Can we talk about the elephant in the room? Everyone knows we’re still smack dab in the middle of a pandemic, right? And that large parts of country (like… the entire south pretty much) are trending really really badly in the wrong direction?

Just checking.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about continuing to live our lives and ride and take lessons and school and horse show, as long as it actually makes reasonable sense. Like smaller, shorter shows that draw a local crowd and adhere to covid protocol… okay. You can convince me of that. But national championship shows that draw large numbers of people from all over the country together in one place, require a lot of travel across states, and at least a week’s stay at said destination before everyone re-disperses? I’m just not sold on that being wise.

I definitely do agree that there is a relatively low risk of spread at the horse show itself, given that spectators are extremely limited, and given that people adhere to the guidelines (which, whether or not they do is a whole ‘nother ball of wax in and of itself), that they stay masked, and don’t congregate in large groups and/or indoor spaces. But… what about everything else involved? Like the travel to get there, which for some people can be days of hauling across multiple states, stopping at many gas stations/restaurants/etc. And then the hotel stay when you do arrive to your destination. And the going out to restaurants and into stores. And so on and so on and so on, for at least a week. So you’re gathering all these people from different places, assimilating all of them into the local population, and then sending them all back out again.

I don’t know about y’all, but I’d be especially leery of Texans and Floridians and Californians and Georgians and and and right now (reminder: I am a Texan, and I would totally get it if you wanted me to stay the heck away, I’m doing my best to stay the heck away from other Texans too). Particularly in the states that actually have a handle on their case numbers or have made some progress at flattening the curve. Some states have put into place requirements or recommendations (lol “recommendations”, let me tell you how well that’s going with mask-wearing down here in Freedumbland) that anyone coming from the hot spot states should quarantine themselves for 14 days. How exactly would that work?

So I’m over here peering over my theoretical glasses at things like Pony Finals, AEC’s, and Equitana. I mean, does… does any of that really seem like a good idea in the next couple months? How do the residents of Kentucky (which has already had a 231% increase in cases in the last two weeks, one of the biggest) feel about that? Because, I’ll say it: it’s just not possible for no one attending these events to have covid, or to not come into contact with someone with covid somewhere along the way. Someone, or many someones, will for sure have it. Just by sheer numbers, especially from the worst states. And maybe there won’t be any transmission at the horse show, but it’s gonna be quite the feat if you can spend a whole week traveling and eating out and going to stores and manage to not either pass it on or come into contact with someone who has it.

I kind of suspect that since it hasn’t really made an impact on the equestrian community yet – in that no one “big name” has gotten a bad case of it or died from it, and no horse related things have been reported as mass spreader events – that we’re just kinda flying under the radar and trying to pretend that we’ll be fine. But I have to wonder how wise it is to be holding national level championship events when the country is literally on fire. Yes, of course everyone wants to go. Yes, of course it would be devastating to a lot of people for these things to get cancelled. No, no one wants that. At what point is it the responsible choice, though? Are there other safer/smarter options that we could be pursuing instead?

Pony Finals is the first thing up on the docket, so we’ll see how that goes. Maybe I’m just being crazy. Maybe the covid ship has long since sailed and it’s too late anyway. Thoughts? Would you feel comfortable going? Would you feel comfortable with your barnmates going and then coming back into your shared space? If you’re in Kentucky, how do you feel about all the travelers coming into your area? Do we think all of these events will actually get to happen or will the Kentucky governor step in?

My typical horse-filled weekend was a little truncated this time due to Real Life commitments. Boo. But it’s also kind of nice to look forward to the weekend days so much that even when you can’t go to the barn because of something else exciting, you’re still super disappointed to miss out on the day with the horses. One might say I’m a wee bit obsessed with them.

It kind of worked out anyway though, since the boys got their feet done on Friday. The babies have resumed their evening gallops around the pasture as of late, and the ground is slowly but steadily getting harder and drier, so Presto had managed to break off a decent chunk of toe from one foot plus he had a little bruise on the toe of the other. He was sound anyway, but they were ugly. And Henry’s feet grow like crazy in the summer, so even at 5 weeks he was growing over the outsides of his hinds. So they got their pedicures on Friday (I have taken to tipping my new farrier every time because he always shows up when I ask and actually texts me back, works with my vet, and he’s been successful at keeping shoes on Henry which not many have been able to do. Plus he has a female assistant. Anyone else tip their farrier or am I crazy? I want to foster the relationship and reward the good service.) and then they got Saturday off.

