January 2015 – Page 4

Weekend recap: treating the winter blues

Published on January 12, 2015 by Amanda C31 Comments

I know that a Texan complaining about winter is a lot like a Canadian complaining about summer, but man… we’re heat-acclimated… cold sucks. It sucks even more when it won’t stop raining.

Indoor and covered arenas aren’t that common in Texas, so when it gets really cold (which for us is 30’s) and wet (it’s never going to stop raining) we’re basically just grounded. I got to ride my horse two whole times last week. In the freezing cold and blistering wind, wearing pretty much every layer I own, and the second day was in drizzly sleet/rain. That was quite enough for both me and Henry I think. Of course, then it rained all weekend so now even though it’s warmed up a bit, it’s too slick and muddy to ride anyway. Whatever, I give up.

Luckily Friday’s mail day completely saved my otherwise epically grumpy mood. A package from PS of Sweden AND a package from Mango Bay! Plus on Thursday I had gotten my Aztec Diamond shipment from their awesome after Christmas 50% off sale, and Henry’s omeprazole. The PS package contained the blue Metallic Rock browband and a High Five breastplate, which I had to immediately run out to the barn and try on Henry. I’ll cover the details of the breastplate in a separate post once I get to play with it a little more.

So much fun stuff for me to sit inside and stare at lovingly – or in the case of the breastplate, hold up to my face and inhale deeply for a few minutes at a time for some leather aromatherapy. Take that, winter.

It’s perfectly normal to take pictures of your breeches while you’re getting gas.

Omeprazole is exciting for different reasons.

And guess what this beautiful bundle is? Since SO was home when it got delivered (not that I’m stalking UPS or anything) I immediately made him open it and send me a picture.

Ta-da!!!

The only semi-perk of no real barn time is that there’s plenty of gym time, so I’ve been able to stay on track with the fitness goal pretty well with swimming and spin class. I completed week 1 of 0 to 1650 and started week 2. I used this program a few years ago when I was triathlon training to increase my endurance… it worked great then and is working just as well now. Week 1 Day 1 was hard, but week 2 Day 1 was so easy I skipped some of the rest breaks. The improvement comes so quickly and easily with swimming, I wish riding was like that! Brandy and I braved the “Ice Storm” (there were tiny icicles on my deck furniture) Saturday morning to hit spin class with what is, so far, the only instructor we like. We’re basically stalking him at this point as he travels from gym to gym for classes. At the end of every class he makes sure to tell us to get some protein within the next 30 minutes, so Brandy and I went to brunch after class and this happened. That’s protein, right? My hot chocolate was worth every calorie.

Otherwise the weekend was a lot of hand grazing and hand walking and warm grain mashes for dinner for Henry. He really loves his dinner in mash form, and I really love sneaking in as much water as possible in what is a higher colic risk time. I get a “free” half bucket just from soaking his dinner. Luckily he’s a good drinker anyway but a little more never hurt.

This week looks very un-promising for me riding wise. Today everything is still really wet, and I start barn-sitting tomorrow so I won’t have time to go out to the barn again until Sunday. Luckily Brandy volunteered to be his adopted ~~slavewoman~~ mom for the week and throw him extra hay, give him his Omeprazole, and ride him if it ever dries out.

Small Business Spotlight: Hamer & Clay

Published on January 9, 2015January 9, 2015 by Amanda C21 Comments

It seems like everyone who saw my Christmas gifts to Brandy and Beka went gaga, wanting to know where I got such cute custom ornaments. The answer: Hamer & Clay.

They aren’t just ornaments, they’re art. Completely custom pieces handcrafted to order – with whatever exact details you want – means that these are lifelong keepsakes. Don’t want to reserve them for just Christmas time? Don’t worry, Kelsey will soon be offering magnets too! Your horse could live on your refrigerator year round (I know they’d rather live IN it, but ON it is cool too). She can also do just about any other animal, including dogs and cats. With prices starting at only $16, you might as well order one to represent every animal in your life.

Since H&C had to close 2014 orders early due to high demand, right now Kelsey is running a 15% off coupon on Hamer & Clay’s Etsy page for all orders over $20. The code is SORRY2014, and is redeemable until March 1, 2015. She is also in the midst of rolling out a brand new website at http://hamerandclay.com so keep an eye on that! If you want to look through tons and tons of pictures of her work, follow Hamer & Clay on facebook. Kelsey runs periodic giveaways through her facebook page as well! If you want to order some as Christmas presents, the sooner the better – she books up earlier and earlier every year. And it’s no wonder, with such beautiful and affordable pieces. Her detail work is just incredible.

