Blog Sale!

I did some late spring cleaning through all my breeches and I have quite a few pairs I need to get rid of. I've been hanging on to a lot of them just hoping that someday I'll fit into them again, but I don't have enough room for all these breeches so they need to go! Shipping is included with everything, Paypal only.



Ovation Aqua X full seat breeches - light blue color - 32R - $90

These have become my favorite breeches ever. However, I thought I could get away with a 32R, while my other pairs of these breeches are 32L and the fit just isn't right for me. It does have a ~1 inch section of seam that came undone near the knee. It is not unraveling and it would be an easy fix.

Ariat Jean breeches, knee patch - 28R - $65

These are great, very comfy breeches. I think it's hard to find jean breeches that don't feel super fake and uncomfortable, but these feel just like real jeans. Sadly no longer fit.

I can get pics, I just don't currently have any. They are in great condition though!

Irideon ribbed full seat pull on breeches - size large - $40

These are in good condition, some staining from the boots, but not noticeable once they are on. Small snag on the side.

Smartpak Piper full seat - mid rise style - 28R - gray with turquoise trim $55

In like-new condition, barely used.

Tropical Rider - white deerskin leather full seat breeches - size 28 tall - Retail $185, asking $90 shipped

Nice Scholler fabric. Velcro leg bottom. The seat is a light grey color (slightly darker than the pictures show). Well taken care of. Three tiny rust marks on the back of the seat, barely noticeable. Still in show condition.

Horseware AA Motionlite jacket in Primatova - size XL - $200 (regularly $250)

Brand new, never worn, only tried on. I bought this on sale from somewhere I can't return it to and it is too large for me. Fits true to size though, I just usually have to size up on jackets. (Riding Warehouse has a sizing chart on their website)

In terms of tack, I have a black 5-point Nunn Finer breastplate with removable sheepskin. Great condition, well used but no defects or noticeable signs of wear. Comes with running martingale attachment. Retails around $200, asking $120.

I will try to update when things sell or if I find anything else I need to get rid of.

Always Trying to Catch-Up

I have so many blog posts in my head that I want to write, but no time to write them! As usual, vet school owns my soul this term and this term started off extremely quickly. So quickly that by Wednesday of week 1 we were already stressed out, to the point that one of the teachers asked us why we were already stressed, "It's only day 3, how are you all so stressed already??". Answer: cause vet school.

Always tired

It's been an extremely fun term so far though. I can't believe I'm getting to the point where I can accurately diagnose things off of radiograph, ultrasound or ECG (echocardiograms are a whole 'nother story which I'm happy to leave to the cardiologists though!). We have surgery ponies for our large animal surgery class which has been really adorable and fun. They are a TON of work outside of class, especially since they came in feral, not halter broke, with some health problems. But I love our little pony and it's going to be so sad when he goes home.

This term has however, not left hardly any time for things outside of school, especially when you add in boring life stuff - like the washing machine, dryer, and dishwasher all breaking within a week of eachother. #adultingsucks

The little amount of time I have spent with my own horses has been great though! I took Jetta for a short trail ride the other day. It was SO great to be back on my own horse. While I really liked Trask and he was a fun (if frustrating) challenge for me, it was so nice to walk down the driveway not worrying if my horse was going to spook at the garbage cans, the neighbor horses, a puddle, etc. Jetta was extremely happy to be on the trails too - she's still not very in shape and I thought the hills would slow her down, but I thought wrong! She just wanted to go go go the entire time.

Side note, I bought a cheap black 5-point breastcollar used and nothing humbles you more than trying to assemble a piece of tack you've never used before and having it take FOREVER to get on correctly. I felt like an idiot because the straps that attach to the saddle's D-rings came attached to the lower ring (where the straps attach to the girth) and I could not figure out why I couldn't get the straps to stretch to the D-rings, especially because Jetta is solidly a horse-size breastplate and even runs on the smaller size. Duh.

A good 20-30 minutes later...

I'm trying to adjust to my new riding schedule - I get to ride Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. It's a good amount of days to ride and I feel good about managing 3-4 days a week. It just feels weird not to go to the barn in the middle of the week.

