Author: Amanda C

***Yes, I’m still doing my annual Black Friday sales list! Have no fear, it’ll be here tomorrow. If you just can’t possibly wait that long to get started, Riding Warehouse’s sale starts today. Otherwise – check back here tomorrow morning for my usual giant list… it’s already over 50 sales!***

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As a former lifelong h/j rider, I’ve spent a lot of time in arenas. Don’t get me wrong, arenas are very important. Having access to a flat open space with good, even footing is a must-have. But give me the choice between riding in a nice arena and a nice field, and I’ll pick the field 99% of the time.

For people who are thinking “is she really about to write a whole post about a field?”. Yes. The answer is yes. Why? Because it’s difficult to find good natural footing in this particular slice of Texas. Really difficult.

See, on one side of town there’s black gumbo soil… it’s a dense, dark clay that, when wet, will suck the shoes right off of a horse. When dry, it’s a bit like trotting on pottery. It shrinks and cracks and can closely resemble concrete in the summer (just ask Hillary). It grows some really gorgeous grass, but it’s not so great if you want to ride on it a lot. On the other side of town the top layer gets rocky and the grass becomes sparse, which is equally bad, for obvious reasons.

There are a few areas more north and east of town where the soil gets a lot better – little oases of sandy loam. Unfortunately most of those areas are about an hour’s drive from me. Therefore you have to understand how much I geeked the hell out when I realized that the hay field at the barn is a little mini-oasis in the middle of black gumbo territory.

First of all – it’s a huge space. Giant. Like it takes 10 minutes to trot a lap. It’s also sloped, which is probably part of why it dries so quickly after rain. The slope varies in different parts – most is just a gentle slope, but then there’s one decent hill out in the back that’s perfect for hill work. There’s enough flat-ish space to be able to set up a jump course or do flatwork. And because it’s got a lot of sand in the soil, it doesn’t get muddy when it’s wet or hard when it’s dry. It’s the weirdest and most miraculous thing, and probably some of the best footing I’ve seen anywhere in Texas. That’s why I have dubbed it The Field (formal title), and that’s why it has become hallowed ground for me.

As an eventer, this chunk of space is incredibly valuable. I can do just about all of my riding out here, if I want to. I have a TON of room for trot sets and gallops, plus varied terrain to help us practice our balance and make us stronger. The barn owner has no problem with me putting jumps out there, as long as I move them when it’s time to cut hay. My beloved coop is already out there, but I’m going to drag a few stadium fences out as well. It would be awesome if I could jump in the field all the time… there’s so much space to build whatever course you want, and there are so many options for using terrain within the exercises. It’s an eventer’s dream space.

I’ll save the arena for days when it’s a little too wet to ride in the field (the arena can withstand fairly monsoon-like rains)… I don’t want to put so much as a divot into any square inch of that space. It’s perfection, and I want to keep it that way.

 

Henny has been back under saddle for 3 weeks now. For the most part, it has been boring… which is a good thing.

We started with short, easy rides, and are slowly ramping our way back up. The aquatred kept all of his muscle (and then some) so he’s still pretty strong, but his cardio is not what it was. We were doing 45 minute long trots before, but 25 minutes has him a little labored now. We’ve also been doing a few hill repeats out in the field at the walk and trot… because when you live in a place that is fairly flat, a hill is a fantastic treasure that is not to be wasted.

I’ve been cautious about putting much stress on his leg, so we’ve mostly had dressage days and hacks out in the field. He’s only had 2 days of pole exercises in the arena, and one day of jumping in there. And by jumping I mean he hopped over a couple of 2’6″ fences a few times each. The footing has remained very good, so I’ve gotten lucky in that regard… the field especially is still nice and springy. I did jump my new coop on Saturday when I put it out there (once each way), which Henry was absolutely delighted with. He landed and dolphined so hard (his version of bucking looks more like a dolphin leaping) that he tripped and almost fell down. Still the picture of elegance and grace.

I went ahead and scheduled an acupuncture/chiropractic session for him next week, just to thoroughly cover all my bases. He feels a little stiff through his rib cage and neck to the right, so I’m hoping that’ll fix it. I’ve already been hemorrhaging money on him over the past couple months, why stop now?

