Category: Uncategorized

Quinniepants McStumpers says Happy Holidays, everyone!

He’s been waiting under the tree for Santa.

He also says he should get at least 15 treats for making him wear that hat.

I’ve talked about Hamer & Clay a lot on my blog. I first came across her ornaments last year and gave a lot of them (like 10) as Christmas presents. I forgot to order one for myself though, so when H&C opened up for orders this season, I made sure to get myself a Henry (and a couple for barnmates too). Of course, I also posted on here that orders were open, and you guys absolutely went nuts for these ornaments. Kelsey at H&C is one of my favorites, so many thanks to y’all for making this by far her busiest season.

When I got my package from H&C and very excitedly tore off the glittery ribbon to open the box, I think I squealed like a baby pig.

As usual, the details are just spot on. Look at his little beaded browband and Majyk Equipe boots! She even got the piping on the Ogilvy and my Roeckl gloves. Bonus points for glittery mane and tail and derpy overall impression.

The ones for my barnmates came out perfect as well… Sherri got a little ClayRheta

complete with C4 neckstrap and glittery mane/tail, of course. Because mares.

And then there’s Bobby. The ClayHalo I ordered? Nailed it. She even managed to make Bobby look just as dumb in clay as he does in real life. That’s true artistic talent.

Then there were the extra ornaments that I didn’t know about. Have I mentioned I love Kelsey? Because I do. These are perfection.

First, a magnet version of Halo with his AEC ribbons to celebrate his national championship win (yep, she makes magnets too).

Then I opened this little one and just about died laughing…

Yep that’s my trainer wearing Uni. Remember this photo?

It might be the best ornament I’ve ever seen.

But wait, there’s MORE! And was wrapped like this. Behold:

Ever seen wrapping that amazing before? Once I saw what was inside I understood that no other wrapping would have suited this beast.

That is without a doubt the most amazing, rainbowy, glittery, sparkly unicorn I have ever seen. LOVE doesn’t even begin to describe my feelings. It’s perfect.

Many eternal thanks Kelsey at Hamer & Clay for really going above and beyond. Not only are the ornaments I ordered just gorgeous, these extra AEC-related ones are now keepsakes that I will cherish forever. You win Christmas, my friend.

 

I’ve never really thought of myself as a collector. I don’t like clutter in my house so I don’t keep knickknacks or things like that. My horse stuff is generally the same way – I try to sell as much as I buy to keep everything “even”. Of course, sometimes I don’t succeed at that. And sometimes I like things so much that before you know it you open your closet/tack truck and you’re like “How the heck did I get 10 of those?”. No idea how that happened.

So – what do you seem to collect?

Judging by the sheer amount of Kastel clothing present in my closet, it would appear that I might have a little bit of an addiction problem happening. 6 sunshirts (pink, blue, coral, white, gray, yellow), 2 merino wool sweaters (green and gray), a puffy jacket, and a hat. Look, I just really like Kastel okay?

Which leads us to the one thing I’ve actually knowingly collected – hats. I have no idea why I collect hats or when it started, but I just like having them. It’s nice to be like “Hmmm which awesome hat am I gonna wear to the barn today?”. If I like a brand, I want a hat with their logo on it. Think of it as free advertising on my massive forehead!

I might have 12 pairs of Sock it to Me socks and at least 10 Mango Bay belts too, but I consider those life essentials so they don’t count.

PS – I still want the forest green and navy Kastel sunshirts.

PSS – Need moar hats.

 

 

On Sunday Bobby and I trailered to a farm a little over an hour away so we could have a jumping lesson from our trainer. Bobby is about to move up to Training (I gave him balls) so he wanted to jump some big-ish stuff, and I’m taking every opportunity to a) get a jump lesson b) jump in a larger arena than at home. Our problems tend to be exacerbated greatly when we have more space.

At Trainer’s suggestion I switched Henry to a full cheek Dr Bristol. I needed a little bit more respect and something that he couldn’t just lean on and drag me through the corners. I tried it out o/f on Saturday at home, doing some of the exercises Buck recommended, and Henry was actually quite good. Normally he’s a drama queen about any new bit, but he was fantastic in the Dr Bristol. I got more respect but he never tossed his head, curled up, or seemed pissed. Kind of amazing for Henry, usually he has an opinion about everything.

