I’m a little crunched for time this morning so I figured I’d do a quick catch up on some of the other things that have been happening in between all the traveling, and get your thoughts on some other stuff that’s on my to-do list. I was asked yesterday afternoon if I would be willing to provide breeding information to the commentators for the Tryon live stream, and I’m so delighted to have been asked that I’ve kind of dropped everything else to get those sheets done ASAP. I knocked out the 4*L and 4*S last night and am gonna try to get the 3*L done today. The live stream is already up and running, make sure to tune in! They’re reading off the info I provided and I’m so excited about it… more elaborate breeding info!
On a totally unrelated note, I got a Cricut a few weeks ago, which is both amazing and really dangerous. Nothing in my closet is safe from branding. But it also means that I can make my own stickers and decals, which is very convenient. Some of you may remember that I mentioned after Presto’s Fan Favorite win in the Futurity that I’d like to send a little something to as many of you as I can as a thank you for supporting him this year in his Futurity journey… this is it! If you voted for Presto as Fan Favorite and would like a WTW sticker/decal shoot me an email with your name and address. I can’t promise that I’ll be quick about it, but I swear I’ll make my way down the list as I have the capacity.
I also have been working on that white breeches review/comparison that I talked about a while back. Luxe EQ was kind enough to send me whites from several different brands to try on and compare, so I’m working on getting photos and my thoughts together on that. Before I get too far into this – what all do you want to know or see when shopping for white breeches? What features would you like me to comment on or rate them by? I’ve got 6 different brands I think, so a pretty good range. I want to make sure I hit all the necessary talking points!
I also picked up some Majyk Equipe pads in California, and I have to be honest… between this and my new boots/coat I’m strongly considering making Presto’s XC color just black. Or more specifically, black glitter. It just suits him, especially combined with his spiked browbands. I’d love to find a shirt with skulls on the sleeves or something and just do a whole glam punk look in general. Plus I already have the black glitter Majyk Equipe showjumping boots, so like… it’s destiny, right? I’m obsessed with the black glitter look. The navy pad is super nice too, it’s got padding built into the top for a streamlined look, no half pad required. I’ll definitely be reviewing both of these soon.
I also got a new/real camera (thanks Hillary!) a couple weeks ago, and took it with me to Galway to play with it a little bit. The photographer that does all the Texas shows had a sudden very big issue with me using her photos on my blog (woooo that was drama), which… is obviously a dealbreaker for me, since the blog is the main reason why I buy so many photos. Given that complication I figured it was time to get a real camera of my own. It’ll help me get nicer shots at home, I can use it to take pics of friends at shows, and get friends to take pics of me. More media! Plus now otherwise I’d have no show pics and that’s a bit of an issue for a blogger. My own DSLR was the solution I came up with.
I need to probably get a new/different lens for it (suggestions for what type of lens would be good for taking decent horse action photos? It’s an Canon EOS camera, FWIW.) but I think it’ll be perfect for my purposes. I just have to remember to use it.
There are a lot of balls in the air right now for me so hopefully more updates on bigger/more exciting things soon, but this brings us fairly up to speed I think!
breedrideevent.com 
How do we find your email address? 😊
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Use the contact form, there’s a tab at the top of the page. That’ll help me keep them organized!
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I’m just getting into Dressage from H/J land and bought some of the white breeches from amazon you’d noted (you didnt get white but black.navy). So far they are great but kind of see through and pretty thin for white. For white breeches I’d love to know material type, do they attract hair, thickness, see throughness, and general fit!
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The photographer got mad at you for using photos you purchased? That doesn’t make sense, isn’t that why you buy them?!
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She felt that using them on my blog was the same as advertising/sponsorship since I have business links in my sidebar (even though those aren’t paid ad spots, just businesses owned by friends). At the end of the day it’s their pics and their rules. So… yeah unfortunately I can’t buy them anymore since I can’t use them here. Blog use is why I get them! Is what it is.
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Seems pretty short sighted to me. Her loss!
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Don’t think you need to reply to this since I’m sure you don’t want to expound on the photographer situation, but what a head scratcher that is. Guessing it has to do with “commercial use”, but even still, it’s a personal blog and you always pay and attribute correctly. Oh well – you have a good solution.
