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Having an injured horse is kind of like the Universe’s double Eff You. Not only is your horse hurt and you can’t ride him, you’re also probably so tapped out from vet bills and/or rehab that you can’t even treat your feelings with some proper retail therapy. It’s annoying when you’re forced to just have the feelings instead of buying lots of pretty things to bury them under.

I’m incapable of going very long without acquiring something though, even if it’s a low budget item. I might have gone a tad crazy on Thriftbooks, buying some more breeding books. Yes I already have a bunch of similar books already in my collection, which may or may not include a Holsteiner book and a Hanoverian book written entirely in German. Don’t judge me.

I do some sort of massive Thriftbooks purchase at least once a year… last time it was about a dozen eventing and dressage books, everything from Charles de Kunffy to Mark Todd. They’re pretty much all under $5 a pop, who can resist that? I’m turning into a random-equestrian-books library, and I’m ok with it.

I think the Universe tried to pay me back a little bit last week though, by letting me win not just one but TWO giveaways for a Triple Crown Custom cooler. Yeah, I have no idea how I pulled that off either… two totally separate giveaways for the exact same item. When I won the second one I reluctantly emailed them and let them know that I had already won one, and they should draw another winner. It was slightly tempting to not say anything and take two, but that just seems wrong and I don’t need that kind of bad karma in my life. Nor do I really need two wool coolers. Pretty excited about it though, the TCC coolers are awesome. It should end up looking something like this:

Gotta represent Anchor Equestrian.

There’s also a Mrs Tutton’s shirt on it’s way to me, the one I was drooling over so much. Too bad I won’t really get to wear it until next show season. Unless I wear it to work. Which… might happen.

I’ve been teetering on the brink of ordering an Ogilvy Eventer pad… some days I’m stronger than others. I’ve gone so far as to add it to the cart, but managed to talk myself down from the ledge before I actually paid for it. We’ll see how long I last. We’ll also see how much damage I do at Fair Hill this weekend… we hit one consignment tack shop yesterday and I didn’t find anything I couldn’t live without.

At least Henny seems to be having a good time swimming my money away?

I guess it’s a good thing I’m used to getting up early, since I’m currently sitting in the airport waiting for my flight to Baltimore. Super excited for our little mini horse vacation to Fair Hill! I even packed appropriate reading material.

I’ll still be posting here the next couple days as usual… sorry, you don’t get a break from me.

If anyone wants to meet up at FH, send me a message and let’s coordinate! I’m ready for 3 days of ponies and shopping and nice weather (or so my weather app is promising).

 

Oh and BTW, we officially crossed day 180 of Sadie’s pregnancy (not that I’m literally counting the days or anything), so baby Presto is now about the size of a beagle.

Next stop, day 240, when he’ll be the size of a lamb!

  

Yeah yeah, I know, it’s not even Halloween, calm down with Christmas already.

I’m not really ready to hear about it yet either, but all the best things are custom, and custom stuff has longer lead times (especially around the holidays) so really – now is the time to start thinking about gifts and getting stuff ordered. Plus I come bearing coupon codes and order cutoff dates, therefore this post is totally valid. Hang in there.

Without further ado, my top 5 picks for affordable custom Christmas gifts (in no particular order because that’s just impossible)…

Hamer & Clay custom ornaments

Hamer & Clay‘s custom ornaments/magnets are always incredibly popular and once her list is full, that’s it, so definitely order these soon if you’re gonna. Everybody knows that her stuff is one of my favorite things to give, and the prices are super reasonable (they start at only $22!). Plus, she was so kind as to offer my readers 15% off with coupon code Gohennygo. Knock yourselves out, order a dozen, and have fun with them.

Boy-O-Boy Bridleworks custom accessories

My love for Boy-O-Boy Bridleworks is also no secret, and their stuff makes a great Christmas gift as well. They offer belts, dog collars, leashes, browbands, and a few other things in whatever colors/pattern you choose, plus embroidery options to make it even more personalized. The deadline to guarantee Christmas delivery on custom orders is 11/25, or for items in stock colors (assuming they still have the size you need) is 12/10. They also offer a discount when you order 4 or more identical custom items (matching belts and/or browbands in barn colors, anyone?). I get tons of compliments on my Boy-O-Boy belt, the workmanship is amazing.

Deco Pony custom stall guards

I ordered a Deco Pony stall guard for Trainer last year and it was a huge hit. They look great as part of the stabling set up at shows, plus they’re easy to pack and wipe clean. It’s truly the perfect gift for someone that shows a lot. The cutoff date for Christmas delivery is December 1, and you want to make sure to give yourself time to pick a good design, get logos together, make sure everything is exactly how you want it, etc. Earlier is better! Bonus – mention this blog and get $5 off your order!

Valentine Equine custom pinney

Know an eventer that already has everything? They probably don’t have a custom pinney from Valentine Equine. These are super affordable at only $60-65 AUD, or right under $50 USD. They offer a single color or a two color option, in literally whatever colors you want… if they don’t have it, they will dye a batch for you. Words that make an eventer’s heart go pitter patter. Of course, keep in mind that they’re an Australian company so aside from the normal lead times for a custom item, you should also allow extra time for shipping.

