Ah, There It Is

~~Thank you for ALL the wintery comments! So insight. Much knowledge~~

Again, as many of you are aware, it is cold. Very cold. Unseasonably wintery if you will. And Bacardi is experiencing the Winter Wackies. Closely related to the Fall Friskies. But worse, in my opinion because your hands are frozen and you simply just cannot.

majestic B is majestic. But also an asshole.

I am 100% sure someone forcibly inserted icicles up my horses butthole, because nothing else explains the absurd 180 turn.

His symptoms include; bolting at nothing, rearing at: snow blowing, leaves, sounds, movement of anything in general, refusing to walk places, tossing head opinionatedly, galloping madly in pasture, snorting, sliding stops into stall so fast at feeding time he falls down, spooking at anything in general, being uncooperative about everything, flinching when touched, and overall, forgetting how to horse.

There it is.

That moment in every young horses life when they are complete assshats for seemingly no reason at all.

I would like to point out that the OTTB variety are especially not logical during this time.

I've been raving for months about how strangely calm, cooperative and willing this wee babe of an ex-racehorse has been about almost everything I've presented him with. I thought I bought defective OTTB.

Thank god thats not true.

No but really, the other day I rode him was the most terrified I've ever been on the back of a horse and that is saying A LOT. I've been on some doozies.

I've been lunging and hacking when I have the chance, because you know daylight savings combined with work and no arena makes for a dull training schedule. He's been pretty great for most of it. When the wind kicked up on some days he was little skittery out in the cornfields, but who wouldnt be.

Last Sunday though, I was pretty confident I was going to end up dead if I didnt cut our ride short. Normally I like to work through things, but I  feared for my well-being.

We went for a hack per usual out in the cornfields and I tell you what, he BOLTED at eh. vah. ree. thing. gah. And I mean bolted. Like madly bucking, race speed bolt.

Mildly terrifying. Can still handle. Must go on.

fast B shenanigans

He then started eyeing everything in sight and spooking sideways. And by everything I mean literally nothing. Unless he was spooking at pebbles and dirt and leaves on the ground there is no rationale.

Sideways B shenanigans

ts k. Hes a baby. Chalk it up to that. Still alive. Can hang on. Keep going.

Then for, absolutely no fucking reason, he begins rearing. Repeatedly. Straight in the air.

Cue shitting pants.

Can not handle.

Abort.

Abort.

I dont know about y'all but I've never been on a rearing horse and its fucking terrifying. I thought my life was going to end. Right there. I dont know how he didnt flip over. But the vertical height we gained was impressive.

Vertical B shenanigans

I actually did that exact move to ensure I did not die. I also kicked my feet out but he merely dislodged me with the repetitive up and down lurching, sky high teetering and absolute fuckery. I really did not feel like falling from a 17.1 horse onto frozen ground, so I also instinctually pulled his nose around to his shoulder to prevent said vertical height. Thought that would work. Turns out my horse is a freak and can still rear with his face in his own body and that only made me more afraid of impending death by toppling and getting crushed.

Mind you, this was all about 5 seconds in time. Yes, a whole life can flash in that amount of time and you can think of every way to die in those brief moments.

I finally got him settled...somehow. And I was about NOPE with the whole situation.

Never again.

Rearing bad. Do not want.

So, I'm mildly worried that my perfect child has turned into a monster. But the other half of me attributed the out of character behavior to the severe drop in temperatures, being cooped up in  a barn, and the fact that it was a blustery day and the landscape changed a bit with snowfall and corn croppage.

OF COURSE I thought about tack. Saddle. Pad. Boots. Bit. my own riding. But seriously, NOTHING changed.

Either way I refuse to own a horse beast that exhibits that type of dangerous behavior, for ANY reason; tantrums, fear, unwillingness, disrespect- it aint right.

So we shall be working on that and seeing how the rest of our chilly winter rides go.

Hoping those icicles melt soon..

Want this guy back

What Do Wednesday

First off, as usual, I love all of you madly. I was going to respond to each of you, but then a ton of you commented and I was feeling the love and esploded a little with joy. <3 p="">
Moving on.

