as much of a spooky a-hole for the trainer as he is for me, but I digress... The ride wasn't what I had hoped for because I really wanted him to jump to get his head back on straight. Since he didn't, he has snowballed into the biggest spookasaurus that ever spooked. Like ever. 

We attempted a flat lesson today and it was probably one of my top ten worst rides on him. He nearly got me off once, and has decided there is no safe space anywhere in the indoor. Mind you, he had a free lunge in the morning. Then spent several hours outside with his friends. Then he got worked on by his favorite body worker. AND THEN we had the lesson. So he had a pretty fab day prior. I don't even know what's wrong with his brain, but man. Something isn't right up there. He got this way at home too just before we moved, so it's certainly not location specific. 

I am not a quitter though. I will figure this horse out. Some day. Hopefully. Plan for the rest of the week is to have a training ride WITH JUMPS tomorrow. And then I will lesson on Thursday. And if he's still a spookasaurus after that? Well... I dunno. But I'll keep trying. 

My other confession though, is that when he's like this, I lose my brave. And without that, it's hard for me to really dig deep and be tough and give him the ride he needs. Usually I have Eros to help me find that confidence but since he's on the injured list, I'm kind of having to face this without him. And it's tough. All I can do is keep trying though. He's too nice of a horse to give up on. 

Any of you have a horse like this? What are some things that have worked for you? If it helps to understand what I'm dealing with, when Al spooks, it's not just a little hairy eyeball and a bulge away. It's a full on prop and spin. And sometimes there's no prop, just the spin, and that's when I have a hard time holding on. He'll pretty happily follow another horse around the ring, but the moment we separate from that horse, he reverts right back to being spooky. I can hand walk him back and forth around what he's scared of. But at each gait, and each direction at each gait even, it's like we have to start from scratch. I can't imagine he enjoys life like this anymore than I do. So we have to figure this out.

Truthful Tuesday

 

Soooo... I had the opportunity this weekend to clinic with Nona Garson at the winter barn, and... I didn't take the opportunity. For one thing, I don't really have the cash in the budget at the moment. But also, I just didn't feel like we were in a place to really get the most out of it. If I were to ride in a session, I would have liked to do Al. But we weren't sure what the weather was going to do, and likely we'd have been riding indoors. You all know by now how things are with Al in the indoor... Not ideal. On the one hand, I might have gotten some new tips and tricks to deal with his behavior. But on the other hand, I might have wound up being THAT girl in my group. I don't ever want to be the one that takes up all the time because her horse is being difficult. As it turned out, what would have been my section did get to ride outdoors on Sunday. So I did have some mild fomo. I was able to audit that class though, so it wasn't a total loss of education. 

Could I have ridden either of the other two horses instead? Yes, I could have. Eros has very strong opinions about lengthy lessons however, and truthfully, the fun would have been all used up after the first half hour. And I haven't been jumping Shiny all that much lately, so I felt it would have been longer than is fair to her (classes were just about 2 hours long). And if I'm being honest, I have to be more careful with where my money goes, and I just didn't really want to spend that much to lesson anyone but Al. That's where the funds need to be directed at the moment. 

So that's my confession. I chose not to take advantage of a great opportunity because I decided instead to be financially responsible. I did the adulting. How boring.

Truthful Tuesday

 

E: "Hi all, Eros here..."

A: "AND ME AL!!!!"

E: "Yes, and Al too. Mom said we had to come on here and confess our sins. Which frankly is BS. I'm perfect, and Al... well okay, maybe Al has sinned."

S: "Eros... (Stacie here), I caught you in the act! ON CAMERA!"

E: "Mom, no. What you saw was me trying to fix Al's mistake. I was not at all an active participant in any destruction. I would never! I'm perfect. You say so all the time."

A: "GUYS!!!!! I'm not a bad Al! I just like to play with the toys. And mom puts out all these new ones. So I'm just doing what any kid would do."

S: "Boys. Just get to the point here before our friends stop reading."

E: (Sigh) "Okay. What happened was, Mom got all this new stuff to put around the jumps. And it looks really yummy but isn't. I would know. I'm a connoisseur of tasty things. Anyway, Al went out there and just went all eight year old boy and threw everything everywhere."

