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Since Thursday is supposed to be rainy, I’ve picked it as the day for Henry’s third and final body clip of the season. All along I’ve had every intention of clipping something into his butt, but I have absolutely no idea what so I just haven’t done it. It seems like all the best ones have something to with the horse’s name:

Or an official brand or breed logo

Of course, Henry’s name is a “people” name, and his show name is Happenstance. I don’t really know of any shapes that immediately come to mind to reflect either of those. Not to mention that I don’t have super mad clipping skills or the little bitty clippers (or the patience) required for intricate designs.

Here’s where I need help – what’s a good, fairly simple design to put on his bum? I love stars but SB has already won the star game with C-rage, so anything I do will be second rate at best. I thought about a lightning bolt, only because a) it seems simple and b) it makes me giggle. It doesn’t really tie into his names at all though.

His registered name is He’salmostsweet because he was born the day before Valentine’s, but I fear that putting a heart on his bum will make me look like a 10yo ponykid who just loves her SNOOKUMS, like OMG. This is a pretty rad heart though:

I also thought about maybe a horseshoe, since Happenstance is kinda like luck? Help me out here, creative people! What do I clip into Henry’s bum?

Finally! FINALLLLYYY!!! Our true Texas winter has returned. Temperatures in the low 70’s and not a cloud in sight. This is why we endure scorching summers. I hope that cold crap is gone for good.

Even my mood seems vastly improved… at one point yesterday I just sat in a parking lot with my sunroof open, basking in the sun. The stresses of life seem to just melt away on really beautiful days like that. Also – I got to ride my horse again! After almost two weeks I’d pretty much forgotten what that was like.

HenryJan18 from amanda chance on Vimeo.

It was also my first chance to ride, or really even groom, since starting Henry on the omeprazole. He’s now been on it for 10 days, and maybe it’s just purely coincidental but I’m seeing a few subtle changes. First, when I groomed him he did not go to Grump Town when I brushed his right side. Normally as soon as I get over there with a curry, brush, or towel he gives me The Face and sometimes would even pick up his back leg to threaten me away. Yesterday I curried, brushed, AND toweled and got only a single tail swish. Coincidence? Maybe. He also seemed less “jumpy” to my leg under saddle… he’s always been a sensitive horse and I imagine always will be, but I wasn’t getting that quick jerky overreaction like I sometimes do. Of course, that was just based off of one ride so we’ll see if that continues. I also thought he was marching more forward and free in his walk than is normal for him, but that could have been the I-haven’t-been-ridden-in-two-weeks coming out. We’ll see as time goes on, although I’m fairly encouraged to see any changes at all. And glad, because I’ve got omeprazole tubes coming out of my ears. Seriously, my locker looks like a pharmacy. Henry also got his teeth done and sheath cleaned last week while I was off barnsitting. Big thanks to Auntie Brandy for giving him his meds and looking after him while I was away from the barn. And for taking this glorious picture.

The place I was barnsitting is basically my dream property in every way, I had a great time there. I even made SO make the drive on Friday night so I could show him everything and point out why it was a good design, the soil, the footing, the layout, the fencing, blah blah blah. I think his eyes glazed over, but he said he liked it too.

He also spectated while I groomed the Traks and cleaned the barn. As in… spectated from the porch with a cup of coffee while I cleaned and spectated from a safe distance while I groomed. He did actually hold Toni’s lead rope for a few minutes, although he set it down and backed up a step when I told him Toni was a stallion. Toni was not impressed with either of us, but he appreciated having the now-abandoned lead rope to chew on. Whoa there, wild stallion.

All in all it was a nice fun WARM weekend with lots of time spent outside. The next few days look to be equally as lovely, too… I love it.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a blog hop, and I still haven’t ridden my horse since last week, so why the heck not?

Beka (my blog wife) over at The Owls Approve asked:

Let’s pretend that financial restrictions don’t exist and logistics isn’t a nightmare.  If you could do anything with your Ponykins, what would you do?

Four things immediately come to mind:

1) AEC’s. I know, I know, I talk about it a lot, but it’s my main goal of 2015. Not gonna lie – if we don’t make it I’ll be really disappointed.

2) a Novice 3-day event. Because jog-ups, and roads and tracks, and steeplechase! I’m still a die-hard fan of the long format of eventing so this would be cool in so many ways. Plus I will probably never ever have the cojones to want to jump around any actual FEI level event, so this is a good way to play dress up and do the fun stuff without actually trying to kill myself on a giant solid XC jump. In my dreams I would love to do a N3DE next year, but a) I just dunno about that b) it would depend on if the one that used to happen in Texas ever actually happens again. Fun as it would absolutely for sure definitely be, I can’t see me hauling several states away for something like that.

3) Foxhunting. And while I totally would settle for Texas foxhunting (should have put that on my 2015 goals…) in my fantasyland I mean Virginia foxhunting. Not Ireland, because those people are a hair too drunk/crazy, but I’m game for VA style. That seems like a happy medium.

Like this:

But not:

4) Ride on the beach. I’ve done this a couple times before in my life but not on my own terms, so it’d be fun to tak Hens for a little gallop by the water.

This post was going to be my top 5 favorite Henry faces of 2014, but once I started looking through pictures I realized I couldn’t narrow it down to 5. So instead I pulled out all of my favorites… mostly silly faces but a few more “normal” ones too. Please scroll down through them all then vote for your favorite at the end!

