failure.

Yes I am a failure. A big time failure. I will explain later. This past weekend we went down to the Twin Cities area to visit my husband’s family and watch my niece’s dance recital. On Sunday we did some shopping which included Ikea, Mall of America and a tack store I’ve wanted to go to for as long as I’ve lived in this country.

We went to Ikea and wandered around for a few hours managing to spend quite a bit of money on tons of little things. That always seems to happen! “Oh look this is 99 cents!” and “Well it’s only $1.49” really adds up when you aren’t looking. We got out of there before we did too much damage and then headed to the Mall of America. There wasn’t really anything I wanted to look at there…15 year old me would have walked up and slapped me for saying “I don’t really want to shop”. We did go into Boot Barn and look at a few pairs of cowboy boots. The hubby needs them more than I do. He wears them for work…and well just about every other day too. I did try on some fabulous boots but quite honestly I have a hard time spending a couple hundred dollars on a beautiful, fancy, pair of boots that I will no doubt wear out to the barn and get muddy and or ruined. If I was one of those girls who lived in town like the sales girls at the store. Yeah, no problem spending that kind of money. Their boots will never meet a big steaming pile of horse crap. I had to shake my head at one of the sales girls, who was talking to some people from South Dakota about locations of their stores. ‘Yeah there is one in Grand Forks’ and then they said “Grand Forks is in North Dakota” and then she said “ummm I think there is one in Fargo!” to which they replied “also in North Dakota” and then she said “North and South Dakota should be the same state!”  Really?! I mean really. I was getting frustraited at the store. Too many wannabes, and people who wear western clothing ‘ironicly’ wondering in and out of there. Teenaged boys wearing skinny, Justin Beiber jeans…please shop somewhere else…On our way out of the mall we walked through Nordstroms because we’d parked near there. I saw a lovely pair of ’riding’ boots by Chanel and I picked them up to see what they cost. $1500. Yep, put them down and keep walking.



I need all of these. Not even kidding.

After leaving the Mall we made a little detour and went to Dover Saddlery in Medina, MN. We pulled up and there was a Lexus SUV, a Mercedes, SUV and a Hummer all parked in front. Yeah, no money required for this sport. I totally felt like a country mouse that had come to the city when I walked in that store.

At LAST!

I  was completely overwhelmed at all the beauty contained in that store. I seriously made a lap and just touched things that I’d seen in the catalogue and online. I took deep breaths when I walked by all the saddles and bridles because it smelled so awesome. I picked up things and hmmmmed and hawwwwed over if I ‘really’ needed it. I thought about picking up a pair of bell boots or splint for George but then I realized, I have no idea what size he would wear! I then looked at the sheets and blankets again, no clue what size he is. I’m sure he will fit the ones we have already. And then I stared at the halters for a really, really long time. What is George’s halter color going to be?!  Yellow, looked sharp in hunter green. Piney had a sage green halter that looked really, really nice on him before I got a nice leather halter for him. That leather halter with his sheepskin nose cover has been retired, and is hanging in my barn over his stall name plate. But I had another leather halter (which is actually a nicer quality halter) that I found in my tack hoard that I brought out when I met George. It looked really nice on him so I figure that will be his halter.

I'll take that one. And that one. Annnnnnnnnd that one!



This is what my collection at home looks like...almost.

We walked around for a bit longer. I picked things up and then put them down. I pondered over if I should get him a new saddle blanket. But decided I need to go through my collection first. And then finally we left the store. Empty handed. What a failure on my part! Who goes to Dover saddlery…and leaves with nothing. Not a bag of treats. Not a pair of jump cups. No brush. No Hermes saddle. No halter. Nothing!!! But I felt really out of place in there. There were tons of young girls and teenagers that were dragging their cash cows, I mean parents, around the store getting whatever their little hearts desired. All of them were dressed in breeches and were fresh from their lessons.  One father was having a hard time believing that his daughter’s horse needed two bridles. And the sales girl didn’t miss a beat saying that her horse had about 4. What I couldn’t get over is how clean these girls were for have just come from lessons.  No hay in their hair, not a green slobber stain across their shirt, no horse hair on their back after their horse used them as a scratching post after a good ride, no dirt on their knees. Nothing. They were like little catalogue models. But I guess when you get to the barn and your horse is tacked up ready to go and then leave before the horse is un-tacked and put away, you don’t really have that problem of getting dirty. Maybe I am just a country mouse and have no place in the city.

Once we left we made another pit stop at a store that claimed to have 1000 of pairs of cowboy boots. They also had tack. The store was HUGE! Lots of confinement English saddles, but nothing that jumped out at me and said bring me home. The rest of their tack was a bit over priced. So we ended up leaving empty handed…again. W.T.F?! I mean what is wrong with me?! I go to two stores with TONS of stuff for ponies. And I don’t get anything?! I’m getting a new pony on Sunday. And he needs new things, yet I didn’t buy him anything. Yeah, I don’t even know either!

I could TOTALLY make these work!

Where I come from...you'd never see this...