Month: September 2014

This post is part 2 of our weekend show adventure. In yesterday’s part 1 I covered our eventing derby. Originally I had entered both the BN eventing derby and the hunter derby. I really considered the hunter derby my back up plan, in case the eventing derby was a disaster or if I just felt like he needed to get in the ring again. However on Friday a friend of mine from the barn, Kristina, decided along with our trainer that her horse wasn’t quite ready to go to the show. She had only signed up for an Intro dressage test, so I offered to let her ride Henry for it instead if she wanted to. Her horse is kind of tough and I know she has felt frustrated lately. I think most of us can understand how demoralizing tough/green horses can be sometimes, and I figured she deserved to still be able to horse show and have a good time. So she hopped on Henry on Friday evening to see if he would work for her and they seemed to get along just fine. As long as you’re light with your hands and leg he’s a pretty simple horse, and I trusted him to be well behaved enough for her.

So I scratched the hunter derby and we switched her dressage entry over to my horse. About half an hour before her test we tacked him up with her dressage saddle, tossed her on, and off she went. She too opted for a very basic short warm up since space was so limited, and she mainly just walked around with a little bit of trotting until it was time for her test.

I don’t have pictures but I did take video… however not sure if she’d be comfortable with me sharing it here so you get stills instead. They went in and she did a really good job, especially considering she’d only ridden him once before and for about 10 minutes! He was a little bit too keen after the first halt and picked up a canter step, but once she got a couple movements into the test they both seemed to take a deep breath and settle in. They ended up with a 61% which was good enough for 3^rd! She seemed very happy with him and said she had a blast, so I was delighted. I get a lot of joy out of seeing my horse bring someone else a little bit of happiness. I offered to let her take lessons on him sometimes and take him to more dressage shows at Intro and Training level if she wants to. I think he’s a great horse to get her confidence built back up and have a little bit of fun on, to offer some relief from her tougher greener horse. And it’s good for him to be ridden by someone else sometimes anyway.

After we were done and back at the trailer (and Henry’d had about two dozen cookies) some other mutual friends of ours, a husband and wife, came up to chat. In addition to riding, the husband has a real penchant for in-hand work and the little versatility trail course that was set up at the show was too much for him to resist. I handed Henry over and let them go play around over the trail obstacles. By this point Henry was giving me the eye like “What is this, musical pony?” but he gamely went through the weave poles, the tightly stacked hay bales, the cross of poles on the ground, the curtain of garden hoses, the teeter totter, and the pool noodles. This horse is just too much.

By the time he was back at the trailer again Henry was feeling like he was tired of amusing us and ready to go home for his nap, so we settled our bills, grabbed our ribbons, and headed home. He was just such a superstar from start to finish and did every single thing we asked of him, no matter how silly. He might not be super fancy or super athletic or super flashy but this boy is worth his weight in gold. You just can’t beat that brain.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about the thing I bought on Saturday night, and all the other little things I’ve subsequently had to buy because of it…

This will be post 1 of 2 about this show, since there’s a lot to say. Today we’ll cover my part of the show, the eventing derby! (all the pretty, non-grainy, non-cell phone pictures in this post are courtesy of Lauren at She Moved to Texas)

You could say it went really well. This was a lot of firsts for Henry… first time going to a show by himself, first time showing him without a trainer present, first time showing out of the trailer, first time showing over jumps he hadn’t schooled over first, first time in a dressage ring, etc. Shoot, we’ve had ONE dressage lesson ever and ONE cross country school ever. I was a little nervous about how it’d go since I was asking a lot of him all at once. I slept very little on Friday night, going over everything in my head.

When we got there and started getting him ready I was a little concerned someone was going to think we’d drugged him. He was chewing his hay with his eyes closed while other horses lunged nearby. I had to jump up and down and wave my arms at him to get this picture.

I got on for dressage (my division went first and I was second in the order) and immediately knew that I had a little bit of a sluggish horse. There really wasn’t a good place to warm up though, and I figured that a too-quiet test was a lot better than a too-zoomy test, so we just walked and trotted and did a little lateral work. At one point I looked over and noticed that there was a horse that refused to go near the bright red tent that the judge was going to be sitting under. I walked over with Henry and offered her a lead, and Henry (who never even gave the tent so much as a look) led them back and forth past it a few times. After a few more minutes of walking around I wandered back over to the ring, where the judge and scribe were waiting on the first person. I told them that I didn’t think she realized they were ready for her, and they asked me if I was ready to go instead. Um… not totally, but sure why not?