I'm sure most of you are well aware that it is cold. Very cold depending on where you are. With lots of snow. Such snow. Many cold.

Ermahgherd snurr

I do believe all of my appendages have frozen and thawed about 6 times since the snow/cold front Sunday. I'm positive the windchill was like -10 this morning. I think I was dying while doing stalls. My mind has almost literally been blown by the fact that NY has FEET of snow and more FEET predicted for today. Noooooope.

I dont HATE the cold, I just strongly dislike it. Especially now that I'm older. The novelty really wore off quickly. Even Just a few years ago I was like YAY SNOW PICTURES ALL THE PICTURES.

Because snowy white wintery majesty.

But now I'm wiser and my brain just NOPES.

Now that I've worked the majority of my life outside in barns... and I'm just done. I'm either always too hot or too cold. My hands always freeze off because I am certain there are no gloves that provide coverage, but still allow you to work with horses. I've found undoing blankets, bucket clasps and gripping muck tools especially problematic. The wind sucks. My ears always hurt. Hats and earmuffs itch. Jackets are cumbersome. Fingers go numb. Ass goes numb. Legs go numb. ALL THE NUMB COLDY COLDNESS.

So, my little fluff kittens, here we are with another installment of "What Do?"

What do you wear to the barn to muck/do chores/ ride?

No What Do would be complete without my input either.

As you all know I am the classiest of fashionistas and run with the latest in all the trends.

That hot piece is indeed, me, in all my winter glory. Obviously striving for class in winter.

 For stalls, I usually go with the classic college hoodie, over top a long sleeve, topped off with the beautiful poop brown Carhartt. Sometimes I added a moisture wicking undershirt, but this never helped me. If its real cold, I also add a vest. Obsessed with vests. Breeches arent very warm as far as pants go, but thick socks and boots help. I sucked it up last year and bought Carharrt pants, but that made me TOO warm and I spent most days switching between sweating my ass off and shivering because I was sweating. Those boots pictured are terrible and I dont recommend them for barn work. I  purchased my trusty Muck Boots off Ebay last year after years of suffering (not pictured) and they have been perfect for cold weather. The hat tho. As mentioned before, I have yet to find gloves or mittens that keep my hands from turning to icicles, while still maintaining function.

When it comes to riding, I clothe myself literally in whatever is on the floor. Sometimes, I class it up a bit if we are taking pictures, but usually the warmth goes out the window and I stick with Ratchet Wear. So that means sweats, ugly boots in picture above, vests, coat, earmuffs/headband from hell and layers upon layers of long sleeved items. I hate riding in winter.

BUT VESTS.

I mentioned I love vests. Seriously, I love them.

VESTS

I wish I had the money to buy super fancy nice winter riding clothes, but vests from platos closet do the trick prrrretty well. Keep you wamr, but not TOO warm. And arm freedom! Platos Closet forever: Broke Bitches Club



Outside plaid vest



Showing vest and Levi vest

I have al the vests. ALL. I would love to get a Mountain Horse jacket because you know, function., but they on they expensive side for me. My poop jacket was a gift, and I love it for warmth and its windblocking abilities, but good lord does it ride up when mounted and its so restrictive. The struggle is seriously real when riding outside.

Last few years I was INSANELY spoiled with a glorious indoor that for some reason, remained quite warm. I could usually ride in a long sleeve and light jacket and would sweat.



Sometimes scarves because fancy

Also, again, vests forever, even inside.

I truly miss that indoor. I could ride everyday and not ever get cold. Shit actually got done in winter. Last winter was our best year for dressagey progress and it makes me THE most sad knowing that I will lose precious time this winter.

Sometimes even my horse gets clothes! Winter is wondrous adventure!

Most of Missouri winters were brutal, but sometimes we had random warm days that required hardly any clothes at all! yay Midwest weather psycho patterns!

