What's Up Wednesday

 

I'm not entirely sure what's happening (ahem... global warming... cough) but the weather in New England is downright springlike lately. It's not crazy warm every day, but we've been staying in the forties with a few days in the fifties too. Tomorrow? SIXTIES. It's nuts. I'm scared March is going to start dumping snow or something ridiculous. Hopefully not. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the warmth while it's here. We've even been lucky enough to get a few rides in outdoors. (Al hasn't yet, but E and Shine have.)

Peep Al back there having some play time <3

I've been taking Shiny's workload kind of day by day depending on how she seems to be feeling. I know she's due for some maintenance, and I don't want to push too hard. But backing off completely also is no good for her. So we're plugging along. She felt half decent for her lesson last week and we did end up popping around a couple of low courses. She's not jumping anything higher than 2' and if we're being honest, the fences were probably closer to 18" last week. Which is totally fine. I was just happy she wanted to play! She was actually pretty excited about it, really taking me to the fences, and I had to actually slow her down. If you know Shiny, you know it's very rare I have to use the whoa button. She got to see the body worker Friday and received a good report. She's still showing some signs of discomfort in front, but doc and I both think it's related to her needing some maintenance. Otherwise, she was back to her normal needs and got a positive note on her body condition too. She still could drop a few pounds, but she's not AS overweight. I'll take it. 

Eros has been a perfect boy as always. I was a bit of a potato in our jumping lesson last week, and he just put up with me without running away. So that's a big A+ for him. He got a positive report from the body worker also. Our current loaner saddle, though not a perfect fit, isn't bothering him at all, so that's a relief. Al's new saddle should be here very soon, and our saddle rep is going to bring her entire arsenal of possibilities for Eros to try once that gets here. Hopefully we figure out exactly what he needs. I'd be happiest if she has that unicorn saddle already, but if we have to order, so be it. I'll just be happiest once I don't have to buy anymore saddles for a long while. Anyway... E has had a few days that he's come out a little less than perfectly sound, but works out of it well. I have him on the list to see the vet too in case he's about ready for some maintenance. I'm not really sure that he is. But I'd rather check and not need it rather than wait too long and have him be uncomfortable. He's getting older, so I want to make sure I stay on top of things for him. I can't believe he's 14 this year!

Things are going swimmingly with my boy Al too! I'm kind of waiting for the dragon to re-emerge, but until then, I'm very much enjoying the sweet horse that has taken it's place. I'm sticking to the lunge on Tuesday pre ride, and I didn't need another last week after that. We even had our first lesson in awhile on Friday! I asked for a private so my being afraid of the end of the ring wouldn't waste anyone's time but my own and my teacher's. In an effort to not overwhelm my anxieties, we stayed on the non spooky half of the ring. I got some help with the shoulder in that we've been struggling with and we even popped over a few fences. I'm excited to try again this Friday and hopefully build up to a real course and using more of the arena. We've been flatting on almost the full ring since our lesson, so yay for not being a total weenie? I'm hypothesizing that maybe his poor behavior was linked to his being uncomfortable. It all started in the fall when that quarter crack started to really bother him, and continued on as he struggled with the dermatitis and then the mystery right hind issue. But that could all just be coincidental and the real problem was just the cold weather. Hard telling for sure. I guess we shall see when the temps drop again which Al shows up under saddle. But he definitely gets extra cookies for being the best boy this week!

In other non horse news, I actually socialized this weekend! A friend of mine used to host a Galentine's Brunch every year the Sunday before Valentine's day. But with Covid, it hasn't happened in awhile. This year, she revived the tradition, and it was so nice to see everyone again and eat delicious food.

And that's it from here for this week. Hope things are going okay for all of you too!

Truthful Tuesday

 

Heh... This is ridiculous. So I spent much of my day yesterday cleaning out my closet. I tried on like a million pairs of pants and pulled out a bunch to donate. (I'm not keeping anything that doesn't fit and/or look flattering.) Which isn't a confession necessarily, though I own way more pants than any one person really needs. No. The confession is that I woke up sore from trying on pants. Seriously. Like my back muscles were legit sore as though I had done a very difficult workout. But all I did was try on pants. Lots of pants. Who knew? Maybe Carrie Bradshaw wasn't joking when she said shopping was her cardio. Evidently, trying on clothes is my resistance training. I mean, some of those stretchy jeans are a real challenge to get out of. 

