Considering that my horses have been walking vet bills this year and that I’m currently saving for the tiny house, my purchases as of late have not been very exciting. Unless you’re into animalintex and blanket straps and eyebrow razors (for bots, not for me…) and crazy looking tooth-hole-flushing instruments.

But, you know, even on relative “lock down” sometimes there are things that are too good of a deal to pass up. Or a sale email hits my inbox on a particularly self pity-filled day and before you know it I’ve blacked out and bought more pants. These things happen.

The only truly exciting thing that has arrived lately was the closeout Mountain Horse boots that I actually purchased a couple months ago. They sat in customs for legit two weeks, and then USPS strapped them to the back of a 3-legged geriatric turtle to get them here. I mean I’m assuming that was the method anyway, considering how long it took. They got from Germany to New York in 2 days and New York to Texas in almost 4 weeks. Makes sense.

I’ve always liked the look of the Opus High Rider, but they weren’t available in America and I’m not really into paying full price for something off the rack. And then Mountain Horse put the model on closeout, which made them half price, and at $180 I had a hard time saying no. I mean, technically yes I do already have a pair of brown boots, but those are my semi-custom Pioneer boots, which are kinda fancy, and I feel guilty abusing them with everyday barn wear and tear. I know that Mountain Horse boots can take abuse, and since I don’t have to care about keeping them pretty, I could feel free to abuse them at will. Especially at that price.

So I bought a pair, slightly big on purpose so that I could also wear thicker winter socks under them. Both of my current pairs of boots are of the “fit like a glove variety”, which is great until it’s cold and you want thicker clothes. The Opus boots have just enough extra space in the foot and calf for all that, without being too big without it, and so far they’re working out pretty well. I don’t know that I would be in love with them if I had paid $360 for them, the ankle is not as nicely tapered and fitted as I prefer and the zipper feels a bit cheap, but for half price I think they’re fantastic.

They are a lighter/redder brown than my very chocolate Pioneer’s, so I’ve got some variety going on with my colors at least. I also just realized that all three pairs of my boots are dress boots. I guess that makes sense, I do really prefer the clean lines of a dress boot. I still haven’t decided how I feel about the contrast sole. I specifically didn’t order the light sole on my Pioneer’s because while I love the look when the boot is on the shelf, I think once you’re on the horse it just looks dirty, like you just finished walking your course and didn’t wipe your boots off when you got back on. I might get over it eventually (I probably won’t).

I also fell prey to one of stupidDover’s stupidBOGO deals. I always feel a bit dirty when that happens. But they sent out that stupidEmail and stupidMe clicked on it, because it was early in the morning when I’m at my weakest, and I was like oh look, two pairs of breeches for $80 AND free shipping? That’s basically free! I nabbed a green pair and a charcoal gray pair of Dover’s Wellesley breeches.

I guess Dover tried to make their own version of Smartpak’s popular Piper line (which I admittedly hated) with the contrasting piping, and for some reason I was optimistic that maybe Dover did a better job. To be fair, they did. The fabric is a little better (still don’t love it, but it’s better), as is the fit, and I really like both colors. Unfortunately they gap at the waist on me too, the same problem I had with Pipers, although they don’t sag or slide down, so it’s a lot more tolerable. I think if I’d paid more than $40/pair I’d be grumpier about it but for that price they’re totally fine. And I do appreciate that Dover included pictures of some not-model-thin people in the photos of the breeches.

I did have one pity-purchase too, when I was having a particularly frustrating day and just Could Not anymore. If there are two things I love, it’s socks and the f word, so when you combine them I’m definitely in. I grabbed a pair of Milton Menasco dreamers and schemers socks, and I truly have no regrets. They make me smile, which was their whole intended purpose.

There was also “the thing that got away”… the item I really really wanted and MAY have squealed out loud about when I found it, but talked myself out of buying because I felt especially poor that day.

See, the SO and I are grumpy a-holes, so on Halloween we went out for mexican food and then walked across the parking lot to World Market. The entire adventure was specifically designed to get us out of our neighborhood during peak trick or treating hours. So we ate chips and queso, wandered around WM smelling soaps and looking at all the foreign candy, and then as we’re wandering up the very last aisle, what do I see?

