Closet Cleanout.

I confess that I enjoy organization, (See Garage Makeover, Tack Locker Makeover, and Tack Trunk Organizational Theory as proof of how this extends to horsey life), but I am also one of those people that once stuff starts to get messy, cluttered or disorganized I lose all motivation to keep things tidy and it all turns into a big pile of tangled crap in a heartbeat.

The backseat of my car, my shoe closet and (sadly) my pantry are all perfect evidence of this, though I thankfully lack the photographic evidence to back it up.

The mayhem and disorganization only goes so far though, and eventually I hit my threshold for piles of unorganized things. 

This has happened.

Fortunately or unfortunately it has happened at the same time for all disorganized things.  Earlier this week I ransacked my pantry, threw out weird/old/gross canned things, recycled the inexplicable pile of grocery and shopping bags that slowly takes over all the shelves and then neatly stacked all things in an appropriate place so that rice noodles no longer share a shelf with pistachios.

My closet is the real terror, so I won't bore you with those details, but that leaves horsey land which also needs a thorough spring/fall clean out and tidying.  I am a bit of a pack rat, but full recognize that since I only use maybe, 10% of my horsey stuff at any given time, I need to look long and hard at how many extra saddle pads are worth holding on to, and whether or not I can pare down my collection of boots/bits/whatever. 

What it looks like when not overflowing with dirty blankets/pads/etc

I need to start with my lockers and take out the redundant items there first (I don't need to keep 4 sets of polos at the barn all the time...) and then if something can't be stored neatly/easily at home in the garage corner - away it goes.

So I am making my declaration.  The things will be cleaned. 

If anything is still perfectly serviceable but not needed for my girls, I'll get it up on here in case it's someone else's treasure, but the purge must start...

Tack Ho Bat Signal

(For the record I remembered making this graphic, but couldn't find it on my blog or in my archives so I was thrilled when googling "tack ho bat signal" took me straight to an old post from 2012. God Bless the Interwebz).

ba-na-na-na-na-na-na-na TACK HO!

Anyyyyyyway.... I know most folks have seen Sprinkler Bandit's fun Dream Horse contest, so I probably don't need to do a full spiel for most of you. 



If you blog under a rock and don't know SB, well then, link to her site and check it out.



Moving on.  OMG CUSTOM COLORED THINGS I CAN ORDER. 



I'm still on the fence with patent leather taking over the world (bridles, field boots, girths(serious question mark), etc).  But I do have to admit that the Calypso Collection makes my heart pitter patter. 



I have (obviously) been hypothetically shopping for hypothetical boots we can rock in the rated Equitation ring, for the hypothetical day we are actually in the rated Equitation ring...  I love the traditional look of beautiful leather boots with beautiful natural fleece, but am put off by a few things.



1) Real fleece = pain in the ass to keep up. Especially when caked in sand and sweat.



2) Real leather = pain in the ass to keep up.  Especially when caked in sand and sweat.



3) Light Colored fleece looks stupid on Prair's legs.  Looks sloppy and all wrong.



4) Why these boots all cost more than my bridle, girth and martingale combined - I do not know.




So, I have continued my hypothetical search.  My Tack Ho Heart sort of thinks that Patent might be the "slightly different" look I've been searching for without totally defying the Hunter World Style Gods and getting dismissed from a class for a taboo outfit....



Also, I like the idea of easy to clean Patent, especially in our soggy, gross environment up here.



But, I'm still at odds with my "why is all the patent on all the things" self.  Not sure I'm 100% sold for the show ring.


However, a fun set of the Calypso's for schooling? Yes please. I think I'd go for Dark Brown patent, with lime green lining and stitching for funsies. 



I'll continue thinking about whether or not Dark Brown patent (with fancy stitching, duh) with a conservative black leather lining would work for the Eq ring.  I hate wearing the exact same thing as everyone else, but it's hard to have a unique style without looking like an overdressed or out of place goober.



Such a fine line...

Gus Lameness Check In

Yesterday was glorious here.  Blazing blue skies, crisp leaves swirling around, pumpkin spice lattes, etc etc..

