Contest: FAIL

So... Bad planning on my part. We had a grand total of two people enter the contest, and while I could have those two people be automatic winners in the contest, it's not really a contest then! (But thank you Kate and SprinklerBandit for actually entering!!) So I'm extending the contest for an extra few days. Enter by this Friday, June 3rd to win a t-shirt (like the one pictured to the right or the Dressage Love one by Behind the Bit) or a photo collage. To see the prizes and enter, go to this post here. It's really easy, I promise! All you have to do is leave a comment on the post (not this one, the original one) and you'll be entered for the drawing. Let's see how many people will enter this time :)

What I do when procrastinating...

Laptop screen shopping. Somewhat akin to window shopping, albeit through my computer. I am a master at procrastination - I wait until the day before something is due and then in one fell swoop I get the whole project done. Admittedly it would have been much easier to get something done in the two weeks prior to it being due, but hey, I work well under pressure :)

I am yearning for summer and right now it is pouring down rain outside... so what am I laptop screen shopping for? Summer clothes. I've found some really cute equestrian inspired stuff that I thought I'd share. While I'm putting off doing my terrible, horrible statistics homework.

Ecote Equestrian Ankle Boots



Modcloth Full Steed Ahead Dress




Forever 21 Equestrian Racerback Tank


I'm sorry if anyone reading this likes these, but I think the by far silliest equestrian inspired clothing item out there is the jodhpur pants. Don't get me wrong, I like my breeches, but I prefer to stick to wearing them around horses. That, and the price tag of these pants are just ridiculous. $2000! That is not a typo, two thousand dollars! Can anyone think of functional designer breeches that cost that much? But I guess you're just paying for the brand name when you buy these:



Ralph Lauren Black Label Jodhpur Suede Pants


And don't forget to enter the contest here by Monday at 5pm. Just leave a comment and you will be entered! So far only one person has entered (really?!) so chances are that you have a pretty good chance at winning!

Weekend Contest

Contest! Ok, after much deliberating, I have decided on a contest. All you have to do is leave a comment saying you would like to enter the contest and you will be entered! If you are a follower of this blog and you leave a comment you will automatically get two entries!

So what is the prize? Well, there will be two winners. You can get a T-shirt: choose either a Thoroughbred Adventure or a Dressage Love design (from Behind the Bit blog).

Or you can choose to recieve a custom photo collage poster, similar to the one below (I'll be using a different program to make the collage so it will actually be a lot better than the sample below!). You can send me your own pictures that you want included or I can use all of my own pictures, or a combination of both.

So, leave a comment on this post with your preference (t-shirt or collage) by Monday 5/30/11 at 5 pm. Winners will be randomly drawn out of a bucket and announced on Tuesday where you will have to check back to see who won and send me your contact info!  

Pictures, pictures, pictures!

So exciting! Well, at least I'm excited, but I may just be weird like that. Love getting pictures of me and my horses, and it shows me how Jetta and I look together!





The last picture makes me laugh, she's over jumping but she's just so cute! Overall, I'm thrilled with the pictures because these are my first ones of her jumping! My baby's growing up, *sniff*.

Interesting Dressage...

Love this! I can't tell you how many similarities there are with this and how Jetta feels right now. She has improved so much but it can still be very interesting...

My Picks: Favorite Grooming Products

Well, it's that time of year to get the horses all cleaned up to start showing! Or just for heading out on the trails if the show scene is not for you. My horses have mostly finished all of their shedding already (thank goodness!) and I can't wait to start going to some shows. I thought I'd share a few of my favorite grooming products, on the off chance that you haven't used these before and were maybe looking for some good grooming tools:

Canter Mane & Tail Detangler - Best detangler ever! Not only does it last for days (seriously, if you don't believe me, go try it), it also works well and smells wonderful. Like roses, in case you were wondering :) Previously I always used Cowboy Magic Detangler or Showsheen, but the Cowboy magic bottles leaked goo everywhere and it wasn't very easy to get even coverage with the gel, plus it didn't last long. The Showsheen was similar, love it for their coats, but not the mane and tail.
Unfortunately it's super hard to find in stock around here, so whenever I do find it I buy it!

Furminator - A super, duper shedding blade on steroids! This tool is great when you're dealing with horses shedding out massive amounts of hair. It comes off so quickly and easily, no elbow grease needed. While this tool can be a little expensive, there are other brands on the market that work just as well because the basic design is the same. I think I've got my money's worth out of mine though, going on three years running!

