Thursday's Threads: Nantucket Edition

 

Outfit Day! I was excited to finally get this one put together because it's been something I wanted to do for awhile now. My family used to vacation pretty regularly on Nantucket island... and in fact they still do! they're all there this weekend but I'm not able to join because I have braiding jobs lined up. Bummer for me, but big sigh of relief for my wallet! Ha! Anyway, today's outfit is dedicated to my love for Nantucket. Al is our model because he looks stunning in Nantucket red (which is really kinda pink...) Here's what we had on:

He might be a special boy in many ways, but he is lovely to look at. I think he's actually smiling in this photo. Definitely understood the assignment.

Here's a closer look at his outfit:

He was not as enthused to pose without me... Haha, best I could get!

Bridle: Joseph Sterling

Brow band: Made by me

I'm experimenting with an interchangeable brow band. This one has done the job well enough, but I think if I ever were to market it, I'd want it leather backed with leather loops. But for now, just for me at home, this is working out just fine! Also, you might notice a different bit (again). I was able to find some cherry roller bits like the full cheek he likes but in a loose ring and it's not copper like his other one. This one was only $30 so even though it's not exactly like the one I really like, it's tons more affordable and will work perfectly for his fun bridles so we don't have to keep switching bits around. He seemed happy enough in it. I think he does prefer a fixed cheek in general though. But for a savings of $130 he can deal with the loose ring once in awhile.

Boots: Premier Equine, embellished by me

I love when I can find a fabric with print that fits well onto our boot straps. I hunted for probably two years to find this! I really wanted Nantucket red, and also wanted the island outline. But a lot of prints are too big. This one is maybe a little small for the boots, but it's good enough.

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

Yep, I got a lot of use out of this fabric. And also got pretty lucky that the print was small enough to work for all three parts of Al's outfit! 

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

I really wasn't sure which boots to wear. But I thought these felt kind of nautical and islandy. Plus I haven't worn them in forever, so it was time to bust them back out.

Helmet: One K Avance CCS MIPS

Blues are always islandy, plus it matches the boots nicely. Haven't worn this one in awhile either!

Tee Shirt: Not sure on brand

Nantucket has beaches that you can drive on and set up a tailgate party right on the beach! But to be able to do that you have to have a special pass for your car. Every season they switch up the colors, and the pass has become kind of iconic. So that's what is printed on this tee. People leave them all on their beach cars year after year, and my dad's cheap is starting to get a pretty good collection on it!

Belt: BeRibbon (Etsy)

The belt has that same iconic beach pass on it too! I really wanted to do this for the browband instead of the fabric I had, but I couldn't find the ribbon for sale on its own. Probably could have asked this belt maker if they'd sell me some, but it's okay. I think it all comes together fine as it is. 

Breeches: Horseware

Nothing says New England Island like seersucker! So obviously the seersucker breeches had to come out for this outfit. These are roughly 1 million years old, but they still fit! Definitely not as comfy as the newer fabrics though. 

Boots: Celeris

You guys have seen these before but it's been a long while. I snagged these for a SONG in a demo sale from Reiten-Leider. They were super cheap for two reasons: first, few people have tiny feet and full calves but secondly because they have no zipper. Instead they have rhinestones up the back just like up on the tops of these. They're super fun! The no zipper thing is a little annoying, but once you get the hang of fast lacing, it's not that big of a deal. 

That's it for today! Do you like the Nantucket theme? What should I do next?? 

What's Up Wednesday

 

So a funny thing happened last week after I gave Al so much praise... And yes, I'm CLEARLY a crazy person for constantly allowing the hope to creep in. 

Full of hope here!

But here's what happened. Despite my ordering more Esomeprazole for Al on the Monday right after his last scope, for some reason the pharmacy took ten days to send it to me. And I had only enough left for eight days. He is still on the Sucralfate, and I had a different Omeprazole product still from our last attempt at curing these ulcers, so I figured we'd be okay for a couple of days. I was not going to panic nor was I going to jump to any conclusions and create a problem where there wasn't one. Really. I truly thought we'd be fine. 