He’s almost back up to regular turnout, but not quite. Luckily he’s behaved himself pretty well anyway. Most of the other horses at the barn are QH types that would rather eat than run around, and they’ve all stayed inside under their blankets on the cold nights. Both of those things are helping to keep him chill rather than running laps like a moron.

The swelling above his ankle has continued to go down, too. That combined with his ridiculously hairy legs make the injury hard to spot now. Still, I’ve been keeping his BOT wraps on him sometimes, and slathering stuff on the “bad” leg after longer rides. Plus he gets enough stall time to make sure he’s resting it adequately. I have to give many props to the barn owner and workers – they’ve been giving him excellent care, and none of my super annoying requests have deterred them in the slightest.

I asked the main barn worker how Henry has been behaving for her, since he’s gone so long without full turnout. She looked at me like I was a little nuts for even asking, and said he was great. She thinks it’s funny how vocal he is (apparently he starts screaming for his breakfast before she even gets out of her truck… which sounds about right) and she plays with his tongue when he flops it around. It makes me happy to see them get along so well, since she spends so much time with him.

Hopefully over the next month we can continue weaning him off of all the special treatment and back into normal life, and I can keep amping the workload back up towards normal. For now though – he looks great, he’s happy, and I’m glad to have him almost-back. *knocking on a metric shit ton of wood*

Last week my barn owner let me know about a sale that was coming up… a local lesson barn was closing and they were selling off pretty much everything, including jumps. Another friend of mine sent me a Craigslist ad that she found about the sale, which had a bunch of pictures. And there, amongst all the others, was a picture of this bad boy:

I’ve been wanting a couple of fences that I could stick out in a field and jump on occasion. We don’t get a lot of opportunities to school XC, and sometimes it takes a little while to get my brain back into XC mode (for gods sake, let him go forward and jump out of stride). Having a couple fences that we could just go out and gallop over once a week or so would be really helpful.

The barn owner said that I was more than welcome to put whatever I want out in the giant hay field, as long as I move it out of the way when they cut hay. Therefore as soon as I saw the coop in that ad, I knew I needed it. It was perfect. Not only could I use it as a galloping fence, I could also use each side as its own skinny and make combinations. Uphill, downhill, bending lines, angled lines… so many possibilities. I wanted that damn coop, and I wanted it bad.

The sale was supposed to start at 9, and I rolled in at 8:55 to see a bunch of other cars already there. I was about 10th in line when the gate opened. Luckily everyone else made a beeline for the barn, whereas I made a beeline for the arena. Most of the jumps had sold privately earlier in the week, but there were still 7 standards, a handful of poles, and yes, MY COOP, still sitting in there. I couldn’t believe no one else had bought it, all the roll tops and gates and walls were already gone. Fine by me though!

I snatched the tags off of literally everything in the arena and brought them in to pay before anyone else could even think about looking at them. MINE. All mine! Well… really the standards were for my friend who just bought her own place, but she was running late so I claimed them for her. They weren’t in as good of shape but they were only $5-$8 a pop… at that price who could resist? Plus they let us take some poles and jump cups for free. I’m not that into garage sales, but barn sales are amazing.

I pawed through all the stuff in the barn but there’s just not a whole lot that I need. I did snag a roll of vet wrap and a new jar of ointment for 25 cents each, and an awesome wide broom for my trailer for $4. Things that excite horse people. We’re weird.

It was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle fitting everything in the back of the truck (uh, I did not really realize how big the coop was) but we got it done. I dropped all of my friend’s stuff at her house, then went out to the barn to find just the right spot for Coop.

It’s only Novice size though (2’9″ tall and 4′ wide at the base), so I think I’m going to drill some holes in the top and add 6-8″ of brush for extra height. Then it can be a true Training size gallop fence. I just need to find some brush.

I can’t even express how excited this makes me. It is, no doubt, one of my top 5 most favorite purchases ever. Doesn’t take much to make me happy.

Now I just need to find someone to make me a Training size table…

The February clearance sale was so successful, we decided to do it again! Get a jump on your Black Friday shopping with these exclusive offers from Luxe EQ. They’re clearing out the last of some Esperado inventory and last season Animo -this is the only place you’ll find the list!

