Day 29- A style/trend in tack/riding apparel that you don’t like

Day 29- A style/trend in tack/riding apparel that you don’t like

Western. Pleasure. Show. Clothing.

I posted these before…and I still feel the same…Dislike.

Okay. Soooooo I kind of like this one...I know. I know...

 

Day 27- You know you’re an equestrian when…..

 Day 27- You know you’re an equestrian when….. (Give 5 original ones)

You know you’re an equestrian when you open your large, gold, studded purse at the grocery store to pay and find a pair of stirrups and a dressage girth. (true story, happened this week!)

You know you’re and equestrian when you find yourself being snarky about every single girl and their mother wearing riding boots to trot around town. (I know, I know…my pet peeve is rude horse people, but these aren’t horse people!!)

You know you’re an equestrian when your hair stylist doesn't even flinch anymore when she finds bedding or hay in your hair (or under her chair).

 

You know you’re an equestrian when you seriously think about having your paycheck direct deposited to the vet.

You know you’re an equestrian when you can’t remember some of your childhood friends or what they looked like but remember every single horse’s name and color that you’ve ever encountered in your life.

Day 26- Biggest riding pet peeve

Day 26- Biggest riding pet peeve

This is aneasy one.Riders who are stuck up and rude. Now I am not saying that we shouldall have to get along, but rolling your eyes, or talking down to me is reallynot appreciated. I like to ask questions about horses and when I get a bitchyrude response it makes me want to slap the person…but mostly makes me want tocry. I’m a pretty sensitive gal and take things really hard. I remember onceasking a girl about barrel racing one day and she got all high and mightysaying how hard it was and that a person like me probably wouldn’t even be goodat it since I was just starting to ride. All I wanted to know was if it was funand if she could give me some pointers.

I once tooka beginner horsemanship class when I was in college. It was a class that wasdescribe as a class for BEGINNERS to learn about horses and riding and all thatfun stuff. But that class seriously made me sink down into a deep darkdepression. I didn’t want to ride or be around horses after taking that class.It took me a few years before I even started to think about riding again. The professorwas some old cowboy who knew everything about horses. All the girls in my classhad been riding since they were in their mother’s womb. The horse I was assignedwas a naughty horse that had been kicked off a string of horses at a dude ranchbecause he was an ass. Prior to taking this class I had mostly ridden English.I’d never saddled up a western horse and I didn’t know much about westernriding. Which was why I took the class to learn as much as I could. Well Istruggled with the saddle, I always had a hard time remembering how to securethe cinch. So the instructor would make a big production about helping me out,and the girls in the class would giggle the whole time. You know if I saw aclassmate struggling I would go help her, but that is just me. Every class wewould get our horses and then tie them up in the arena and then have a quickmeeting in the tack room about the day’s lesson. I tied my horse up like theytaught me and when I returned, sure enough, my horse was wandering around thearena. I apparently had the horse that could undo quick release knots. Soobviously I got lectured and more giggle from the girls in my class. Almostevery ride I would get singled out by the professor and he’d basically say “whateverK.K is doing…do the opposite.” By the end of the semester I was so emotionallydrained and hated that class so much. I had to hold a classmates horse for herand I stood there near the horses head and it sneezed, all over me. and myprofessor yelled across the areana “Reason #345 why we don’t stand in front ofa horse”. Obviously everyone in class laughed their butts off. When I left Icried the whole way home. To be honest I don’t think I even went back and tookmy final exam. I was so crushed at how rude everyone was to me. It was then andthere that I decided if I ever got back into horses I would be as friendly andhelpful to everyone as I could be. And I do try hard to be helpful and nice tomy fellow riders. We can all use a little help now and then. It’s just easierif we are at least nice to each other.

Day 25- Your dream trailer

Day 25- Your dream trailer

Easy question...This beauty.

 I''m kidding...I like this single horse beast.

OR this one...

Homemade?

OK, so I was kidding. These all look like deathtraps really...but in all actuality that is how I see trailers.. Trailers are terrifying to me. Absolutely terrifying. After my accident in the trailer I don't have any confidence in them or around them.

