Author: Amanda C

Calling all creative types – it’s time to put on those thinking caps!

I have decided it’s finally time for me to upgrade my little blog to it’s own domain name. Along with that upgrade I’d really like to roll out an official “The $900 Facebook Pony” logo. Unfortunately I’m not creative in the slightest when it comes to that stuff, so I figured why not turn it into a win-win situation and offer a contest!

Fun part first – what you win:

A prize pack with a product from each of the businesses featured on the sidebar of my blog page. From PS of Sweden you get snap-on dark brown leather running martingale rein stops and a pretty leather keychain with the PS logo. From Mango Bay, a beautiful belt of course! From Firefly Bonnets – a one of a kind baby pad with the Firefly logo, in white with black trim and lime piping. You cannot buy these anywhere, it is the only one in existence. And last but certainly not least, Luxe EQ is graciously offering a Kastel sunshirt with their logo on it. That’s a lot of awesome swag (about a $150 value but who’s counting).

 

What you need to do to win all that awesome stuff:

Please read this part, it’s important! All entries must

– include the name The $900 Facebook Pony

– be a vector logo

– if it is in color (doesn’t have to, just saying if) including some kind of blue is preferred.

– submit your best logo designs to me at charliebrowntb (at) hotmail (dot) com.

– title the email CONTEST ENTRY so I don’t accidentally junk it.

There is no limit to how many you can submit – the more the merrier. It does not have to be professional quality by any means, and I’m not expecting anything professional, just a cute logo to put on my page. Entries must be submitted by December 31. A winner will be chosen no later than January 2, 2015, and will be announced here on the blog and on Instagram. Please understand that by submitting the logo you are agreeing that I can use it on this blog, on social media, and possibly on some official “$900 fb pony” gear if I love the logo enough to wear it. If the gear happens, you will receive some of that as well. Basically you’ll be famous and have lots of cool stuff to show for it.

Ready, set, create!

 

On Monday when I went out to ride Henry the weather had taken quite an ugly turn. The day before it was in the upper 70’s and sunny, then all the sudden it was cloudy and in the 40’s. Super. But I was determined to get in some pony time so out I went, in every jacket I own (all 3 of them). It should be noted here that Henry is the most rock solid steady horse I’ve ever owned. He is exactly the same horse every time you ride him, no matter how long its been since his last ride, no matter what the weather is, and no matter what the circumstances are. He puts up with me, he tries hard, and he generally wants very much to please and be a good boy. So when I got on and felt a little bit of a fresh and naughty feeling horse underneath me, I was amused.

I made the mistake of putting his sidepull hackamore on him and choosing to ride in the field. He proceeded to scout out all the tall grass from of the corner of his eye, put his head between his knees like an evil pony, and drag me to them. I was powerless to stop him and it took at least 15 seconds of yelling, pulling, kicking, and yanking for me to get his head back up. That happened several times… once even at a canter he tried to do a drive-by munch. The evil gleam in his eye was more like what you’d expect from a pony. A fat evil pony. That’s when I realized that to the casual onlooker it probably looked like a total Thelwell pony situation. Him blissfully dragging me to the tall grass and stuffing his face while I tried futilely but valiantly to stop him. I’m no match for a 16.1h Thelwell pony.  As I thought about it more I realized that pretty much everything about Henry goes right along with the Thelwell theme. Yes… my 7yo TB totally has an old lesson pony soul. He doesn’t buck or bolt when he’s wild, instead he drags me around to patches of grass. I present to you: Henry explained.

How he thinks dressage should go

Pretty much exactly how we look on cross country

Pretty much exactly how we look in stadium

His facial expression in every lesson

Because this is what he thinks I’m doing up there

How it looks EVERY SINGLE TIME I try to get him to leave the barn

His general outlook on life when you don’t give him cookies

Hence why he gets lots of cookies

How I feel about him pretty much all the time

What he constantly dreams of doing but is far too kind to ever actually do

And that’s why I love him. Even when he’s naughty and drags me to the grass, and I’m up there kicking away like a ridiculous pony kid.

 

You’d best do all you can to figure out how to answer the door.

Anyone who’s read this blog consistently probably knows that I’m really into sporthorse breeding and stallions.

