Successful Weekend Part 1

I'm back! And I survived this absolutely insane weekend so I'm hoping this week will be "back to normal" though somehow I highly doubt that...

Anyways, here's how my (very, very long) weekend went:

I left off on Friday when Colton was supposed to arrive, but didn't. I had a bit of a crazy time because I had to drive home for a work meeting but decided to stop at the post office and pick up a package that didn't get delivered and waited in line for forever so I was almost late to my meeting but it ended up being fine.

Then I went home and enjoyed dinner with my family. It was nice because with being so busy I don't get to see them a lot. I then had to print out all of the dressage tests for our show and by the end I was about ready to toss the printer out the window. No matter how much or how little paper I put in at a time it would grab like 5 papers at the same time and print them all at once as if they were one page. The result was five pages with one test printed across all five and a very frustrated me. I had to literally feed the stupid printer one page at a time. Remind me next time to take it to Staples or something and have someone else do it!! Eventually they were all printed...

I then headed back up to school and stopped to groom Jetta as I wouldn't have time on Saturday night before the show. I pulled her mane because it had gotten sooo long and really needed to be shorter, especially if I was going to braid! I did it in record time too - 30 minutes! Woo! I'm turning professional at this... Not. I still hate pulling manes but Jetta actually stood still for it - she wasn't tied or anything, just loose in her stall. Usually in cross ties she walks forward, and back, forward, and back or if her feet are still, she's bobbing her head. Except for trying to bite me a couple times (bad pony!) she was super good.

A very bad "before" picture. She wasn't up for posing...

Half way done! The look in her eye says "Enough already! Geez, lady."

Done! So much better.

The damage

"I wants to chomp you!"

And then it was time for sleep for my next exciting day! The Canby Tack Sale...

I got up bright and early for the tack sale. The sale started at 8am and I'm sure if you've ever been to a tack sale, you know you have to get there early or all the good stuff is gone! I left at 6am and it was an hour and a half drive. I get a little nervous about driving to new places because, while I don't usually get lost, when I do get lost, I really get lost. Like the time it took me almost 2 hours to get to a clinic at a barn that was only 20 minutes away... But I digress. I was glad to get to the sale a half hour early because the line to park was incredibly long so by the time I actually parked, the sale was open. It's a 4-H sale and they must make bank on it! They only charge a dollar to get in but hundreds of people come to the sale, plus the tons of people who buy a spot to sell their stuff.

The main buys for the sale were winter blankets - tons and tons and tons - or western tack. There wasn't a whole lot of English tack, which I expected, but I was still able to find a few good things and it's fun anyways just looking through everything even if you don't buy anything. Last year I got a dressage pad, my amazing Duett Fidelio saddle and an adorable slinky for Jetta.

This year, I did miss out on a couple things that looking back now, I should have bought. For instance some Herm Sprenger stirrup irons - I have bad knees (already, I know!) so I've been kind of wanting some of the bendy stirrups. They were $10. Seriously. I couldn't find any maker's mark on them, but I was sure they were Herm Sprenger like the tag indicated. The reason I didn't buy them was because they were missing the pads for the bottoms and had some kind of strange homemade pads on them. But it would have been such a simple fix! Maybe $15 for new pads and voila! Herm Sprenger stirrups for 25 bucks! Oh well.... And then there was a full cheek Myler for $15 that I looked at and said "That might be nice to have two bridles for Jetta with the same bit" and walked away. When I came back it was gone. Granted, I don't think that it was actually a 5.25" bit so it wouldn't have fit Jetta but I should have checked! I also found a company that makes really cool blingy western tack. My western saddle is in need of new stirrups because one is about ready to break and they had inset crystal stirrups that were slanted. My trainer has some slanted stirrups that I love so I may end up putting these on a wish list for Christmas because I didn't really feel like spending $85 on stirrups. But they were really nice!