On Sunday when we got on and started warming up for our lesson, Trainer immediately said that she noticed a big difference in how Henry was moving. The magic fetlock juice plus new farrier are definitely helping. She set the fences as we warmed up, and had them at about 3′-3’3″ to start with, which we’re pretty comfortable with right now. We warmed up, did a couple courses at that height, then she started raising the fences. Bobby and I both looked like this

Trainer cackled (she’s evil, so she cackles by default) and said “We’re gonna put a few at Prelim height so Training looks small!”. Great. Super. Sure, why not? Seems like as good a day as any to die.

It took me most of the lesson to remember what our “right” pace is, and I really had to ride every step, but Henry was great. Very honest a couple of times when he totally didn’t have to be (sorry bud) and just quite rideable in general. A total turnaround from the horse I’ve had all fall – this is my normal Henry, back in business.

At one point Evil Trainer had us jump the big square oxer, bending 5 strides to the last big oxer of the triple. It was a bit of a wonky line that required you to jump the second one on an angle, and bless Henry’s golden little heart, he was super game.

The key points were pretty much exactly what Buck said (Trainer is evil but she is wise) – always keeping him bent around my inside leg, making sure to keep the power in the canter, and getting him more comfortable jumping from the base. It’s a work in progress of course but it was light years better than what’s been happening lately.

Dare I say that I think I have my horse back? BRB, gotta go find a shit ton of wood to knock on…

 

Overall success rate: 84%

But how did it break down by category?

Qualify for AEC’s – Yep! Qualified, went, even got ribbons and won stuff. That made my whole year, with just this one goal met.

Score below 35 in dressage AND finish on that score – Did this more than once, but that 28.3 totally rocked my world.

Get an actual, honest to god stretchy trot circle from Henry – He does this all the time now, it’s his new favorite.

Score a 7 or above on our free walk – this happened 3 times!

Stop being such a pansy about the down banks – Neither of us care anymore.

Be more fit – I went up and down with this but ultimately at this moment I’m not more fit than I was at this time last year so I can’t call it a win.

Keep Henry happy and healthy – He’s looking and feeling pretty great this days. A little TOO great.

Improve my attitude toward dressage – I still don’t love it, but I feel like we’ve come to have mutual respect and understanding.

Get a 4-legged bun in the oven – This got pushed to 2016.

Horse Goals success rate: 78%

 

Be more appreciative of my awesome SO – I think I’m better about this.

Be less selfish – I feel like I was better about this too.

Continue to always be as honest and transparent as possible while still being as kind as possible – I know I sometimes come across as brutally honest, but for the most part I at least tried to take off the sharpest edges.

Travel more – I’m in love with Belgium now. Trip of a lifetime.

Get at least one more tattoo – This is on the docket for sometime in the next few months but didn’t happen this year.

Compete in at least 2 triathlons and place in the top 3 – Ok, I feel like I should get a 1/2 point for effort here. I tried to enter a triathlon and it got cancelled, then the other two I wanted to do conflicted with horse show dates.

Personal Goals success rate: 75%

 

Move to my own domain name – Boom.

Roll out a more polished, clean look – Definitely an improvement over the old format.

Keep staying true to my original intentions – This is what I wrote for this goal:

Be as forthright as possible, be reliable, and always speak what’s on my mind even if it’s a tough subject. People won’t always agree with you, and it’s just not possible for everyone to like you, but as long as you have integrity people will always respect you. I think one of the worst things we can do as bloggers is to censor ourselves to the point of becoming automatons. We have the luxury of a built in audience – something most people do not. I think we should use it as an opportunity to speak up when the situation arises. I want to do that more.

I can say 100% that I did that. There were a couple of tough subjects and people definitely did not always agree, or like what I said, or like ME at all (to put it lightly), but I said what I felt needed to be said and I would do it all again without hesitation.

This year was both one of my best ever and one of my worst ever. My AEC experience was one of the best moments of my entire life, but the loss of my mom is still a deep, fresh wound. As time goes on I miss her more, not less. She was the first person I wanted to call after AEC when I was at cloud nine level euphoria. She was also the first person I wanted to call after Greenwood when I felt so utterly defeated. But I know what she would have said to me both times, so I said those things to myself instead and thanked her for the wisdom.

While the numbers and percentages are fun and neat to look at, the parameters have changed. My new measure of success is: would my mom be proud of me for what I did? For HOW I did it? If the answer is yes, then I’ve done the right thing, the right way. And I know she would have been proud of me this year.

Personal Goals success rate: 100%