New Rig!!!

So it happened.  I didn't want to jinx it because literally the perfect trailer came along (although it was in Idaho) and I didn't want to jinx the magic before I could get my grubby little hands on it.

It's an '09 Featherlite 2 horse Straight Load.  Its the "big girl" edition so our mares should have absolutely no problem sharing the space with each other.  It doesn't have the "+1" space I was hoping for, but the fact that it was priced at 54% of its original '09 cost more than made up for that.

Oh, did I mention that even though it's an '09 it's brand new and has it's full manufacturer's warranty intact?

SOLD.

So, as we skipped East of the mountains to celebrate a friend's birthday I was more than happy to hitch up and haul the new toy home.  (I also did not mind that the route involved a bit of wine tasting and making use of the new tack room as a wine cellar for a few freshly acquired cases of vino...)

You know you're a horse person, when you find this sexy.

Sadly the haul home involved a mountain pass and a slushy snow shower, so the impeccably detailed and Armorall-ed finish has been reduced to a coating of deicer slime, but it still looks like a happy trailer snugged in among company cars in our yard.   A process that made me happy to have ended up without the +1 space.. and even a few more feet on the trailer would eliminate the option of parking it in my "assigned" parking place.

Just baaaaarrrely fits. :)

Also, I'm happy to report that the Silver-Lite will have a happy new home with D and the ancient pony up north.  So the apprehension of "buying before selling" is also abated.

The trailer's first trip will be to pick up Prairie at the end of the month to move her home and the second trip will be for both mares to go to the Mountain Trail Clinic at the end of April.  Being a total nerd for logistics, I've already put my brain to work trying to figure out all the hauling options for the two mares and two trailers (not unlike the chicken, fox, grain problem of crossing a river).  I ended up making post-it-note-paper-dolls so I could "see" the different options.  This is when the truly ridiculous nature of "where my things are" hit me.  (again.  This realization has hit me before.)

Behold, a map of my mares and trailers:

Legend (because all good maps have legends):

Blue Ribbon = Horse (duh)

Green Suitcase = Trailer (picasa does not have a trailer sticker..)

Yellow Star = Prairie's new home

As you can see, my current spread of ponies and trailers makes for a lot of NPR, a few naps, and some fantastic dance-off short drives to the barn in the near future. 

For the moment I am relishing the totally manure free, dirt free, smell free state of the trailer.  But all the manure/dirt/smells in the world will still be worth loading up the mares and (eventually) bringing them home.

YIPEEE!

In Defense (sorta) of Dover

First of all, thank you for all of the comments.  I love how everyone has such a specific (and strategic) method for shopping for our beasts.  I don't think I know a single horse person who doesn't have their own Order of Operations (remember PEMDAS??) for hunting down acquisitions.

Mine is less sophisticated than it used to be, mostly because I've figured out that eBay stresses me out to no end.  Buying is fine.  But I hate the worry of not being able to return something if it doesn't work, or god forbid the ridiculous stress involved with selling something.  (I know that most humans manage to overcome this, but I... turn into some sort of eBay monster).  So I've slowly ended up in the no-man's-land with eBay.  Small purchases don't seem worth the hassle, and big purchases aren't worth the risk.  I know most people have the coveted Schumacher bridle they scored for $100 or the perfect saddle or something similar, but I've just never had that eBay gold mine.

As for Stateline and Valley Vet and whatnot.  I definitely still use them.  But, I will say that I might be the only one out there who goes to Dover if my local tack store doesn't have what I need.

Is my local tack store spendy? YUP.  (Really spendy).  And is Dover the cheapest? rarely.  (really rarely).

I can think of two primary influences for my current shopping habits:

1) Customer Service.  

It sounds like some of you have had equally rad experiences with Stateline, or someone else - but I have to give Dover credit on this.  Over the years I've had several instances where a $100 splint boot has crapped out, or a blanket started rubbing not after the first try-on (on a clean horse) but after the 3rd wear when said blanket ended up covered in mud.  Every single time Dover has been FANTASTIC about replacing broken items, exchanging muddy blankets or working with me to find a solution, even if that just meant a refund.   This breeds a certain comfort for me - in that I know if something goes wrong my $40 dollar investment (maybe it was $35 elsewhere..) won't go down the drain entirely.

2) I'm in distribution.

Our company STRUGGLES to stay branded as the high customer service, not cheapest place to buy your fire hydrants and lawn sprinklers.  In today's economy I promise you that this is a tough niche to fill.  Most people aren't willing to consistently pay 3% more in margin for slightly more consistent customer service (I think I can admit that when things go smoothly, you don't notice if the service is exceptional - only when the proverbial crap hits the proverbial fan).
My unwavering belief that this is the right decision for our business means I have a soft spot for any other business that I perceive as having similar traits.  Dover could be huge jerks, but they've saved my ass (and pocket book) enough times for me to not cringe (horribly) at the shipping prices.  (oh, and I also empathize with the real cost of freight... and how currently our consumer culture is horrified if we pay more than $4.95 to magically transport 30lbs of stuff 3,000 miles, but that's my own soapbox so I'll avoid it here).