Canon is my weapon of choice too, and since you don’t (ever?) show in indoors you’ll have a much wider range of lenses that will give you good results at a lower price point. To save money, I’d include the off-brands in your search (Tamron and Sigma are two I’m familiar with) and also scour Craigslist and FB Marketplace for people getting rid of older cameras, even film cameras, since your body I *think* should have both the EF-S and the EF lens mounts. You’re making me want a new camera, my DSLR body is a literal majillion years old…
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I have a Nikon DSLR that I need to sell bc I don’t ever use it. 😉 It’s a few years old, but hardly been used.
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I love the black glitter for Presto’s XC color. You can also make the skull shirt with your Cricut….like you said dangerous!
That stinks on the photo usage. If I’m at a show that you or your horses are at I will be glad to take pics and send them to you.
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On white breeches (all breeches) the most important thing to me is comfort in the crotch. One of the nasty things about aging that no one tells you, is that as you age, you lose padding in the crotch. I’m old but I ride. I have a brand that works for me, but I’d love to know what else is comfortable.
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For the white breeches review, I’d love to hear on “seethrough-ness” and ability to repel dust/stain (my horse loves to use me as her personal klennex every time I wear anything white!) . Thanks! 🙂
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Super interested in your thoughts about the navy pad with the padding. Looks awesome!
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For white breeches I’d like to know how opaque they are, how well they hide flaws (cellulite lol), how high waisted they are, and how technical the material feels (comparisons to other big name brands are useful). Thanks!
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I’d like a movement AGAINST white breeches, so guess I’m no help😀
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As a fellow white breech hater, Aztec Diamond has a dove grey that I *really* want to try. It looks like it would be lovely with a navy show coat…
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Try here for shirts with skulls: https://sweet-iron.com.au/product-category/equestrian-shirts/?v=3a1ed7090bfa…
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I actually have a skull shirt from them! I’m wanting a long sleeve tech fabric or base layer type shirt.
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Royal Equine has one, but the base color is turquoise. I bet the folks at It’s a Haggerty’s could find material for you!
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Yeah I wish that one was black!
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I have a Canon 70D, I often take photos at shows for friends. I have a few lenses I use, the sigma 70-300 is good for range but doesn’t take the clearest pics and the auto focus is slow, definitely not my favorite. I prefer to use my canon 55-250 and 28-125 depending on the range I’m needing, they’re much faster but also a lot more expensive (I was lucky enough to buy them used from the photographer who shot my friends wedding, as we chatted a bit and stayed in touch over Facebook). I know I have a few others I use but for the life of me I can’t remember and my lens bag is at work. Those are definitely the main ones I use tho.
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Like others, I am scratching my head over the photographer/photo use debacle. Her loss, as you were one of those who always purchased multiple shots, or the entire collection if I recall.
As for your own camera, check out the used department at B&H https://www.bhphotovideo.com/ as they have a great selection.
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I think many others already covered the big questions I’d have on white breeches (transparency, tech material, does dirt stick, etc.). One additional question for me, if they get reasonably dirty (because I always seem to end up with dirt on me…), do they wash back white? How much effort do you need to put into getting them white again?
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So I don’t know anything about lenses, but my brother has a ton of experience. His career is reviewing tech and electronics which includes cameras and lenses. Happy to put you in touch if you’d like to message with him.
Second, you have a Cricut now, so you can pretty easily put some skulls on the sleeves of any shirt you like. I support the black glitter for Presto fully. I mean, you’re already mostly done accumulating what you need anyway.
Lastly, that’s so odd about the photos. I would think your blog is excellent advertising for her. But to each their own I suppose.
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Custom XC shirts here from someone I know: https://kcequestriancolours.ca/
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One thing I have done in the past with great success is to rent camera lenses. It helps me decide if I think a particular lens is worth the money or will work for what I’m wanting, before I spend $$$. We typically will rent a few higher end lenses when we go on vacation and have bought a few lenses because we fell in love with the rentals. We use lensrentals.com and have always had great success with them! And they used to be right around the corner from us when we lived in Memphis. Just a thought!
For white breeches, I second most of the comments. I’m especially interested in tech fabric, weight of fabric, rise (mid or high, or the dreaded low rise), attraction to dirt, and overall fit through the waist and legs.
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