Last week when I posted my Pivo update post they actually released another new software update, a beta version of their horse tracking that was supposed to be capable of tracking the horse even when it was going straight away or coming straight at the camera, and maybe even jumping. I was really itching to put that to the test, so I made sure my Pivo was charged up and figured I’d throw the ultimate test at it: a jumping session.

I have to be honest, I didn’t expect it to work out in my jump field at all. Knowing that the software is looking for a rectangular shape, and knowing that it had issues with a) obstacles in it’s path b) lots of changes of light/shade c) jumping horses when they go airborne d) horses changing direction at speed e) things not being level… this whole scenario is kind of Pivo’s worst nightmare. My jump field is on a bit of a slope, there are several trees, lots of changes from light to dark not just with the shade but also with the background, plus there are all the jumps out there. I didn’t think it would even be able to track me around the trees, much less at speed while we were jumping. I just figured hey maybe it’ll catch a few fences and that’s better than nothing.

And, y’all… even with all of those challenges, it only lost me once. I’m completely floored by it. The new tracking updates take this thing from a useful little gadget right up there to champion status. Now it can film jump courses! So delighted that Pivo has not only been listening to our feedback, but actively (and quickly) working to improve this tool specifically for equestrian use. It’s rapidly becoming one of my favorite purchases ever. Look how well it did!

And yes, Henry is proud of himself. Like 110% of the time. At least he didn’t buck through all the corners this week.

When Pivo released this new update it was really meant for all the people that had been requesting to be able to place it at C outside of a dressage ring so they could record virtual tests. It struggled with that placement before, since it was looking for that rectangular horse shape all the time, which is lost when the horse comes directly towards or away from the camera. So I figured for Presto’s ride I would place it at C and go ahead and thoroughly test out this new beta tracking in one day.

By this point it was hot AF and I was getting kind of brain fried, though, because I flubbed some things. First I COULD NOT figure out why I couldn’t find horse mode (because I hadn’t selected AI yet… freaking duh…) so I fiddled with that for an embarrassingly long time. This thing literally takes less than a minute to set up when you’re not being an idiot. And then once I did get it started I’m pretty sure I forgot to select auto zoom, because… nothing zoomed. Major facepalm for myself here.

But the good news is that it did follow me pretty well from C. A couple times I got too close (I should have placed it further back from C, not as close to the rail as I did) and it lost me until I came back in the frame, but pretty good. I think for my purposes I would prefer to place the tripod at E or B, to get a better view for video. Next time I’ll try E, and set it about 10′ back from the arena rail. And uh, remember to select the right settings.

I haven’t ridden Presto in the ring in a couple weeks nor have I been doing his mid-week lunge with balancing reins, and you could tell. I struggle to have enough time for both horses on the weekdays.

I was just about dying of heat stroke after 20 minutes with Presto. It’s just too freaking hot now by the time you get past mid-morning. Luckily he handles the heat really well though, because he wasn’t even so much as breathing heavily by the time we were done. I’m super glad about that… having one heat intolerant horse is enough of a problem.  If it’s going to stay at/near triple digits I’m thinking of maybe taking one ride a week from Henry’s schedule (he’s at 5 rides, so that would cut him down to 4) and adding one to Presto’s (which would give him 2 rides). Maybe one hack and one arena day? Usually August is Henry’s yearly vacation, I just hack him a few days a week, but this year there’s really been nothing to give him a vacation from, plus he was off for Dec and Jan with his foot bruise. But he does struggle with the heat this time of year, so an extra day off wouldn’t be bad for him, and it would give me more time for Presto.

How’s everyone else holding up in this weather?

In case I haven’t mentioned it enough, it’s been HOT here in Texas. Triple digit heat, the kind that makes you feel like you’re living in an oven. So Michelle did what any normal person would do, and made the babies a kiddie pool (which will eventually become a water jump with a liner and gravel, but who can wait on all that when it’s 110 degrees). The “hole” was already there, and the babies were hot, so… in went the hoses. Which caused GREAT EXCITEMENT.

