Want Dis, Need Dis?

AHHH. Tis the delightful season of tack whoring to begin.

Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure this post makes me seem like a COMPLETE hypocrite from my previous post. I'll defend myself by saying that since I'm not a rich bitch, I can still dream and want nice things. Right? Right.

The first show is MAR 2-3, less than a month away, so of course, the whore brain inside me wants to buy all the things and break my bank account.

Most of these things I don't really need, it'd just be nice to have/make my life easier. But isn't that what America is about? Overconsumerism and instant gratification? Maybe. Normally I hate people like this, since they always want MORE MORE MORE. However, I feel like Yankee will be pretty legit this year, so his wardrobe needs to be legit shit too. I'm pretty sure at least SprinklerBandit can agree with me on this >:)

First item on the wish list

1). New Shipping boots-

I really could care less what brand, I just want easy to clean, nicely padded and long enough. Amigo is pretty cheap at $65, but if I'm boss enough, I think I can find some on Ebay for a lot less. Reason for new ones: My current full length ship boots are...disgusting. Moth eaten, dirty, ripped and just overall grosss. I can't have my pimp horse walking about in nasty duds now can I?

2). Mountain Horse Tall Field Boots-

I guess if I wanted to be cheap I could not get new boots this year, since my old (about 3 years) ones still look baller, buuuut they are WAY too short on my legs. They make me look stumpy and unkept. So I guess this purchase would be for fashion and looks, but I feel one should look the part. To me, short boots look messy and unprofessional. Price tag, about $300. I would also have to put darts in for my man calves and thatd be another $80.

3). A knit Chill Chaser -


I've had my current chill chaser about 6 years, and I heart the shit outta it, but its slowly nearing the end of its life. Its ripped all over the place & just getting ratty and gross. A new one would be stellar, and inexpensive; about $50. Again, I could always just have the ponyface look like trailer trash and keep using the one I have for the sake of saving money, but...psssssh, come on.

4). A combination bit for XC-


I have yet to find that PREFECT bit for XC. For dressage, I use a french-link loose ring and stadium he goes swimmingly in a loose ring waterford. The waterford is just slightly too precious for XC and a 3-ring elevator is just a bit too much for him now. Yanks is a respectable boy on XC, but he does enjoy it a titch, and has his " LEMME GO LEMME GO" baby racehorse moments still. I've worked quite hard with him on his XC manners, but there is only so much you can teach a OTTB; in fact, I'd rather him be excited, rather than lazy. I tried a hackamore on XC with him and it did not go well. I think it was too much leverage on his face and he basically tossed his head and ran into the fences the whole time. Fail. SO...I think this bit would be perfect and with a $75 price tag, not too bad for a combo bit.

5). Charles Owen Pro II-

I feel SO bad for drooling over this baby, since my parents bought me a tipperary eventer 2 years ago and it is still in perfect condition. BUT COME ONE, this thing is sexual. And I wanna hop on this trend train, for once. Every eventer at my barn has one. But gasp, at $194, I doubt I can swing it. I guess I can just cut and paste them onto my face in pictures.

6). A Brown Dressage Girth, for my XC saddle-

So we can match, DUHH. The OCD Tack whore in me really hates that I use the same girth for Dressage and XC. Not only is it black and my saddle brown, but the life of the girth will be much shorter. The dressage girth I have was relatively expensive ($170), so I'd like it to last. PLUS, I like to have a set of tack for each phase; helps with organization, tacking up and packing. I keep all my respective bridles, girths, pads, boots and saddles together for each phase, so I can just grab and go, rather than sort through a trunk. Its been the dickens to find though on Ebay and I sure as shit am not paying $294 for it from a tack store.

First world problems right?

7). Euro-fit poly pad for XC. White. BUT I CANT FIND IT ANYWHERE!! GAH. Its just so stylish. So of course I want it.

I feel shame for so much want. 7 things isn't bad. In fact some people consider it a lucky number. I guess thats why I'm a whore.

Green Monster

So I have a confession to make.

NO one is allowed to judge me on this, because I KNOW you all think it too. Even if just a fleeting moment.

I get seriously pissed off/extremly jealous of those rich bitch riders who are so supremely spoiled that they don't even taken a second glance at whipping out their plastic for a 3k dressage saddle. Like seriously....what the frick.

I'm not gonna lie, I would lOVE to have that much money to throw around on a whim. If I want or even NEED something, I have to plan for it. Like, not eat very well for a week or so. I feed, clothe and put a roof over my horses' head by giving up a shit ton in my life, and working my ass off at two jobs.

I know, I know...if I'm complaining so much, why do I ride horses? Because I don't MIND doing all of those things for my passion and my horses. BUT I do have a problem with the spoiled brats who don't even realize what the eff they have and how lucky they are.