A: "Haha! I dids that. Yes. SO FUN!!! But the bestest part no one tooks a picture of, was when I gots the big face stuck on my foot. But it was okay. I was brave and just stomped around the ring. SO FUN! I should have puts them on all my feets. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO COOL! Maybe tomorrow."

E: "See? Al did all of it. That ridiculous little brother of mine got the skull planter stuck to his foot and just let it stay there and wandered all around. What a child. Anyway, he didn't break it or anything, so I don't know what mom is all grumpy about."

S: "Kids. I'm grumpy about what you all did to the candy corn jump! I can't repair all those broken cones. That's going to be a one and done for this season. I'm very disappointed."

E: "To be fair mom, you dropped a rail on them and kinda broke them first."

S: "He's not totally wrong there. But I just detached them from the board. The boys here have actually destroyed like half the cones so far. And what Eros isn't mentioning is when I caught him holding an empty planter in his mouth and waving it around."

E: "I swear, I was trying to put it back!" 

A: "Ima do it all again tomorrow! Morning turnout is my FAVORITE!!! I PLAYS WITH ALLS THE TOYS!!!!

S:"This is why we can't have nice things."

Shiny: "Boys are so stupid."

Truthful Tuesday

 

Heeeyyyyy Everyone!!!!! It's ME! Al! Mom said I had to come on here and tells you the truths about something I did. I don't think it's that bad... but she's a lil cranky about it. Something about this month being expensive and we horses need to stop breaking stuff. Mom's are so annoying sometimes. ANYWAY. Let me show you a photo.

Yeah. I ates the crosstie a lil bit. It still works though! I haven't eaten all the way through it (yet). So not sure why mom's all whiney about it. She keeps saying we have had those crossties for fifteen years. I don't even know what that means cause I'm only eight and 15 seems like REALLY old. So maybe it's not even my fault. Maybe they would have gotten a hole like that even if I didn't eats it? 

At first I tried to play pretend that Eros did it. But Mom had to pick some of the rope out of my teefs and then she knew it was me. Plus Eros is like perfect. He doesn't do troubles. Except he throws his drinking buckets sometimes. Which I think is reals funny btw. Mom does the whining about that too. Cause you know, moms are so annoying. 

Okay I did it! I tells the truths! Do your moms get cranky when you eat stuffs too?

Truthful Tuesday

 

Lolz... I've got a good one for you all today. Last week was busy. I had the vet coming out and some braiding jobs, plus the usual stuff. And then a fence debacle. Just a bunch of little stuff that kept me busy and a little distracted. So Saturday rolls around. I had taken the day off from riding at the other barn, so I just had my three to do. I thought I had the entire day and night all to myself so I was taking my sweet time getting the horses ridden. But when I got on Shiny just before four, my watch dinged with a calendar notification. I was supposed to be at a friend's party... in ten minutes. Oops. I sent off a quick text admitting that I would be not just late but like... two hours late. She said not to worry it will be a late night anyway. So I still was able to attend. I brought a large bottle of my brother's maple syrup as a peace offering. Did the trick. Ha. Ugh. I can't believe I forgot about this party. It was a taco party. I have been excited for it for WEEKS. And then I forgot. And that my friends, is how you know you're officially old.

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.

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? 
 

Truthful Tuesday

 

Hi!!!! My name is Al! My mom said I had to come over here and tell you about what I did... She said on Tuesdays we make confessions here and usually we horses don't have to, but today I do. I did a bad. Oops. 

So mom has all these toys for me to play with when I get turned out in the morning. Sometimes I just like to touch Shiny over the fence and see if she'll make the funny noise. But sometimes I play with all the toys that are all over. Mom keeps saying they aren't toys. They are "jump fill" but I don't understand the difference? Jumping is fun. Playing with toys is fun. So wouldn't that mean jump stuff is for having fun? 

We have all this new stuff that that's been SUPER fun to drag around. Pretend leaves on a string, a tiny pretend fence, even tiny pretend trees! The little pretend fence is really easy to hulk smash. You should try it. Mom wasn't that mad cause she says now the graveyard jump looks spookier with a crooked fence. 