Our trailer

This is the trailer we ended up with. It had all the things I wanted. It was extra tall and wide, with a ramp and full escape doors, and the price was where we wanted to be. Still terrifying to me. But she does a good job hauling the horses, if we can get them in there. Piney didn't load in anything and Duke hates ramps. Pistol is like "pssssht, I'll ride on a flat bed if you want me too. Is that hay in there? I'm in." It is my dream trailer in that I've always dreamed of having my own trailer some day. And now I have one. It's not everyone's dream trailer, but it is mine.

add these to the don't play list...

Seriously I could cause major flooding here in town when I listen to this song. I'm quite positive this wasn't written about the day I put Piney down, but it certainly feels like it.

 

And then there is this one. Because I am a glutton for punishment. I've cried every single time I have heard this song. And it doesn't help that there is a horse in this video. And It doesn't help that I love this song and put it on repeat and drive around looking like a crazy person crying all over town...

So if you are wanting to have a good old fashioned, sobbing, body shaking cry...listen to these...

Day 24- Your best riding friend

Day 24- Your best riding friend

I would have to say that my husband is my best riding friend. When I met him he told me that he had a horse and I was probably like “yes, lets be friends!” Unfortunately for him, I haven’t been a good riding buddy since Piney died. My desire to saddle up sort of fizzled out. When I started to ride Pistol a bit more it didn’t really help that he got that abcess shortly after which put him off for a while. I made a little promise to myself that I will ride more this year. Lately I have really, really wanted to saddle up and go for a ride, but obviously these horrific temperatures have kept me out of the saddle. I do feel bad that I’m not much of a rider these day. But this year I promise to be a better rider!

Hubby has been into horses most of his life. As I said he had a horse when I met him. It was at grandma’s farm. His mother grew up showing and breeding Arabians. So horses are in his blood. We like doing different things when we ride. He enjoys trail riding and I enjoy riding around in an arena but we do both enjoy time in the saddle.

Day 23- Picture of your favorite jump/combo

Day 23- Picture of your favorite jump/combo

I haven’t done a whole bunch of jumping in my time in the saddle. BUT that didn’t stop me from buying these sweet mini jumps at an auction for $3!! They are small, and not horse sized. But they are jumps none the less and kids seem to get as big of a kick out of them as I do. I thought I'd share them again...Obviously the jump with the chestnut is my absolute favorite jump for obvious reasons...

 

 

When Piney was still with me I used them and set up this little “course” and we went over them…*ahem* he knocked over every single pole. Every. Single. Pole. I had them nice and low but a serious case of laziness set in and he knew that I was riding by myself and was too lazy myself to have to dismount and get back on each time I fixed the poles, so he figured he’d just knock them all down and that would be the end of it…he was smarter than I thought…

Day 22- The importance of riding in your life

Day 22- The importance of riding in your life
I love riding. There is just something to be said about saddling up and heading out for a nice quite ride with just you and your horse. I loved that with Piney. I could ride out with my dogs following behind…or in one case my barn cats. Since Piney died I really haven’t had much desire to ride. I usually have to be pressured into saddling up. The weather we’ve had this fall/winter hasn’t really helped either. I have a great horse that is broke and trustworthy that I loved riding when Piney was alive but I don’t know why I don’t feel the same now. The last couple days though, I have wanted to saddle up and go for a quick ride around the yard, but it’s so freaking cold it wouldn’t be fair to Pistol. He is blanketed and I don’t want to strip him down.

I think more than anything that horse ownership is more important to me than actually riding. I enjoy just going out to the barn and interacting with my horses. Looking out my window and seeing them makes me happy. The fact that when I open my front door I have at least one horse calling out to me. Obviously it is ol’ tubby trying to tell me to come and feed him but I still like that feeling. Last night when I went out to feed the boys I heard the quietest little nicker from Pistol and I just melted. He has never done that before. It melted my heart. He’s really come a long way since he’s been with us. From a horse that we couldn’t even touch to my sweet little buddy.

If something happened to me and I couldn’t ever ride again. I would be fine as long as I had my horses. Being around them. Their smell, the feel of their noses, the sound of their hooves as they thunder across the pasture. I just love them.