So, even though it's the quiet day at the barn and Prair's day off, I opted to tootle out to the barn and take Gus for a spin and see how he's feeling.  Truth be told I haven't been on him in... a couple months? I've lunged and jogged him what feels like endlessly, but it seemed time for an actual ride.

So we tacked up (complete in dusty pink polos) and went for a ride.

and he was lame.

Really. Really. Lame.

S mentioned he seems to work out of it (a bit), so we left the arena and opted to go hacking around the property and say hi to everyone in their pastures and just enjoy the sunshine.

Fuzzy Gus ear and Fall foliage.

He was perky and pleasant (as always), but felt really short on his right front, and a bit more stumbly than I remember him ever being.  We probably meandered around for about 20 minutes before I noticed that his stride was starting to even out - especially on firmer ground.  He still seemed a bit labored on deep/soft footing. 

Eventually we wandered back to the outdoor so I could at least get a little trot/canter in to see how things felt.

His trot felt absolutely awful.  Where he's usually been very soft in the bridle, he was braced and sort of lurched around the turns.  His canter felt much better, but his downward transitions (usually prompt and appreciated) felt awkward and stiff.

Now, I know this is likely due to him using that RF differently, but it's also possible that he is out of shape and unschooled.  Just to see how responsive he was I asked for a couple leg yields and a few flying changes.  All were duller and less willing that previous.  Whether it's because he can't use himself, or because he is in defensive and obstinate school horse mode, I don't know.  Probably both.

All in all we were probably only in the arena for 8 minutes, so it wasn't a long workout, just a varied one to see where things stood...

So, he's down to one lesson a week and I'm hoping to at least hop on and move things around for 10 minutes a few times a week to see if more regular/correct work improves things, or makes them worse. 

The good news is that his RF wasn't sore at all to palpation.  He is also due for a trim (Wednesday) and some bodywork (also Wednesday).  I'll see if either of those folks notice any big changes with him...

Gus says lame ponies deserve treats too!

He is just the happiest, easiest, most pleasant pony to be around.  Plus he's cute as a friggin button. I really enjoyed my walk in the sunshine with him yesterday. 

Whirlwind! (and foggy morning lessons)

The last 10 days have sort of evaporated into the fog that we've been blanketed in up here in the soggy corner of the world.  My brother had a beautiful wedding on Saturday which meant that towards the end of the week the ponies got the short end of the stick and my time was spent with family and friends and dress alterations and a really epic, really challenging hunt for the perfect shoe. :)

That's not to say that the mare had much time off.  We had two great lessons, the first working through some grids focusing on her, and the second with more grid work but focusing on me (ugh).

foggy morning playtime.

The focus for the lesson with Prair was getting her to stay relaxed through a pretty long cavaletti set (maybe 7 or 8?) first at the trot, and then at the canter (something that would have caused her brain to implode a year ago).  She was a rock star and all I had to do was sit like a neutral lump and not get in the way.

The focus for the lesson with me was to sharpen up my Eq and get a bit better and helping finesse her over the fences without looking like I was working hard or frustrated.  One thing that I've noticed when I watch S ride Prair at a show is that she does such an amazing job of making it look like a quiet, easy ride when she's still pretty actively arguing with the mare about a few key elements (leads, not galloping, etc). 

So, my "grid" was four fences, all two strides apart working from about 2'6" up to about 3'6" at the end. 

Primarily, one of my biggest issues is keeping my body quiet (and tall) and not "helping" Prair along by jackknifing myself over the fences (especially bigger ones) and ducking like a crazy person.

The grid was nice since it made me shut off the very large/loud part of my brain that is constantly nit-picking my distances.  That left lots of bandwidth for me to just think "tall, tall, tall, still, still, still."  When I finally stopped yo-yoing around in the tack a bit, S let me work on trying to shape the mare, and "ride" a bit more - so long as I didn't sacrifice a quiet upper body.

Here's a quick clip.  I think this was toward the end of the lesson? I don't remember.  I do remember that the fog was thick enough when we started that I couldn't see the last fence in the line as I went in. 

I guess that's one way to not overly anticipate a fence....