Thursday's Threads: Shiny Edition

 

Outfit Day! I must preface this post by saying I forgot to take a bunch of necessary photos today... so there will be some recycled ones, and well... one that's just kinda lacking. You'll see. We'll start with the human outfit today. Here's what I had on:

Now you see why I said it was the Shiny Edition. But wait, there's more! 

Helmet: Samshield

I actually didn't have the winter liner in today, it's warmed back up. But figured I'd use the newest helmet photo I had.

Sweater: Ariat

Ariat came out with this sweater a few years back, and I had to get one obviously. Shiny said it's her favorite sweater of mine. 

Belt: The Crafty Fox

I think you all know, but in case you don't, Shiny's show name is 14 Karat (like the gold). And one day, I was scrolling the FB and saw a photo of already stitched and finished needlepoint belts available for sale. They were display belts that had finished their job. And one of them was this one! I figured I had to buy it since it was my size and had my pony's name on it. Who else would want it? Probably only me. I contacted the lady selling them and she told me that this belt was very special to her as a dear friend had made it. That friend has since passed, so it's kind of bittersweet to sell it. Clearly, it's a very special belt! I had inquired with the seller about their rates for finishing belts since I have a pile of them here to get done, and she included her price sheet with this belt when she sent it. I thought that sheet looked very familiar, so I dug into my stash of crafts and realized that this was the lady my mom and I used to get our belt canvases from. Back when I was a junior in the mid to late 90's, I was fortunate enough to qualify my special little horse for Harrisburg and Washington several years in a row. While we were there showing, my mom and I each year would get a new belt canvas. It gave her something to do while she sat around waiting for my two minutes in the ring each day. And it was a great distraction for me when I was sitting around being nervous for my two minutes in the ring... There's an awful lot of free time when you're at a show for many days with only one horse. And said horse required basically zero prep. Anyway, she's excited to finish the belts I have sitting around and she recognized all of them when I sent a photo. Such a small world. Sorry for the novel about this belt, but I thought it was a fun story.

Breeches: Tailored Sportsman

You all have seen these pants before. The color is called saddle (the above photo is a little washed out, more accurate representation in the first photo up at the top of this post). When I first saw them come out I thought they were hideous and couldn't for the life of me figure out who want them. Turns out, it's me. I wanted them. And I wanted them badly! I found these on sale at Big D's for well under retail, so that was a win. They are a size smaller than I normally wear though... Stuffed myself in for that price!

I bet you're wondering why I'm not wearing my Shiny socks. Unfortunately, I caught one on a floor nail the other day and now I only have one Shiny sock. Wompwomp. Eventually I'll order another pair.

Boots: Celeris UK

Yep still these. But my feet were cold today. Should have gone with something warmer!

Okay, so I completely forgot to take photos of Shiny in her outfit today. Which is especially bad since this is the Shiny Edition. But well... these things happen. Enjoy some old pics and one (okay two) of just a saddle pad.

Bridle: Joseph Sterling
Browband: Dark Jewel Designs

I had to go back almost a year in the archives to find the appropriate photo... So at least it's been awhile since she repeated this look... Ha!

Boots: Eskadron

Heh, well yeah. She wore these last week for you too. They're worth repeating though.

Saddle Pad: Mattes

I ordered these pads for all the horses in the fall in preparation for winter. They all seem to get winter rubs from EVERYTHING. Saddle pads, blankets, you name it, it rubs them. So I figured these pads with the sheepskin all around might be the answer. Of course, since I was prepared, Eros and Al are pretty rub free thus far. But Shiny has a slight one starting from her pad, so I brought this out for her. The rub hasn't gotten any worse, so I think it's doing its job. I like that they didn't roll the sheepskin around the edges, but rather just have it extend past. That way it's not SUPER fluffy. Just fluffy enough.

It's also a new shade of green from Mattes called Bottle. I actually like it better than the other green we have. 

And that's it from today! Sorry I got so wordy... I had a lot to say I guess! 

Also, separate issue, if any of you got a friend request from me on Instagram today, that is NOT me. My same old account is NOT hacked and still safe. OG is still me! The new one is an imposter. Promise. If that one requests you, do not accept as they will then do the same to you. And if you wouldn't mind reporting that fake account, I'd be appreciative. The fake is the one with the _ at the end of my name. Thanks in advance!

