July 2014 – Page 2

TBT: my love affair with stallions

Published on July 24, 2014 by Amanda C23 Comments

I rode my first stallion at the age of 14 (what better mount than a 3yo stallion for a lesson kid?) and have been around them off and on my whole life. Some better than others, but for the most part I’ve always gotten along well with the boys. I worked at a breeding farm and have always been really interested in the breeding industry so along the way I’ve been truly fortunate to get the chance to handle/sit on/meet some of the nicest stallions in the country.

Valentino Z – forever my favorite boy

**Me taking Valentino for a spin in GA a couple years ago**

Valentino in his "real life" as a Grand Prix jumper — **Valentino in his “real life” as a Grand Prix jumper**

Kinnaras

Kinny in his "real life" as a Grand Prix dressage horse — **Kinny in his “real life” as a Grand Prix dressage horse**

Cielo B

Cartier R

Diabolo D’Esquelmes

**me on DD when he was but a wee (giant) 3yo**

Obviously I’m not the rider on these boys in their “grown up” pictures. 😉 This is just a handful of the boys I’ve been lucky enough to meet and work with over the years. Sonntagskind is a total lamb, as is Sea Accounts, and I completely fell in love with Cascani and Justice at October Hill. Shine probably has one of the best dispositions I’ve ever seen on a horse, and while I obsessively stalked As Always for years I have no idea where he is now. Figaro B, Concorde B, Deja Blue B – all stunning. I would have gladly put Baron Van Gogh in my pocket and taken him home from the stallion testing in 2009. And so on and so on… there’s so many nice stallions and I’m obviously a sucker for the boys. Don’t tell all the others but no one will ever take the place of my favorite squishable, Valentino.

Who is your favorite stallion?

Decisions are hard y’all (and help?)

Published on July 23, 2014July 23, 2014 by Amanda C25 Comments

Well I finally decided last week that the Micklem just isn’t the answer for Henry. He was a little bit better in it in some ways but worse in it in other ways, so I just couldn’t pull the trigger on buying him one. I decided to go with the figure 8 instead. After tearing up the internet for two days trying to find a figure 8 noseband that would go on my monocrown bridle and still kinda match but not be super expensive I totally gave up. Then I decided to go look at everything the local tack shop and Dover had in the store… grand total of 6 options (why you no has jumper bridles?), none of which were both the price and quality that I wanted. So again I gave up and just came home and ordered an Ovation bridle online. I’ve had a few of that brand already and I think for $135 (yay internet deals) with rubber reins they just can’t be beat. Therefore Henry does have a new bridle on route, just not a Micklem. Maybe someday we’ll upgrade to a really fancy figure 8 bridle but for now this one will do perfectly.

what it looks like with oil/use — **what they look like with oil/use**

I have nothing particularly exciting to report on the riding front right now. Monday we just flatted in the ring and then went out on a long trail ride around the property with a barn friend. Yesterday we flatted for a bit then I jumped a few fences on a circle, trying to both remember and execute all the things I need to work on. Sometimes I even succeeded. Henry was pretty sweaty after that (god it’s hot) so again we went on a walk around the property. When I came in to untack him there was no one else in the barn so I just pulled everything off him then slipped around the corner into the tack room to grab cookies and fly spray. I turned back around to this:

"I sees you in the cookie room!" — **“I sees you in the cookie room!”**

Also, remember how on Monday I talked about those awesome Peruvian made Jenny Krauss belts I saw at the horse show? Remember how I patted myself on the back for not buying one? Yeah… about that…

So I started googling/ebaying and found out that there are a few sellers out there from Peru selling them around or under $30ish bucks. $30ish bucks is a lot different than $65 bucks. I mean, I could get TWO! (See how my logic works?)

Unfortunately since I just bought I bridle (and may or may not have fairly immediate plans for a new Ogilvy cover- shhhh) I’m trying out this weird thing called self control and only allowing myself to buy ONE. The problem is I like lots of them, so I figured I’d get y’alls opinion. I narrowed it down to three finalists:

#1 Navy background with mostly pink and blue. — **#1 navy background with mostly pink and blue.**

White background with softer more muted tones — **#2 – white background with softer more muted tones**

#3 - pink and blue and yellow, not flowery. Love the pattern. — **#3 – pink and blue and yellow, not flowery. Love the swirl pattern.**

weekend update: crashes, babies and pictures

Published on July 21, 2014July 21, 2014 by Amanda C18 Comments

I’m going all the way back to Thursday night here, so I guess you could call this the extended edition of Weekend Update. I’m also starting with something non-horsey but bear with me fellow equine-obsessed friends, it gets better.