But, ya know… big holes take a really long time to fill with water, so after some initial fanfare, everyone got bored again.

In the meantime I suggested that maybe they would like some pool noodles in their kiddie pool, so Michelle went and found some and stuck them outside of the fence to bring in later once it was ready. Naturally, Ollie found them outside of the fence, grabbed one, dragged it in, and proceeded to carry it around the field with him until Michelle came back and took it away.

By the evening it was finally full and ready to go, with the pool noodles in place, so they went back in to check out their new water fixture.

Literally no one who has been following along with this year’s foal crop will be surprised to hear that Ollie was the first one in, and he immediately made a beeline straight for the pool noodles.

Let’s be real, Ollie is the one completely carrying this comedy troupe by now. Granted, he’s such a whirling dervish of activity, I think the other babies aren’t always sure quite what to do with him. He has a tendency to steal the show.

So yes, Ollie totally hogged the pool at it’s opening. We’ll see how the others start to play in it once there isn’t quite so much OLLIE happening in there. They’ve all at least wandered into it by now, so I think it’s a hit.

Hope you guys are surviving summer in as much style as these babies are. Happy Friday!

 

 

I’ve had my Pivo for about 4 weeks now, and while I posted my initial thoughts back when I first used it, I’ve continued to get a lot of questions so I figured I’d do an update.

Short version: I’m still really happy with it. I’ve used it 6 times now and we’re 6 for 6 with success. Not only has it worked for all 6 rides, but it’s lost me a grand total of twice in all that time. Granted, I think the real key to my success is that I know how the software works and always keep that in mind when I’m riding.

There are a few things I’ve done differently though, since I’m still learning as we go.

First, I started filming with the front camera instead of the back/selfie camera. Originally I used the back camera because I wanted the screen to be facing me as I rode, so I could check it constantly because I was mega paranoid about whether or not it was working. Now that I know it better and trust it more, the front camera is a better choice since the video quality is better with that camera. I also edited my camera settings to capture better quality video (I’ve legit NEVER messed with my camera settings before and the defaults are not the best quality, I feel like a moron for never even thinking about that) so I have better quality screenshots. While I changed some of my phone’s camera settings, I haven’t changed or messed with any of my Pivo settings, since the ones I’m using (Horse, AI, Center, Frenzy, Predictive Follow off, Exposure On, Auto Zoom on) have been working well for me.

Second, I got a slightly taller tripod that has a level built into it, with a screw mount on top and a carry bag. Taller tripod because part of my issue with the framing on Presto was that the phone needed to be a little bit higher. I figured a built-in level was a good thing too (and it is, because I almost never set that thing up totally level on my initial attempt before I check the actual level). The Pivo also has a level too so it’s probably a bit redundant, but if my tripod and my Pivo both say they’re level, I’m convinced. The screw mount attaches to the bottom of the Pivo, which I just leave on the tripod with it’s cover over it. And the carry bag is so I can just sling it over my shoulder and carry it with me when I ride out. There are about a bajillion tripods to choose from on Amazon. Pick your poison. I try to set it so that the Pivo is around the height of where my knee will be, so on Henry that’s a little bit lower than it is with Presto. My setup now takes less than a minute. Pop out the legs on the tripod, check for leveling, turn on Pivo, open Pivo app, place phone in Pivo, check my settings, make sure the app is locked onto the horse, and hit record.

And lastly, I also bought a new phone case. Which… the timing kind of worked out because I broke my original one the day before my new one came. But I went from an Otterbox Defender type case (that fully encases the phone like armor) to an Otterbox Symmetry type case with a screen protector. Mostly because that big Defender case does NOT fit well into Pivo’s clamp. You can buy a separate mount from Pivo to accommodate this, but… I didn’t really want to. I’d rather just get a different case since I didn’t like that other case very much anyway. Technically I could shove that bigger case in, but it was a fight, and inevitably it ended up holding the phone at a bit of an angle because it just really didn’t fit. I ended up taking the phone in and out of the case to use it on the Pivo, and I thought that me taking it in and out of the case while at the barn was probably a lot more dangerous for the phone than just buying a slimmer case.

