Category: Uncategorized

Now that I’m independently mobile and able to do lessons, schoolings, and shows whenever I want, I’ve become even more appreciative of Henry.

Having owned horses in the past that didn’t really load that well, or were nervous haulers, or weren’t trustworthy about standing tied at the trailer, or were screaming messes at shows, it’s REALLY NICE to have one that isn’t any of those things. At this point in my life it’s non-negotiable that whatever horse I have is (or learns to be) a good traveler, especially since I often travel alone. I didn’t even know how strongly I felt about this until I started traveling with Henry and realized just how easy he is and how much nicer that makes things.

He was pretty easy to start with, but over the past few months of adventures pretty much every weekend, he’s gotten to be a total road warrior. A couple weekends ago at High Point, for instance, I loaded him in the dark at 5:15am (he never questions my sanity in these situations), he was chill enough on the two hour trip to eat his entire bag full of hay, unloaded, looked left, looked right, and buried his nose in his newly re-filled hay bag, even with someone lunging a wild screaming horse only 20 feet away from the back of my trailer.

The day before that at Scissortail was the same thing, even with crazy wind and the fact that we were the first trailer there, I had no qualms about leaving him at the trailer with his hay while I went to pee and pick up my number. It’s nice to be able to take a leisurely pee instead of trying to pee as fast as possible to avoid your horse taking an unauthorized tour of the showgrounds.

What’s your stance on trailer/traveling manners? Are they a Must Have, or can you live with some more difficult behavior?

When I’ve had horses in the past that I didn’t trust to stand tied, I would leave them in the trailer instead. An easy remedy, but less so when your trailer doesn’t really have a lot of space to maneuver for grooming or tacking up. One thing is for sure – the next baby horse will spend a lot of time traveling and learning about patience, because I am never again putting up with one who isn’t easy. So thank you, Henry, for having good grown-up horse manners and making my life easier.

Except for that time you turned your bucket over on your own head and when I came back around the side of the trailer you were looking at me like “No idea what happened, this bucket totally just jumped on my head! Halp, I has water in muh ears…”

Three things are clear from yesterday’s adventure:

1. The Cambox is freaking awesome.
2. I need to figure out how to use it better and tweak a few things to make it perfect.
3. Bobby sucks at taking video.

Bobby was showing at MeadowCreek on Friday/Saturday, and he stayed over until Sunday so I could come meet him up there for an XC school. As soon as Henry came off the trailer and saw Halo it was total bromance mode.

 

I put the Cambox on my helmet at the barn but had some issues getting the adhesive to stick to the alcantara on the underside of the brim. Gonna have to play with it to get it secure enough for my liking, but there’s no doubt it looks a million times more sleek than the GoPro.

I also don’t think I charged it enough, or maybe I left it on in between filming, because I ran out of battery not too far into our schooling. Gonna have to play with that too. And I need to turn the lens a little more upward so you can see the fences better. Ok, so I learned a lot on this trial run. Mostly I just got video of the water (which wasn’t much footage when I trimmed off all the extra galloping stretches and walking):

Bobby got a little bit of video though, at least of the Training half coffin and another Training roll top.

I love this screen shot of Halo watching Henry. I think he’s coaching him through…

Then we jumped the scary giant T/P weldon’s wall and Bobby did this:

You had ONE JOB, Bobby! He says he got so excited he forgot he was filming. Or he’s just dumb… you decide. But here’s a picture of said Weldon’s wall from the front.

Henry was his usual good boy self, and it was a super fun and productive schooling. Once I get the chance to play with the Cambox a little bit more I’ll do a review, but so far I’m pretty happy with it. The design is awesome and it’s waaaay easier to use/less obtrusive than the GoPro!

