Thursday's Threads: Soup Season Edition

 

Outfit Day! No one even ventured a guess last week about which boots I wanted to bring back. But I brought them back anyway! I'm making you wait till after Al shares his outfit though. We are solidly in soup season now with all the cold windy weather, so it was only appropriate to dress in an Andy Warhol inspired theme. 

He was too busy being an equine periscope to model properly. So I guess we better get to the closeups. 

Bridle: Joseph Sterling
Brow Band: Homemade

You can tell he's having feelings because he's making the parrot mouth face. He's done that since I got him. He does NOT have an actual parrot mouth. It sure does make accentuate his roman nose though. Weirdo. 

Saddle: Butet
Half Pad: Ippico
Baby Pad: Ogilvy, embellished by me

I know it's hard to see. So fear not, I took a closeup:

Soup cans! Hee hee. I love this print, especially for fall when I'm eating soup on the regular. 

Boots: DSB, embellished by me

I found fabric too. But the fabric wasn't licensed so instead of Campbell's it says Cookies, and all the flavors are cookie flavors instead of soup. But close enough. 

That's what Al had on this week, and here's what I was wearing:

I've been building this outfit for years. I had gotten my portion many years ago, but never got around to building the horse version until this summer. And this sweatshirt is huge. I don't think it fit when I originally got it either. But it's perfect for this time of year because I can layer away underneath it.

Helmet: One K Avance CCS MIPS

Okay, so I went with the gray because that's like the silver top of the can. Get it? Ha! I'm such a weirdo.

Sweatshirt: Unknown brand

I got this so long ago, I have no idea where I got it. Probably Etsy. Maybe Amazon. Who can remember.

Belt: Knot Clothing & Belt Company

I thought this was extra adorable with the little grilled cheese sandwich on it. 

Breeches: Dover Wellesley

I really wasn't sure what pants to wear so I went with these. I suppose grey would have worked too. 

Socks: Dreamers & Schemers

These don't have the soup can on them, but it does have bowls of soup AND more grilled cheese sandwiches. So they're definitely on point.

Boots: Imperial Riding

At last! The part I'm most excited about! The BOOTS! And yes, you are seeing them right, they are mirror finish silver. Possibly the most ridiculous boots I own. And I LOVE them. I don't wear them a ton because I want them to live forever. And I haven't had them on here in AGES. You might be asking what they have to do with soup, but I used the same thought process as the helmet. It's the bottom of the can! Silver! 

So.... what do you want to see next week?

What's Up Wednesday

 

The only trouble with my new take the days as they come attitude is that it doesn't make for very exciting blog discussion. For the most part, things are the same around here. It's getting colder, but we're still plugging away, having our rides, doing our thing! It was actually pretty warm over the weekend which was so nice! I definitely made sure to appreciate it. 

Something spooked Al while he was eating his hay in 
turnout on Sunday. So then he just stood here staring at 
whatever it was for the remainder of his outside time. 

Al has had an interesting week. We talked last week about the hole I thought I'd found in his training. But turns out, it's not a hole. It was just one of Al's bad days. Man this horse is frustrating to try and figure out. I opted to lunge him a second day last week because we've been having the craziest winds, and I do not have a death wish. And this time, he had no issue staying out on the circle. Which is great! But like, why was that so impossible the other day? I'm starting to wonder if horses can have split personalities, because honestly, you never which Al is coming to the ring on a given day. 

Riding hasn't been magical with him at all. He's very concerned about the neighbor's side of the ring, to the point that I cannot keep his attention when we're on that side of the ring. I've tried adding a circle each time he wants to be distracted. I've tried counter bend. I've tried haunches in. Haunches out. Shoulder in. But turns out, we can't actually do shoulder in when he's not paying attention. Doesn't happen. None of it helps to keep him with me. But despite this challenge, I do think we have made some progress in one area, and that's coming a little more forward. I won't say we've achieved actual forward. I'm not a liar! Lol! But it's improved. And I think I've discovered a voice command that he knows. I was trying to get him to walk forward on the lunge line. He kind of knows that BIG means more, like I'll ask him for BIG trot when I want an extension, and I do think he gets that. But I was throwing all kinds of words at him to see if anything got him really marching along. So I said what I wanted "March! Guys, I shit you not, that horse strutted off with the most delightful working walk I've ever seen from him. I figured it was a one off, but he did it every time I said March!  Who knew. I'll just tuck that right in my tool box thank you! 