In summation, I literally have no actual real winter riding clothes. All of my things are a culmination of middle school leftovers, a few gifts (carhartt and ratchet boots), college sweaters and vests from platos closet. Layers and layers of them. And really dingy sweatpants. Because winter makes me lazy and they are warmer than breeches. It really nails the whole "strapped for cash grunge look of non caring". Also brings up some raging safety concerns regarding boots. BUT MY FEET FREEZE IN NORMAL BOOTS OKAY.

My natural habitat

Bootiful.

So dear readers, share your secrets.

PS hilarious I just ranted about "no no-helmet lectures" and here I go posting 2 other pics with no helmet, haha oops.

People Are Just The Worst

I had every intention of coming on here today to share some thoughts on my horse angel Yankee and post some pictures we took over the weekend with him. IN a strange twist of fate involving another OTTB and a 12 hour drive, Yankee went to KS a week early and left this AM.

I'll explain in another post, the one I intended to write, but first I'm going to rant. Because I have my sassy pants on, its my blog and people are the worst.

I posted this adorable picture, along with a few others here and there on social media, of my Yanks this AM, with a note on how much I will miss him etc etc

And people have the audacity to comment and message me asking/telling me "oh my god why would you ever get rid of him" or "OMG youre replacing him with Bacardi".

First off. I'm not "getting rid" of him. I made a damn hard decision to do what I thought was BEST for MY horse. Mine, no one elses.

Secondly, to sit down, think about it, admit things to yourself and give up something you love for the better is one of the hardest things you could ever do. It takes courage. Its scary. I'm AFRAID. But I'm trusting my friends and my guts and doing what I KNOW will work out for Yankee.

Thirdly, I'd like to see the naysayers try it before they lash out at me for something they don't understand. Its so freaking easy to sit behind a keyboard or a phone and be nasty. I'm so SICK of everyone judging immediately before they read into a situation or try to comprehend that I made a decision that will benefit EVERYONE. And I mean that in general. People online SUCK. I'm about done with it all. Seriously GTFO if you're going to be rude like that.

Lastly, if you know me or my horse at all you know I worship that animal. He is my heart and my angelface and I love him more than life itself. But I cant give him what he deserves. So I made a choice. I'm not giving him up. Or getting rid of him or replacing him with anything. He's still my man and always will be. We've been together almost ten years and nothing will change that. Not distance or time. He's coming back to me after he's finished doing what he was meant to do.

Its not like I'm some heartless bitch getting rid of my "old" horse because better things came along. I'm hurting. I miss him already. This will be hard. But it will be GOOD!

Another thing.

Asking someone "where's your brain bucket?" or "where's you helmet?" is just....the worst.

Its obviously not on my head. Where do you think it is? Maybe in the garage. Or in the barn. But not on my head and thats my damn choice. I dont need to be reminded that I'm not wearing one. I obviously know that. Last time I checked it was not against the law to ride without a helmet on your own property in the state of Ohio.

Then again I haven't lived here for 6 years. But I'm not afraid of the helmet police.

I get it. Riding without a helmet is dangerous. We all know this. Ive fallen enough to know, seen enough footage, read enough news reports. I'm well aware. I'm also an adult capable of making my own decisions, and in that awareness, to not place a "brain bucket" on my cranium. There was probably a reason I was willing to risk my noggin'. However dumb and childish it may seem, its MY friggin choice. I don't need pretentious comments clouding my pictures and my happy mood.

I wanted to ride my horse, who I trust with my life, and get awesome fun pictures in the field with my super blonde hair blowing in the wind because I wanted MAJESTIC PICTURES TO REMEMBER HIM BY OKAY?

BECAUSE PICTURES ARE ALL. ALL THE PICTURES.

Hop off the self righteous helmet wearing train next time you feel the urge to remind me that I'm not wearing a helmet, because I already know, and really don't care. I wear it 99.99% of the time anyways, because you know, safety.


THAT being said. I am appreciating all the loving support I'm getting form the vast majority of peoples. It makes me so happy knowing there are others out there know how I feel. It means more to me than you know! Love you all!

xoxo