Kelsey was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to answer some questions about herself and Hamer & Clay!

1)When did you start this business?
November 15, 2011.

2) How many employees are there in your company?
So far it’s just me. Since everything is hand sculpted, it would be hard
to hire employees. I could outsource shipping and my website, but so far
this very much a part time side project endeavour. Sometimes I’ll enlist
the help of my other half to mix a colour for me while I work on something
else. I just give him the clay colours, and tell him to mix. He’s great at
that.

3) Where did the idea for the business come from?
When I was a young adult and teenager, I’d make things out of polymer clay
to sell at the local farmers market during the summer. It started out as
wizards, and gnomes and stuff, and I would sell them for a few dollars
each. I made them for fun for the most part. It wasn’t really about the
money. Somehow those little figurines morphed into one sided horses with
riders when I was about fourteen. My aunt commissioned me to create the
year end awards for the local saddle club and that is where these one side
ornaments really started. I took a long hiatus from polymer clay as I
entered my late teens to early twenties.One November day in 2011, I got the unmistakable urge to play with clay again, and thought; hmm I should revisit those old trophies I used to do. That was it, the ball got rolling and it’s been rolling slowly and steadily from then on.

4) What is your background in horses and art?
I have been creating stuff ever since I can remember, clay and
3-D things has always been my favourite, I’d always go over the
top with dioramas, and things like that in school. My mother
wouldn’t buy my twin brother and I colouring books, so we had to
draw our own, and use our own imaginations. We drew all of the
time, and I think her ideology really helped cultivate our
creativity. Drawing and creating things always came naturally to
me, so I pursued those interests’ right up to the university
level, obtaining a Bachelors Degree from Emily Carr University.
I majored in “Visual Arts”, technically but it was a mix between
painting and ceramics. I’m all over the place with my interests;
it was easy to bounce around from one subject to the other in
art school, to flip flop between craft and art, and craft as
art. I wasn’t exactly encouraged to make ”horse art” in school,
and I had to be creative about how I chose to use the horse as a
subject matter. Horses have always been my go to, they are
comforting, doodling and drawing horses kept me focused in
lectures and history classes.

I was one of those kids lucky enough to have a horse as early
as I can remember. I had fantastic Aunts who would take me out
riding when my mother couldn’t, and I was exposed to a lot of
horses, and a lot of trails as a youngster. It wasn’t until I
was older and finished university that I was able to afford
and prioritize lessons, and to start to dabble in competitive
riding. I am very much an adult amateur, but thoroughly enjoy
both dressage and jumping, and make it my hobby and passion to
play at low level eventing and local shows. In addition to my
full time job, and the ornament company I also work as a barn
hand. Things can get pretty hectic for me in the early winter
months when all three jobs really pick up.

5) Any interesting notes about yourself, your business or your products that you would like for people to know?
Remarkably, I had to close the shop early this year, and ended up turning
away a lot of potential customers and orders. The 15% off sale is a way of
saying both sorry and thank you at the same time. The code is SORRY2014
and is active in our etsy shop.There are a few new products in the works for 2015, including fridge magnets and a special edition limited run of 10-20 for the 2015 holiday season.

As a nod to my love of drawing and creating as a kid, I’ll also be
offering one free ornament a month for children who submit their dream
horse in the way of a drawing to the Facebook page. The winners will be
drawn at random, and I will recreate their drawing into a 3-D ornament. I
remember what it was like to fantasize as a little kid, and to draw my
dream horse over and over again. I also remember thinking it would be
amazing for this horse to come to life. Hopefully these ornaments inspire
that just a little.
There will also be a small price increase in 2015 for all ornaments, after
the sale. I have found that some ornaments are just taking longer and
longer to make with the more details I add. I am a junkie for the
challenge, and small details. I love I absolutely love the challenge, but
I also need to be realistic about what I am charging and how many hours I
spend on an ornament.

So order early, order many, enjoy your discount and pack your tree with all your favorite faces next Christmas! Thanks Kelsey for being so easy to work with… I ordered 7 ornaments and was beyond picky and specific about really tiny details. Not only was she very accommodating, she completely nailed it with every single one. Each one arrived beautifully packaged and they were such a joy to give to friends.

Time for me to order some of my own horses!