I bought this jogging sheet ages ago and never used it.
But I busted it out for Al's lunge yesterday and I think 
he was very glad to have it! It was only 38 degrees
with wind gusts up to 30 mph. Glad I had that! (And it's
exactly these types of circumstances that perpetuates my 
borderline hoarding.)

Today was warmer, mid 40's and significantly less wind, so I womaned up and rode my horse. He was medium. Still a disaster about the one side of the ring. But I made him walk up the quarter line over there several times. He hated it. Tried to stop and turn away repeatedly. Then he started with his nervous tick. When he's very angsty and trying to get out of doing hard things, he gets itchy. He'll bite at his shoulder sometimes, or if he's feeling very dramatic he'll stop dead to rub his face on his leg. I've nearly toppled right off before when it's happened at the canter... Horse has no manners some days. But he did do the hard thing I wanted several times. Not without complaint, but he did it. And so I told him he was wonderful. Then we went and worked for real on the easy part of the ring. We did a bunch of spiraling in and out on the circle. A few canter transitions. I really liked that he was jumping right in to the canter. He'd kind of peter off some after the first few strides, so forward is still very much a work in progress. But even if it's just a couple strides of forward right now, that's more than I was getting before. So I'm taking the small win. Hopefully some day all these little wins will actually accumulate to something more. Hopefully.

Winter attire

Shiny is feeling herself finally with this temperature drop! I'm so relieved because she's just been so quiet for so long, I really was a little concerned. But sassy Shiny has made an appearance! She's been having a good old time in turnout, doing some zoomies and some bucks. She even kind of spooked both yesterday and today in our rides! I mean, tiny ones. We are talking about Shiny after all. Yesterday in the crazy wind she kept doing the wild horse head shake. You know the one I mean. It would be terrifying on another horse, but on her I just giggled. Which probably annoyed her. She's been great though. Still warms up at the western jog, but once we get past that she's been perfecr. Her step is opening back up and she's putting forth some actual effort lately, which is so fun! I jumped her around a little bit today and it was just so easy. I have everything really tiny in the ring. I think the biggest fence is 2'. But she's just going around so nicely. I put my leg on and she moved forward off it. Miracle! Love this pony.

I feel like quarter sheets tend to accentuate Eros' belly

E's still the same. Some days are better than others, but nothing is bad. I thought I might have solved the nqr-ness, but alas, it still comes and goes. I think I'm going to talk to my vet about doing a second round of doxy for him. His chronic number was lower than before we treated, but it's still in the unequivocal range. I feel like maybe now that it's cold, he's still dealing with it? I dunno. Just a hypothesis. But that's not what I thought the problem was briefly. He has this... thing on his elbow on the right side. Like on the very top of his leg in front of the girth. Sort of where you'd see a shoe boil, but it's not that. He's had it forever. 

The thing.

It resembles a callous, and I think it's probably from when he lays down. I've shown it to the vet a few times because it will grow once in awhile, and then I'll put some Animax steroid ointment on it, and it will go back to its usual size. Well I noticed it had spread again, and thought it was possible he was hitting it on the girth when he's working. So Saturday I smeared it with bag balm. I figured that might soften it up, so if that's what was bugging him, maybe getting it softer would feel better. Plus, bag balm is so sticky it would stick to the girth so I could confirm my hypothesis. And he did feel much better that ride, so I thought I was on to something. But alas, when I dismounted there was no bag balm on the girth. Which was a little disappointing, but also good because I didn't want to have to go buy another girth. I though maybe though the bag balm helped, so I continued with that this week, but he's been back to a little nqr this week. (I've also been putting the Animax on the callous thing, and it's shrinking back up again. Either way, it wasn't the culprit.) Saturday, the day he felt better was really warm I think it may have hit 70 even. So my current hypothesis as I mentioned earlier is Lyme. I dunno. Might be time for a vet visit and just really figure out what we're dealing with. 