That is, I have to say, the best damn christmas stocking I have ever seen in my life. I was thisclose to buying it, but talked myself out of it when I remembered that we haven’t been brave enough to put up any christmas stuff since we got the cat. She is walking chaos, destruction, and mayhem. I feel like dangling stockings from the mantle would basically just be a written invitation for her to destroy everything up there, and then I would be mad at her for pulling down my $25 unicorn stocking. So… I didn’t buy it. And now I kind of regret it, but I also know I was right and the cat would totally ruin it.

What new pretties have you guys added to the collection recently? I hope they’re more exciting than mine.

I know none of us are ready to talk about it yet, but we’re inching closer and closer to the holiday season. We’re a scant two weeks from Black Friday, which means that if you haven’t started contemplating gifts yet, you miiiiight want to get on that.

I won’t be doing any big elaborate gift guides this year. The Black Friday bohemoth post is enough holiday masochism for me, thanks. However, when I was thinking back on my favorite things of the year, the first few items that sprang to mind were all books. To me (admittedly a major bibliophile) a book is a fantastic gift, especially for a horse person. You can find something out there to suit just about anyone. A book can bring so many things to the reader, whether it’s instruction, entertainment, or just pure happiness. What better gift is there than that?

So for this one I’ve gathered my own personal top 10 horse-related books. Most are recent, but some are older staples that I feel like people should have in their collection. There’s certainly a wide variety, and I’m pretty confident that no matter who you’re shopping for, you can find something here for them. Well ok, unless its me… in which case I already have them all.

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse

If you aren’t following Charlie Mackesy on Instagram then I dunno what you’re even doing with social media. And if you don’t have social media, Charlie Mackesy alone is a good enough reason to get it. His art is simple but beautiful, and his new book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse is guaranteed to leave you with a lot more warm fuzzies than you had when you started. It’s pure simple goodness appropriate for all ages. Plus the hardcover is absolutely beautiful, perfect to display or have as a coffee table book. This one is a must-have, even for non-equestrians.

Riding for the Team

Another newer release, Riding for the Team is a collection of inspirational stories from top level riders in all disciplines, all the way from McLain Ward to Tim McQuay. I think it’s always interesting to get an inside peek into what goes on behind the scenes on the world stage, and learn more details about famous horses. Since this one covers show jumping, dressage, eventing, driving, vaulting, reining, endurance, and para-dressage, it should cover the bases with just about any horse person. Who doesn’t love an inspirational story?

Basic Training of the Young Horse

This is, quite possibly, my favorite riding-related book of all time. There is no one quite like Ingrid Klimke, especially when it comes to riding and training young horses. Her approach is simple, it’s correct, it’s classic, and it works. Her principles and ideas are applicable across all disciplines, not just dressage or eventing. She’s an exemplary horseman who always puts the mental and physical well-being of the horse as the highest priority, and it shows. There are so many fantastic nuggets of wisdom contained within the pages of Basic Training of the Young Horse that I find myself looking back through it quite often. This book is a great resource for anyone who might ever find themselves sat on a young horse. Or, if you know someone who’s a particularly big Ingrid fangirl (ahem) there’s also a complete set of all 3 of her books.

World Class Grooming

If you go to horse shows and don’t employ a team a grooms, or if you care for your own horses in any way shape or form, this book is your bible. From clipping to braiding to cooling a horse down properly to taking vital signs to choosing studs to traveling – this book covers everything (don’t believe me? take a peek at the table of contents) related to horse care. It’s chock full of fantastic tips and advice from, well, world class grooms. They’ve been there, they’ve done that, and this book contains all of the wisdom they’ve accrued over the years. There are tons of photos that help clearly explain how to do things and what it should look like. A grooming book might sound kind of silly as a basic premise, but World Class Grooming isn’t just a grooming book, it’s a complete care guide and has so many great tips that I’ve never seen anywhere else.

Chop Wood Carry Water

I’ve talked a lot about this book before, and if you haven’t seen me talking about it, you’ve probably heard riders like Jenny Caras and Matt Brown mention it too. Chop Wood Carry Water is simple, full of short little life lessons that are very easy to read, but there’s just something about it that stays with you over time. This is the book that really served to jumpstart my quest to change and improve my mindset when it came to riding and showing, and I still think back to it all the time. It’s a great introduction to the idea of a growth mindset, and got my brain working in the right way to where I was ready to pursue the idea more deeply.  The subtitle of the book is “How to fall in love with the process of becoming great” and that’s exactly what it focuses on. It’s easy in this sport to get so stuck on the end goal that we forget about the journey, and this book does a great job of giving perspective. I think this would be a great gift for just about anyone who participates in competitive sports.