Belgium, here I come! And Philly…

Published on January 8, 2015 by Amanda C29 Comments

I’m off to a good start with personal goal #4 for 2015. Yesterday we figured out our itinerary for our Belgium/Paris trip in March and booked our flights. I never squeal with excitement about anything but I’m squealing myself senseless on the inside right now.

A couple days/nights in Paris, a day and a couple nights in Brussels, 3 days and 2 nights in Gesves. At least one tack shop trip planned, a few farm tours (Nabab de Reve, anyone?), and the sBs Selection Show. That’s basically as good as any horsey vacation can get, and even better to be doing it with a couple of good friends. Many eternal thanks to Rising Star Farm for the opportunity… it’s once in a lifetime. Of course, I really really hate flying so I might need a whole suitcase full of Xanax, but it’s worth it. Especially for the food, and I think my friend and fellow traveler Michelle agrees…

This is why we’re friends.

Looks like I’ll also be in Philadelphia at the end of January for the AETA trade show/market. My friend Megan, owner of Luxe EQ, asked me to come along to help scout new product lines and check out all the new products coming out from her current suppliers. I am very flattered that she trusts my opinion and thinks I have good enough taste to want to bring me along. Three days roaming around a giant room full of cool horse stuff? Um… yes. Yes times a million. It’s both extremely awesome and extremely dangerous, especially when you check out the companies that will be in attendance. I have a feeling I’m going to look a lot like this the entire time:

I’m sure I will take a few thousand pictures and find at least a couple dozen things that I NEED. Brace yourselves, blog land.

On a different note, thanks everyone for all the supportive comments and messages from yesterday’s post. Henry got a nice big serving of hay last night and both blankets, since we got a ridiculous cold front. He’s warm and toasty with plenty to munch on.

Henry also says thanks to auntie SprinklerBandit for selling his mom some new dressage boots. He loffs them. Well, I loff them, which means he’s required to love them too.

Time to move along

Published on January 7, 2015February 17, 2015 by Amanda C65 Comments

It sucks to be writing this so soon after the new year with all those ambitious goals, but I’m at an impasse with my horse’s current facility. I’ve had several care issues in the past few months (mainly centered around how much hay has been fed lately) and unfortunately it has gotten to the point where I can’t keep waiting it out and giving chances in the hope that it will improve. The health and well-being of the horse comes first, so it’s time to pack our things and go.

I am the most important thing, and the most important thing is ME. And cookies.

On one hand it will remove me from current trainer’s “umbrella”, which isn’t ideal considering our goals for the year. But I will still have some access to her at the new facility, plus a really good dressage trainer. The care at the new place is EXCELLENT (basically exactly what I would do if I was taking care of my own horse), and it’s a really small place with several other eventers. I know a few of them already and we get along great. The facilities are not quite as vast, obviously, as the big barn I’m at now, but they’re absolutely more than adequate and the footing is good. Getting to shows could potentially be more difficult but hopefully I’ll be able to work it out. The drive is a little further, but the board is lower. There are some trade offs but I think we’ll both be really happy there so I’m excited for the change.

My once chubby horse is chubby no longer, so he will have to gain some weight back. I’m sad and extremely disappointed by the turn things took in the past few months, and to be frank I feel like I waited a month longer than I should have… I’m definitely carrying guilt about it. I was really hoping to find a way through this and resolve the problem but in retrospect that was pretty futile and naive. To be clear: he’s fine. He’s certainly not starving or anything, I’ve had him on rice bran for a month and I’ve been giving him as much extra hay as I can possibly sneak, but despite that he’s gotten thin and his coat looks dull and he doesn’t seem as happy in general as he did a few months ago. There are really several care issues I’ve had but the main one is that there is very little hay being fed, and that does not work for this horse. When the vet was out a couple weeks ago I asked him what he thought and he half-frowned and said “I liked him better with more weight”. Sigh. Me too, man. Me too. I really really don’t like my horse losing condition, physically or mentally.

I don’t care how many times you tell me this much hay twice a day is enough… it’s NOT.