Anyway, that's where we're at with the horses! I did end up taking Sunday off from riding, and headed up to Equine Affair right after I finished chores. There's definitely still a lot less vendors than they used to have, but I think it's building back up. The Covid years really hurt Equine Affair. I've heard chatter too that none of the European vendors came because they're avoiding our country... So yeah, I don't blame them! I had hoped to chat with the company I got my trailer from because I want to have a few things done on mine, but they weren't there. Guess I'll have to call them. Blech. I hate the phone. 

I struck out completely on the hoof picks I wanted. There weren't very many full tack store type vendors, so only handful even had grooming items. I was hoping to find some winter breeches that aren't stupid expensive. Specifically I wanted to see and touch the ROMFH Willow. But alas. Most winter pants I came across were tights. I'm not a tights girl. And the rest were stupid expensive. I'm just not spending $250 or more on breeches. Nope. I'm also not that girl. 

So what DID I get? The Back on Track Haze coolers I wanted! I've been low key stalking them online for awhile, but like I mentioned last week I really wanted to touch them before committing. They're never on sale, and at $199 a piece... I wanted to make sure I liked how they felt. Well, they felt very nice. The outside is polyester, but more like the type of fabric you'd feel on a stable sheet, definitely not fleece. So that bodes well for minimal static. And it's pretty soft, not stiff like I was concerned it might be. The best part? They were 20% off! I had to have them shipped as they didn't have them in stock at the booth, but shipping was free. They should be here tomorrow, so I'll try and remember to grab some photos next week to share. I'm excited for them. I also snagged an Essex Classics sweater that was on sale for $40 (and is a wool blend, yay warmth!) and an unexpected find:

A rhinestone front shield for my One K. Now, I have seen the black rhinestone shield for years. It's all over. But I have never seen a green one! So I had to buy it. How could I not? No brainer. Thankfully it's the same green as the pieces I already have, so everything matches. 

And then I also got a butterfinger caramel apple for the drive home (they cut it up for you for easy snacking). All in all, yes I spent a bunch of money on the coolers, but otherwise I was pretty well behaved! 

Otherwise, I've been hanging out at the farm, doing farm stuff. And staring at the sky because mother nature gave us this last night:

She might be back for more tonight. I'm going to check it out when I do night check. Never thought I'd see the northern lights in person, and now I have THREE times. And from my own house! The world might be imploding around us, but at least we get to see some beauty. 

Truthful Tuesday

 

Today's confession is that I forgot how nice it is to have a heated barn. Sure, I have to ride outside in the elements (which was a CHALLENGE today with insane winds once again) but having a more temperate space to do the rest of the things in is lovely. I keep the barn at 45, so it's not like it's hot in there. The horses still wear blankets. But my feet stay unfrozen and I can do things without gloves on. And the horses aren't that angry about being naked while we groom and tack up and whatnot. Plus the water doesn't freeze and we don't have multiple blanket layers to deal with. Kinda makes me wonder why I've been boarding at unheated barns all these past few winters. I mean I know it's the indoor access. But still. Heated barn guys. It's great.

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day! After a particularly ridiculous outfit last week, we toned it down just a little bit this week. The horses were actually a little boring with their choice of outfit, but I had some fun with mine. Eros is our model this week, so let's start with what he had on:

I told ya! Kinda dull in the outfit department this week. But I think Eros kind of likes it that way. I have to note, I think his dad bod has actually trimmed up a little this summer! 

Bridle: Joseph Sterling

Browband: Dark Jewel Designs

Peep the tongue. Haha!

Saddle: Butet

Half Pad: Mattes

Baby pad: Ogilvy

Lol, who tacked up this horse? That saddle is not in the middle of the half pad, that's for sure. Definitely should fire my groom. Oh wait. That's me. Guess I'll give me another chance.