What's up Wednesday

 

Happy to report we all survived the miserable cold Friday and Saturday. Obviously with the help of a few of my favorite winter items. Namely:

My last pair of Tredstep winter boots:

And the winter liner for my Samshield that I forgot I bought like four years ago:

Not sure why OneK hasn't made one of these yet... get on that OneK!

I rode Friday because the ring was still in the low 20's. But Saturday was a hand walk day for everyone. 

Granted this was overnight, but it wasn't much
warmer come morning.

In true New England fashion it was back in the forties by Sunday afternoon. No complaints from me. I'm just glad that was a quick cold snap.

Enough about the weather. Let's talk about horses!

Al was kind of a psycho all week. I don't want him free lunging right now as he seems to regularly hurt himself doing that. So for the sake of both of our safety, I rode him last week with a little help from modern science. But this week, I decided to let him have a little fun time on a lunge line. That way, I had some control over his shenanigans, but he could still have the opportunity to let out a buck or two. Which, he's not really a bucker. He likes to throw one now and then in turnout (or free lunging) but he's more of a tuck and scoot kind of guy. Either way, he got to do what he needed to calm the eff down, and I was able to keep it under control and minimize his chance of damage. It was a total success. I lunged him without tack, so he had some time to reset while I tacked him up to ride. And he was a little angel for our ride Tuesday (free of all pharmaceuticals). Of course today he was a bit more lively to ride as I don't want to lunge him every day. (Don't need him getting monster fit, ya know?) It was a very windy day here so I don't blame him for being a bit more alert today. He hates wind. Tentative plan for him is our first jump lesson on Friday. We're going to do a private, so I can be a chicken without wasting anyone else's time. I think it's a solid plan. We shall see how it plays out.

Eros is a perfect angel as always... Though I did nearly fall off twice in our flat lesson yesterday... You might be wondering how that could be possible being it's a flat lesson and Eros is generally a perfect specimen. So let me explain. We were allowing our horses to have a little hand gallop with a light seat. E was all "YEAH ZOOMIES!" And it was super fun. Until one of the sponsor banners on the wall came untacked in one corner and flew up right in front of us! Like a dragon opening wide to swallow us whole. Clearly, E had to do something to save us. So he crouched down like a cutting horse and did some moves. Like some real moves. I may or may not have said a few bad words. Well one bad word. Several times. But then nobody died and I stayed in the saddle and all was okay. (THANK GOODNESS THAT HAPPENED TO E AND NOT TO AL THOUGH!) Anyway, we went back to work and our instructor reattached the banner to the wall to save us from any future dangers. All was going well. We started doing a line of three flower boxes. They were set for three strides in between and we had to do three and three, then four and four, then four to three. Etc. It was going well to the left, which is the easier direction for us. Then we changed direction and tried it to the right. The first three was easy, and the second one looked like it was coming up nicely as well. One, two... And then he stared down at the flower box and came to a complete halt. One of the flowers was bent and kind of spilling out of the box, and apparently he didn't know what to make of that. It was quite abrupt, and yet also pretty hilarious. He wasn't dirty about it really and I stayed in the saddle pretty easily. But man. My back took a beating in this lesson! I wish it was on video because both incidents were likely very entertaining from a bystanders viewpoint. We came back around and had no other issues. I think something just looked really strange to him. He's allowed once in awhile to make a mistake. We all know he handles my mistakes on the regular. Plus, he did save me from the wall dragon earlier. 

As for Shiny... I mentioned last week that she tripped down to her face on Wednesday and I was going to see how she was for our lesson. She hasn't been quite herself since then unfortunately. She's not lame, but I think we're overdue for the neck to be injected. It's been about a year since we did it last. We did do the lesson Thursday, but I just did the flat portion and the warm up over rails part. This week she's really struggling any time I ask her to collect the trot. She does this odd shuffly gate that may be pacing? May be a tolt? I'm not sure what it is exactly, but it's not a trot. That I'm sure of. I'll keep her in work, but I'm not going to make her come round if she doesn't want to. She'll get on the list for the next vet visit, and our body worker is due to come next week too. So that might be able to fix whatever's bugging her. She might have just kind of jammed herself somewhere when she tripped. I know we'll get her patched up, just not sure exactly when. Not panicking though, overall she's definitely okay. 