There's a girl I know who complains everyday on FB about how tired she is from riding her 3 beautiful IMPORTED horses in FLORIDA, and how mentally exhausting riding all of themevery weekend in an event can be and wah wah wah I want this and I want that, why didnt my stupid horse get that flying change perfectly and on and on and on.

Why cant you just be grateful that your parents pay for the move to FL every summer and your 3 amazing horses and your to competitions EVERY weekend, and the best tack money can buy,etc etc.

I'm sorry, but to me that is just ridiculous. And I felt like venting.

Alloted Rides of the Week

Since the lease, I only "get" to ride 2 days a week. I use air quotes because he is my horse and can ride him as much as I want, but since the purpose of this lease was to give me more time to work/study, I only ride 1-2 days a week.

I rode yesterday and today. Sunday was my last day of last week and today was my first day of this week...if that makes any sense.

I had a magically fantastical dressagey ride yesterday.

Video evidence. (I know watching other people ride can be uber yawn, but if you know anything about OTTBs you know that getting them to this point basically warrants throwing a party. I have been on cloud 9 since yesterday, knowing that my baby is FINALLY an adult ponyface and can do dressage like a real boy. So watch dammit.)

I was going to edit out his AWFUL W-C transition to the right, but I opted not to so that ya'll can see our major issue...relaxation. If he gives me a transition like that, I bring him back down as calmly as possible, ask him to relax in the neck/body ( usually works with itty bitty lateral movement and half halt) and ask him again. This one was a fail...like 4 times. But our simple lead changes were boss. And his trot work was phenominal. NEVER has he felt that relaxed...ever.

Pictorial evidence.

Look at the wonderous free walk. I see more 9s in my future.

Loose, free, active trot FTW!

Ok this extended trot is a little less winning...he could be a more underneath himself and not on the forehand. This is what we work on (through half halts) when we do the exT.

This is a bit better. I LOVE how he is finally getting lighter on his front end and not running through the exT movement. STILL could be more engaged behind, but better. (notice my position too, no more crouchy. I-I-I-I work out:))

I love this picture. To me, this is the epitome of relaxed pony and some self carriage going on. Floppy ears and tail, engaged hind end and free strides. LOVE LOVE LOVE

Some shitty pictures of our non-shitty canter work!

I dont think I need to even explain how boss Yankee is :D

And yes, I am bragging. But only because I feel we have had nothing to brag about in the past. We've only just been OK and mediocre. I feel like he finally NAILED our dressage work. Hopefully it continues!!

Today, it was 67 degrees so I thought it'd be sweet to do some gallops. Our gallops were restricted to canters because of mud, but it was still nice to get out.

Yankee says, "herro girl human on my back. Can we run now preese?"

Mizzou, represent.

He was aight. Still wanting to run, but I would just give him a half halt with that waterford bit and he listened. Good boy!

Video from my "helmet cam". I really like to pretend I have one for the sake of this blog. Galloping a TB with one hand can be....fun?

Jackie and Yankee looked pretty awesome here :) There are more of her and Yanks on my YouTube channel.

If you guys havent seen this and this its seriously HILARIOUS. And factual, I literally say all of those things. All the time.

 The "Stuff____ Say" is a new trend on youtube, in case you've been living under a rock, and they have one for pretty much everything, so I was pumped they had one for riders now too.

Happy...Monday.

Seemingly Pointless Things....

...that make my flippin' day!

1) New smartpak shipment, neatly organized

2) said smartpak in feed bucket. Oooo, pretty.

3) A clean run, raked to perfection, with Jolly ball.

4) A clean stall with deeply bedded floors, clean water and fresh hay in the rack

I think it must be a horse person thing, but strating the day off with this just gives it a slice of perfection. If I were a horse, I'd be happy with the crisp, cool water in my bucket. Leafy hay in my manger. Nommy grains in my bucket (filled with horse 'roids...I mean, supps). And my Jolly ball in my run. Yeah, that is for sure what ponyface says in that brain of his.

I also am psycho and heart cleaning (thats why I clean houses for a living). Cleaning makes things perfect and you can SEE the results. Call me crazy.

Schfiftyfive!

This random video is in honor of my blog reaching 65 followers. Laughable to blogging tycoons like Catherine or Andrea, but to me, I LOVE and appreciate every one of you thinking I'm interesting enough to follow.

((If you don't see your blog on this side >>>>, shoot me a comment and I will visit your site! I literally heart reading all of your blogs and probably spend a good amount of my day checking to see if anyone updated theirs :P))

So I suppose for those new readers who aren't stalkers and don't have time to peruse through my previous posts, I figured I'd give a brief synopsis of Yankee's story, our plans for this year and whats been goin' on in our lives lately.

This, is Yankee, my OTTB ponyface. I've had him since he turned 4, right off the track. He is officially 10 now, which makes me sad.