The only other thing I’ve done slightly different is that I haven’t been as paranoid about adding brightness/contrasting colors on the horse. The first couple times I used white boots/white pad to help the Pivo see the horse shape better, but it seems to not really even need that, at least not when the lighting is good. If it was overcast or I had shadows in the ring or my background was darker, I’d probably still err on the side of caution, but it seems to have no problem following either of my horses against our background even without any added contrast.

While I purchased the Pivo mostly for the sake of screenshots for social media and videos for Presto’s vlogs (which it’s delivered on, for sure) I think one of my favorite unexpected perks is the little random things it captures. Like when I said Presto likes to come up to the fence to watch me ride Henry… in the first clip you can see him start walking up when he’s sees me getting on, and in the second clip there he is in the background, totally judging me. I’m amused by these little things.

One of my biggest nit-picks in my original assessment of the Pivo was that I thought the Auto Zoom feature (which had just come out at that point) was a bit too slow to zoom back out. That resulted in parts getting cut off from the frame on occasion, like the horse’s front or back half, or my upper body. Pivo released a new update in early July to address that issue, speeding up the “zoom out” part of the auto zoom. While it’s still a touch slow sometimes, I think its definitely much improved. One really great thing about Pivo is that they definitely DO listen to the feedback that their facebook group generates, and they’re quick to release updates. Like at least once a month, if not more. It’s constantly evolving and improving.

I’m becoming more impressed with Pivo the more I use it. It still can’t compete with a SoloShot or Pixio as far as what it can do, but for how cheap it is in comparison, it’s done an admirable job so far. Really loving this little gadget!

Y’all know how much I love to dye things. Usually here it’s been tack, but way back in the day (and here is where I shall date myself a bit for sure) I also used to dye a lot of TS breeches. That was when they were a 95% cotton blend (which honestly sucked, that fabric was terrible and tended to fade badly over time) so they were really easy to dye with RIT in the washing machine. I would buy used faded ones for cheap and re-dye them. It has admittedly been a while since I tried to dye any items of clothing, though. The thought hasn’t even entered my mind, to be honest. And then someone posted on COTH about dyeing their old sunshirts, which Kelly was quick to try, and DUH I dunno why that thought had never even crossed my mind before.

I did have a couple old Kastels that I was getting close to retiring. One was originally white with purple zipper/accents but over the years had turned to a sad dishwater gray. The other was originally buttercup yellow but had faded to just a sad pastel.

Given my two starting colors, I settled on light blue for the white one and burgundy for the yellow. These shirts are a nylon blend, so you need a dye specifically for synthetic fabrics. The COTH poster and Kelly both used the RIT DyeMore synthetic line, so I stopped there first. They had a light blue, so I got that, but they didn’t have burgundy and I didn’t particularly care for their other colors (or wasn’t sold on how they would look over yellow). So after some research (thanks, The Googles!) I decided to try Jacquard Acid Dye.

The blue arrived first, so the white shirt was the first victim. These types of dyes require a stove top method, so you need a big pot (I used our soup pot because it was the biggest one we have – it worked fine) and a stove and a plastic or metal utensil to stir with. I followed the instructions on the bottle exactly, pre-wetting the shirt, getting my huge almost-boiling pot of water (with the bottle of dye and a splash of dish washing soap) ready, and then in went the shirt.

It requires some effort as far as regular stirring, and keeping the temperature of the water steady. The super hot water is the crucial element that you need for the dye to work, so you will have to be close-by and available to keep a pretty constant eye on the pot. I did make a bit of a mess on my stove top when I splashed some water out during my stirring, but it cleaned up fine. The color was a bit slow to get to it’s full blue, so I kept it in for 45 minutes (remembering of course that colors look slightly darker when wet, so I wanted it to look just a bit past the color I ultimately was trying to achieve).

Once it was done I pulled it out, and again followed the instructions for rinsing/washing (it’s all on the bottle and Kelly talks about it in her post so I won’t repeat it again) and this was the final result:

Which in the sunlight is a really pretty sky blue (the color is called Kentucky Sky, which is a perfect name for it).