But there was one thing she was kinda mad about and that's what I'm here to talk about. There's these dead horses that had pointy things on their heads. I think they're pretend because they don't smell dead. But they look like they've been dead a long time. I didn't kill them! They were like that when I moved here. 

I took the pointy things off their heads the first week I was here. Cause they seemed dangerous. And horses don't have those anyway. I broke the head off one awhile back too. I didn't mean to! It just happened. And then a few weeks ago I took some of the legs off the same one. I thought I could put them back on, but they wouldn't go. Probably cause they're not alive. Can't grow new hooves if you're not alive. 

Mom wasn't that mad then. She said we could probably get new ones soon. Since mom didn't seem to care, I figured I'd finish off that guy with only one leg left. (I don't know what happened to all the legs! I only broke a couple. I think... Must have been Eros. He's not as perfect as everyone thinks you know.) So today I stomped on him:

Mom said it's a fossil now. I don't know what means. She seemed annoyed. And then she went and stared at that little flat thing she's always looking at. And she got MAD! She found where to buy them again and they are VERY EXPENSIVE now. So we only have the one left and she said I can't have new ones because I'm too destructive. 

So that's the bad I did. Mom says I'm not a bad horse, I just did a bad thing. She said she still loves me but please don't break any more jumps. I can't make any promises. Hopefully I won't have to come back and tell you about anything again though.

Truthful Tuesday

 

Eros here... 

Mom said I had to come on here and admit to a few things. I don't really see what the big deal is... I'm just trying to communicate my needs to her. Maybe she should listen better the first time?

So... first. Mom got new fans for our stalls, and they can turn! It's the most fun toy ever! But mom keeps saying that fans aren't toys. I mean... I don't mess with it when it's ON. I'm not stupid...

Speaking of things that mom thinks aren't toys... Water buckets. I think they are the best toys! They make a big splash when you pull on the handles! Especially when they're full! SO FUN! I taught Al how to pull the safety guards off the sides too. I don't really do that because I'm a mature horse, but it's HILARIOUS that Al takes them all off every single day. That kid is so funny. Anyway, I just like to throw mine around, especially on hot days. That big splash cools me off nicely.

And lastly, the feed tub. Mom feeds us far too infrequently, and I feel it is my duty to remind her when it's time to eat. Often she ignores me. Especially when I try to get her to come out in the middle of the night to feed us... But I gotta at least try, right? So what do I do you ask? Well, I grab the rim of my feed bucket and lift it up as high as I can, then let it drop. It makes a LOUD noise that mom seems to find super annoying. She always tells me to stop it, and "buckets aren't toys!" But like, she's so wrong. Buckets are totally toys. The BEST toys! I have a ball and a carrot toy to play with in my stall, but they are no where near as fun as water buckets and feed tubs. Not even close.

So yeah. Those are my confessions. Oh and one more, MOM IS BORING! Hahahahahahaha!

Truthful Tuesday

 

Today's confession is that I've been somewhat of a slacker with the horses at home this past week. We did ride most days last week, but Sunday I just ran out of time. 

Saturday's rides were rainy, 40 degrees, and high winds. Ew.

My helper called out with a stomach bug, so I had to do chores in the morning, then had a lesson at the other barn with Al and had to ride Pammon. I would have still had time, but it was Mother's Day and I had familial obligations in the afternoon. I thought about riding on Monday which is normally their day off to make up for it, but I had my first PT appointment for my knee right in mid day. So I let them have an extra day off. Likely, I'll have regrets when I ride today and they're wild... But oh well. These things happen. I think they'll survive a couple of days off. 

Truthful Tuesday

 

Today's confession: I have no yet even taken holiday photos, let alone had cards printed or mailed out. Here's what happened... I have the horses outfits all set to go. I have MY outfit mostly set to go. But I realized back on November 8th that P did not have a matching outfit to wear. That's not acceptable. So I ordered her a hoodie that matched mine. But I ordered it from Artscow in China, and it's legit on the slowest path here. It's moving, but I don't think it's boarded a plane yet. Thank goodness I sprung for the airfreight and not for the economy shipping. Perhaps they'll have to be New Years cards this year.... We went classy last year for our cards, but fear not. All class has left the building for this one.  Oh also, if any of you want to be on the card list, shoot me an email or PM/DM on social with your address. At some point before February (hopefully) I'll get them done!