Obviously, since I'm talking about it, I was wrong. So, SO wrong. After our wonderful and exciting (in a good way) jump school on Wednesday, he was a completely unhinged psychopath on Thursday. We're talking dragon breathing, snorting, head in the air, spinning around in place cuckoo. So bad that I actually got off and just worked him on the lunge instead. And he was even nutty on the lunge line. Talk about soul crushing. But ever the optimist, I hoped maybe he was just having a bad day. Maybe the next day he would be okay. I mean, he's been on such a good roll for SO long, it couldn't all be over. Right?

No. Friday wasn't much better. It was a little better. No spinning in place. But that was the only improvement. Thankfully the correct meds arrived that afternoon, so Saturday he could get back on his scheduled treatment plan. Saturday was a little better than Friday. But still. It wasn't great. Sunday is Sunday Funday over here, but I was not about to ride Al without a bit or saddle this week. So we instead did a walk/trot low pressure ride. And it wasn't too bad. Still angsty on the scary side of the ring, but I didn't feel like he was electrified anymore so that's a good step in the right direction. 

Did earn himself some snackies!

This week he's been slowly but surely coming back to earth. I had hoped to jump him a little today, but with his delicate psyche just coming around and the wind blowing... I opted out. Not quite ready yet. Probably more me than him that's not ready, but whatever. I have to be smart this week because I have a lot of braiding the next two weekends. And what's the rush? There isn't one. And so we flatted. And it wasn't bad. So I'm calling that a win. But I am concerned that these ulcers might never heal. Or maybe it was just acid storm he was experiencing? I dunno. Whatever it was, it wasn't good! But I am relieved he's coming back around. Fingers crossed it was the med change (as it does seem to be) and not some other problem that I'll need to figure out. Because this horse has taught me a lot of lessons, but I could use a little break from all the learning for a little bit. 

In summary, Al had a rough few days, but I think he's coming around. And yes, I'm dumb enough to keep hoping for that!

Eros has been testing the waters a little bit lately too. He's not being naughty of course, that's not who he is. But he does this thing that my mother does when she calls me. She's there on the phone with me, but she's not actually listening to anything I might say. The Eros version of that is this: He will be present for our rides, but only like 40% of attention will be on me. The rest is somewhere outside the ring wondering how much longer till dinner, and how many more years he'll have to work before he retires. You know, just horse thoughts. I didn't fully notice just how tuned out he was until today though. I was thinking about jumping him a little so I came to the ride unarmed. (And by that I mean no spurs and no stick because those things cause torpedos when we jump.) Guys. I asked him to trot and it took three tries until he did it. I chalked that up to not being warmed up. Eros takes a bit to get going, it's just who he is as a horse. But like, it kept happening. Delayed responses to everything. Once I asked him to circle and he was so busy looking out of the ring he just never turned. 

I realized I had been letting him just half do all of our rides for awhile now (obviously) and this was definitely an issue that I slowly allowed to happen. So today's plan shifted from jumping to a much more intense flat ride. We did transitions. SO MANY transitions. Until they were prompt. Then we trotted figures until he agreed to look where he was going and not outside the ring. And then we both were very sweaty and tired. I imagine we'll need a few more rides like this one to get him back on track fully, but I was happy with how he finished. So that was nice. 

Honestly, I get a little bit of a giggle out of Eros being a distracted old man. He's just generally such an agreeable guy that it's funny when he's just kind of doing his own thing. And at his age, why shouldn't he? (Don't tell him I said that.) 

Otherwise, he's been a good boy. And hopefully we can do some jumpies later this week. We shall see. There's always next week!

Shiny has been great! I don't really do the fun stuff with her in the summer because her kiddo does all the jumping days, but they've been doing so well together! Today kiddo learned how to get her on the bit, and it was so perfect! I have her coming a few extra days over the next week or so to help me out during the big braiding days. Shiny's kiddo has always had somewhat challenging horses to learn on, so Shiny's been the most reliable teacher for her. And it's really fun to watch them growing as a pair so nicely. 