Like here: Let’s Make a Baby!

And here: My Love Affair with Stallions

And here: Valentino Z photo extravaganza

I worked at a breeding farm for a while, my mare Sadie is a homebred, and hopefully I’ll have a new youngster coming in 2016. So… breeding nut status is well established.

Last week I got a call from a breeder friend, asking if I had any interest in going to Belgium in March to visit lots of big time breeding farms, see some world famous stallions, and attend the annual Belgian Warmblood stallion selection show.

The answer: DUH! Of course I want to go! That’s like asking a 5yo kid if they wanna go to Disneyland. Or a 20yo girl if she wants to go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (side note: I want to go there too). Sadly, money is tight these days since all of my extra is being filtered into the “Get Henry to AEC’s” fund. Then she said that all I’d really have to pay is airfare because of the perks of the group of VIHP’s (very important horse people) that I’d be traveling with. Well that gets more interesting, and more doable.

Alas, airfare is still over 1k plus I’d have to get a passport plus a little spending money for food and whatever else – about $1500. I’ve already tapped out a lot of my “I need extra money” gigs in my attempt to rake in more horse show money, booking some barn-sitting and a little mobile tack shop work when I can. Now I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to come up with extra-extra money for Belgium. I have no idea if I’ll actually be able to pull this off, but I’m gonna give it the good ol’ college try. It really is a once in a lifetime opportunity of pretty epic proportions.

So on that note – looks like it’s time for all of my hunter stuff to go. Yes that means the beloved shadbelly with custom points, my Ovation hunter bridle from back when the Ovations still looked identical to Edgewood, the used-once hunter show pad, the blue Horseware coat, etc. I’ll come up with an official list later this week. In the mean time if you’re looking for something specific, please ask. Now is the time while I’m weak and vulnerable. 😉

Cross all your crossables… maybe I’ll be able to pull this off!

First of all, if I never see another turkey in my life it’ll be too soon. My boss gave our group pre-cooked smoked turkeys for Thanksgiving, which was so awesome and such a nice gesture, but with just the SO and I alone for the holiday a 10lb turkey was slight overkill. I cannot eat another bite of it, and we’ve still got a couple gallon bags full in the fridge.

I DID however play around with trying to copy a local BBQ restaurant’s creamed corn recipe this weekend as well, and got it pretty darn close. This is great news because it’s ridiculously delicious and super easy, but bad news because there’s so much butter and cream in it I’m pretty sure no one wants to know the calorie content. Especially not me. I’ll just eat it and pretend like I don’t know what’s in it.

Because we had a pretty quiet holiday I was able to get in some good barn time. On Tgiving itself we had a phenomenal dressage school… it’s amazing what happens when I actually keep steady contact and ride him into it. That and wear my nubby little ball spurs that have proven essential for our dressage rides. Those are great too.

On Friday I decided Henry deserved a goof off day, so I put his favorite sidepull on and hacked around the big ring. It just so happened that there were a couple of little boxes pulled out away from a jump in such a way that made a perfect curving one stride skinny-to-skinny. I can’t resist a challenge like that so I pointed Henry at it and he plodded right over both directions on a circle and then straight across jumping both on an angle. He didn’t even blink. Obviously he’s less impressed with my ingenuity than I am.

On Saturday SO’s parents arrived in town from Chicago. Apparently it was 19 degrees when they left there and they rolled into Austin greeted by a balmy 75 degree day. Our summers suck but we definitely win winter. SO’s mom accompanied me to the barn Sunday morning to watch my lesson, which was one of those “looks really easy but is deceptively hard” lessons with poles and striding and straightness and rhythm and adjustability. It was really perfect for us because exercises like that really highlight the holes in your basics, which is ultimately how we get better. I feel like already in just a month or so his general quality of canter has improved and I’m getting better about riding a consistent pace out of the corners. Baby steps to progress!

I hope everyone was able to take advantage of the awesome Black Friday/Small Business Saturday sales. I got good stuff from several of my favorite small businesses for horse friends (and myself) and bought a few things to benefit charities. I have challenged myself this year to ONLY shop small businesses, so we’ll see how I do!