So we trotted in to do our test. The first trip down centerline was great and we got an 8! I remembered my notes from my dressage lesson last week. 😉 The first trot circle was ok, a little blah (he was still a little tight in his back and not really engaged, since we didn’t have much warm up) and the first canter transition was a few steps late. I think he was still sleeping. I knew I’d get nailed on our free walk, that’s by far his weakest thing and we’ve only been working on it for a couple weeks – got a 5 on that. Ouch, but totally fair. When I started my trot circle to the right the judge blew the whistle as if I’d made an error. I was super confused because I knew the test forward and backward, so I walked over and sure enough she said I was wrong. After a few minutes of discussion between me, the judge, and another trainer nearby we realized that the judge had been given the wrong score sheets – she had the 2010 BN Test A, not the 2014. So after a little revision to her sheet she allowed me to start again from the movement where she’d blown the whistle. Of course, the whole time we were talking Henry stood there sleeping, so having to start again in the middle of the test wasn’t super ideal. Still he finished ok, no real bobbles but no real brilliance either. I was definitely playing it safe and just trying to get a good relaxed first dressage test. I thought that her scoring and comments were exactly on par with my impressions as I rode it, so I was satisfied with our score of 35. We survived, and we didn’t do that bad!

Once THAT mess was over (sorry dressage, I still hate you) we tossed on his breastplate, put on his boots, I put on my vest and spurs, and off we went to warm up for the jumping. Again, warm up space was limited so I just hopped him over a couple jumps then galloped him up and back a little space in the field to get him awake and out in front of my leg.

I thought the course looked pretty simple and forgiving. There were 7 jumps in the ring, then we went out the gate and into the field for 7 more XC fences. I knew the jumps in the ring would be fine as long as I sat up and got a good pace, especially since they were set on the low side. Henry’s no longer impressed by little jumps, no matter how bright or flowery. I did have a couple of concerns about XC though… the jumps were plenty small enough, but would he be balky at the first one since we were leaving all the other horses and going straight toward a busy road? There was also a little bank up, with 4 or 5 strides (depending on how you came into it) to a brush box that was on the skinny side. I knew accuracy and straightness were going to be important. After the brush box was a little ditch, and he’s been known to give those a good peek. So I just kept thinking – sit up, get him up and out in front of me, and just keep going forward.

Turns out I didn’t need to worry. We went in the ring, he picked up a nice forward uphill canter, and just ATE that course for lunch.

Then we left the ring and I pushed him into a bit of a gallop. I figured it was better to override the first one than underride, and then I could gauge how he felt and adjust my ride from there.

He never even blinked at anything. He just kept one ear on me saying “Ok, which one next???” and kept looking for the next jump. When we had to go past a couple of the lower level fences he actually tried to veer TOWARD them. I kind of couldn’t believe how bold and confident and professional he was. Later one of the other riders asked me how long he’d been eventing. Ha! He bopped right over the tires, down the hill to the little upright logs, through the dip to the pile of telephone poles (which was down by the busy road and I think every other horse in our division had at least one stop there). My plan was to trot the up bank but as soon as I turned toward it he locked on and picked up a nice polite canter so I just let him roll. Before we were even all the way up it he locked onto the brush box and took me right to it, then around the corner to the ditch (which he still cleared by many feet, but never hesitated at) and out of the field over the last tire jump. Totally clear with zero issues!

And well, like I said, everyone else had stops so guess what?

What a great first experience for him. This little show was the perfect confidence builder and perfect first intro to eventing – he exceeded all my expectations. Can’t wait for the next one. Hello dark side!

I also purchased a little something on Saturday night when I was basking in a post horse show high and had a couple ciders…

Just gonna leave this here and walk away and not tell y’all the full story until Monday, because I’m a tease like that.

I know that lately there has been a lot of talk among our equestrian blogging group about advertising, making money off of your blog, product exchanges, etc. In light of an email I was sent yesterday I felt like now was the perfect time to clarify something here for my readers.

*Before anyone gets upset, I’m not saying that my particular stance on this issue is better than anyone else’s, or that people should see things my way. I totally understand those who don’t. I merely want it to be clear where I in particular stand on this issue, because I feel pretty strongly about it.*

I was contacted yesterday by Horze, with the following email:

“Dear Amanda,

 Horze Equestrian is a European horse company that is now based in the United States and also all around the world.  Our company sells a wide range of equine tack and riding apparel that are great quality products.  You can browse our website [removed link] to see what we offer to customers as an equine company.