May 2011 Training level

When I first got him, he was a real d-bag. I wanted to send him back. But after some persistence and help of a few trainers and about 6 years later, thousands of dollars, sweat, blood and a few tears, he looks like that^ and win stuff like this...

My sophomore year I moved from OH to MO and I severed my achilles tendon & fractured my tibia. I was out of comission for a year on crutches and whatnot and I leased Yankee you to a friend in Ohio. Even though she was competent, he forgot a lot of his training and got cranky and hateful towards a lot of things.

In May of 2010, I got back in the saddle and STUPIDLY thought that it would be smart to take him Training level after basically a year off showing. Yeah not so much...

Along with slick footing and horrible riding, we crashed through this fence, shattering his confidence. No more showing that summer for us.

In October of 2010 I moved Yankee to CoMO. We were fortunate enought to board at Cheryl Holekamps barn (the owner of the Olympic stallion Windfall) and the facilities there were first class. Without them, Yankee would not be where he is today. I worked tirelessly for a year to get him jumping the way he used to with baby grids, lots of praise and fun hacks. Slowly and surely, he got back into beast mode and we destroyed the showjumper circuit in Missouri here this summer.

Windfall and I ( I was SO starstruck by this stallion. Never in a million years did I think I would meet this wonderful horse)

Before I get into that though, we travelled 500 miles in April to ride in Ohio's Equine Affaire 2011 with Daniel Stewart and ride in the breed demo's for the TB representing New Vocations Racehorse Adoption. OH BOY was that a trip. About 6 hours into the drive (around midnight) one of my trailer tires blew. I had no idea how to handle it, but thankfully my (ex)BF fixed it at a truck stop. Yankee was a star through the whole thing and basically just chilled out. The DS clinic was insightful and I really enjoyed his teaching style. Videos on Youtube. The breed demo was AWESOME; I felt like Yankee was the star of the show :) However, the OTHER 3 tires blew on my trailer as we were leaving and I had to buy a whole new set. Expensive mo-fo's! Apparently when we bought the trailer (from a trailer DEALER!), they had car tires, not the 8-ply trailer tires on them. Surprised they didn't blow sooner. So, that was an experience.

With the entire TB breed demo gang. Theres my fat-ass on the far left

Yankee hangin out in a truck stop somewhere in Illinois

Due to lack of funds and training though, our 2011 eventing season was just...meh. We had brilliant moments, and horrible ones. The first outing in 2011 was a show in May in Kansas City, MO. It was 30 degrees and raining during our dressage test, but we got an amazing score and were in 3rd place! THIRD! That never happened to us, and I was stoked that my retarded TB could kick some WB ass in the dressage ring when the weather was so shitty. Then I promptly fell off on the 3rd XC fence and cracked my tailbone on the fence. OUCH. SO yeah, that was the major downer. The next outing was awesome and we were in 5th after dressage and XC, my my silly ass dropped us a rail and kept us in the ribbons at 8th. In Illinois we had the best dressage test to date with a 30 flat and I managed to stay alive during XC, but promptly passed out afterwards. It was a blistering 105 degrees and as you will find out, I do not do well in heat. Stadium got rained out and we left (after getting our trailer dragged out of the mud with a tractor) with a 4th place :)

 

I will not mention the DRAMA that was me getting fired, kicked out of my barn and told to find a new barn in 24 hours while I was NOT IN THE STATE. That was funsies! Illinois was our last recognized event just as we were getting in the groove of things, but I did do the Ridgefield jumper shows in the fall.

In addition, I did 4 hunter shows in STL with my good friend Tracy. I despise the hunter ring, but these were pretty fun and it gave me some time to have a ball with Tracy. We also won a few of these...

Mmm, gotta love that bleached out summer coat!

Ridgefield Jumper Derby

Which brings us to present day-ish. In the fall of 2011, lots of shit went down and my life was a cluster fudge. My live-in BF of almost 2 years dumped me, I totalled my car, moved AGAIN, lost a lot of money, my dog died and quit my horrible job of 3 years, to name a few. On top of all that, my classwork was killing me and poor ponyface barely got ridden. Here and there I dabbled, but nothing really exciting happened till this winter break (2012)  when I had a month off, scored a sweet job and got a fantastic new BF and dyed my hair. LIFE CHANGE!

This is new BF with my 4yo mini pony, Zephyr. She makes an appearance now and again. BF loves the ponies, which makes him even more awesome :)

We worked really hard over break in dressage and did a bit of jumping and Yankee seems better off now. I still knew though that with 5 classes (working towards graduation in May) 2 jobs (to pay for the dang horse), and future job searching, I wouldn't have enough time to really ride and compete him this year. SO, I sent out an add for a half-lease on Equine.com. I was BLOWN away when I got over 100 emails the first week. I was prepared to send him south when a girl here in CoMO expressed interest. I loved her instantly and thats where we are today!