Day 21- Your perfect schooling outfit

Day 21- Your perfect schooling outfit

My perfect schooling outfit would be a nice comfy pair of breeches, tall boots that actually fit my leg (I’ve been struggling with boots for as long as I’ve been riding English…) and a polo that obviously matches my saddle pad. If it is a bit cooler I would wear a zip up fleece with a puffy vest over top. And it is so dumb but I would wear my velvet helmet. I think it looks better than my plastic schooling helmet. I have watched a lot of lessons over the years and I have seen a little of everything being worn. But I always tried to look the part. It’s dumb I know, but when I was a little kid, I would look at pictures of people riding and taking lessons and they always looked so sharp and put together so I always said that I would dress like they did if I ever got a horse.

favorite.

<3 him="him" td="td">



Gigatic polo...but still a polo...

schooling show. I miss that tail...

But since I don't do a lot of "schooling" anymore this is mostly what I dress like when I ride. I look like a hobo up in the sadde most of the time. And I make sure that my horse usually matches my hobo attire by having his tail bagged up and in an athetic sock instead of an actuall tail bag...

Yellow and I in Big Sky, Montana 2003?

Day 20- Your favorite horse show

Day 20- Your favorite horse show

Okay so I’m sure this actually is supposed to be about a “Horse Show” where you bring your horse and dress up fancy and spend hundreds of dollars for a 95 cent ribbon. But since I’m not really a big show person I am going to write about my favorite show about horses!

I am a sucker for tv shows and movies that have horses in them. I get super depressed when the horse gets hurt or dies. I haven’t even watched the last half of Dances with Wolves in forever because I can’t bare to watch Cisco getting shot, and The first episode of “the Walking Dead”…wow, I felt like I was getting ripped to shreds by zombies! Sadly there aren’t a whole bunch of current tvshows with horses as one of the main caracters, but thankfully Netflix is filled with great shows I can watch instantly!

First on my list is Animal Planets show “Jockeys”. A lot of horse people will bash me for this but I love horse racing. It’s exciting.  Watching thoroughbreds running is so beautiful. This show mostly focuses on the big time Jockeys at Santa Anita, like Mike Smith, Aaron Gryder, Joe Talamo, Corey Nakatani, and Jon Court to name a few. Zenyatta was featured a lot in season one too. I loved the show too because it shows a lot of the behind the scenes of a race track. As some may know, my dear sweet Piney-boy raced a couple of times at Santa Anita, he broke his maiden there in his second race and won over $11,000. Of course he never won that kind of purse in a race ever again…but...that’s not important ;-) and he never had any big shot jockeys ride him, but he raced on the same track that Seabisquit once raced on, and many other famous horses. The same announcer that called his races called the races on the show. It’s just fun to see that side of horse racing.

 

Second on my list. Heartland. It’s a Canadian show about a girl who trains horses. While some of it is super cheesy, and horse people sit there rolling their eyes and saying “YEAH RIGHT” it is a fairly well written show and features all types of horses, with different behavioral problems that she manages to fix durring the course of a show. I just really like the show. Sadly Netflix only goes up until the 3^rd season…but I have been hounding my parents in Canada to pick up the rest of the seasons on DVD for me. And I just adore the opening credits.

 

Third favorite show is SUPER CHEESY. Like really. Wildfire, was a ABC Family show from a few years back. Which features a girl who is fresh out of juvi. She had worked with a retired racehorse when she was locked up and they have a special bond. She gets released from jail, and starts working at a thoroughbred farm. Wildfire, the horse she bonded with gets sent to an auction, and then the girl goes and steals him. Longstory short the horse ends up at the thoroughbred farm and wouldn’t you know it, is an amazing racehorse even though he once sucked at it. It’s just a show that you can watch lots of pretty horses and have fun saying “yeah right”. My favorite part was when Wildfire was having trouble on the track so they put him into Dressage training to help him out…. Ummm what? I often like charcters best in the first episode. This is very true for this show. They got cheesier as the episodes went on.

Day 19- A discipline you would like to do that you’ve never done before

Day 19- A discipline you would like to do that you’ve never done before

A discipline I would like to do that I’ve never done before…hmmm I think Cowboy Mounted Shooting is something I’d like to try! I’ve watched it and it looks awesome. Basically you get dressed up in old timey clothes and shoot balloon targets while riding your horse. sounds pretty amazing to me. Yellow would have been a champ because he was absolutely not gun shy. The guy who used to own him, loved fireworks. Like the big, expensive, loud kind. So he would shoot them off year round and naturally the horses just got used to the unexpected loud bangs round the clock. Before we took the horses out to Montana to Elk hunting my friend wanted to make sure the horses would be okay with gun shots so we rode out to an old abandoned farmstead, we hopped off and she handed me her reins and then I prepared myself to have both of my arms ripped out of the sockets as the horses bolted away. She fired and the horses didn’t even look up from grazing. So basically if you want to train your horse to not be gun shy….fireworks. A lot of them. All the time.