Thursday night was our weekly pre-season cyclocross practice. This week the focus was cornering, which actually went really well and was fun. After doing several exercises we went off on a lap around the park as a group. It was going really well until we got to a curb, which my dumb ass decided to try to hop at a 45 degree angle approach. It was also raining a bit so the pavement was wet. Guess where I ended up? I got a lovely half pavement/half grass/all curb close up view of the ground and managed to scrape up my front tire bad enough to put a hole in it (womp womp). No blood though, so it was only a 99% fail.

Try not to be jealous of my Sriracha socks — Try not to be jealous of my sweet Sriracha socks

Thursday night it rained and stormed like crazy… areas around Austin officially recorded anywhere from 2.5 to 7″ of rain and there was a hardcore lightning storm for over 2 hours. I know this because I sat awake with the dogs from 1am til almost 4am, because the thunder was so loud it shook the whole house. None of us could sleep. I was very glad the grooms opted to leave the horses in that night.

Of course that meant that the barn was totally soaked. We got about 3″ out there so puddles were everywhere. I went out Friday after work to handgraze Henry so he could at least get out of his stall. Saturday morning was much the same. Pony got an unscheduled 3 days off, and I don’t think he really minded.

Saturday afternoon after handgrazing I went out to the local h/j show to spectate a bit. I also, true to form, fell in love with these Jenny Krauss belts. Luckily, not true to form, I resisted the urge to buy one. So pretty though. I do have a birthday coming up, people…

On Sunday it was finally dry enough to ride. I fully expected a wild pony since he hadn’t been turned out or ridden since Wednesday night, but he was actually really fantastic. You’d never know he’d missed a single day. We hacked for a while (the footing was perfect), cantered over the circle of death pole exercise that was set up in the ring, then went for a long walk around the property. He seemed happy to be out of his stall because a couple times I turned to head back toward the barn but he wanted to go somewhere else. We pretty much explored every nook and cranny of the property.

I can't believe how green it is in JULY! — I can’t believe how green it is in JULY! Yay for rain.

Then a few of us went out to help Trainer bring in the the mares/babies from turnout. Wrangling babies is an adorable job. These two are coincidentally both by Mezcalero, the same stallion Sadie was bred to last week.

I also want to thank Kastel for the swag. Love my new shirt (the peach color is AWESOME) and I got my much-coveted hat. It’s always great to see a company that is supportive and appreciative of the blogging community. Now I need a yellow and a navy and a light blue to add to my collection so I have one for every day of the week! Did I mention I have a birthday coming up?

I might be biased, but I think the peach looked pret-ty darn awesome paired with my navy Animo’s, my cornflower Mango Bay belt, and my HARRY POTTER SOCKS! Gryffindor for the win.

Yup, that's a bathroom selfie. — Yup, that’s a bathroom selfie.

I capped off the weekend with a Sunday night work picnic with the SO… and since he works for a bike shop that meant BBQ, the park, and a bunch of really sweet mountain bikes. Totally awesome weekend! Hopefully the good momentum will carry into the work week.

Review: Ogilvy Equestrian jumper half pad

Published on July 18, 2014July 19, 2014 by Amanda C30 Comments

Alright, I’ll admit it. I’m on the bandwagon.

ogilvy

I had a Thinline Trifecta for 4 years before buying the Ogilvy and really liked it. But after that much use the Thinline was starting to die, and since it was time for a new pad I decided to take another look into all my options. I narrowed it down to the Ecogold, the Equifit, and the Ogilvy. I have to admit that at first I really resisted all the Ogilvy hype. The pretty colors are great, but my brain needs to see some kind of “science” to understand how things work, and despite lots of searching and a few inquiries I just couldn’t find any. But a couple of friends (whose opinions almost never steer me wrong) really liked theirs so I figured I’d buy one and if I didn’t like it I’d just sell it and buy another Thinline. So I hemmed and hawed for a few days about color options before deciding on navy pad, navy binding, a row of white and a row of light blue piping, then finally placed an order from The Tack Shop of Austin (act surprised – they get all my money).

I will admit that when I first took it out of the package I thought “OMG this is huge”. I also may or may not have cuddled with it for a little while and used it at as a butt cushion for sitting on the bleachers. When I tacked up I thought “OMG this is REALLY HUGE”. My CWD fits my horse pretty darn well… if anything it’s a teeny smidge tight in the shoulder. So at first I was pretty alarmed, thinking this thing would make the fit a disaster.