And now you're all caught up! Hope you all survived the cold snap if you live where it hit (which is nearly everywhere I think). I know some of you had quite a rough week/weekend, and I'm thinking of you guys. 

Truthful Tuesday

 

Had a couple of random thoughts to share today for Truthful Tuesday... First is an equine related thought. Or maybe a bit of a rant, but I promise it's not terribly controversial. I belong to a few different Facebook groups that are horsey. And you always see people on there looking for advice on this or that. Great places to get insight for sure. (Though obviously, a fair amount of that info is... from the internet.) Anyway...

A frequent complaint I see from people is that their riding boots (or sometimes even their rubber rain boots) aren't holding up as long as they'd expect "for what they cost". They then go on to talk about how they've been wearing those boots daily for four years and can't figure out why they are falling apart. My favorite is when they go on to say well, yeah, I clean stalls and bathe my horse in them, but they should hold up to that! Lol. This kills me. Dude, they're leather boots. If you're traipsing through poo and getting them soaking wet and full of soapy bubbles that you probably don't rinse off, of course they're going to break down and rot! And four years?! Any boots I wear every single day and do chores in die after a year. Doesn't matter how much I pay (or don't). Want to know why boots lasted longer in the old days? Because there were more repair shops around. People had their boots FIXED on the regular. It's harder these days to find boot repair shops. It's often easier to just replace the boots. I remember when I was growing up (which was apparently a really long time ago, though it doesn't so much feel that way to me) having my boots resoled and restitched pretty much yearly. And sometimes stretched to fit my growing calves. (My feet stopped growing in the fifth grade, and I don't think my legs grew much taller after that either, just wider.) And the boots didn't have as many moving parts either. They didn't have zippers. We pulled them on! And bruised our friends' asses trying to get them off at the end of the day too. Anyone remember that? Pulling off your friends' boots? Or are you all too young? It was certainly a spectacle. Anyway, that's my rant for today. 

My other "deep" thought is really quite silly but occurred to me while my mind was wandering earlier. I find people in the UK use the word "post" in reference to sending something through the mail. And their mail service is called Royal Mail. But here in the US we say we are mailing an item. (Or shipping, we use that word a lot too.) But our mail service is called the US Postal Service. So shouldn't we be saying post, and our UK friends should be saying mail? Sorry. This is how my brain works. Anyone else ever noticed this?

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day! It's pretty chilly today, but seasonally so. The misery comes in tomorrow. I'm still pretty well layered today though.

Am I wearing two sweaters? Yes. Yes I am. And also added both a vest and a coat for riding today. How many days till spring? Also, yes. This is how I look in the morning. Mornings aren't my favorite.

Helmet: Samshield

Yep, still wearing this. And you best believe that I will be putting the winter liner in for tomorrow's rides. 

Sweaters: Asmar Equestrian

When I was on vacation a few weeks back it was very difficult to ignore all the after Christmas sales flooding my inbox. I may or may not have purchased a bunch of sweaters from Asmar. They aren't wool, but are still pretty warm. Cotton/cashmere blend... mostly cotton. I like that the sweaters come in matching colors so they layer really nicely. They're marked down to around $50 (some a little more, some a little less) and I think are a nice deal if you're in the market.

Belt: Tory Burch

It's shockingly tricky to match greens. But this belt is a pretty solid match today's sweaters. I like the Tory belts, they're similar to the Mane Janes (also similar to Hermes if you're fancy like that).

Breeches: Dover Wellesley

You guys all know by now that I'm a big fan of these breeches for the colder days. I think tomorrow I'll be busting out the corduroys, but these worked pretty well for today.

Boots: Celeris UK

Wore these again today, but yes, tomorrow I shall be busting out the furry boots. It is time.

Shiny is our model today, and her outfit... doesn't exactly match today. We can't be winners every week! Anyway, here's what she had on:

Bridle: Camelot RCS Gold

I should have used the spike browband bridle today. But I gotta tell you, it's nothing short of miraculous that I am on her in time for our 8:30 lesson. There was zero chance I would remember to grab the other bridle. And really... it kind of works with the rest of the mismatched outfit. (You'll see.)