 Another discipline that I’d like to try…just for fun is barrel racing. I am too old to start competing with these girls who have been chasing cans since they were fetuses. And my experience with barrel racers in this area are that they are COMPLETE B rhymes with itches. In fact, a lot of horse people in this area that are big time into their events are really not very nice. So sad really. Why can’t we all just be nice to each other? Same goes for people that are hardcore Quarter horse/Appy/Paint people. When I would tell them I had an OTTB, they would roll their eyes at me and tell me what a monster they are and how you couldn’t pay them enough to ride one. Why can’t we all just get along lol

Day 18- Your grooming routine

Day 18- Your grooming routine

Grooming for me goes a little something like this.

1.Get to the barn, and grumble about how much I hate grooming.

2. locate my brushes that have somehow managed to walk away and land in different areas

3. catch horse and bring him to the barn

4. dig through grooming kit, for a curry, and realize that the one I wanted was still in fact missing.

5. lead horse around the barn to find curry laying on a fence post in the middle of the yard

6. bring horse back to barn start furiously currying

7. grab brush and flick dirt and loose hair off

8. look at horses legs and thank the stars that we no longer board at the muddiest place on earth.

9. check all for feet, and again thank the stars for them not getting mud caked in their feet.

10. quickly run a brush through the mane and or tail

11. give the horse a quick once over and realize they still look like a hag, but the important parts are done and I should be able to ride.

12. tack up.

 

 

 

 

Day 17- Your equestrian idol

Day 17- Your equestrian idol

I don’t really have one, because I don’t really follow too many big names. But when I was younger I thought Ian Miller was the best thing ever. He was riding Big Ben and I was obsessed with him.

 

Cold.

No one gets to complain about how cold it is where they live to me...because I will offer no sympathy :-) he he he!


This weekend it's going to be colder too...yippie! -27 on Sunday!

Day 16- Your most recent fall

Day 16- Your most recent fall

Wow, I can’t even remember, which means I am probably due for one soon!! The last one I can remember was off of the horse I was leasing. A little red quarter horse mare with plenty of attitude. I was using the fence to try and hop on bareback when I didn’t quite get all the way on, when she walked away…Landed in the dirt and layed there laughing. That was probably 11 years ago…I’ve been lucky…

Day 15- If you could speak to any horse, dead or alive, what would you say?

Day 15- If you could speak to any horse, dead or alive, what would you say?

I would talk to Piney. And I would tell him this.

I am so sorry buddy. I wish I could have saved you. If the vet would have told me to walk you all night I would have, but he told me that he thought you’d be okay if I just put you back in the pasture. I would have gladly stayed up all night and kept you moving if I knew that it would have kept you here with me. I miss you every single day. I was in the barn the other night when I saw your halter hanging on your stall name plate for a split second I thought to myself that I still need to order a brass name tag for it, but then reality set in and I realized that you were still gone. I sometimes go out to the pasture, and sit out on the edge of the lean, I often stare off to where I found you that morning, it still hurts my heart. It is still really strange to go out to the pasture and not have your nose in my face.

Pistol has been such a good boy, and I know you didn’t like him much, but he reminds me of you. I often wonder if you come and visit me through him. He even kind of looks like you. I still wonder if you waited to leave me until you knew that he would be here to take care of me. I miss you all the time, but to be completely honest buddy, he is a lot more fun to ride sometimes. It’s nice to ride a horse that is going somewhere instead of your pokey, lazy, death march. I’m still not as comfortable with him as I was with you. But I feel that you are along with us when I go for rides on him.