Anyway.  This isn't meant to be an all out defense of Dover and their price gouging, but it is why I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt, and why I was EXTRA PISSED to feel like they were trying to dupe me - a loyal customer with their sale shenanigans.  On a positive note, when I emailed them to "double check" my shipping quote and also ask them to make sure I was getting their best prices, I got a prompt email lowering my shipping price (she shoved everything into a smaller box) and let me know that one of my items was slated to go on clearance in 2 days if I was willing to wait for her to dispatch it then.  That is the sort of response and attention that repaired my lost confidence pretty quickly.

All I know is that regardless of where my package comes from.. as soon as that tracking number lands in my inbox I compulsive click "track my shipment" as though that will speed its delivery to my doorstep.  I'm pretty sure it helps.

****Editor's Note****
I did want to make it clear that I do LOVE SmartPak.  And I've had similar customer service experience with them.  I suppose my current order of first Dover, then SmartPak is due mostly to the fact that I don't have a current auto-ship SP for either mare at the moment... When I do, I have to admit that SP is my first choice. I hope that makes me sound less crazy.  :)

Really, Dover!?

Has anyone else ever noticed how obnoxious Dover is with their sale pricing?  It infuriates me how hard it is to actually pay the lowest price on something they have marked down...

Basically, upon returning home and still on a total "holy shit this horse is awesome and maybe one day I will be able to actually do her justice" high, I decided that if we really are moving her in two weeks then there are a few bits (literally) and pieces to pick up in order to really round out Prairie's arsenal.

So I hit the internet, and all my favorite sites, starting fancy then working my way down to "realistic."  I grabbed a few more brushes, an extra lead rope, new halter, another turnout sheet so we can do laundry without going naked and (most importantly) the magic bit from yesterday's ride (which - for the first time of me discovering "magic new bits" was a $30 model, not a $130 one... win).

But, then (because I'm OCD), I hit the clearance section and also the sale section.  Why these are two separate tabs, I really don't know.

I was thrilled to see a few of my items "on sale".  "Good for me!" I thought, "for the first time in my life I'm naturally picking out the good values."  Of course then I noticed that I "thought" my new halter was $43.something, not $39.99.  Weird.  But I couldn't let it go, so I double checked my shopping cart only to see that the exact same halter (when added from the-not-sale section was still listed at $43).  My lead rope was $18, not the sale price of $11 that was listed on the sale page, and a few other items had discounts that were not extended if you were shopping in the "normal" area of the site.

I immediately removed the regular priced items, replaced them with the sale prices and watched my total bill drop by $80.  For a while I was feeling extra smart and sneaky that I found all the good deals.  Then my glee turned to irritation that Dover makes you work for your savings.  Then my irritation turned to wrath at the thought of previous orders I perhaps hadn't thoroughly double checked in the sale section.

Has anyone else noticed this? Am I late to the party?

BBM Breakthrough

Yesterday I was thrilled to exit my manager meeting, grab a sandwich and shoot over to the BBM's barn.  The fact that we have a new office opening up 12 minutes from that barn is exciting, although I realize that the opportunity of doubling up on reasons to visit will expire in a few weeks...

Anyway.  I'm pretty sure the reason why we had a spectacular ride was because The Boy wasn't there to document it.  Which means the only evidence I have that I actually saw my horse are blurry and dark photos that very well could be the Loch Ness Monster...

Nessie?? is that you?

The other explanation for a fantastic ride might be the fact that J tried out a new bit and it has been a miracle with Miss Prairie.  The real beauty in this discovery is that the miracle lies in a (simple, boring) Eggbutt Mullen mouth.  Easy enough.

Simple.

 Not sure what exactly it is, but the bit (combined with another 30 days of training and fitness) has the Mare sitting up nicely and not hanging on the contact.  She's under herself, happy with a steady rein, but not ripping you out of the tack like a 60lb pony clubber.

J thinks that the bit gives her more stability (which she likes, apparently this mare would prefer to be swaddled at all times if possible), so it has the added bonus of really quieting her brain down too.  She literally doesn't spook as big or as often in it.  PLUS (yes, there's more), it also seemed to make it much easier for me to keep her in my outside rein.

That progression is likely a result of 30 more days of training, but instead of fighting the whole ride to get her even and through in the outside, Prairie was already there.  It was just on me not to screw it up.

So what did we accomplish was our fantastic leg yields on the rail (so much cleaner).  Lots of our figure-eights. 15 meter circles at the trot and canter.  zig-zag leg yields down the quarter line (to the right, super.  to the left.. eeeeeehhh).  And our piece de resistance was working Prairie's walk-canter departs.  At first I was terrified, because our trot-canters aren't exactly polished, but I was thrilled (thrilled!) to discover that we actually have a pretty darn good walk-canter when I ask correctly.  With the lighter contact courtesy of the mullen mouth, she's really easy to scoop up into the canter.  And that makes me feel like I can ride again.

In the end it was a bit bitter sweet.  On one hand I'm even more excited to get the mare home.  But on the other, I'm sad to leave J.  She clearly is working well with Prairie-dog, and I have to give her credit for working with me too.  I enjoy taking  lessons with her and her method of explanation really clicks with my brain.  So that's too bad, but I'll just have to be diligent about returning for tuneups. 

She's the cutest.  I hate pawing, but clearly she's been told not to.  This isn't an action shot.  Prairie actually just holds her foot in the air and desperately wants to paw, but politely refrains.

These photos are awful I know.  I promise I'll get the official photography back soon!