Showsheen Finishing Mist - Showsheen has always been my go-to grooming product for silky and shiny coats in the show ring. This is a new product and it's the best Showsheen product out there in my opinion. They made it smell better, which is a bonus in my opinion because I always thought that the regular formula smelt like glue! Anyways, the continuous mist makes it easy to spray on and get an even coat without soaking random patches of your horse.

QuicSilver Whitening Shampoo - If you've ever had a horse with white on them, you know how hard it is to keep them clean. I use this on all my horses white socks and go through a ton of it trying to keep Katy clean. Ah, the joys of keeping a white horse white. This is the only product I've used so far that will seriously get rid of any dirt/grass/urine stains no matter what. For particularly ingrained stains some serious scrubbing might be in order, but this shampoo is a staple in my bucket of bathing tools.

Laube Speed Clippers - Favorite clippers!! Please don't try to use the cheap-y clippers that cost around $20-$30, they usually don't work. Especially when you've got a horse with unbelieveably thick hair. I've had these clippers for four years and I never had a problem until I lost them :( But I got a new pair! I've used them to shave bridle paths, whiskers and body clip too. They're cordless, which is one of my favorite aspects and the blades are sharp and cut through hair oh so easily.

EQ Solutions Body Wash - Another bathing favorite makes giving baths so, so much easier. Attach the hose and turn the dial and presto! It makes it easier to spray water on without having to hold your thumb over the end of the hose, it works well, and get this: you can even leave the shampoo on and it won't irritate their skin. Get the horse wet, spray on shampoo, spray off shampoo, spray on shampoo again and leave it. The coat is super soft after using this shampoo.

Horse Shaves - These are always floating around in my trailer and grooming bag for show days. They're very handy little razors that you can bring a couple with you just in case you forget to clip your horse or notice a few stray whiskers you missed. These guys are sharp so use with care! Also good for horses afraid of clippers, yet need their whiskers trimmed.

My Loves

Sometimes I forget how much I love Grady & Jazz. It's not that I stop loving them, I just forget how awesome they are. I worked with them over the weekend as it's my goal to eventually get them back in shape for riding over summer. I ended up riding Jazz bareback while ponying Grady and they were just so good! There's no other horses that I trust enough to do that with. We went on the logging trails behind my house. They each go the right speed, one not lagging behind and having to be drug along, but not racing ahead and getting in the way. There were no pinned ears, biting or kicking at each other. We walked, trotted and cantered. They walked over fallen trees on the trail fearlessly. It was just so nice to ride a finished horse! I love Jetta, but sometimes it's a little tiring having to work so hard while riding her!

Breastplates: 3- or 5-point?

I've decided that I eventually want to get Jetta a breastplate because I don't have one and while jumping the saddle slips back slightly. Also, literally everyone has one in eventing so we have to fit in, right? ;) Anyways, I'm torn between a regular 3-point breastplate and a 5-point breastplate. My two favorites are the Antares Leather Breastplate and the Voltaire Convertible Breastplate.

What I like about Antares is that it is very well made and gorgeous. It is has a padded wither strap and an elastic insert.

The Voltaire is also gorgeous, slightly more so than the Antares (shocking I know!) The detailing with the fancy stitching is very nice. It can convert from a 3-point to 5-point breastplate. I like that it doesn't have the giant fleece pads on it which 5-point breastplates tend to have - while they might provide some extra comfort, to me they're distracting looking and would have to be cleaned more than if there wasn't fleece on it. Unfortunately the problem with this breastplate is the exorbitant price tag.

So, do you use a breastplate and if so, do you prefer a three-point or 5-point and why? What are your favorite brands? Does anyone have a Voltaire or Antares breastplate and what are your thoughts on it?

No Horses For Me...

At least for this week. I hate how school gets in the way sometime! This week has just been so crazy. It's week 8 and I have two more weeks of class left plus a week of finals. I have the second midterm for Chemistry tomorrow which is incredibly silly. Sigh :| I'm not ready yet. And basically the remainder of homework for this term is due all by this Sunday so it's just going to get busier from here! Luckily I don't have class tomorrow so at least I'll have time to go ride Jetta, which I won't be doing today :( I rode yesterday, but had to get up extra early to do so, but it was so worth it! I got out to the barn at 8am (note that I rarely get up before 8am, especially if it's school involved) and just had a good ride, organized and cleaned out my tack box (I found a mouse nest inside, eeek!). Not much else to update - I've decided to not go to a show this weekend because 1) of my ridiculous homework load (see above picture. That is how I feel right now) and 2) the EHV-1 outbreak scares me. The barn I took a jumping lesson at last week is closed to people coming/leaving. Scary. I hope in two weeks everything will be a little more chill, as there's a show I really, really want to go to and I don't want it to be canceled! But my pony's health comes first, and she definitely won't be touching noseys with any other horses for the time being! At least the one thing going well right now is the weather, it's b-e-a-utiful out right now and is supposed to get even nicer this week, yay! I can't believe it's almost summer already. Hope everyone else is having a nice week with their horses, go on a nice trail ride for me!