Do you send cards out for the holidays? I love getting them from all my friends and family each year, so it's only fair that I also send some out. Plus, who doesn't want adorable photos of my horses and dog(s) hanging in your house? 

Truthful Tuesday

 

Heh... This is a good one... So last week the day after Al arrived, I headed to the barn armed with all my saddles to find the best fit for him. Turns out none of my saddles fit him all that well, but what can you do? The closest fit for him was actually Shiny's old saddle, but it kind of rocked on him and I wasn't at all comfortable in it. So for now, he and Eros are sharing. It's not a terrible fit, but I'll need to get him his own soon. But here's the funny part (and my confession). I mixed up Pammon's and Eros' saddles! So for two days poor Eros was riding in a saddle that slightly narrow on him. Oops. He didn't go any differently so I don't think he minded all that much... but boy did I feel like an idiot! Al wasn't subjected to it because it was the two days I used Shiny's on him.  Perhaps it's time I put nameplates on to tell them apart... 

And because you all want more Al... Please enjoy this gratuitous photo of us from the weekend:

Truthful Tuesday: Eros edition

 

I am having my well pump replaced this morning (oh the joys of homeownership...) and so I went out to the barn early to let my helper know that the water would be turned off later this morning. (Just in case he needed to use the facilities!) He was dragging the ring when I went out, and Eros was turned out in the ring too. (Eros could care less about that, he just stays out of the way.) 

Anyway, my helper stopped to chat with me, and I look up to see Eros just casually putting his leg through the fence. He was completely calm about it. Just putting it through there to see if we'd notice. We did indeed notice. So once he got the attention he was seeking, he just as calmly removed his leg from the fence. 

Seriously though, why are horses like this?! Why do they want to break themselves and everything around them all the time? Fortunately, nothing was broken this morning. As mentioned, it was all very calm and deliberate. But sheesh. At the very least he could do these things when we aren't looking!

Truthful Tuesday

 

Geeze. You guys. This weekend, I was working on the Clothes Horse blog hop that Amanda started (I'm aiming to publish Friday, wish me luck) and well... It seems it may be time to admit that I have a problem. I was going through all the horse clothes. But it wasn't really ALL the horse clothes. Because I have tubs of them in storage too. Anyway. I added up all the horse clothing items that are somewhat in use. Final tally (at least I think it's the final, I keep remembering I have other stuff floating around) is 106. 106 pieces of horse clothes. That is insane. For 3 horses! Again. It doesn't include what's in storage. So yeah. Perhaps it's time to admit that I actually am a hoarder. Crap. Someone help. I need help. 

These are pretty though right?! They're 18 years old.

Here's my dilemma. When the horses moved home initially, I bought them all matching clothes. I was fortunate that Beval made fairly inexpensive very high quality blankets in my barn colors. I mean, that's impressive. AND they came in little Mow's size too, which could be a challenge. 

Mow and Rio modeling the Beval T/O sheets.

So they all had a full set of these clothes and all was well. But then Beval imploded and stopped making them. I don't have any of them in Shiny's size (nor did I have Ducky's size back when he was around). Most of the Beval blankets were still in use up until I lost Rio. Then the horses went to the boarding barn for the winter and had to wear those required blankets. And then Kentucky made the most luxurious blankets I've ever seen... So you can see how it spirals.

ANYWAY, all that rambling to say, I'm kind of attached to the Beval blankets which are still in good shape so they are packed away in storage (and not in my tally save for one or two). My decluttering self says I probably should sell them off, but my emotional self wants to hang on to them. They were Rio and Jampy's blankets. Mow's. The OG home horses. And they're really quite nice. So likely I'll keep them. I have the space to store them. And it remains to be seen how the current outfits will hold up. I may need them again! 