I debated about just how much to say about this here, but I feel like it’s important to speak my mind and tell the whole story. It makes me angry, if I’m being totally honest. It makes me even more angry when I present my concerns and they are brushed aside. But ultimately the deepest feeling is of extreme disappointment. As horse owners we put A LOT of trust into the people that care for our animals. They are the ones that see them all day every day. They are the ones in charge of their general well-being. When I sign that board contract and give you my board check every month, it’s me saying “I trust you to take care of something that is very very important to me. Irreplaceable even. Please take that as seriously as I do.”. And when that trust is violated, it really sucks. Because at the end of the day those horses rely on us – the people around it – to care for it properly, and when we don’t, the horses are the ones that suffer. That’s a very serious thing, and if you can’t care for them properly you shouldn’t offer to do it at all.

bareback noms – his favorite perk of the hackamore

There are a lot of things I like about the current barn, and I really appreciate the opportunities I have had there, but my horse’s health is a non-negotiable. I also ordered him a course of Omeprazole because I’m pretty suspicious of ulcers, especially with how little turnout and hay he’s gotten lately, and it sure can’t hurt. It’ll be interesting to see if that changes anything or not. He’s naturally kind of a tight tense creature so maybe he’s long overdue for some ulcer treatment anyway. I’ll ride him just enough to keep him loose and keep some condition, but for the most part he’s getting a really light next month or two until everything gets sorted out.

Counting down the days to a new beginning and a happier Henry, and looking forward to new opportunities with a great new group of people.

Stories from Spin Class

Published on January 5, 2015January 6, 2015 by Amanda C20 Comments

As you have probably already read, barn/blogger friend Brandy of Auf der Autobahn and I joined the gym in December and have been hitting spin class hot and heavy. I used to spin all the time but haven’t in a year or so, and as I get back into it I’m starting to remember all the fun experiences you only get by partaking in spin. And since it’s the beginning of January, aka Gym Season, I figured now is the time to publicly explore all that spin has to offer.

The people:

If you can talk, you aren’t pedaling hard enough. SHUT UP.

That guy who shows up dressed like he’s ready for the Tour de France

Or even worse, the instructor who thinks he’s in the Tour de France. “C’mon team, who wants that yellow jersey? Let’s go get it!”. You have got to be freaking kidding me right? “Hill climb! The Alps are beautiful!”. I’m sure they are. Unfortunately we’re in a tiny stinky room in a semi-decrepit old gym in the middle of Austin. And no I do not want to high five you after class, I’m never coming back here again because you’re obviously a complete nutjob.

spinning cycling stereotypes rateyourburn types guy having the best time of his life — the Way Too Perky people. I really hate these people and want to punch them right in the face. Nothing ruins my workout more than a bunch of WOOOOO’s coming from some perky chick. Sweat in miserable silence like the rest of us fatties.

We had a lady in last Saturday’s class who looked like she walked straight out of an 80’s Jazzercize video… short hair with the sweatband around her head pushing the hair up, big bright white sneakers and a super colorful top. I think she considered herself Queen of Spin, because she WOOHOO’d just about every two minutes. At 10:00am. On a Saturday. I spent the entire class daydreaming about choking her out with that damn sweatband.

That guy who spends three hours lifting weights then comes into spin halfway through class and tries to get his cardio in. They’re too big to pedal normally, it’s fantastic to watch. Like a gorilla on a tricycle.

The ones who breathe loudly, complain audibly, and are waaaay overdramatic. HTFU (google it) people, and have some dignity. I don’t need to hear the details of your impeding death, I’ll get the message loud and clear when your body hits the floor.

The experience:

Don’t worry, the pain in your butt will mostly go away in 2 or 3 days. Mostly.

If you don’t suffer from Overactive Boob Sweat syndrome, consider yourselves lucky. I can make puddles.

Right before your heart explodes, when you’re on death’s doorstep, motivational exercise quotes start flashing before your eyes in rapid succession.

YEAH! I’m a champion! I need a medic! But I’m a champion!

You can’t break me, spin instructor. I’ll quit when I’m dead. Which will be very soon.

But I swear I saw another inspirational quote about how nothing is forever…

and wasn’t there also a quote about never say never? What the hell, now I’m just confused.

This is also when you think, “I’m not sure which is stupider – me or spin class. What a bunch of idiots we all are…”

The aftermath:

First you go home and whine about it. Bonus points if you also whine on facebook.

For real… it’s a near death experience every single time.

But the fun really begins when you wake up the next day

The sentence “I broke my whole body” comes out of your mouth on a regular basis.

God be with you if you happen to develop a chafing problem.

Don’t worry, the pain in the rest of your body will mostly distract you from the pain in your lady bits. See, that’s me having a positive outlook. You’re welcome.

and you’re not so steady on your feet.

as long as you don’t have to lower yourself onto a toilet seat or walk up stairs, you’re golden.

But hey… you can burn 400-800 calories in an hour long spin class. So get your butt to spin and have a few more donuts, it’ll all equal out in the end. And if you eat them right before class you’ll probably puke them up anyway.