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My latest trial saddle arrived last Tuesday night, just late enough for me to not be able to immediately run to the barn and sit in it. Those among us with serious lack of patience issues will understand how deflating this is, and just how long it makes the subsequent 7 hour sleep and 9 hour work day seem.

When I opened the box I wasn’t quite as optimistic about the saddle as I’d been from photos. She was stiff and squeaky and had dirt caked into all of her crevices (poor Childeric, that’s exactly how I feel at the end of a horse show weekend so I can empathize). The nail heads were covered in enough green varnish to where you could barely read the brand name. She looked like she had obviously been a little neglected. The leather also looked a bit slick, which has been my complaint with almost every dressage saddle I’ve sat in except the Devoucouxs and CWD, so I was a bit worried right off the bat. Beyond the superficial things though, it’s in good shape. The tree is solid, there are no tears or significant rubs, the stitching is all intact, and the panels and billets are good.

I got to the barn on Wednesday and plopped the Childeric on Henry.  He did not immediately try to kick my knee caps off or pin his fuzzy little drama queen ears, so we were off to a good start. I slid it back until it settled behind his shoulder, stepped back and looked at the balance, made sure it wasn’t rocking or bridging, checked the evenness from the back and shoulder clearance from the front. It’s not 100% perfect like custom, but it’s pretty darn good. Certainly significantly better than my Makila was.

Since I was concerned about it feeling slick and no longer own any full seat breeches I sprayed it with a little bit of stick tight before I got on. I shouldn’t have done that. I spent the first 5 minutes trying to unstick myself enough to post properly. Lesson learned. Don’t spray the Childeric – she only looks slick.

As soon as I got on I was encouraged right off the bat. It fit well in the seat and I immediately felt comfortable in it. A lot of dressage saddles I’ve sat in have made it feel like my hips are being wrenched from their sockets, but not this one. How come the French seem to be the only ones capable of making saddles that don’t hurt me (well, not physically at least, the financial pain is another story)? My only minor criticism was that i could feel the buckles on the stirrup leathers a bit under my thigh (but this gave me the perfect excuse to buy Trainer’s old leather webber style leathers off of her and sell the stupid TSF leathers that I hate). We picked up the trot and immediately Henry felt like he was moving pretty well through his shoulder – his other telltale sign of whether he likes a saddle or not. Trotting like a foundered shetland pony = bad. Trotting like a normal “6.5 mover” Henry = good.

The real test for me with dressage saddles has been the canter. It either really works or it really doesn’t. We picked up the canter (a decent trot-canter transition for once, I might add) and I immediately knew it would work for me. My leg hung well, I didn’t have to fight the saddle to sit correctly, and I felt like the balance was very good. It wasn’t as sunshine-and-rainbows as my trainer’s Devoucoux Loreak, but it’s also not anywhere near the same price range. No dramatics from Henry either, just a normal canter. When I asked him to collect a little more he easily did it without complaint. I think we have a winner all around, ladies and gentleman.

While I’m not over the moon thrilled about the price, it was still a fair deal and one of the cheapest of this model that I’ve been able to find. I’ve already scrubbed her clean (it took a toothbrush and two differently shaped sponges) and conditioned her a few thousand times and she feels and looks tremendously better. She was so thirsty I used 1/4 of a container of conditioner… I kept globbing it on and she kept soaking it up. I think my winter project will be a re-dye so that the seat looks less faded and green. Dying the saddle black, painting the trailer white…

Oh, Henry.

The farrier came out on Wednesday to re-shoe Henry. Coincidentally, Wednesday was also Day 1 of my 5 day trial period on the Childeric dressage saddle. It then makes sense, of course, that when I showed up after work on Wednesday, mere hours after the farrier had left, Henry had already removed a front shoe. How he does these things, I don’t even know, but it’s a real talent.