You showed me how awesome Thoroughbreds can be. In fact i think you showed a lot of people how awesome your breed is. You were a confidence booster for scared and timid riders and the world needs more horses like you. Everyone loved you. In fact my friend's little boy who met you this spring still talks about you, you left a big, lasting impression on him. I plan on going back to the Dr. B's ranch where you found me. Do you remember that day? You wanted me to pay attention to you so bad, but I kept brushing you off so I could go and look at the grey horses. But when they turned out to be mean old nags i  turned back and saw you and how sad you looked. My mind pictured us all cleand up and in the show ring and how classic we could look together. You were as sweet that day I met you as you were the rest of your life. I'm so glad that I had you my life. I am glad that you gently introduced me to how fantastic OTTBs are. I hope that you can send some sort of message from the spirt world to the next OTTB that finds me to be as good of a boy as you were. But please don't let them know that trailering is as terrifying as you thought it was...I'd like a horse I can actually bring places...

I hope that you have found Yellow up across the rainbow bridge. He was a lot like you and I can’t wait to find you again someday. Keep on being a good boy, and I will see you again someday, I can’t wait to kiss that nose of yours.

Cocktail or racehorse?

Found a fun little quiz that I thought I might do better at than I actually did... ;-)

Cocktail Name Or Racehorse?

Day 14- Your dream barn/farm

Day 14- Your dream barn/farm

I love where I live. North Dakota is awesome! I mean if you aren't from here you probably wouldn't think so. But I like it.

But if I were to win the lottery tomorrow and I had millions and millions of dollars to spend at my leisure I would buy a house in Middleburg Virginia. I think it is a really beautiful place...I've never been of course, but it looks beautiful in pictures.


I will list a few of  my dream farms just because I can.

35487 Snake Hill Road LOVE the classic house and that it comes with numerous barns...

18771 Haps Lane I'd buy this one to house all of my retired racehorses...

497 Lockes Mill Road this one is just adorable...and the barn with flowerboxes, too much!!




Is it bad that when looking at these listings and when I was house hunting in real life, I often skipped right over the house pictures and went straight for the barn pictures? I often got dissapointed when there were no barn interior pictures...

Day 13- Most Embarrassing moment

Day 13- Most Embarrassing moment

I’d have to say that my three most embarrassing moment are tied, and happened on the same day. I was out west riding a beautiful paint horse from my friends barn. He was mostly white, and the previous time I had ridden him he was perfectly groomed and shiny and white. This time when I arrived at the barn, some people had played a prank on his owner, who was very anal about keeping him clean, and drawn all over him in colored markers. He had tic-tac-toe marks on his butt, suns and stars, handprints, Michelin walking horse written across his rear, and some big circles around his eyes. It wasn’t so bad when we were riding out in the open, but we had spent a majority of the afternoon riding at Fort Abraham Lincoln Park, which has General Custar’s home. I had more than one person question me as to why my horse was used as a coloring book. The glare I got from some Native American’s really made me want to climb into a hole and die. I wish I could have told them, that I had nothing to do with it, and that it was done as a joke, not to be disrespectful in anyway.

That same day we had stopped over at another area to have some lunch. I was sitting on a picnic table holding my horses reins when a group of little girls and their mother came up and asked me if they could pet my horse, I of course said yes, when I looked over at my horse he was…well, he was relaxed, and letting it all hang out. Completely embarrassed I poked my fingers into his ribs and apologized, the mother giggled and turned bright red.

And finally the last embarrassing thing was after we had finished out little picnic lunch we decided to explore the park some more we thought it would be fun to ride up the big rock stairs (it was) but my horse for whatever reason had diarrhea ALL the way up the stairs…when I noticed what happened I kicked him into high gear and we got the h out of there. My friend had no idea what was going on until I told her a few miles down the trail. I still giggle thinking about that.

 

Day 12- Favorite horse color

Day 12- Favorite horse color

Grey. I LOVE dappled grey horses. Here is to hoping that my next horse will be grey but in all reality, I will probably pick out another red horse!

Day 11- Find a horse for sale online that you would want to buy

Day 11- Find a horse for sale online that you would want to buy

If I was to go and buy one, for whatever reason this guy keeps jumping out to me. I think I posted him here before. I don’t know what it is about him, but I just love him.

 

 

I finally did it.

Last night I finally did it. I opened the bottom drawer of the cabinet in the front hall way. I pulled out a box that I had carefully stashed away and I opened it up.

This is the cast of Piney's foot that the vet techs made me. I made sure that they got his bad foot, the one that flared out and was always a pain in the ass to deal with.
I then went back and pulled out the little white bag, and sobbed when the smell hit me.

His forlock and tail. I forgot how red his forelock was and how scraggily his tail had been since I'd moved him to pasture 24/7.