Wraps: Catago

This color is called Kangaroo which, I've never seen a kangaroo in real life, but I imagine it's an accurate description. I'd like to get the Catago quarter sheets for the horses this year. They have the fancy fabric like Back on Track uses so I think the horses would benefit from that. It comes in this color which is why I brought that up. But there's also a pretty green. I'm having trouble deciding which to get. But I'll probably go with the green. 

So that's the somewhat dull outfit that Eros wore this week, but here's mine which is a bunch more fun. 

Told ya! More fun! 

Helmet: One K

I've gotten a lot more use out of this brown helmet than I expected. Which is great cause it's nice to feel like you're getting your money's worth.

Sweater: Brodie

I've been making an effort to tackle one of the many projects on my to do list on Mondays, and a couple weeks ago I went through all my sweaters and sweatshirts. I filled three bags to donate which was nice. I love a good clean out! And I discovered this sweater in the cashmere drawer. Last year I transitioned a bunch of my older cashmere into barn clothes. This year I've added a few more to the barn pile, including this one. I've never really been a huge leopard print person, but here and there I find something I like in that print. And I like this one.

Belt: Tory Burch

I know. I'm as shocked as you are that I don't have a leopard belt. But actually up until a few months ago I had a really cool one. It was like a metal mesh with a furry leopard strip in the middle of it. But on the Monday that I went through the belts, I noticed that the leopard part had dried out and was coming off the belt part. It really wasn't reparable, so I had to let it go. Didn't think much of it at the time, but I might have to keep an eye out for a replacement. 

Breeches: Dover Wellesley

Yeah. It's cold enough for the winter pants. These aren't technically winter breeches, but the fabric is a lot heavier that my Tailored Sportsmans and Equilines. But I also had to choose these because look at the pocket trim! LOOK AT IT! It's leopard like my sweater. I kinda wish the knee patches were too. But I also like that it's subtle this way. 

Boots: Horka

I almost grabbed the crocodile boots for this outfit, but then thought that might be a lot of exotic animals for one outfit and decided on these instead. I like it, I think it was the right choice.

And that's it for today! I'm not sure what I'll wear next week yet, but I think it might be time to bust out a particularly ridiculous pair of boots that I haven't worn in a very long time. Any guesses which ones I'm thinking of?

What's Up Wednesday

 

I think I messed up a little for poor Al this week. Nothing major, but maybe some bad timing on my part. I mentioned yesterday about changing up the course on Monday. Seemed like a good plan, because I wanted space for lunging and more options to hopefully expand Al's "safe space" circle. I like the new course. It's just a very simple hunter course with no oxers because who cares about oxers when it's going to be winter? I did make sure a couple of jumps could easily be converted to trotting poles, meaning they're just standards and rails with no fill, planks, nor gates. And should I get to feeling fancy there are a couple options for bending lines too. Perfect. 

But what I didn't consider was that this week is also the first week of the time change AND a full moon. Not just a full moon, a SUPERMOON. On top of all that, the wind won't quit. And poor Al is having a hard time. He's trying to be a good boy. Really he is. But that's a lot to throw at a sensitive boy all at once. I should have waited another week to change the jumps. His safe space is all different and he hates it. Poor dude. I did ride him today; we stayed on a circle up here at this end of the ring. He wasn't terrible, but he wasn't good either. He did try hard though, I could tell he was doing his best. And I give him credit for that. I did almost eat dirt once. At the walk. Because of a squirrel. But I held on and he was polite enough to not finish me off. So small win, yes? Haha. Should be less windy tomorrow. Maybe that will help our cause. 

He's such an open book, you can easily tell that he's not feeling settled just by how he interacts with me. He's a little clingy, watching everything I do in the barn. He even wanted me to come out and play with him in turnout which was adorable, and we had lots of fun. He followed me over a cross rail, helped me set up some trot poles, and then repeatedly knocked over the little end jump while I was trying to put it back together. That last one was more fun for him than it was for me. But it did give me a giggle. I think tomorrow we'll spend some time hanging out in the ring before I get on and see if that helps. 