I got on and thought “Whoa, it’s like sitting on a giant pillow…” but then I walked around the ring a couple times, letting the memory foam squish and mold, then tightened my girth and by then it felt pretty darn good. Still a little bit “farther away” from the horse’s back than the Thinline I was used to, but I didn’t feel perched above the horse like I do in, say, a Beval pad. After trotting and cantering around for a while I also definitely felt like there was more shock absorption than my Thinline, which is saying a lot because I found the Thinline pretty darn shock absorbing. I have mild scoliosis and am prone to back pain, but my back has been pretty darn happy. I also thought that it quieted down some of the motion from the horse and made the trot a bit easier to sit. Of course, that could conversely mean that the horse doesn’t feel my seat quite as clearly, but for my particular very sensitive horse that’s probably a good thing. Dressage folks or people with less sensitive creatures might find that less desirable than I do.

I personally have not found that it effects my saddle fit negatively. The sweat marks are actually a bit better now and the horse has stayed happy… I think the Ogilvy condenses in the tight spots to be thinner than the Thinline was with it’s thick cotton quilt backing. The pressure seems more evenly distributed all over his back. He was not ever back sore in the Thinline nor has he ever been back sore in the Ogilvy, so I have no basis of comparison there except to say he’s seemed equally happy in both. I have noticed that his walk has gotten a bit more free and loose, but the use of the Ogilvy also coincided with the beginning of our flatwork boot camp, so I can’t definitively say which thing caused the improvement. I also had a slight slippage issue with the Thinline but haven’t had any with the Ogilvy – it stays very solidly in place.

I will say that I see some people on Instagram saying quite often that this pad will make any saddle fit any horse. I definitely don’t buy that – I don’t think any pad will fix a truly poor fitting saddle, this one included. I can absolutely see it improving the fit of a less than ideal saddle, but I just don’t think anything will actually fix a really bad one. So if people are buying this pad, or any pad, thinking that it’s going to make a square peg fit a round hole they are probably going to be sorely disappointed (no pun intended).

There is no doubt that the Ogilvy is very well made – impeccable, really – and washes up very well and easily. I do think that if I were ordering again I wouldn’t opt for such light colored piping… it gets dirty too quickly and my OCD can’t take it. The foam inserts are high quality and look just as good as the day I bought it, they have not broken down at all. Of course, we’re only 2 months in to our relationship so we’ll see how it holds up over time. I wish the covers weren’t so expensive, otherwise I’d order a couple of spares and just rotate them.

ogilvy4

All in all I’ve been happy with my Ogilvy purchase and so has my horse. It works well for our needs. I would encourage anyone who is half pad shopping to give Ogilvy a look and see if they might work for them too. I was a skeptic but now I’m a convert.

Pros:

-very well made
-easy to wash
-absorbs shock well
-sits under the saddle well, doesn’t slip
-the color options are endless

Cons:

-it’s hard to justify $125 for an extra cover when the whole pad is $200
-no scientific information available to prove how or why it works

TBT: missing my Sadiebug

Published on July 17, 2014July 17, 2014 by Amanda C36 Comments

My mare Sadie is at October Hill right now and was bred to Mezcalero on Tuesday. Fingers crossed for a nice healthy black dot on the ultrasound in a couple weeks! The mare manager said that she is just a doll and loves working with her. Such a little thing, but there’s something about that comment that makes my heart swell with maternal pride… it’s different when you breed one and raise it yourself. Kinda makes me understand how people might feel about 2-legged kids.

Since I’m thinking about Sadie (aka Sadiebug aka Bug) so much today, I thought I’d share some more pictures of her from the past 7 years. Y’all saw some when I introduced her in this post, but obviously I have a ton. Some day I will write a post about the trials and tribulations of breeding and raising your own horse, but that’d be a novel in itself, so for today just enjoy watching our journey in pictures.

June 2006 – she officially exists! Cutest black dot ever.

ultrasound

May 12, 2007 – only a few hours old. She looked like a baby moose.

sadiemoose

Confused+sadie.

Two weeks

17 months. We call this the Hardcore Donkey stage.

17mos3

First time wearing a saddle, coming 2yo

2yr7

At her RPSI inspection, summer of her 2yo year

Sadie2

The great hock infection incident – late summer of her 2yo year

hock1july1

Fall of her 2yo year – trying to eat her older brother Weston

sadierude

Coming 3 – 0ff to Kindergarten! 60 days at Dan Keen Horsemanship.

My first time ever riding her (I know, I know, no helmet. I had no idea he was going to let me ride her when I went to visit after the first 30 days, but I couldn’t resist the chance to sit on her.)