It’s a Haggerty’s custom sunshirts

We might be headed into winter now, but the sun will be back before you know it… unless you’re in the South, where it’s basically summer all year. It’s a Haggerty’s offers custom sunshirts in any color combo you want, plus FREE embroidery. You can get one in your barn colors, your XC colors, or just whatever colors you damn well please, with any logo or monogram. They even have patterned fabrics or collar/cuff accents if you’re into something more bold. The prices are great too, only $50-55 (plus a discount on orders larger than 10)!

 

So much pony time these past few days! On Thursday I went to work super early so I could fit in a half day of work and still get to Trainer’s by noon for a dressage lesson.

I know I already said I love Red, but for real… I love Red. He really makes it possible for me to work on myself, and boy is there a lot of work to do.

This lesson was definitely better than the first one, but still… damn… I constantly see so many things I want to fix. Dressage is so freaking hard. Riding a fun little horse like Red sure helps though.

Saturday morning I drove a couple hours to meet a friend at Pine Hill for some XC schooling. She brought her giant (no joke, 18h+) baby warmblood along for me to ride. He’d never been out XC schooling before and I’d never ridden him before, but aside from some general glee (“wheeeeee this fun!”) and typical easily distracted baby brain, he was great. He’s super brave about the jumps and had no problem with anything I pointed him at.

He wasn’t totally sure he wanted to get in the water at first but after a few patient minutes he waded in, realized it was kinda fun, and then had no problems coming back through after that.

He even conquered the big mound

and loped very nonchalantly over the Novice trakehner.

Up/down banks were no problem either. This guy could be a pretty cool eventer for someone, he thinks Novice jumps are a total snooze fest. Even though he’s giant he rides like a pretty normal sized horse (aside from the fact that you’re like 50 feet off the ground) and doesn’t have a heavy way of going.

It was also cool to get to ride him because he’s by Valentino Z, my favorite stallion ever. Although I’ve ridden V several times, this was my first time riding one of his kids!

I literally went from 13h pony last weekend to 18h warmblood this weekend. And yes, no doubt the pony was harder.

On Sunday afternoon I made the trek out to the rehab place to see Henny. As I was standing there watching him graze I just couldn’t help myself and hopped aboard. I needed to just sit on my boy.

Once he got tired of grazing he made a beeline for the trail behind the barn and took me on a powerwalk all around the property. He seemed happy to be out and about, and after 2 weeks of mostly being cooped up in a stall, I don’t blame him. I indulged him and let him meander around wherever he wanted until he got his fill.

I sure do miss seeing my boy and riding him all the time. It’s been so awesome to get to ride all these nice horses and really work on my riding, but for me there’s only one Henny. Nothing else is quite the same.

Hopefully just two more weeks. Fingers crossed…

I have a lot of really awesome friends. Despite Henry being laid up for a month or two, I’ve not been lacking in offers of horses to ride. So many, in fact, that I haven’t even been able to get to them all yet. Typically I’m the kind of person that really prefers riding one horse, not a bunch of different horses. I like the day to day progress, always having a plan in mind and a goal to work toward. Let’s be honest though, it’s really good for our riding to sit on a lot of different horses.

I’ve already talked about Violet of course, who is a total blast. She’s a little bit tricky though… she wants to get quick sometimes, and if you try to use your hand to whoa, she just goes faster. She really wants you to ride off your seat and leg, you know… properly, and if you don’t, she gets a case of the zoomies. Henry puts up with a lot more bullshit than she does, so Violet offers a good reminder about not getting grabby.

Last week I played hooky from work and drove down to Trainer’s for a lesson on one of her sale guys. I’ve seen a lot of this horse this year from her showing him, but I’ve never sat on him before. He’s a young TB, therefore my type by default, but he’s been ridden so well that he really doesn’t feel that green. His buttons are well on their way to being fully installed and he’s quite the proper young event horse. I’m not used to a horse that 100% seeks out and willingly goes forward into the contact, and stays there. Plus this horse is super responsive to your seat as well – it took very little from me to get a response. He was a really good “this is what we’re striving for with Henny” type of example. Not a made horse yet by any means, but a horse with a really really excellent foundation. I love him and want to steal him, it was so nice to really feel where we’re trying to go with my own horse.

On Saturday I took a turn in the total opposite direction and went out to a friend’s place to ride some of her schoolies that need more work. One was an itty bitty pony named Bonnet (who I’m pretty sure wanted me to eff off and die, although she was fairly polite anyway) and the other was a big paint/draft cross named Nerey. I really thought I’d dislike the drafty horse, because I do better with forward, sensitive horses, but once I let Nerey know that forward wasn’t optional he was actually super cool. Turns out he was a foxhunter in a past life, and he’s pretty darn broke on the flat too. It takes a lot of effort to get it out of him (I literally had an ab cramp when I got off of him on Tuesday) but I quite like that dude. Much respect, Mr. Drafty.

The pony was definitely harder for me to ride. Good god, pony legs move so fast and they’re so close to the ground. That was an exercise in body control for sure, since my torso was longer than her neck. She was good though, and I got to tell everyone that I smooshed a pony, so that’s a bonus.

I’m sneaking off to Trainer’s again today for another lesson, then riding Nerey again tomorrow. This weekend I get to go XC schooling on yet another friend’s horse that I’ve never ridden before, which should be super fun too. I’m dying to get back out there, it’s been way too long.

Moral of the story: I have pretty great friends. It’s nice getting to ride such a wide variety of horses… each one of them is a learning experience in their own right.