Do you have guys have anything like that? Something you're not really using but just can't seem to let go of? Am I total hoarding weirdo? (Maybe don't answer that.)

Truthful Tuesday: The One with the Breeches

 

So I've been plugging away reclaiming my laundry room from the piles of everything that had taken it over. It's going to be a bit ongoing I think until I have the time to go through literally all of my clothing, but I'm making good progress. This room has goldenrod Formica countertops and shelves, and they are... straight up 70's chic. Since it's just a laundry room though, I don't want to spend money renovating in there. So I'm embracing the goldenrod. In fact, I found some storage cabinets (lockers actually) that match almost exactly. 

Impressive, huh? Who knew they still produced anything in that color. Once this project is finally complete I'll share the whole room with you guys. But for now, let's talk about today's confession... It's breeches. You guys. I have so many. I even filled a bag with ones to sell/donate. But still. SO MANY BREECHES. Here. I'll show you:

And full disclosure... there are probably 3-4 pair not shown between the dirty laundry and the pair I have on. How many are there? I'm not sure. I didn't count. I didn't want to know. Clearly, there's a lot. I have them sorted in a fairly sensical manner though:

Top Row:

show breeches on the left, next are mid weight random brands, then all the ones that are kind of outfit specific (neons, prints, etc), then on the right are the summer weight breeches.

Middle Row:

Tailored sportsman and RJ Classics in the first pile, second is Romfh, Ariat, and Horze, third is mostly Hadley and Pipers, but a few Dover, and the last pile is all Dover.
Bottom Row: Winter weight and Corduroy

And yes, I have a stool handy for easy access to all breeches. Anyway, if you guys hear me mention anything about new breeches, can you please text this photo to me. There isn't room for any more. NO MORE BREECHES. I mean... unless it's a color I don't have. OR if I replace a pair with a new one. That would be allowed... 

Truthful Tuesday

 

Ugh. Guys. I bought some stuff again. I have some issue with FOMO apparently and when things are labeled limited edition or the shop says they only have a few... well. Sometimes things get bought. Though, one thing I stumbled upon and ordered but I did have a need. So, um. Let's see what I got.

First, the thing I stumbled upon but did actually need. 

I finally got a bike helmet! I received a bike for my 15th work anniversary a couple years ago (which is still in the box and I need to put together...) but don't have a bike helmet. I'll mostly use the bike if and when I ever show again to get from stalls to ring, so probably I'd have the riding helmet on anyway... but figured it would be wise to have a real bike helmet too. I mean, I might want to actually ride the thing outside of horses... Plus I bought the helmet with rewards points, so it didn't cost me anything out of pocket. And yes, it's metallic gold! Also has a flashy light on the back and is equipped with MIPS.

The next thing wasn't a huge need, but was something I didn't have. So that's something anyway. 

It's a lunging cavesson (QHP brand)! The noseband part is a leather covered chain. But it's pretty heavily covered, so I'm not sure they'd feel much, if any, chain pressure honestly. Which I like. The other feature I really like is that it has removable bit hangers so you have that option as well. Con was that it only came in black. But does it even matter? You don't ride with it. My only other issue is that now that I have a pony, I have to buy two of anything that's sized. So I had to get a horse size AND a cob size. These things add up.

Okay. Well. That brings us to the truly unnecessary thing. This one was irresponsible. Completely. Though I did pay about half what I would have paid if I bought it in the US. So there's that. 

I bought the all matte Samshield. I know. It doesn't have MIPS. I just... well. I really think it's pretty. And I had a weak moment real late on Saturday night. Had it not been in stock I probably wouldn't have done it. But alas. There it was. If anyone else has a need for a Samshield (despite it's lack of MIPS, I know, I'm a hypocrite) check out Equishop. They have the best prices and stock a lot of fun ones.

Oh! I did make one other purchase that I have yet to actually deliver to its recipient... 

It's a monkey rope toy for Pammon. And it's HUGE! Like three feet tall. His unicorn is unwell so it was time for a new toy. If I have time tonight I'll give it to him, but likely it will be tomorrow.

So yeah. Those are today's confessions. Anything you need to confess? Do any irresponsible shopping?