Shiny is in the dog house though over one thing. This summer she's started this fun game of peeing on the crossties. Up until today she has only done it in the wash stall, but today she did it in the aisle. Which was a lot harder to clean up and definitely a lot more annoying. While I don't truly think anything is wrong, I am going to have doc pull a blood panel on her next time he's out just to be sure there's not something going on. I kind of think she does it just to get back to her stall. Usually I can catch her start to stretch out and I'll toss her in the stall. But I've noticed once in the stall, if there's hay in there, she doesn't go pee right away. First she eats the hay. She's a smart pony, and I kind of think she's figured out how to get back to her food faster. Didn't work today though. Since she had already peed and hadn't yet been washed off from her ride, she got to stand extra long in the crossties after her shower to dry off. And then I fed everyone lunch, while she was drying. She was big mad. But she had nothing left to excrete which I think contributed to her frustration. Lol. It's tough being a pony. 

I accidentally filmed myself (from my pocket) putting shavings on this peepee.
So here's a screenshot of the soaking up of the pee. This was followed by
sweeping up all the shavings, and then a simple green scrub, a rinse, and a towel dry.
I'm pretty sure it still smells like pee. But what more can I do? I might spray some
enzyme on there tomorrow to get the smell out. 

That's about it from here this week. Just plugging along, trying to be the best we can be. Some days are more successful than others. Haha! Nothing exciting planned for the next couple of weeks while I'm busy with twisting hairs. What about you guys?? Have anything exciting planned?

Truthful Tuesday

 

Today's confession is that I had no idea how hard it is to find barn workers. In the past I've posted on Facebook and found someone pretty easily. Or asked around and help would find its way to me. But this time it's proving a bit more difficult. I've posted in my stories on socials and on a couple of local horse pages on the book of faces. And all I've gotten is crickets. Meanwhile, this week alone I've come into the barn to find Shiny with no water and manure left out in two of the three turnouts. Not to mention all the hay everywhere. And it's only Tuesday. But hey, at least the gates were closed and the doors were latched. Thank goodness for that. 

Hopefully I can get my lack of energy situation worked out with doc so I can just get more done myself. That's obviously the best solution. Anyway though, any suggestion on where to advertise for help? Maybe there's something new I just don't know about. I am of a certain age after all! 

Thursday's Threads

 

Outfit Day!!! My favorite day! This week the theme is Arizona Green Tea, because it's my favorite beverage and I've been building this outfit for a long while, so I'm glad it's finally come together! Shiny is our model this week and here we are standing with the cherry blossom jump to match the cherry blossoms on the Arizona can.

I know. I really need to make up with Pivo and stop using my fence as a cameraman because this is dark, blurry, and faraway. But hey, it's better than nothing!

Here's a better photo of Shiny's outfit:

We're working on standing up more square... It's a work in progress. But I will say since she's lost all that weight she doesn't have her hind legs camped under herself the way she used to. So that's a nice change!

Bridle: Joseph Sterling
Browband: handmade by me

The nylon I bought was not the normal weight I usually get and I didn't realize it until it arrived. But I figured it would probably still work, and it does! But I will definitely pay better attention in the future. 

Saddle: Custom Saddlery
Half Pad: Le Mieux
Baby Pad: Ogilvy, embellished by me

I hunted far and wide to find ribbon I could use for this pad, but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. Most cherry blossom ribbon had a white background which I try to avoid for horsey things cause you know, dirt. But then I went on Spoonflower and found this fabric which worked perfectly for my needs! And it's nearly exact to the Arizona Iced Tea graphic! Just the shade of mint is a little off. Close enough though!

Boots: Premier Equine, Embellished by Me

The fabric was also perfect for our interchangeable boots!

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

Mmmm green tea! I love that stuff!

Helmet: Samshield

I mean now that the helmet has faded so much it really matches the flowers pretty well!

Tee: Arizona 

I'm like a green tea superfan and not only do I have this tee shirt, but I also have matching sneakers from when Arizona did a collab with Adidas. I know. I'm weird. But these things bring me joy!

Belt: Handmade by me

Why yes, I did also use that fabric for my belt. I love the concept of this interchangeable belt, but I know there are some tweaks to make it better. I just haven't quite worked then out yet. It's in the test phase now anyway, so we'll see how this one holds up before creating a 2.0 version. 

Breeches: Tailored Sportsman

I grabbed these from Poshmark a bunch of years ago, and just love this color! I ruined them slightly when I splashed some pool shock on them... but it's okay since they're just for schooling anyway.

Half Chaps and Paddock Boots: HKM

I had contemplated wearing the mint green boots with this outfit since they really would match nicely, but I didn't feel like having to clean all my tack again after so I opted for these plain black chaps and boots instead. I think they worked well since Shiny's pad and boots are also black.