I had a fantastic ride on Jetta Monday. It's also nice to have the ability to ride with other horses without worrying about if my horse is going to bolt and have a meltdown into another horse! We have a new boarder with a GORGEOUS black/very dark bay warmblood gelding. He is quite stunning and I think Jetta has a crush (I'm also insanely jealous of his tail... I need Jetta's to hurry up and grow faster!). He came into the arena during our ride yesterday and it almost felt like Jetta was trying to show off, she got more uphill and just a little more lofty in her gaits.

Someday we'll get this trot under saddle

Currently we're doing a lot of shoulder-in and haunches-in to get Jetta off her forehand, listening to my aids and engaging with me. She's doing super well with it and already I think her muscles are starting to fill in and she no longer looks quite as terrible as she did, but we still have a ways to go. I'm hoping by the end of February/beginning of March we'll be ready to hit some schooling shows.

Such a majestic dork

My awkward donkey

I also got her a new saddle pad. I'm going to sell our plum Le Mieux set because we don't need two plum sets, but I just love this pad from Equestrian Stockholm and I got it on sale. It's so pretty and I love all the little details - double silver piping, square corners, velcro girth strap, etc. In response to Amanda's post the other day, yes some DQ's (aka me: tack hoarder) need several matching colorful sets. Just because. And where do I store it all? In many different boxes... I have a problem. I have tack in my trailer, in the storage room at the barn, in my tack locker, and in my office at home.
 

It's the same exact color as the Le Mieux plum, just a little different!

Miss Maisie is just continuing to grow up and explore the world. I ordered her some new stall toys so hopefully that will continue to discourage her cribbing. I had a discussion with an equine behaviorist about her cribbing and the conclusion is that her cribbing is genetic since everything else in her life doesn't have any predisposing factors. We're also going to try some acupuncture since there is a small amount of research showing that it can stop their cribbing in up to 60% of cases. I figure it can't hurt!

our mini menagerie

Weekly Update

You may recall in January how I posted I was going to use some christmas money to buy some awesome aqua colored leather gloves. I was super excited to get them... well it only took 5 months but they finally arrived!
 

Seriously the worst experience I have ever had buying something. Ever. I cannot believe the poor customer service, but I'm just happy I finally got them!

They are actually a brand of golfing gloves, called GFore, not made for horses so I'm not sure how long they're going to last since they're not actually made for the demand of riding. But I'm still in love with them! They're kind of difficult to get - if you order them from a golfing store (NOT the equestrian store I went through), you have to find a left and a right glove and order them individually. Pretty much no store had both a left and a right, in a size small, in the aqua color. Hence why I impatiently waited 5 months for them to come from the place I ordered them.

I can't recommend them yet since I've only ridden in them twice and I'm kinda just waiting for them to unravel... but they are butter soft and the most beautiful and perfect color. I love them!

Perfect #rootd

In other news, just a PSA. I found this super cute Joules Welly boot bag for over half off and it seemed about the right size to fit my Dubarry boots, so I bought it... and they fit inside perfectly! It is the cutest bag with a nice wide opening, so if you ever find yourself wanting a cute boot bag for your Dubarry or Faux-berry's these are perfect!

In other news, Jetta is still very pregnant and I have baby fever. My roommates' horse just had her baby on Tuesday and she is PRECIOUS. I love her. I sure hope Jetta doesn't make me wait that long though... she was at 361 days pregnant. Holy smokes, I might die if she is pregnant for that long!

Hard to get a non-blurry picture of the little ginger

Baby belly!

Fresh out of the oven

And finally, I have still been riding Vante three days a week. He has been a little fireball the past three rides. I pulled him out on Friday and tacked him up. He was a little hyper, but nothing unusual. I got him to the arena and went to tighten the girth and he exploded and reared and tried to take off. So we went and got a lunge line and he had a grand time leaping and bucking and rearing and running around. I had never seen him so full of it! He was very good for our ride, especially being in front of my leg.

I ordered some cob-sized cheek pieces (it was super hard to find one with rounded buckles to match my bridle) that arrived last week and now my bridle fits him perfectly. So much better.