Vote away! I’ve allowed you to choose up to 3 different pictures, in case it’s too hard to pick just one.

It seems like I’ve had a lot of people ask me lately about breech sizing, especially in regard to Aztec Diamond. I decided to pull out all of my breeches (sadly my collection has dwindled since last fall, but I still have 11 pairs across several different brands. Caveat – a couple were given to me and either I don’t know the brand or I haven’t really worn or looked closely at them yet, so I did not include those here) to measure, compare, and photograph. I’ve tried to put as much information in here as I can think of regarding each brand, how they fit, how they wear, and main features. If there’s something I didn’t cover, please feel free to ask and I’ll add it in. Hopefully this helps someone out there! I took pictures of one pair of each brand so you can see what they look like on a real person vs a model. It’s very interesting to see pictures next to each other like this… you can really tell which ones are most flattering to me vs which ones are not!

2 pairs of low rise Trophy Hunter front zips, one knee patch euro seat (size 30R) one full seat (size 30L)

 

one pair of size I-42 and one pair of size I-44

Flight breeches and Houndstooth Luxe breeches, UK size 12

Fabric: 94% polyester 6% spandex, Euro seat lining 92% polyester 8% spandex

Measurements (the Flight breeches):
Waist 15.25″
Hips 18.5″
Rise 10.5″
Inseam to bottom 25″
Inseam to start of sock bottom 18″

Compared to Houndstooth pair: all identical measurements except Houndstooth are 1/2″ bigger in hips/upper thigh

Features:
4 pockets on Houndstooth
3 pockets on Flight
Belt loops: 1 3/4″
sock bottoms
silicone knee patches
lined euro seat for comfort/anti-chafing

Stain resistant (scale of 1-5): 4
Do they stretch out with wear: No
Are they stiff or soft out of the wash: Soft
Do they dry quickly: Very quickly
Are they thick or thin: on the thin side
# of wears (approx): The Houndstooth I got in the summer and have worn a lot since. They’re probably my favorite pair. The Flight I just got and have worn twice.
Is there any fading? No.
Is there any pilling? No.
How well do they hide thigh cheese: Pretty darn well.
Any fit issues: None, honestly. They fit like they were made for me and I find these to be the most comfortable.

2 pair of full seat breeches size 30

Fabric: main body 65% cotton, 30% poly, 5% elastane. Seat – 88% poly, 12% polyurethane.

Measurements (hot pink pair):
Waist: elastic lined. Not stretched – 14″. Stretched – 16″.
Hips: 17″, easily stretch to 19″
Rise: 11″
Inseam to bottom: 25″

Compared to same model in Tardis Blue: waist 1/4″ bigger in the blue pair, hips/rise/inseam identical.

Features:
Velcro bottom
2 pockets on one pair (pink), none on other (blue)
Belt loops: 1.5″

Stain resistant (scale of 1-5): 2
Do they stretch out with wear: Yes
Are they stiff or soft out of the wash: a little stiff, I usually toss in the dryer on no or low heat for a minute after they’ve line-dried to soften them back up.
Do they dry quickly: For full seats, decently quickly.
Are they thick or thin: on the thin side
# of wears (approx): Probably about equal on both pairs, around a dozen times each.
Is there any fading? Not yet.
Is there any pilling? Slight pilling behind the knee. A very slight fuzziness to the fabric has started as well.
How well do they hide thigh cheese: Not that well.
Any fit issues: I don’t think they’re very flattering around the tummy area, but they’re comfortable to wear.

one pair of Sit Tight Supreme full seat size Large

We have dubbed these “The Unfortunate Crotch Pants”. Luckily the crotch looks normal when you’re in a riding position, it’s just not so cute when you’re standing around. I was in between the size measurements of a Medium and a Large so I sized up rather than possibly end up with a gross thigh situation. That makes them a bit big for me in the tummy area.

Fabric: body 90% nylon 10% spandex, seat 82% PU 18% poly

Measurements:
Waist: elastic. 14.5″ unstretched, 16.5″ stretched
Hips: 19″ unstretched, 20″ stretched
Rise: 11.5″
Inseam to bottom: 29″

No other pair in this brand for sizing comparison

Features:
Neither velcro nor sock bottom – breeches taper to ankle
No pockets
Full seat is lined with Coolmax material
Belt loops: 2.25″

Stain resistant (scale of 1-5): I have not worn them yet so can’t comment on that. Will update after I wear them.
Do they stretch out with wear: see above
Are they stiff or soft out of the wash: see above again
Do they dry quickly: keep seeing above
Are they thick or thin: Thin. Like I don’t think I would wear these without an underlayer , but maybe I’m being paranoid. I’m not wearing an underlayer in the photo.
# of wears (approx): None.
Is there any fading? See first response.
Is there any pilling? Keep seeing it.
How well do they hide thigh cheese: Actually, for a thin white breech – better than you’d think. They are decently flattering on me (aside from the crotch), for what they are. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re actually all-out flattering, but they aren’t bad.
Any fit issues: The big hips/tummy in comparison to thighs. Wish they were a little smaller up top. Also, they’re quite long. I’m 5’6″ and they work ok for me but I’d imagine a short person would have a lot of extra fabric to deal with.

If anyone else wants to participate and has other brands or other sizes, please send me the info and I will keep adding to this guide for reference. Hope this helps!