What's Up Wednesday

 

Okay, I got all me whining off my chest yesterday, so today we can talk about all the good stuff happening over here! Because it's not all bad. (Just the weekday mornings evidently.) 

So I was expecting a rain day last week either Thursday or Friday, and it turned out to not really happen. Thursday I rushed our rides a little to beat the rain, but then the rain was delayed until overnight. But the horses never seem to be upset when we have short rides. Plus I was having my new oil tank installed in my basement that day so I was a little distracted by that too. It happens. It's a big relief to not be waiting for the oil to start leaking again! Nobody needs that drama in their life. 

Friday I expected the ring to be under water since it poured all night. But really it wasn't too bad. I could have ridden on half of it without really encountering puddles. But I dunno I just had this strong aversion to getting on a horse that day. Like I just REALLY didn't want to. Which doesn't happen to me all that often and usually when it does I ignore that and just ride. But often those rides end up being bad. So this day I decided to just take a day off. The horses have been working very consistently six days a week, so we could all use a little surprise rest day. Plus I really needed to pull manes. So that seemed like the perfect day to do it!

No really. They were borderline feral

Much better!

Surprisingly that all took me almost as long as it would have taken me to ride. I should probably stay on top of that task a little better. Oh and halfway through Shiny reared up, using my foot as her springboard and broke the crossties. But then I made her finish anyway and she just pouted. It's still a little long and a little too thick, but we'll keep chipping away at it. The boys were both very good. 

I did have a little time after finishing manes so I finally got around to getting my new white board put together. I love the custom ones you can get, but over $200 for a whiteboard isn't in my budget these days. So I decided to just get a plain one with a nice enough frame and then make my own. I was too lazy to find a straight edge to really do it properly... But I'm still happy with how it came out. I also had some Winthrop Corner Stable magnets to use with it which I think pull the whole thing together.

I put a sticker over our important numbers for this photo
but I can't imagine you could read them anyway, 

So at the very top I put a decal with the farm name, address, and phone number. The logos on either side are just my magnets. And yes, I did not properly center the name. Oops. 

The next section is important numbers like vets, farrier, horse sitters, etc. Below that is a blanket chart for both indoors and outdoors as well as what the horses wear on their legs for turnout. 

Next I have exactly what they eat for each meal including all meds and supplements. This way if something were to happen and I wasn't home for meals, someone can get them fed properly. 

The last section is daily tasks. Basically, someone could come in and keep my farm running properly just by reading this board. I love it. I mean, obviously my employee doesn't look at the board... but if he DID he'd know what's expected. And yes, that last section includes a note to check all doors and gate latches plus top off waters before leaving the premises. Seriously, it's all there. You could come run my barn if you wanted. I LOVE organization. Lists are my favorite. 

That evening I watched my younger niece perform as Dory in Finding Nemo kids and she did such a great job. She even had singing solos! So proud of her!

Saturday was just a flat day since they had Friday off, but Shiny's kiddo came so that was fun. And Al had one of his best flats in awhile. He even went forward! In a relatively nice shape!

I know. Who is this horse?! Looks like he knows how to horse! 

Sunday was super fun though, wanna know why?? Because Al participated in his first Sunday Funday in a very long time. 

I mean, I wasn't brave enough to ride him bareback. I have no idea how I'd even get on him. He and Eros are the same height technically, but Eros is all wither so his back is lower than Al's. And I can only JUST BARELY get up on Eros. But also, I don't quite trust Al enough to go bareback yet. But he did get to go bitless. We did a short ride in the ring, and then we headed out to the backyard for some snackies.

He was very well behaved and seemed to enjoy himself. Hopefully we can do it again this week!

Eros participated similarly with a brief ride (though E went bareback) and then snackies in the yard.

Shiny isn't allowed snackies, so instead we did our riding down in her paddock for a little change of scenery and then also a little bit in the backyard. She's so game to trot and canter pretty much anywhere. She did of course steal a few bites of grass, but that's okay. She's allowed a little bit. 

yeah... I usually just ride them into the barn after Sunday Funday. 
It's okay, I have a very high ceiling in there!