I cried for a while as I held these things in my hands. I miss him.
I am trying to think of the good memories, but it hurts because we can't have more, so I jokingly thought that maybe I should think of the bad things, like when he kicked my leg, or when he smashed my head into the trailer, or how much money he cost me! But all of those things led to happy memories. After he kicked me I stood outside his stall with my fingers hanging inside his stall, and he started nuzzling them as if to say 'sorry'. I rode him a few minutes later and it was like he was still apologizing because he realzied that the ground poles in the arena were not infact snakes and were quite fun. It ended up being one of our best rides at the time.
He was my heart horse but he taught me as much as he could. When there was nothing else to teach me it was his time to leave. I am trying to realize that. He was a great intro into Thoroughbred ownership and he got me addicted to the breed. I saw the kind of heart and personality they can have. The fact that they love work, and they love their person. They can dominate in the show ring, and kick butt on the trail. They have a history and have seen things that most people never will and are decended from great legends. Thank you Piney for making me realize how awesome Thoroughbreds are. I can't wait to be found by another like you and have him teach me more valuable lessons.

Day 10- How your family/friends feel about your riding

Day 10- How your family/friends feel about your riding

I didn’t come from a horsey family. My mom did some riding when she was a camp counselor and my dad had a very naughty pony when he was a little boy, upon hearing his stories of that naughty beast I can understand why he never rode again. They always did what they could to get me some time in the saddle. I guess when I was really little I was freaking out because there were some big draft horses in a pen by the side of the road, so my mom pulled over so I could go and pet them. If there was a dude ranch nearby they would let me go on a trail ride. But living in my small northern Manitoba town, there was just nowhere where I could take lessons. I could take dog sled lessons no problem, but horses were far and few in between.

I think that they always kind of thought that I would grow out of my horsey stage. When I had Yellow I think they thought of him as a financial burden on me and more than once suggested that I sell him. It wasn’t until he died, and they saw the impact it had on me that they saw how important horses were to me. I noticed that I am more regularly getting horse gifts from my mom. This year we got a few couple cute signs for me to hang in the barn, last year I got a headstall, and the year before I got a winter blanket for Piney.

My husband is a horse person, and came from horse people. His mother’s family bred and showed Arabians and they always had horses and ponies. So he’d always had a horse to ride and drive. He likes riding and when I met him, he had a horse. That was a big selling point for me ;-) We enjoy going on rides together, and playing with the horses.

I don’t really have many horsey friends outside of the blogger world. I think that a lot of my friends viewed horses as a burden on me as well. When I was working at the barn I always had to skip out of dinners and often movies because I had to go feed the horses. But they understood that horses were a big part of me. I did have a few riding buddies along the way, but they moved away or we drifted apart. It’s just a part of life and growing up.

Day 09- Any injuries that occurred from riding

Day 09- Any injuries that occurred from riding

I am lucky, and a big chicken. So I don’t have many injuries. The only one I can think of is when I hit the dirt during my first riding lesson ever. I banged up my elbow pretty bad. I went to the doctor the day after it happened and luckily nothing was broken, but they said it was pretty badly bruised. To this day I notice that if I am shopping and carrying a basket in that arm, it will get sore and tired a lot quicker than my other arm. I also learned that if you get hurt in a foreign country like Sweden, it’s a pain in the ass to get through all the red tape to get a doctor to see you if you don’t have a number issued to you from the government.

So other than that it’s mostly been bumps and bruises but nothing serious. The thing about riding is it’s not if you get hurt, it’s when and how bad. Every time I climb up into the saddle I understand that something could happen to me. Even if I pick the safe horse.

Day 08- A little about the barn/stable you ride at

Day 08- A little about the barn/stable you ride at

I am one of the lucky ones who keeps their horses boarded at home. I get to look out my back windows and see my horses and for that I am so very, very thankful.

Details of my barn. It is a crappy old white barn, not much character to it. Probably built in the 1920’s or 1930’s its original purpose was a dairy barn. The sanctions were on the north side and have since been removed. On the south side the previous owner of the farm had installed three stalls which are currently not used as stalls. One is my feed room, one is my tack room, and the last one has a cat house that the cats refuse to sleep in. The barn has a hay loft and a lean. The barn needs a new roof, and the lean is missing half of the roof, but still offers the horses some protection to get out of the elements. The loft has been inhabited by pigeons that we have evicted more than once. THEY KEEP GETTING BACK IN!! The floor of the loft needs to be replaced as well, and is currently covered in pigeon crap. I’ve only ever been up there once. I don’t trust the floor.  The barn could really use a good coat of paint, but to be honest, it looks fantastic as a photography backdrop!