So what did I buy? Well, I made up a list of things that I wanted for sure, so that I wouldn't get carried away. On that list was another white dressage pad because I've found that I really do need more than one show pad. Last year at the tack sale I got a dressage pad for $2 (it was all I had left!) and it is my favorite pad ever! It is smaller than a lot of dressage pads which is nice because Jetta has a small barrel and some pads just overwhelm her. And it is a really heavyweight quilt which I've found are easier to keep clean and they don't bunch up or shift under the saddle. This year at the same exact booth I found another pad that was almost identical to last year's pad - heavyweight and smaller size. Woohoo! And it was listed as $30 but I got it for $15. They probably would have taken $10, but oh well. I love it already :)

New dressage pad has already been tested. Awesome!
Notice my awesome Duett saddle that I bought at the tack
sale last year.

I also bought a pair of Veredus splint boots. I don't have any xc boots for Jetta and I was hoping to find some nice Woof Wear ones, but they were either too small or way too used. I know Veredus is a good brand and these were the right size and in good condition. For $8! I left content with my buys and headed to Gallops Saddlery as they were having a sale and I'd never been there but had always wanted to go.

I love Gallops! They have a huge selection of very nice tack. Locally, there are only two tack shops in my area - one is a resale store with a few extras. They have a very small selection and not very much nice tack- usually cheapy stuff that is very used. And the other one has new stuff but a very small selection. Gallops is definitely a new favorite and I can tell you that I'll be visiting again. I tried on a bunch of different breeches because I need new show ones. I tried some FITS, Tailored Sportsman and Ariat. I found that the side zip Tailored Sportsman were not for me, but the front zip plus one size smaller than my usual, fit perfect. Love! Then came the Ariat breeches. I was a little hesitant about them because I just don't think of Ariat as a breech-maker, just boots. But I loved them even more than the Tailored Sportsman! They're definitely going on my Christmas list because they retail for $180. Ouch. The FITS, I've decided, may not be for me. I like the idea of a segmented full seat because I can't stand regular full seats, but the material was thinner meaning that you could see my shirt all bunched up from being tucked in. Maybe I just need to learn how to tuck my shirt in better. They were obviously very well made though and I'd say if you're interested in them go for it! They're on the very pricey side though, but oh so nice.

Gallops carries not only a wide selection of nice breeches, but also good tack - Antares, Five Star, Ecogold, Nunn Finer, Herm Sprenger, Prestige, EquiFit and more! I've really been wanting a Five Star bridle but I'm biding my time until the bridle I want comes on sale... It was neat to see them in person because they really are nice bridles. I also found the EquiFit boots and fell in love. They are so sharp looking and the removeable squishy foam liner is awesome! Going on the wish list :) I know Sprinkler Bandit has some and I'm officially jealous. Ebay here I come! Or do I want the pretty Antares boots with blue elastic that match my breastplate? Though I'm sure the likelihood of finding an affordable pair would be near impossible. They also carried the casual Ariat boots (for humans, lol) which look amazing by the way. I could have probably spent the whole day there. But I stuck to my list of things I was allowed to buy and bought some all-weather black gloves (sadly passing up some amazing silk lined faux-leather winter gloves) and a girth d-ring for my new breastplate since my girth doesn't have one. I could probably use a new girth (this one's going on 10 years!) but if it's not broke it doesn't need to be fixed, right?

The sale was in the loft and there wasn't a whole lot. I resisted buying some Goode Rider jean breeches because even on sale they're weren't in my price range but tried on some Tailored Sportsman. They looked fabulous and they were a $260 pair on sale for $100. I didn't buy them though... because they were denim. I need show breeches, not more schooling breeches! I reluctantly put them back :( I did buy a very nice Tailored Sportsman Coolmax show shirt - white with long sleeves and the snap coller. I was two sizes smaller than I normally wear, but I tried it on anyways and it fit! And.... I paid a whopping $20. Very good buy :)

Overall I was a very happy person driving back home to go to work. The next day was time for the show and after getting as much prepared as I could I tried to get some sleep. Operative word was "try" though.

To be continued...