I was also presented with a pretty darn exciting once in a lifetime type of opportunity, which I may or may not be able to actually swing, but we’ll talk about that tomorrow.

 

 

Since holiday shopping time is now officially upon us I thought I’d throw together a list of all the sales I’ve seen so far. BUT – I really want to feature Small Businesses. Your dollars make a big difference to a lot of these guys, whereas with bigger retailers you are but a drop in the bucket. Please shop small when you can! And don’t forget that tomorrow is Small Business Saturday, so visit all your favorite local small businesses plus your favorite online ones!

First: for charity!

Remember Me Rescue fundraiser – limited edition Christmas cards featuring the famous Bridleless Wyatt! Proceeds benefit Thoroughbred rescue group Remember Me (don’t forget to follow them and Bridleless Wyatt on facebook) to support the rehabilitation and retraining of retired racehorses.

Small Businesses:

Mango Bay –

A Bit Tacky Custom Decals – First 5 orders will get 30% off, orders 6-10 will get 25%, and 20% for everyone the rest of the day. Try coupons in this order: HOHOHO30, SNOWMAN25, SANTA20

Topline Leather – through Monday night use coupon code JINGLE25 to receive 25% OFF ALL IN-STOCK BROWBANDS!!!

One Horse Design – 30% off all orders and free shipping on USA orders with coupon code holiday30.

The Herbal Horse – 15% off orders $10 or more with coupon code COLLIN15

Aztec Diamond Equestrian – 20% off with coupon code BF20CODE

Iselltack.com – 20% off Back on Track with coupon GOBBLE

Annie’s Equestrienne – for the kiddos, 50% off all girl’s shirts

Dapple Bay – 20% off Tech with code SBS20 and 30% off apparel with code SBS30.

Snaffle Jewelry – 40% off through midnight on Monday with coupon code black/cyber14

Spur of the Moment – use coupon code THANKSGIVING20 and receive 20% off your entire order

Loft and Livery – 20% off with coupon code SAVE20

Pony Up Equestrian – for our Canadian friends, on Friday get 20-40% off almost everything online plus free shipping within Canada on orders over $100.

Swanky Saddle – 25% off with coupon code SWANKYTURKEY

Moxie Designs – 20% off at checkout with coupon code 3daysale

O’Shaughnessey Apparel – 35% off everything plus a free OS makeup bag with other purchase.

Equine Art by Julie – Friday and Saturday ONLY get 30% off all portraits, ornaments, and memory stones.

Higher Standards Leather Care – Mini gift packs and holiday scents are back! Get 15% off with code SHOPSMALL

The Bayberry Horse – 20% off with coupon code BF2014

Asmar Equestrian – up to 80% off select items

Deco Pony – 25% off non-custom items with coupon code deco25

Fine Used Saddles –  free shipping on everything -trial saddles included – using code BLACKHORSE

Hunt Club – Starting Saturday get 15% off and free shipping with coupon code MuchasGracias.

Equestri Lifestyle – 25% off everything plus a $10 gift card for use on future purchases with all orders, AND free gift wrap. Use coupon code yay at checkout.

Five Star Tack – 25% off everything plus free shipping with coupon code MUSTHAVE

Ecogold – 15% off all black products with coupon code Blackfriday

C4 Belts – 20% with coupon code C4BLACKFRIDAY

Emily’s Equine Creations – 25% off all weekend with coupon code  givethanks2014. 50% off charms and bracelets on Friday with code eecblackfriday2014. Spend $20 or more and receive a free gift with purchase!

The Posh Pony Boutique – all kinds of great weekend deals on their facebook page!

Luv Inspired – 70% off bridle charms with code BFBCB70

Jenny Krauss – they will be having a sale on Small Business Saturday, check their website!

The Pampered Equine – 15% off everything with code BF15OFF

 

And a few of my favorite bigger retailers:

Riding Warehouse – get 20% off storewide

Bit of Britain – Use coupon code BLACKFRIDAY for 20% off your entire order, plus free shipping on orders over $50.

Just Riding – all kinds of awesome stuff in their Black Friday deals section

Selwood Equine – up to 80% on Tattini, up to 70% on Animo and Kingsland