Monday and Tuesday I rode him and he was still a little fireball but not as bad. We lunged first and he was ok under saddle. Monday was incredibly windy and the entire barn rattled and he was quite on edge the whole time. Tuesday he just couldn't handle the distractions - one other horse being ridden and a person on the ground watering the arena. He wanted to stop and say hi to everyone! And the left lead canter was just non-existant. He wouldn't bend to the inside, he wouldn't give to the bit and just wanted to be a giraffe, and he didn't want to go at a normal speed, more of a hand-gallop. So that was a bit frustrating. Overall though, he's still learning very quickly and he's still fun!

Maybe we can get these neck muscles developed correctly one day!

All the Sparkles

If you know me, then you know that I looooove sparkles. I love them. So when I ran across this brand of browband called Equiture on instagram, I fell in love. They are blindingly sparkly. And extremely well made. And they are not crazy expensive! It's a miracle.

I had been wanting a sparkly browband for my PS of Sweden bridle, but I didn't want to spend a $100 on a PS browband. Yeah, the quick disconnect for the browbands is cool, but not $110 cool. These browbands look almost identical to the PS browbands (without the quick-change part) and some of them are almost half the price. Plus they have a ton more options. I seriously have 3 more browbands on my want list right now. No, I do not have 3 more bridles to put them on, but you know... I can rotate them or something!

Like I said, blinding:

I recently bought a second one as a gift for a friend and it's just as beautiful as the one I got. I was going for something a bit more subtle than my iridescent AB crytals, so I went with montana blue and black diamonds - so basically it's navy and grey. I think it looks awesome.

While they do come from the UK, shipping is still very fast and affordable. Plus they come in a cute little bag with extra crystals should you lose a few. The price range varies - you can spend $100 if you want to, but most of the browbands are around $60. Not cheap, but not outrageous. They don't really do returns, but you can exchange them for a different size within 14 days if you need to.

I just really love these browbands and I haven't seen them around that much! Of course I feel like everyone has their favorite brand, but I just wanted to share mine!

Oops

Oops, I did a thing. My poor bank account. Centerline Style had a sale for $30 off and I've been eyeballing a Lemieux outfit for Jetta (especially since Courage has been modeling the same one that I want and it looks stunning on him - another bay, blaze-faced TB!). Sooo... I bought it. It arrived Saturday (super fast shipping from Florida = awesome).

Then, Millbrook Leathers had a 35% off sale on their leathers which I wanted as soon as they came out. I always get bruises on my shins from my jumping leathers. Every time. So it seemed like a really neat concept to have thicker leathers to prevent that! They also say that they're supposed to make your leg more stable, but we'll see about that. I'm thinking that I need more strength building exercises than anything, but I'll take all I can get! (no extra charge for 2-day shipping from Colorado? impressive!)

All the pretties

So yeah. I'm STILL waiting on two of my orders that I made at the beginning of last month. One is because I went through the local farm store and they just take forever with special orders because that's how they roll. Sigh. Apparently I would have gotten the same deal through a Riding Warehouse sale as I'm getting stealing my BF's employee discount so... should've gone that route. I'm impatient.

The other order... I'm not really sure what's going on. I keep getting different answers every time I talk to her, that is, IF she decides to answer my messages. She tends to take at least a week to reply to me, if at all. Frustrating to say the least. I kinda never want to order from this shop ever again because everything was supposedly in stock when I ordered it 5 weeks ago, but it's now coming in next week supposedly (I was told it was supposed to come in a week and a half ago, but it was backordered without her knowledge, so now the ETA at the shop is next week) meaning it'll probably be 2 more weeks before I see it... sigh. 

Super attractive picture, but look at that belly!

I had to have a ride to try everything out - it looks awesome on her! Hopefully I'll get to ride in the daylight soon and get a better picture of it. Sadly I ordered the wrong size ear bonnet (should have known that "regular" was not going to fit her mule ears!) so I need to exchange that... My bank account is now on lock down until further notice. But I guess that's why I'm still working two days a week during school!

The Princess and the Golden Bit

Retail therapy at its finest to deal with vet school? Check.