Here’s how it works:

• For questions or orders, email megan@luxe-eq.com or message Luxe EQ on facebook.
• All items are on a first come, first served basis. Once they’re gone, they’re gone!  Items are not considered sold until payment is received.
• All sales are final.
• Please read descriptions carefully and thoroughly – not all photos are of the exact colors available.
• Animo breech sizes are as follows: 38IT=24US, 40IT=26US, 42IT=28US, 44IT=30US (coat size and breech size are usually the same)
• Esperado breech sizing as follows: 38 = 28US

Esperado

Esperado Aline show shirt – $49.50

• Navy – Small (1)
• White – Medium (1)
• Pink – Medium (1)
• Red – Large (1)
• Royal Blue – Medium (1)

 

Esperado Rachel Breech – $75.00

• knee patch Navy – 38/US28 (1)
• knee patch Black – 38/US28 (1)
• knee patch White – 38/US28 (1)
• knee patch Taupe – 38/US28 (1)
• full seat Navy – 38/US28 (1)

 

Esperado Grand Prix breech – $75.00

• silicone knee patch Navy – 38/US28 (1)
• silicone knee patch White – 38/US28 (1)

 

Esperado Parade show jacket

• Black – Medium (1)  $75.00
• Black with cream – Medium (1)  $75.00
• Navy – Kids Medium (1)  $50.00

 

Esperado Tracy Vest (women’s) – $75.00

• Navy – XL (2)
• Black – S (1), XL (2)
• Nougat Brown – XL (1)

 

PK vest (women’s) – $75.00

• Chocolate – L (1)

 

Esperado Trevor Vest (men’s) – $75.00

• Navy – S (1)
• Black – S (2), M (1)

Esperado Fly Bonnet – $25

• Wh/Br/DGr (3)

 

Esperado scarf – $25.00

• Green (1)

 

Esperado Socks

• pair Assorted colors  $5.00
• 3-pack Assorted colors  $10.00

 

Animo Italia

Animo Norche breech – $250

• Gray – IT38/US24, IT44/US30  

 

Animo Lilith show jacket – $400

• Navy – IT44

 

Animo Lorina show jacket- $400

• Black – IT38

 

Animo Labanda show jacket- $400

• Black – IT42  

 

Animo Larosa show jacket – $400

• Navy – IT42 (2), IT44  

Cathryn at That Red Mare posted this blog hop yesterday and it immediately grabbed my attention. Who doesn’t love a good transformation? Honestly though, I don’t think Henry is your typical super impressive “before and after”. He came to me in good health (albeit FAT and with no muscle from having sat in a pasture for over a year) and he’d already jumped a little bit, so his early education went by pretty quickly. His is not a particularly radical transformation, but it’s still kind of fun to look back.

This was Henry on Day 1 when he arrived in Texas in December 2013. So fat that his butt jiggled when he walked. He’s always been cute though – the long mane and shaggy coat couldn’t hide that.

He’s a bit more fit these days… looks more like a event horse than a pasture puff. I think he went from cute to handsome.

This is one of our very first jumps, also December 2013. He was a little bit more green and careful in those days, but his style has always been good.

Now he just jumps much bigger things.

Ah, but what about the DERP? Well, absolutely nothing has changed in that regard. On Day 1 he was 100% derp…

and almost 3 years later – still derping so hard.

I started with a pretty nice horse. Now I just have a more fit, more educated one.

Maybe Sadie is a a little bit more fun as a before and after, since… ya know… going from a baby to an adult is a lot more drastic?

Sadie at 2 weeks, when she was still cute and tiny.

Sadie at 2 years, still looking a little gangly. (Yes, I’m skipping over the yearling part. No one wants to re-live that, especially not me.)

Sadie at 3 years, at her first little schooling show.

Her first show over fences, at 4 years. Cantering over the Baby Green jumps like NBD, because teeny things have always been a joke to her.

At 5, when she decided she’d rather be a jumper and the sticks got bigger.

And then last year, finally mature at age 8, and with her first baby.

Still hard to believe that my tiny little fuzzball is now a giant mare!