We were wondering if we can add a link from your blog towards [removed link].  You can either make a pure text link or use one of these badges:

[removed link]

Once you have added the link to your site, please reach back to me again, and I will verify it and send you compensation coupon for adding our website link to your website.

 If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to ask!

Thank you! Have a great day!”

First – of course I am flattered to some degree when any company contacts me. But I have to say, and I feel like it’s important for everyone to know, I am not for sale and neither is this blog’s ad space. This was my email response:

“Thank you for your interest. I am very particular about which companies I choose to link on my blog and unfortunately I do not place advertisements for companies that I’m not 100% familiar with and 100% comfortable backing. I have no experience with Horze or it’s products so I cannot in good conscience place an advertisement for you on my blog. I try to maintain a very good reputation for reliability of opinion, so I’m sure you can understand my hesitation to recommend a brand that I am unfamiliar with. If at some point in the future I am able to use some Horze products and find them to be of excellent quality I would possibly re-consider, but at this time that is not the case.

Thank you again,

Amanda”

And their reply

“Hi Amanda,

 Your [sic] very welcome!  Thank you for your response and we understand what you are saying.  Please let us know if you have re-considered our offer.“

I’m not trying to be bitchy or preachy or holier-than-thou here, but I want to have a reputation for only representing companies that I can stand behind 100%. My view is that if I choose to put something on my page then I am representing it, and I have to be able to stand behind it – ads included. If you’ll notice, there are only TWO companies linked on this blog’s sidebar, with a third coming soon. These are companies who I feel offer superior products, superior service, are appreciative of/understand just how much bloggers can impact their business, and have proven worthy of the ad space. I quite enjoy the partnerships with these businesses, mostly because I feel 100% confident recommending them to readers. First and foremost, I’m a fan: I was a customer before they ever made it onto my blog, and I remain a customer to this day. You will NEVER find ads from companies that do not meet that criteria on this blog. I will not blindly represent something that I know nothing about. There will never be ad space sold here. All of the reviews that you read are and always will be my uncensored opinion and all recommendations are and always will be without ulterior motive.

I care a lot more about being trustworthy and having people feel like my opinions on products are unswayed by personal benefit or profit. I felt it was important to bring this up both for the sake of the readers and any companies who might consider contacting me in the future. If you really want to team up and I’m not already a customer, lets talk about product reviews or demos of some kind. Sell your company and your products to me, make me believe in them, make me want to recommend them to others… don’t try to buy my ad space with a coupon! But be forewarned: I’m picky and have high expectations. You have to EARN your way onto this blog, you can’t buy it.

Today’s blog entry marks my 100th post. I’m not sure if I should apologize to y’all for making you read that much of my endless ranting/whining or get down and kiss everyone’s feet for continuing to come back here day after day and slog through my monotony. Coincidentally, yesterday was also a record setting day with the most views ever to date. I figured the best way to celebrate was with pictures of pretty things and less words from me than usual. Therefore – enjoy the official debut of the Mango Bay F/W 2014 collection!

Turkish belts: $28

Wide belt lovers, your wishes have been granted. These new 2″ belts fit perfectly into the wider loops of Trophy Hunters and the patterns are just beautiful. I have two of these already (the french blue “Denim Tapestry” in the middle and the black “Fall Blossoms” toward the right) and absolutely love them. Pretty sure the pink “Geranium Blossom” is a NEED too. They’re backed with webbing to add more strength and have a keeper on the flap end to prevent the excess from flapping around. These are just so pretty, pictures don’t even do them justice.

Paisley fabric belts – $28

Also a new design for Mango Bay this season is the fabric belt. This style is 1 3/4″ wide so should work with a variety of belt loop sizes, and comes in three colors. There are lots of fabric belts on the market now but the unique part of the Mango Bay design is that the core is webbing, which helps them maintain their shape well and be more durable.

Canvas belts (new width!) – $19

And of course – new patterns for their classic canvas belts! These too are a little bit wider than previous designs, on 1.5″ canvas. At only $19 you can’t beat the price on these guys… they’re so versatile and you can wear them with just about anything.

Belt buckles – $20-28

Besides awesome new belts Mango Bay is now offering belt buckles. There’s something here for everyone, from super simple to super ornate. Definitely a must have item.

Hope you guys like the new collection as much as I do. Don’t forget that Christmas is just around the corner and these make fantastic presents at a great value. And thanks again for sticking with me through the first 100! Here’s to many more.