I hope that caught all you new readers up and possibly refreshed the memories of long-time followers. Like I said, feel free to drop me a comment if you don't see your blog on my blog-roll!

Also, if any of you have tips on how to get rid of nasty tail fungus, that'd be sweet. Yankee has a mighty gross infestation of the funk and I am terrified all of his tail hair will fall out. His beautiful tail has already cut its fantastical-ness in half (half of his tail has fallen out already) and I might cry if it keeps going.

Happy hump day.

Colder Than a Witch's Tit

What a juicy day.

I got paid yesterday, so I was FINALLY able to re-order Yankee's supplements. Love smartpak. I also went to the tack store today looking for dressage reins, saddle soap and a hanging blanket rack since d-bag pony likes to dump all his blankets on the ground (from his stall door rack) EVERYDAY. Sometimes more than once. No blanket rack, but I got new dressage reins for a fuggin steal.

My old ones were 6 years old and fraying...badly.

Exibit A:

The old ones are on top of the shiny new ones. YAY TACK WHORING AT LOW BUDGET PRICES! The old ones are nylon webbing and came with my expensive -ass german made dressage bridle. Surprised they lasted as long as they did. The shiny new ones are rubber nylon, which has an extra grippy awesome (might I remind you, awesomely inexpensive) feel. #winning.

I also took Yankees tail down for the first time in almost two months...

Exibit B:

He was very unahppy about his froo-froo tail. I mean, look at that face...pure embaressment.

Jackie-his new leaser- also came out today to get a dressage lesson. She mostly jumps, and hasnt ridden dressage in quite some time. Also, Yankee is basically a one person horse, and rarely goes well for others. I mean really, he is awful. Probably since I have trained and ridden him (minus the one year hiatus my sophomore year) exclusively since he was 4 years old. Thats 6 years for you math whizz's.

He was having a tough time with Jackie. Not because he was being naughty, but he just didnt understand. I tried my best to help, but explaining how to do something you do naturally is really tough, I discovered.

What I did was hop on and try to narrate my movements and aids to her through our warm-up...

(sorry about the blur, Jackie needs some lessons on picture taking :P)
He gave me a FANTASTIC free walk and stretchy trot and beautiful transitions today, despite the cold.

Dontcha just heart my socks?

Then Jackie hopped on.

After about 10 minutes, she got this...

A wonderful walk. free, loose back, marching walk, overstep and relaxed neck :)

So I had them move on to trot work. That was more difficult 1) its his hardest gait 2) he was just confused 3)Jackie needed dressage skillz refresher (but she got it!)

I am really loud, sorry.

Overall, a good ride :D

We are having a jumping lesson tomorrow, so hopefully that will go just as swimmingly.

cooldown walk-out

Uber excellent socks. I believe this will be my new fashion statement. Because I can.

But WAIT, der is moar ponee pikturs!

"I can haz moar treet noms? I KNOW you has shum"

Err' day he stylin'

Product Review

BEHOLD. The Weatherbeeta Orican Freestyle Combo medium turnout blanket

The blanket review I promised almost 2 months ago.

However, due to freak warm weather during the winter season, I couldnt even solidfy an opinion. However, winter decided to rear its ugly head with frigid temps and evil wind so I have decided...

LOVE.

It is the perfect weight of blanket to leave on when it the temps "soar" to the upper 40s when you were expecting lower 30s. Also, it keeps the pony warm until it hits 5 degrees or 20 with wind. Other wise I have to layer, but simply because he is clipped. However, too warm to leave the neck on when its gets above 40. Generally, unless it drops below 30 or is extra windy, I leave the neck off since it is a bitch to get on and off. Seriously....horrible. Trying to pry the velcro open with icy fingers is impossible...and with gloves on..dont even try. Otherwise, very easy blanket to get on and off, if a bit bulky.

Its also a nice blanket to layer. Some blankets are weird to layer, since they bunch up or dont compliment each other well. My old blanket was too short in the back and my under layer blanket always showed through/and got muddy. This one I layer all the time and it stays perfectly tucked.

LOVE the front closure. Easy snaps, no buckles!!!

LOVE that the leg straps are not strectchy. Ive had so many stretch out and had to replace them. Annoying.

There is a really nice wither relief pad that works nicely for sharp withered TBs like mine. Excellent.

It also has yet to rub his shoulders, which has happened with every.single.turnout I've ever owned.

LOVE the weird poofy neck padding it has right above the front closures. Its for when they bend down to eat, so it doesnt cut into their neck. UM, why didnt anyone think of that before?!

It was CHEAP! I bought it at a local tack store for $195 which I think is a freaking steal for a weatherbeeta WITH a neck. Basically a tack whores dream. Even Ebay couldnt give that to me!!

All in all, the only bad thing I have to say about this blanket is the damn neck removal. Other than that, I love it!

So does ponyface