With impeccable timing, my burgundy Jacquard dye showed up the next day. Admittedly I was really looking forward to this one most, because I’ve wanted a burgundy sunshirt for a long time but either a) didn’t like the tone of the ones I found (too red) or b) just couldn’t justify yet another shirt.

The Jacquard dye is definitely different from the RIT. The RIT is a liquid and comes in a bottle – all you do is add the liquid to your water (plus the bit of dish soap). The Jacquard is a powdered pigment, which you add to the water along with 1/4 cup of vinegar (the vinegar is the “acid” in this situation – don’t be scared off by the “acid dye” name). The Jacquard is available in a lot more colors, but otherwise they’re quite similar as far as process goes. Again I prepared the dye water exactly according to the directions on the label. The shirt went in, and immediately I was like OH YEAH HERE WE GO! Right off the bat it was already a mauve color.

But of course, I was looking for a deep merlot, so I let it keep going. I expected it to take the full 40 minutes to reach that darkest pigment that I was looking for, but honestly… it was there in about 20.

When I first took it out of the dye I thought maybe I had gone a bit TOO far, it almost looked dark purple, but by the time I was done rinsing and washing/drying, the color was absolute perfection. Exactly the deep gorgeous merlot burgundy shade that I’ve been looking for.

It seemed like a waste to just toss the rest of that gorgeous dye down the drain, so I quickly went and raided my closet for something else to toss in. I came across an old pair of charcoal For Horses tights that I didn’t really love because they were gray, so I just kinda shrugged and thought… why the hell not. The label was long gone so I wasn’t sure what the fabric content was but I figured worst case scenario they were mostly poly and the dye just wouldn’t take. I suspected they were more of a blend though, so I had a hunch that they would at least take some of the color… spoiler alert, it actually took a lot.

Of course, since these started out as a deeper gray that had blue-ish tones, the breeches went more toward the purple side of the spectrum by adding burgundy. I only left them in for 15 minutes, because by that point they had gotten to a really pretty dark eggplant color (yet another color I’ve been trying to find for a long time and haven’t succeeded). Much prettier than gray!

I’m super pleased. These are 3 items of clothing that I was pretty close to tossing or giving away and now I kind of love them even more than I did originally. Especially the merlot shirt. I’m obsessed.

This isn’t a very hard process either, just… follow the instructions. There are also about a billion youtube videos about it, if you would feel better having a visual before you try it. For me, I preferred the Jacquard dye over the RIT, at least for these mostly nylon sunshirts. It reached it’s peak color in about half the time and IMO is more vibrant, plus they have a wider range of colors. It does require a little vinegar additive though, which might be a deterrent if you don’t have some or don’t want to buy some. Ultimately they both got the job done in the end, and both brands are about the same price ($4-5) depending on where you buy from.

Some things to keep in mind before you start dyeing everything in your closet:

1. you must know what the fabric content is, and buy the right type of dye for that fabric. Cotton dyes won’t work on synthetics, polyester needs it’s own special type of dye, etc. Look at your labels before you purchase and do some Googling, there’s a lot of info about what types of dye to use on what types of fabric.
2. Read ALL the directions on the bottle before you start and follow them to a T. If you don’t, your results will probably be shite.
3. Take into account your starting color. Obviously you aren’t going to be able to take a navy shirt to a light purple, or putting blue over yellow will get you a greenish hue, etc. The color wheel is your friend.
4. It won’t dye plastic/metal. Notice the contrasting zippers on my shirts – those stay the same color that you started out with. So keep that in mind when choosing a new color – how will the old zipper color look on the new shirt color? Maybe you don’t want a purple zipper on an orange shirt (or maybe you do).
5. This type of dye won’t work on anything that’s polyester. Hence, if the garment is stitched with polyester thread, the thread will not take the dye (you can clearly see contrasting thread color on my burgundy one, which I don’t mind, but you might not like it). That will be more obvious the darker you go.

If you have any old shirts that need new life or you just don’t like the color of, this is a pretty cheap way to revamp them. Overall I’m super pleased! And kind of sad that I don’t have any more crappy old shirts to dye…