Boots: Eskadron

I really like Eskadron brushing boots. These are such a pretty shade of green. I actually bought two pairs for everyone since they're limited edition. Figured this way I can keep a set in the trailer for schooling if and when we get to some away shows. Plus we'll have a back up for when inevitably these wear out.

Saddle: Custom Saddlery
Saddle Pad: Premier Equine

Quarter Sheet: Horze

Told you. We did not match very well today. I don't have the green quarter sheets at the barn this year. So we had to stick with navy for the back half. I think she was happy for the butt warmer. It was only 20 degrees in the indoor for our lesson. Ugh. Also, in case anyone is wondering, she wasn't quite herself this morning. I think she's a bit sore/stiff from her little stumble yesterday. So we opted to just do a flat lesson today and kept it light and easy for her. I'm sure she'll be feeling better in a day or two. Plus it's going to be a very light (if any) work weekend anyway due to the cold. 

So that's it for today! I'm not sure yet what we're wearing next week, but I'm thinking it might be back to blues. Time will tell!

What's Up Wednesday

 

Guys, winter is so boring. And like not in a bad way necessarily, but I have almost nothing to share on here lately. Not to mention no media what-so-ever. But I do have some good news!

In true horses are ridiculous fashion, Al got a clean bill of health from the vet on Friday. In fact, I was told he was the soundest horse doc had seen all day. Which wasn't really saying much as the others were pretty acutely unsound... but I'll take that regardless. The dermatitis on his left leg is finally cleared up (that took FOREVER) and whatever he had done to make his so unsound the last couple of weeks has resolved itself as well. Doc put him on a Chinese herb called Body Sore to see if that might help with this on again off again roller coaster we've been on. He's felt quite good so far this week, though he's somewhat lost his mind. I'm not allowing him free lunges for a bit, and well... he needs one. I'm going to try to lunge him a little on a line next week. I'd prefer he carry on like an idiot with a larger space than on a circle, but also, he can't be left to his own devises like that right now. So that's where we are. Hopefully once he's fully back to work and gets back to jumping his little brain cells will start to regenerate. In the meantime, send some good juju to the spinning horse deities please.

Eros is perfect as always. I was especially proud of him in the flat lesson yesterday. We worked quite hard (both of us, we had no stirrups for the majority of the lesson and also I would like some extra credit as the rest of the class is teenagers!) for about 40 minutes before getting a break. For Eros, at the 40 minute mark (which is well past his preferred 23 minutes of work) he usually checks out if we take a break and then start up again. That's normally when he tries to just pull me right out of the saddle. Which is hilarious by the way, and occasionally somewhat successful when I've been without stirrups for that long. Anyway, he did try that halfheartedly but then went right back to work. I was very proud of him. And last week we had one of our best jump lessons in a very long time. And that's saying a lot as he's been quite good lately. We shall see what tomorrow brings. It's getting VERY cold here and that doesn't always bode well. Fortunately the cold snap should be a short one. I'm hearing something about -30's (F) with the windchill on Saturday. But back to the 40's for Sunday. Should be a fun weekend. (Sarcasm.)

Shiny's been doing great too. We've been working very hard, and that really seems to be useful with her. Her work ethic seems to vary directly proportional to how hard I ask her to work. Which is good, I suppose. Better than her shutting down when I ask for more. We had a great lesson last week. It ended up being a private and we spent a little extra time on the flat work. It was great, and she really tried hard to get her body bending BOTH directions. She was great over fences too. One of my friends and fellow boarders has a laser that she let me treat Shiny with. It's a neck wrap, but can be used all up and down her whole body. We treated Shine on Saturday afternoon. I rode her bareback Sunday and she felt pretty good, but I was really impressed Tuesday when she felt amazing under tack. Today however... She fell down again. That hasn't happened in forever. She managed to right herself eventually, so it wasn't a total wipeout, and I managed to stay on. Also good. Hopefully she won't be feeling too sore tomorrow. We are scheduled to lesson, but if she's not feeling it, we'll take a rest day. She felt fine after the stumble, so I'm expecting her to be okay. Might be time to inject that neck again. But she's feeling so great, I'm just not sure. Might have just been the footing. She has a hard time with the fancy good footing at the barn. We're just a little too backyard for that nice stuff I guess! Ha! 

That's about it from here. Enjoy a photo of Rita asking when we're going to bed since I have zero horse photos to share this week.

How are things with all of you?!