In Shiny news, she got de-furred on Thursday. It was a rain day and I had told myself that the next rain day I had to clip the pony. And I actually listened to me! Doesn't always happen. I make up a lot of rules, and sometimes I don't want to follow them all. But I did this time. I left her legs and head furry. I was originally going to do everything, but honestly, come winter, I don't mind the parts outside the blanket having some furry insulation. I'll have to clip her again in the spring I'm sure (hopefully not before that!) and I'll take everything off then. 

I was too lazy to bathe her beforehand, so she's pretty line-y but whatever. It's winter. And also, I'm getting a little faster at clipping! Proud of me for that. I previously held the titles for both slowest stall cleaner on earth AND slowest clipper on earth, and I think maybe I've lost the clipper title. Hopefully.

It's amazing to me how much hair one little pony can have attached to her. Each of these photos is from one side of her. (She got to have a potty and water break halfway through.) Not including legs nor head even. It's a lot of hair! 

She's been good for work this week too. For sure the most consistent anyway. We popped over a few fences one day last week. No real plan, and I don't think even did a full course. Just bopped around over some singles and called it a day. I kind of love having no direction this time of year. We might get some storms tonight but as long as the ring isn't too wet I'm hoping to jump around the new course with her tomorrow. She's the only one really capable of jumping the actual course at the moment, so I'm feeling extra grateful for her this week. She's really hanging on to that MVP award this year! 

Eros is holding his own in the MVP running though. He had his first moonlit ride last night (I'm not sure if it's his first ever, but I think it might be) and I was shocked at how good he was for it. He's often spooky this time of year especially at the end of the ring, but in the dark he wasn't at all. Maybe because of his questionable vision? Maybe he couldn't see anything to spook at it in the dark? I dunno. No complaints from me though! Also we do have lights on the barn side of the ring, so it's not quite as dark as that photo seems. I'm not that crazy! 

He's still feeling decent to ride, not quite 100% yet, but better than he was a couple weeks ago. We're still taking it easy with shorter rides, and mostly stretchy work. So no new course for him any time soon. But it's just precautionary. I think he's fine, but why test it? 

In other news, I got a little blanket rack for Rita's winter clothes. And yes, she has matching clothes with the horses:

Cute right? I set it up in the entryway next to my own smelly barn coat rack.

And lastly, Al somehow got himself stuck in the hay feeder over the weekend. He does enjoy pawing, and I think he took it too far this time. Chaos feet on that one.

He did indeed break it, but I cut that section off the rest of the way, and it's still working fine. Maybe even easier for me to drag around from the hay barn to the ring and back. So perhaps he improved it? 

Lastly, I'm contemplating taking Sunday off from riding (it's supposed to rain anyway) and head up to Equine Affair to spend some money I don't really have. I have a couple of silly things I'd like to hunt for. I got some new hoof picks last week at a tent sale that I really like and would like to grab a few more for the trailer. But I'm a weirdo and want specific colors and no place online lets you pick colors. (Man, I hate that!) So I thought I could probably find them up there. I also have a whole pile of Dreamers and Schemers spare socks that I'd like to try and find matches for. (They sell socks as a pair plus a spare, and I like to try and get matching spares to make real pairs, ya know?) The other thing I want to look for is the Back on Track Haze cooler. I think I want them for the horses to marinate in after turnout and before we ride this winter. They're 200 grams of fill, so nice and cozy (warmer than the mesh sheet anyway). But I really want to touch one first and see if they're soft and lovely or stiff and icky. Plus, I know they're polyester, but I want to make sure they're not fleece. We don't want all the static! My barn has heat, so it gets pretty staticky in there if we use the wrong materials. It's expensive enough that I'd rather see and touch it before buying. Do any of you have that one? Thoughts if you do?