The barn is patrolled by three, big, fat, grey cats. They leave offerings if dead mice for me on a weekly basis to let me know they are in fact working to earn their keep. The barn is also doubling as storage for all kinds of things, the Harley is living in the barn this winter since our garage doesn’t have a cement floor. We also have a ton of building supplies stored in there. We went to a lumber auction last spring and bought some big fancy doors for when we get my real tack room built. Let’s just say the doors in the barn will be nicer than the doors in my house. A tack ho needs a fancy tack room am-I-right?!

My pasture is 3 acres, we have room to expand the pasture and hope to do that this summer when time allows. It has an automatic Richie waterer that THANKFULL worked when we bought the place. It’s really nice having a heated water supply for the horses, and not having to fuss with frozen hoses or hauling water out. I also have a smaller paddock up by the house with a tiny little lean, perfect sized for a pony. I also hope to have my riding arena installed this summer. It won’t be anything big or fancy, but I just want something where I feel like I am in a controlled environment. Call me crazy, but I prefer riding in an arena to riding the trails..

In the center of our yard is a big old grain bin which now serves the purpose of storing supplies. I have my jumps in there and we often store our square bales when we get them.

My barn isn’t as big or fancy as some of the places I’ve ridden at. In fact it needs a ton of work, but my horses are happy and my tack is kept dry. I get to look outside and see them every time I look out the window and that is all that really matters.

vote for me! (if you want to...)

Please take a few moments to visit the SC Equine facebook page and vote for a few of my pictures. They will be featured in their 2013 calendar.

you can vote  HERE

These are the pictures that I entered. They were of the Coneman last winter when he was covered in snow.

 

SC Equine also makes bracelets out of horse hair and I'm probably going to have them make me one
:-)

Day 07- Your favorite ribbon won at a show and why

Day 07- Your favorite ribbon won at a show and why

My favorite ribbon…hmm well I can’t pick it out which ribbon it is exactly, because I never wrote on the back of it. But my favorite ribbon was when Piney got reserve high point champion at our last show. I remember being blown out of the water when it was announced. Especially since at his first show he was consistent in his placing last.

I was so darn proud of him and remember being excited to start hauling him to some bigger shows. But obviously that will never happen. I just keep the good memories stashed up in my brain and think of him when I look at my box of ribbons I won.

All the tack and riding clothes you have (brand/color/other details)

Day 06- All the tack and riding clothes you have (brand/color/other details)

Well I am not going to list ALL the tack and riding clothes I have because lets face it…I’m a tack ho..fo sho. To be honest, I don’t really know of all the tack I own! Going into my barn is like a magical surpise some days where I exclaim “HEY! I din’t know I had one of these!!”

But lets get the main stuff taken care of.

Saddles – we have a bunch. Like more than we will need. But I can outfit just about anyone in a saddle to fit them comfortably. I think we have 8 saddles and one bareback pad…

15.5 inch Circle Y Park and trail saddle. Worked my ASS off to get this saddle, it was a gift from my old boss who told me I needed a real saddle and that my English saddle wasn’t a ‘real’ saddle.

18 inch (?) Aussie saddle without a horn. I bought this for $40, it’s in really great shape, but the truth is, I don’t know anything about Aussie saddles. So I haven’t tried it out…yet.

18 inch Wintec Pro Dressage with adjustable gullets and cAir. This is by far my favorite saddle. It’s SUPER comfortable, and when I get myself the gullet set I can adjust it to any horse. I LOVE the equisuede because when you wear full seated breeches you are basically glued into the saddle. Also it’s a time saver since it is such a low maintenance saddle, hose it off and you are good to go!

18 inch English AP saddle. This saddle was hubby’s mom’s saddle when she showed horses in the 60’s-70’s. It’s been stored in a basement all those years and is in wonderful shape. I need to go a bit more investigation on it, but I am thinking I will try it out on Pistol when the weather warms up.