I was able to do a short w/t/c ride on Wednesday, since he hadn’t had time to make himself sore on that foot yet. Then it rained (yes, again) and the turnouts were too muddy for them to go out anyway, so it kind of worked out for the sake of his foot. By Saturday Henry was sore on that foot despite being inside, but he was also looking stocked up and stir-crazy, so I wrapped it, threw an Easy Boot on, and did a very short walk down the road. Even just walking on a smooth surface he managed to pull the Easy Boot off twice, so I gave up on riding at that point. At least the stocking up went away, even if the half-crazed look remained.

The farrier is supposed to be out today to replace the shoe. If it’s not on when I go out after work then this might be my last blog post, because I’ll be in prison for strangling the farrier with princess, tie-dye, flying pig, bacon and egg, or mac & cheese duct tape. Maybe all of them.

The rest of the weekend was decidedly non-horsey. On Saturday night we met my dad for Indian food to celebrate the SO’s new promotion/raise. Then we went back to my dad’s house and went through some stuff he’s uncovered as he’s been going through my mom’s stuff, including one of my old Girl Scout uniforms. New mission: figure out what all of these patches were for! The only one I remember is the second one from the left on the bottom row. Guess why? That badge marks the beginning of my entire riding career, believe it or not. Who new what an innocent trail ride with my Girl Scout troop would end up leading to.

On Sunday SO and I went for brunch for the first time in forever, to a place we hadn’t tried before. They had a “Build your own Mimosa” thing where you got a bottle of champagne and then your choice of 3 juices. It was just as delicious as you would imagine.

Oh and I had creme brulee french toast that looked like a piece of cake as big as my head. So much win.
Things are starting to dry out, so hopefully if Henry gets his shoe put back on today we can at least get a few rides in before the Hawley Bennett clinic this weekend. It’d be nice to not show up with a wild mustang…

It occurs to me that I haven’t done any review posts in quite a while. This is because review posts are work, and I am lazy. But since we’re ankle deep in mud and it’s raining again as we speak, I figured maybe now is the time, especially since we’re going into the gift-giving and list-making season. However, while I know that I promised review posts to a lot of people on a lot of things, I don’t remember what or to whom. So here’s a list of all the stuff I can think of that I have that might be of interest. If there are things on here that you want reviews of, let me know and I’ll bump them to the top of the list. And let’s be honest, I’ll probably never get to the rest of it… so speak now or forever hold your peace.

Noble Outfitters Ringside Backpack

Equiline Alice show coat

La Valencio breeches

Devon-AIre Signature breeches

PS of Sweden 3 point breastplate

Book: Modern Gymnastics by Jimmy Wofford

Book: World Class Grooming

Harcour crystal gloves

Jeffers tendon boots

Dressage Sport Boots

PRI Eventer pad

Airowear Outlyne body protector

Dublin River boots

Lister Star clippers

Total Saddle Fit calfskin leathers

Kastel merino wool 1/4 zip sweater

Lorenzini/Schockemohle Titanio stirrups

And anything else that I’m forgetting, of which I’m sure there’s a lot. Once I get to play with my Samshield more I was thinking of doing a GPA Speed Air vs Samshield comparison – any interest in that as well?

I’ve got a bad case of the want-to’s. I pretty much always have a bad case of the want-to’s, but now that my show season is over my schedule just seems so… open. After a year like this one, where it’s felt like I’ve been gone more often than I’ve been home, it’s strange and oddly deflating to have nothing to do. I feel a little aimless, especially with the rain wreaking havoc on my ability to actually ride my horse on a regular basis. It was nice to have a break for a couple weeks, but then I got that old familiar itch. I’m not the only one that gets the itch, right?

I keep seeing things pop up here and there for a jumper show, a dressage show, a combined test, a schooling HT, a clinic, open schooling days, etc. Every single thing that pops up elicits a “Ooooh I wanna do that!” response from me. Doesn’t really matter what it is, I just want to do it.  Henry is probably really glad I don’t have a truck yet or who knows where he’d be right now.