Ponies!!

Guess what we found? The ponies were all out in their pasture the other day so I brought my camera to take pictures. They were so adorable!!! I counted about 75 ponies O_o

Here's just a few of the many pictures I took. I wanted to spend all day hanging out with them, they're just so cute!

More Photographic Fun

Yesterday I had a boring day of working with Jetta planned out, but instead ML offered to take pictures of me and Jetta if I would go out to the barn later than planned. Heck yes! I love pictures :)

It was quite an adventure. I didn't ride Jetta the day before, but I did lunge her and do lots of ground work so she theoretically shouldn't have been hyper, but she was. I think it was the weather. It was sunny! I think it only got up to about 68 degrees, but at least it was t-shirt weather!

CL also rode and got some cute pictures taken and then ML hopped on Katy bareback and all three of us went for a trail ride and to take pictures outside. I brought my camera and attempted to take pictures while riding Jetta. Ha! That was ridiculously hard. Jetta was not having any of it. I had one hand on the reins and one on the camera and Jetta was zig-zagging back and forth while walking, then while standing she kept trying to follow the other horses or graze. Geez. But that wasn't the most exciting part. I'll get to that soon.

ML and I switched so she could take pictures cause Katy is supposedly the "good one". She decided she was not going to miss out on the fun and decided to jump across the creek to join CL and I which set off Tanq who started bucking and Jetta who just ran around like a chicken with her head cut off. We had a good laugh about that because first of all, Katy was the one who started it and second, Tanq almost never misbehaves like that. We decided to move on and eventually came to the pasture that sometimes houses the ponies. And guess who was there?! The ponies were :) One little black and white one trotted up to see us, so cute!!! It's little black puffball of a forelock was bobbing around. I wish I had gotten a picture. I did in fact attempt to take a picture, which was what cause a major spooking fit.

Here's what happened. All three of us were standing close together oohing and ahhing over the ponies. I decided to take a picture so I took one hand off the reins, raised my camera and click! I didn't realize the flash was on and the horses went ballistic. All three of them scattered and started running and bucking. Poor ML was bareback, but luckily she stayed on. Once we got the horses stopped (CL had to use an x-mas tree to stop Tanq) we were all fine, but boy did that get my adrenaline pumping! Note to self: never use flash while on horseback. We had used the flash while taking pictures inside but I think ponies + terrifying flash of white light coming from who knows where = complete mental breakdown.

So it was a very interesting ride to say the least. Here's a few photos that got taken on my camera, only half of them were taken by me, the other half are from ML. I can't wait until ML sends me the ones she took on her camera inside. You get to see us jumping! I'll post them when they arrive :)



Favorite! Of course this was a split second before Tanq
decided to bite Jetta, but it was cute while it lasted.



Mini Photo Shoot

So, guess what? I bought a new bridle! I talked a little about my search for a new one a while back, but I hadn't really decided which one in my price range I wanted... then SmartPak had a sale, making their bridle the cheapest option, so of course I had to buy it! I'm very happy I did though.

In order to show off its beautifulness, I tried to get some good picture of Jetta in it. Kind of difficult when you're trying to take a picture, not allow the horse to run away or attack the horse in the stall next to it, and at the same time get her all properly positioned. Someday I would still really like to get her all cleaned up and braided and take her outside for a real photo shoot and I just remembered, duh! I have a friend that loves photography and I'm sure she'd be willing to come take some pictures of us this summer. That would make it so much easier to get pictures without having to both handle the horse and the camera. I'm really excited now :)

Anyways, here are a few pictures of Jetta in her brand new, gorgeous bridle!

Cute picture, but it was too dark...

Much better in the light!

The dorkiest looking face Jetta could make.

Fail. Jetta tries to make friends with the weird Arab who is trying to bite her.

Blinking. It makes her look very cute I think :)



Perfect! This one's my favorite. Doesn't she look spiffy in her new bridle?