Hubby has a 16 inch wade tree roping saddle. He loves it, but it’s too bulky for me. He really likes it.

We have two other 16 inch western trail saddles. One is brand new never been used, still has the tags on it and the other is an older used saddle. My father in law went to a tack auction last winter and totally helped my tack addiction by surprising us with a TON of new tack and saddles.

Hubby also has a western saddle that is out on loan to his cousin. It’s just a basic western saddle.

 Bridles

Weaver Blingy headstall and reins. These were also a “bonus” from my old boss for working long hours for little to no money. Its when they first started putting rhinestones on everything. Yeah, I’m one of those people. The bigger the bling on my western tack…the better!! I don’t show, and rarely ride in public so it’s totally fine. ;-)

This is my bridle here. I LOVE it. like seriously LOVE. The leather is buttery soft. I got it second hand from my old riding instructor/bo. It is a cob sized and was too small for her horse, and it fit Coneman like a glove. It makes me sad that I will probably have to replace it if I use it on a horse with a normal sized head. Pistol has a gigantic head so this will probably be a no go.

Duke’s bridle is one I absolutely love. It’s got Cross chonchos on it. I just think it looks beautiful. He is looking for some new reins, because Duke busted through the nice circle y ones he was using by stepping on them. I hate to say I warned them…

Pistol, well we weren’t sure what to do with Pistol when we got him so we didn’t want to spend a ton of money on his tack. We bought him the plainest, leather bridle that my hubby’s work sold. So he has just a plain boring head stall with braided.

BITS

I rode Piney in a Myler Comfort snaffle, love it, I switched Pistol to it. I’m not loving him in it yet, but I think more time and I will.

Duke rides in a curb. I tried him in a snaffle once, and it wasn’t pretty. Maybe I will try again
I have a huge box filled with other bits that I’ve never used, but end up with. Snaffles, tom thumbs, curbs, a Myler Dr. Bristol, driving bits and other various bits that I will never use on a horse. They ended up at my place and sometimes I like to look and them and think…OUCH! Might make a craft/art piece with some of them.

Saddle Pads.

Well I once said I had 47…let’s see if I can list an actual number

Black riders international a/p pad

Navy blue riders international  a/p pad

Maroon dover a/p

White pad with "horses" ribbon trim

Millers Roma Air Flow saddle pad in white

Dura-Tech EZ View Pad (missing the number pockets)

Medallion superquilt saddle pad byToklat 

Tuscany a/p pad from Equine Couture (resembles a coach bag)

Square dressage pad with pink piping and pink and green argyle patern from Equine Couture.

Circut White square Sheepskin dressagepad (this is my FAV!) from Dover

Shedrow White swallowtail dressage (this one looks super classy)

Dressage pad  "Ravielle" by fashionhorse.com

Tipperary half pad

Grand Prix sheepskin half pad

and now on to...

Western blankets/pads (I don't really know the name brand of most of my western saddle pads, be ready for aweful descriptions)

Impact Gel saddle pad (awesome)

Weaver Getta grip saddle pad

Pink wool saddle blanket

pink and black thick saddle pad (with fleece)

red, black and white thick saddle pad (with fleece) (brand new in package)

red and black thick saddle pad (with fleece) (brand new in package)

Retro red, black and white show blanket with yarn "fringe"

Retro blue, white and black show blanket with yarn "fringe"

American flag patterned saddle pad (fleece)

And I think that is it..so see I DON'T have 47 blankets and pads!! but I have enough to realize I have a problem

 

Misc

3 pairs of white Professionals Choice SMB 200's

black no name smb boots

black Davis splint boots

red Davis bell boots

White Professional's Choice no turn bell boots

Equigel Cushion Gel Pad in Black

Sheets/blankets

15 (in various sizes and colors) vintage stable sheets.

2 1200 D Winter Turn out blankets in Navy Blue

Glover lightweight turn out size 78-80 (aka too small for my fat horses)  in hunter green

Glover nylon sheet also too small for my monster horses)

Tuscany Equine Couture sheet (too small for my horses...I think I need smaller horses)

Schneider's Adjusta-Fit Sheet in Green

 

In additon to this I have an entire barn FULL of tack and other various peices of equipment. I have just about everything ever invented for a horse! I have antique horse tack and driving equipment as well as modern equipment. I am adicted...