Alright, that's all I've got for this week. Any of you heading to Equine Affair this weekend? I think most of you are pretty far away, but hey, you never know!

Truthful Tuesday

 

I think I've discovered a small hole in Al's training (aside from the obvious issues we've been dealing with). I don't lunge him a ton anymore, but with the cooler weather coming I imagine we will be doing a little more in the coming months. Most of the times I've lunged him I've had to work within some parameters of where jumps are set, so often our circle isn't particularly large. But he's always been respectful of the circle and is generally pretty easy to lunge. I set a new course yesterday and very specifically made it so I had a large area available for lunging. I opted to lunge him today rather than ride because the winds were winding like crazy. (Seriously, the wind around here lately is insane.) 

So I send him out on the circle, and it turns out, Al doesn't seem to know how to lunge on a big circle. He likes to bulge out towards his "safe" side of the ring, then tries (and frequently succeeds) to break in one specific area of the circle literally every time around, then finally rushes and falls in when he's near the "unsafe" side of the ring. I'm pretty sure I worked a lot harder than he did today trying to keep him going and entice him into using more space. We weren't overly successful if I'm being honest. Though I imagine the insane winds weren't helping our cause. He spent most of the session looking out of the ring and not where he was going. Also not at me. He's a terrible listener sometimes. I think next time we lunge I'll add some side reins to help with the bulge and maybe discourage the looking out. 

We did manage to have some success with transitions at the end, and I let that be our win for the day. I do take some solace in his being distracted and a less than stellar listener today because it shows me that he has hard days whether or not I'm in the saddle. Which doesn't fix anything obviously, but I think it's useful information. And makes me feel like less of the problem, which some days I just need that reinforced because I'm human. 

So that's today's confession, my horse doesn't know how to lunge in a larger space. And also, it remains to be seen if I know how to teach him this skill. 

Thursday's Threads: Halloween Edition

 

Outfit Day! We got rained out today, but I made sure to get outfit day photos earlier in the week just in case. And we went full ridiculous for this Halloween edition. Shiny is our model this week and here's what she was wearing:

That's right. We brought back the candy corn! It's been several years since we've used this outfit, so I thought it was time to bring it back.

Bridle: M.Toulouse

I got these bridles ages ago, and almost sold them, but then just decided to keep them for this outfit. These browbands don't have snaps, so it's nice not to have to change them onto one of my other bridles when I want to use them.

Saddle: Butet
Saddle Pad: The Riders Closet (Etsy)

Half Pad: Ippico

It's kinda fun seeing a Butet on Shiny. One that fits her I mean. It's amazing the difference a saddle can make. Her old one was fine, but I could never use my whole leg on her. But now I can! And it's making a huge difference in our flatwork. 

Boots: Horze

I decorated these with Duct tape awhile back and it's still hanging on just fine! Duct tape is the best.

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

All the orange and yellow. ALL OF IT!

Helmet: One K

Yep, also duct tape on here. I'm telling you, that stuff rules.

Quarter Zip: Dover Saddlery
Tee shirt: Walmart

I got this fabulous candy corn colored unicorn shirt from the children's section at Walmart a couple years ago and then promptly forgot about it. But I rediscovered it and knew it was time to bring back the candy corn look for our Halloween edition this year. It was cold this week though, so I had to layer it. 

Belt: C4

Matches my duct tape perfectly! Ha! Love it!

Breeches: Vestrum

I like the Vestrum breeches, but they're pretty pricey. Unless you happen to find ridiculous colors that you like and then you can grab them really cheap on closeout. I also have a yellow pair which I wore for Halloween last year when I was Winnie the Pooh. 

Boots: TuffRider Regal

Yes, duct tape details. AND duct tape spur straps. I've been wearing them all week and they're fine! Perhaps I should stop buying spur straps and just use duct tape exclusively. 

Bonus photo because at some point I wrapped an old crop with the duct tape too and it's too fun not to share. 

That's it for this week! Do you prefer my crazy candy corn getup or an actual Halloween costume? I don't have a costume this year anyway, but what do you prefer for next year?