Monday I finally stopped procrastinating and I changed the course. We've been jumping the same one all summer. Which I thought about changing it sooner, but I wasn't in a rush because Al hadn't really even jumped it yet. Now that he HAS it was time to mix things up. Plus I've really been wanting to set up some gymnastic exercises for him. So I did!

Kind of hard to see in this photo, but on the quarter line (ish) I have a trot in one to one. Probably only Al will do it, since I need to shorten it up for Shiny, and I'm not sure I want Eros doing it. He gets a little excited about combinations and I'm trying to keep him quiet to the jumps. We'll see though. I also have a little raised cavalletti size bounce set up next to that purple jump. So a few things to keep Al's feet thinking. That horse LOVES a gymnastic, so it will be fun to have them available full time. 

We just flatted Tuesday, but today Shiny's kiddo came out and we tested out the new course. We love it! Lots of options for bending lines and roll backs, and there's still lots of room to do flatwork too. 

Al was really great today. He jumped every jump in the ring, though I wasn't brave enough to jump all of them both directions just yet. Like the end jump... I jumped it going away from the scary neighbor, but wasn't quite brave enough to jump at him just yet. Maybe Friday! Ha. Baby steps. We did do the outside line along the scary side though! We added, it should be a five. But also the jumps weren't even 2' so he would have to move it down there to get the right number. And MOVE IT is not currently in Al's vocabulary. Once the jumps go up it will be easier. 

Aside from the first time through the combination when I questioned if we'd make it out...

I keep things real around here.

Al was great through it. For Friday, kiddo and I have plans to not jump at the same time and play jump crew for each other instead, so we can put these up a little and remember how to jump some height. I'm excited for that!

Eros jumped around today too. He's not quite ready to jump full courses without the torpedo coming out... But we were able to string several single jumps together without any running. So that's pretty good! I even thought about jumping the outside line... But he landed VERY strong after the in, so I circled and then jumped the out which he did very nicely. So I think with a little more consistency he'll be jumping courses again soon. He really is staying quieter and more rideable. It got better when he was on the doxy and then even better still after his injections. So I think he's feeling pretty good which is exciting for me.

I'll probably keep him at 2', maybe 2'3". He's 16 now, he doesn't have anything to prove anymore. I just want him to have fun and feel good. 

 

And that's it for this week over here! Having lots of fun with the horses and I hope it continues! 

Truthful Tuesday

 

Oof. Guys. Today's confession? I think I'm going to have to make a big change, and I HATE change! Here's the story:

I'm having some trouble with my barn helper and I don't think I can fix it. Which is really hard as he's been my reliable helper for close to ten years now. But he's being careless. One day last week I looked outside and he had Shiny loose eating grass in my backyard. Shiny's not supposed to eat grass. And no horses should be loose anywhere outside of the paddocks or ring. And then this morning I went out to get in my truck and I see he's left the gate wide open. Now this is a secondary gate, so he did not let any horses loose (again) but still. That gate is there as a safety measure as my barn is right on a busy state road. It's the last line of defense before a loose horse could run into the street. It's to be kept closed at all times. And when I spoke to him about it he made out like it was no big deal. Mind you, I've had this talk with him MANY times. And what's different this time? He snickered at my reaction. Like it was funny. I felt like I was dealing with a petulant teenager. But this is a 50+ year old man. 

Over the last several weeks I've found stall doors not latched, water buckets empty, manure left in the ring (we turn out in the ring), and hay not picked up. I spent two hours on Sunday picking hay out of the footing because he hasn't been picking it up after turnout. I know these are tedious tasks. But they need to be done. I don't have 50+ grand to redo my arena footing. And that's what will have to happen if they aren't done. I personally clean up Wednesdays (because my helper informed me this summer that he has to leave early on Wednesdays) and on the weekends when I do chores. So it's not like I'm asking for something I don't do myself. 

And not to make it about money, but I'm paying him for a five hour day from when I used to have four horses, but he's only working about 3.5 hours. 2.5 on Wednesdays. I didn't want to cut his pay when I sold Pammon, so that's on me for being a nice person. But I'm feeling taken advantage of now that he's not getting all the tasks done on top of being careless.

I know what needs to be done, but man I hate change. I'm not sure I hate change more than I hate being let down and taken advantage of though. So anyway... if any of you know anyone in CT that would like a job, I'm looking for help!