I pretty much resisted everything (or just plain couldn’t make it work) until the Hawley Bennett clinic popped up. I’m already signed up for a Buck Davidson clinic in December, which I’m super ridiculously excited about. I usually don’t do clinics though… hard to justify the money when you’re perpetually on a tight budget.

However, I think that some of my “show” budget should really be allocated towards the “education” budget if I have any semi-realistic notions of moving up in the near future, so I’m gonna skip the little schooling shows I had planned for the next two months and opt for this instead. And in my defense, the Hawley clinic is super reasonably priced – too reasonable to pass up, really.

And with that, it appears that the off season has now become clinic season. Somebody bring Jimmy Wofford somewhere close-by and let’s make it a trifecta.

Some of you might remember the Hamer & Clay ornaments I bought as Christmas presents last year. Beka got one as part of her blogger Secret Santa, which pretty much sealed the deal on her being my internet wife.

They were a HUGE hit, really cute, and super affordable. They are my new go-to favorite present for barn friends (so um… all my barn friends… forget what you just read and act surprised when you get an ornament) and my friends with dogs. Because who doesn’t love having their favorite furry friend turned into an awesome keepsake? This year I’m buying one for myself too, because somehow last year in my ornament frenzy I forgot to do that.

Kelsey, the owner of Hamer & Clay, can do just about anything you can dream up. Any colors, any kind of special features, markings, tack, glitter, rhinestones, horses, dogs, even fish… you name it, she can do it. And they’re all STUNNING. All I did was send her photos, specify details, colors, etc, and she absolutely nailed every single one.

I’m very excited to hear from Kelsey that Hamer & Clay is officially open for the season. Not only is she open, she’s offering my readers 15% off orders over $25 with coupon code alwaysbeaunicorn when you order through her Etsy shop. Interested in ordering? Here’s what you need to know:

PRICE LIST:

Equines
Equines with riders: $22.00 ea
any pose any discipline, one horse, one rider

Equines with wreaths: $22.00 ea
any pose, any style of wreath, or stall door.

Equines with bows: $20.00 ea.
one horse, one bow, or simple adornment.

Other Quadrupeds
Cattle, swine, deer, moose etc.
Quadrupeds with wreaths: $20.00 ea
Quadrupeds with bows: $18.00 ea

Household Pets
Pets in a wreath: $18.00 ea
Pets with a bow or simple adornment: $16.00 ea
Pets au naturel $15.00 ea

Everything Else:
Above is the standard list of items offered. The shop is run on a fully
custom basis, and I would be happy to work with you on anything else
you don’t see listed above.

THE FINE PRINT:

Hamer & Clay is a small home based business with one sculptor. Ornaments are made one at a time for the consignor per their specifications

All orders placed and paid for before December 10, 2015 are guaranteed to arrive before Christmas.

Orders are a first come first serve basis. New orders may be waitlisted depending on order volume.

All orders can be monitored via a link provided with your invoice number.

Hamer & Clay prides itself on customer satisfaction, and will do everything within it’s abilities to ensure you get exactly what you envisioned. (or as close to our abilities as possible)

Standard shipping rates apply to all orders:
-All ornaments are shipped via Canada Post/USPS unless otherwise specified. Ornaments are wrapped in tissue, gift boxes and bubble wrap, they are packed securely and carefully.
-All ornaments damaged during shipping are eligible for a full refund or resculpt or both. ** Photos must be provided for insurance purposes
-Ornaments can be shipped as gifts directly to their intended recipients, wrapped free of charge. Discounts will still apply.

Shipping rates:
Canadian Customers: add $15.00 flat rate shipping for all shipments within Canada
USA Customers: $13.50 ground (4-10 days) with tracking. PM for express rates.

So go forth, readers, support a great small business, and buy all the ornaments! Don’t forget to follow Hamer & Clay on facebook to see all of her ornaments and get business updates.