October

October is finally here, my favorite month because it's my birthday month :)

But oh, the craziness! I think this is the least prepared I have ever been for the start of school. I just wasn't really that excited about it... I hadn't bought books... or new notebooks... or looked at my class syllabi... The night before class I threw a bunch of stuff in my backpack, printed off my class schedule and that was that!

So yeah, back to school. Not enthused about it. Nothing really that fun this term - two writing intensive courses, Ethics in Animal Science and Philosophy: World Religions, plus Physics. Yuck. At least the religions class should be very interesting!

Add in that I have officially, as of this morning, submitted all of my application material that I've been working on the whole summer to vet school (scary terrifying) and that I started a new job last week. Craziness!

My morning: favorite sweatshirt, cozy boots and winter breeches, some Dutch Bros for caffeine and my pony!

I felt like superwoman today getting everything done. I got up early and went to the barn and rode Jetta. Then I came home to find my email had been hacked and I was locked out. Way to ruin a perfectly wonderful morning. Then I went to work for 6 and a half hours. Got home, fixed my email (with multiple phone calls to the tech department, sigh), showered, went grocery shopping, made dinner (ok, well I microwaved it!), did laundry, did my physics and religions class homeworks, cleaned my room and I'm even writing a blog post (to be posted in the morning)!

I know most people probably do that much in a day, but when you're the laziest person in the world (aka: me) and you'd rather sleep in than wake up early or ride rather than get groceries/do laundry, this was quite the jam-packed day for me! I don't know how people do this on a regular basis, I'm exhausted, lol.

Jetta was a good pony this morning which was good. Yesterday, she was awful. She started out okay, a little heavy, but I didn't feel like I was holding her up and she gradually just got heavier, and heavier and heavier, despite how many transitions, half halts, circles or leg yields I did to get her off her forehand. It was frustrating to say the least. But she redeemed herself this morning.

Misty got to try out the new bit last night. We'll see how it goes in the next couple rides. Nothing was dramatically different, but I'd like to think I felt a difference between the Happy Mouth and the Myler. More on that later. I haven't ridden her dressage in a LONG time and it's amazing to feel how much she's improved since I first got her. Her canter is oodles better. It's always been fairly uphill with plenty of jump to it, but it's gotten rounder and more collected. Way easier to sit too since she's not all strung out and is now using her hind end! 20m circles are tons better too, as is halting straight. The main thing we need to work on is transitions. I ask really quietly... no response... a little bit louder of an ask and I get a "holy $%*& okay I'm transitioning!!!" with her head in the air, so we need to work on that!

Overall, progress is progress with both the girls and I'll take it. I'm looking forward to figuring out a routine and sticking to it so that I can ride everyday in addition to classes and work! We shall see how that works out, I forsee a lot of early morning and late night rides...

Awful Adventure

I had a no good, very bad, rotten day yesterday with Jetta.

I was feeling kind of down so I decided that I needed a trail ride and a good gallop to lift my spirits. I still want to do an endurance ride so I need to get back to conditioning Jetta so I decided to take her to Silver Creek Falls for a ride since there are some hills (we've only been doing flat trails so far) plus it is almost all in the shade which is nice when it's 90 degrees out!

Loaded Jetta up and got there without incident. There were a ton of trailers in the parking lot. The one time I had been there with Queenie, we were the only ones there.

I started off on the trails and near the very beginning you have to cross a creek. I figured it would be no big deal since it's a fairly big stream (only small puddles are scary, ponds and large creeks are okay in Jetta's mind). But, there are a bunch of logs and a large stump off to one side so Jetta thought those were too scary to approach and wouldn't go in the water. Sigh. So I had to get off and walk her through the stream. As soon as I was off she was perfectly happy to follow me across. Luckily I wore my Dubarry's which are waterproof. Unfortunately they are not Jetta-proof as she gave an enthusiastic splash into the water, making my legs all wet and filling one boot with water. Ugh.

I got back on in the middle of the stream, emptied my boots and then continued on. The first part of the trail is really rocky so I had her new renegade hoof boots on for their first trial run. I've tried them in the arena to make sure they fit and they stayed on so this was their first trail ride. They squeaked awfully at first but once they went through the water they quieted down. Unfortunately Jetta got one twisted all the way around, how I have no idea, so I had to get off and fix it.

We continued on and trotted. Jetta snorted and spooked at every log, branch and large rock she came upon which was quite irritating. We came to the first bridge and she stubbornly refused to go near it so I had to get off yet again and lead her across. I got back on and we cantered down a long flat stretch that doesn't have any rocks. Then her other boot got twisted and I had to fix it. But after fixing each boot once, they were good for the rest of the ride.

The hills came and I let Jetta power trot up them. I lost my crop somewhere along the way. We came upon a couple riders and passed them and then had a great gallop. We came up to a large rock in the middle of the path which Jetta thought was impassable so I had to get off for a third time to lead her past. This was the point in which I should have taken a hint and gone back to the trailer. But I kept riding. We walked for a while and had to go under a low hanging branch so I shortened my reins so that I could make Jetta walk slowly underneath it so I wouldn't get hurt by it. Best laid plans... she instead raced underneath it and the branch caught me in the shoulder and then scraped its way down my back. Owwww. And now I have a lovely scrape mark down my back, even through my shirt.