Guess who got a real, genuine leather, CUSTOM saddle and is no longer riding in a Wintec? That’s right, this douchebag:

A few months ago I came across a picture of a really cool saddle on facebook that was in Bobby’s colors, so I sent it to him. He actually said it was beautiful, and I politely encouraged him to ask how much it was. It was made by a very small saddlery in the UK, so I thought maybe the price could be reasonable. And while yes it was SUPER reasonable for a custom saddle, it was a bit more than Bobby could justify spending. So he did what any self-respecting manchild would do and dropped many not-at-all subtle hints to his bf Dustin about what a good birthday present it would be. Dustin pretended to laugh it off, but he’s a devious one…

And so began the process of Dustin and I plotting behind Bobby’s back to get him his dream saddle. Dustin emailed the maker about ordering and payment, and I provided the fit details (seat size, flap length, forwardness, etc) and the tracing of Halo’s back. This was a pretty massive secret operation, trying to get the saddle just right but not let Bobby catch on to what we were doing.

Dustin was able to pull off the extra miraculous feat of getting the saddle delivered to him in about a month. Pretty amazing turnaround time for custom, and the saddle is beautiful.

When it arrived, Dustin asked me when I thought he should give it to Bobby and I said please god do it immediately. #1 keeping secrets as amazing as this one is physically painful for me, #2 if he’s gonna show in it on his birthday at his first recognized Training with Halo, he needs to ride in it a little bit first. Guess who legit cried when he got his saddle? He also told me he loved me. Twice. Just for the record.

Because Dustin is the best human ever, he also asked me if Bobby needed any accessories to go with his new saddle. I happily directed him to a real bridle (no more plastic bridle!) and a new saddle pad from Riding Warehouse, plus the saddle maker provided leathers with red stitching to match. He is 100% re-outfitted and ready to look like a total badass. My little Bobby is growing up!

I have never been so excited for someone else to get a present. I feel like we’ve all won here. I also want to go on record with a few direct quotes from a newly-reformed Bobby:

• “My girth actually works. But wintec is shit so maybe I should go buy a fancy one for him.”
• His comment after he gave me his navy saddle pad “It’s gross, it doesn’t match. I can’t have it near the saddle. It hurts my eyes. I’m buying another pad today so I have two schooling pads. White red or black…..”
• “I want to burn this ugly plastic shit!”

I need a new skull cap. The very cheap, purchased-on-clearance one that I bought last year isn’t fitting me so well now that I’ve cut off 5″ of hair and all the padding inside of the helmet has compressed. There’s more slippage than I feel safe with, so I need something better.

The only other skull cap I’ve ever owned was a Charles Owen, and it was too round for my very long oval head. Granted, I don’t remember which model it was or how it compared, shape wise, to other models. So that’s helpful. The only other brand I’ve tried on was a One K and it was far too round as well. There are a lot of new brands and models out on the market since the last time I really truly shopped for one, but I’m not sure how all of them fit and I’m at a bit of a loss as to where to begin. There aren’t exactly a lot of skull caps in the shops around town, so I don’t have the luxury of trying a bunch on in person.

Since I really only wear a skull cap for XC, I don’t want to spend a ton of money. So – best long oval shaped skull cap under $200?

Of course the two that I’m most interested in, safety rating-wise and review-wise, are the Gatehouse RXC1 and the Champion Ventair Deluxe, which are only sold overseas. Typical.

 

But on the more entertaining side, while looking around at skull caps on random British websites (they have so many more options) I found plenty of helmets and helmet related accessories that I don’t want. Because it’s impossible for me to ever stay on task. And also because who wouldn’t be distracted by these things?

I call this one “My Starry Eyes Are Bleeding”:

Or the “Big Eq Barbie” (as dubbed by Karen):

Or the “I Always Wanted a Browband to Match My Horse”

Carry on…

What, you haven’t gotten a tattoo with one of your parents?

My dad has all kinds of cool stuff on his goals list for the year, including run a half marathon (which he already did) and getting his first tattoo, which is now also a checkmark in the “done” column. I hope I’m this badass at 63.

On Saturday after the horse show I met him at his house and we went to get tattoos. He’s been wanting to get Pigasus and I have several on my list, so why not go together?

I got a quote (I have this quote on lots of stuff, just none of which are on my body or permanent):

Yes, more Narnia stuff. It’s a great quote and it reminds me of my mom, so it seemed perfect. The crown (hard to tell, but it’s purple) above the “C” in courage is from the logo she used for all of her quilting stuff:

I think she would like it. ❤