Pretty mare all decked out

I really wish I was posting more, but I'm still in the adjustment period getting into the swing of thing for the first term back of my second year of vet school! It still seems weird that I can now call myself a second year. But everything's going well despite my less than consistent riding schedule, including acing the first two midterms.

Jetta got a new browband to go on her PS bridle and I'm obsessed. It's the sparkliest thing I've ever seen, it's literally blinding in the sunshine. I love it. It looks near identical to the ones that PS of Sweden sells, minus the snaps, but it's half the price.

So sparkly

I think it looks like Jetta has a tiara with it on. She's my princess so I guess she deserved a crown finally!



The golden bit part... that's not quite as fun. I have never spent so much money on a bit before, it hurts me a little inside. After the last show I decided we really needed something different and this bit had been recommended to me by two different trainers and it has great online reviews so I decided to try it out. Jetta is a sensitive horse who can be heavy at times so it's tough to find a good bit that she a) listens to, b) doesn't throw a fit about being too "strong" and c) doesn't grind her teeth with. Too thin of a bit? We get head tossing and an open mouth. Too thick? We get teeth grinding and/or ignoring the bit (and yes, she very recently got her teeth done and they had no issues). Her two favorite bits are her HS mullen mouth ported loose ring (not dressage legal) and her D-ring waterford (also not dressage legal).

So I bought a Neue Schule verbindend snaffle. That thing better be made of literal 14k gold for the price! I scoured the internet for a year for one less than $100 used, but they were never the right size or type so a shiny new bit it was.

I'm still tentative at calling it a magic bit (which it should be for the price) but Jetta goes pretty well in it. She listens very well, but at the same time she takes a really nice contact. Obviously it hasn't fixed all of our connection issues, but I think it was a good purchase. After a little bit of fussing at the walk, she settles down and takes the perfect amount of contact, much better than she usually does, and she doesn't just bulldoze through it in transitions. So I guess we're keeping the golden bit!

And the last bit of retail therapy... the big bi-annual tack sale was last weekend and I haven't been in over a year so I decided to go. Jetta got a new turnout sheet, a fleece dressage girth to replace the one that just walked away, a new boot bag for my tall boots, another waterford bit to put on her "trail" bridle so I don't have to keep swapping it off her cross country bridle and a couple other odds and ends for friends. It was a pretty good haul!

Shopping is always the answer, right?

Horsing Around

Sorry for the awful title, but we've really just been playing around this week which is kind of bad considering that we were planning on going to a dressage show next weekend. So I guess that it's kind of good that I got waitlisted for the show? Since when does that ever happen for an unrecognized dressage show? I'm not too bummed about it though.

It's rare to catch her napping mid-day!

Monday we just goofed around in western tack. Don't ask me why, but for some reason I decided that Misty needed a completely new western set up. So she got new dark teal boots, a gray and turquoise/teal pad and a new headstall (of course with a turquoise buckle). I'm obsessed. It looks great on her. Now I just actually have to ride western more often?

So adorable

I've been searching for a pad these colors for forever!

The headstall is a little iffy since it's an orange-y light brown that doesn't match my saddle whatsoever. I gave it a few coats of Hydrophane darkening oil and there was only a marginal difference. I'm going to give it a bit more, then maybe think of ordering some actual stain since the leather isn't finished anyways and I just want it to match my saddle.

Anywho, any advice is appreciated on how to darken this awful color of leather without stain.

Then yesterday I lunged Misty and then we played around with a new yoga ball that was left in the "toy corner". I can't remember if I've ever introduced Misty to a yoga ball, but if I did it was over two years ago. She acted like she didn't remember it (if she had ever seen one) and while she wasn't scared of it, she definitely wasn't interested in touching it.

I kicked the ball around and we followed it around a bit to get her confidence up, then tried to get her to kick it. No luck. She got very good at avoiding it at any and all costs, still not scared of it, just not understanding. Eventually she realized it wasn't awful if the ball touched her legs and it was kind of neat that she could kick it around. By the end, I could direct her at the end of the lunge line towards it and she'd do a pretty good job of tracking it and kicking it by herself without too much input from myself.

We finished up by lunging over some barrels. I've been trying to do more lunging jumps to improve both her confidence and fitness. So it was a fun day! At least for me :)