We continued to trot up the hill and then I heard a funky noise from her hooves and looked down to see only one hoof boot, her left one was missing. How it came off her hoof I have no idea. When I went back down the trial it was no where to be found. I went all the way back to the scary rock in the middle of the road because that was the last time I was absolutely sure the boot was still on her hoof. We walked back and forth, back and forth. I even got off and walked it on foot but the boot was no where in sight. I looked in the underbrush and beneath the bushes. We walked that section of the trail 5 times and I could not find the boot for the life of me. Now I know why I should have gotten them in bright red or orange... I was beyond bummed. My first actual trail ride with the boots and I lose one. And they're really expensive too.

We walked all the way back down the hill instead of continuing on the loop. I was kind of done with our ride. Jetta was a pain in the butt about walking back at a reasonable speed. She was most certainly not done with our ride, despite being quite sweaty. Luckily I found my crop on the way down, but still no boot. Jetta crossed the bridge and the water with only slight hesitation which was good, because by that time I'd about had it with her spooky obnoxious self.

Untacked her and put her in the trailer with no treats and took her back to the barn. Upon unloading her from the trailer, I simultaneously slammed/pinched my elbow into the divider and now it hurts to bend it.

I'm still really upset about the boot. I don't know how it came off her hoof since it has two straps, one to actually hold it on her hoof and the other around her pastern as a back up. I can only think that when we were trotting it got flung off into the forest. I don't think I'll be buying another set of Renegades since they're just too expensive to lose. I'll probably put the other set I bought (for her hinds) which are slightly smaller on her front feet and she'll just go bare behind, then maybe I can sell the one larger hoof boot. Apparently it was too large, even though I tested it out in the arena. I'm still bummed.

Overall, a really rotten ride.

I'm in Love

Guess what arrived today?!

Everything! I got both my Smartpak order and my order from Amira Equi. I was completely surprised by how fast Amira shipped out since they're located in the UK and I'm on the West Coast of the US so with that I would highly recommend them! And my coat arrived in perfect condition without a single wrinkle (*cough* Smartpak *cough*).

First up, my new De Niro boots. I love them. They're not going back. In fact you'd probably have to pry them from my cold, dead hands. I may just sleep in them tonight.

They fit perfectly! I ordered the regular calf and tall height and a size 8 footbed, though I normally wear a 7.5 they didn't come in half sizes. I'm pleased to say they fit like they could have been made for me. I wobbled back and forth over ordering the slim fit since the sizing was 1 cm away from my actual calf size, but the regular calf size fits snugly so when they stretch out they will be absolutely perfect. I'm glad I read through the sizing chart a couple (million) times because I almost didn't order the talls, but I'm glad I did because they're supposed to drop a couple centimeters and they probably would have been too short otherwise.

The only negative is the square toe which makes my feet look rather big and like another reviewer said on the Smartpak website, "duck-like" but I can live with that. My first new pair of boots that actually fit in seven years!!! ♥

Also in my Smartpak order was some Dubarry boot conditioner. I haven't mentioned my Dubarry boots much since I first got them but I'm still in love with them too. I wear them to the barn a lot because they're super warm and they've broken in wonderfully. I would highly recommend these boots too, especially if you can get them on sale like I did!

Since I want them to last forever and ever, I decided to spend the money on some Dubarry conditioner, after all their products are made for their boots. It took me a while to decide on which product(s) to get because they're pretty spendy, but eventually I decided on just the conditioner since it both conditions and waterproofs the leather and I will just use my regular leather cleaner on them. I was pleasantly surprised by the conditioner. It's nice! It's a rather large tube (which is better be for 20 bucks!) and a little goes a long way. It got rid of all the scuff marks and now they look brand new! As an added bonus it smells really good too.

Can't really tell, but it's navy with a black velvet collar.

And lastly, my new Pikeur jacket. I've been drooling over the Pikeur Skarlett for a loooong time, but since I already have one nice jacket (all previous jackets were bought at the Goodwill, I highly recommend doing that if you're on a budget!) it was an unnecessary purchase. Until now :)

I emailed Amira to ask what size they recommended, I heard that the Pikeur's ran small but it was really hard to find a sizing chart that showed actual measurements. They recommended a size 12 which sounds majorly big for me (normally a size 4/6 dress size) but my other jacket is also a 12 so I went for it. I got it in a long so that the sleeves would be long enough. LOVE. It's a tiny bit large (my other size 12 jacket is a tiny bit small, go figure) but I figure it will give me plenty of room for movement during jumping. It is gorgeous and despite being a polyester/elastane mix, it looks rather like wool to me so that's nice that it looks more "traditional" than my dressage coat which is very elastic and slightly water resistant. The best part is that it's machine washable! The only part that I don't like about it is that the shoulder pads are huge on me. But oh well. I still love it :)

Overall, not a bad haul! I'm so excited to have new things. Like I said, it's been seven years since I got my first pair of tall boots that never fit in the first place so this is a big deal for me! I think my roommates might get sick of me walking around the house in my boots commenting on how much I love them but oh well. I'm in love!