Brain Training for Riders

Along the same vein, my favorite equestrian-specific mindset book has been Brain Training for Riders. I think it breaks things down in a way that’s easy to understand, and it gives you tips for how to handle pressure, emotions, and fear. We all know just how mental this sport can be, and this book is really great at helping us understand why we feel the way we do, and how to change it, or how to move past disappointment or handle embarrassment. I have said before that IMO the mental side of riding is something we don’t talk about nearly enough, but it’s so incredibly crucial to our success and well-being. Every rider needs to own this book, and every trainer needs to read it.

Modern Gymnastics

Switching gears back into the actual riding side of things – if you jump, Jim Wofford’s Modern Gymnastics (which also comes as a DVD, if you’re friends with some weirdo who doesn’t like books) is a must. There are so many ideas for exercises, and it explanations what each one is aiming to accomplish. If this book can’t keep somone busy and invigorated during a long cold off season, nothing will. Great reference guide to keep a horse and rider tuned up!

Core Conditioning for Horses

Along the same vein – if you don’t jump, or if you also want a full arsenal of flatwork exercises to help keep your horse strong and loose, check out Core Conditioning for Horses. I have ridden with a Charles de Kunffy protege for years, so this book piggybacked perfectly off of his concept of dressage as a way to “gymnasticize” the horse’s body. The goal of flatwork should always be to make the horse stronger and more supple, and this book includes plenty of exercises (and pictures) to get you there. There are even suggestions for things to try for horses with kissing spines, for example. None of the work is particularly difficult to understand, so any semi-competent rider should be able to get something useful from it. Think of it as being kinda like yoga for horses.

Crowded in the Middle of Nowhere

I think pretty much any human being on the planet would enjoy Crowded in the Middle of Nowhere. Horsey or not, avid reader or not, it just has such universal appeal. This book is a collection of stories from a veterinarian, most of them funny, some of them sad, some of them just downright jaw-dropping. The stories are all pretty short and easy to read, but the writer is an absolutely captivating storyteller. Oh, and who is that veterinarian writer? None other than the owner and head vet at the clinic where Presto spent the first few weeks of his life. They are great people.

In the Middle are the Horsemen

I’m not sure how many riders are left in America that don’t already have this book, but I feel like pretty much anyone would enjoy it. It’s just so… relateable. Tik Maynard has had an interesting journey throughout his career, and he’s learned a lot from so many different people along the way. In the Middle are the Horsemen a refreshingly honest story about what he did right, what he did wrong, and how all of those things shaped the thoughts and methods he has today when it comes to riding and training. Eventers, h/j folks, dressage riders, even western riders – this book combines all types of horsemen and shows us that there’s something to be learned from everyone.

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I had to limit myself to 10, otherwise we’d be here all day, but these are definitely a good representation of my favorites. I tried to keep a wide variety, so hopefully there’s something on this list for just about anyone on your shopping list! If not, Trafalgar Square‘s (I send you there because they have such a good selection of horse books) website is conveniently set up so that you can shop by category, if you’re looking for something more specific, or they have a decent selection of DVD’s, or you can even just buy a gift certificate. Plus their shipping is free, you know how much I like that.

When in doubt, buy a book. Even if they don’t read it, they can just smell it until they’re happy.

Texas is drunk AF, y’all. A month ago it was like 95 degrees. Now it’s 28 degrees and there was frozen shit falling from the sky. I don’t know which circle of hell this is, but I don’t like it. I feel like it’s especially cruel to make us suffer through the SECOND HOTTEST SUMMER IN AUSTIN HISTORY with 90 days at or over 100 degrees. – Ninety. Effing. Days. – and then do this shit a month later. I’ll just go right out and say it, mother nature is being an asshole right now.

Luckily by some miracle all of the precipitation seemed to die right when it got to the farm’s doorstep. Totally dry here. Windy as hell, soooo freaking windy, but dry. Up at my house, NW of the city, we got a good coating of ice and the wind knocked a neighbors tree into a powerline, which apparently sent sparks flying out of it for almost an hour before the city showed up to fix it. Rob said he stood there at the back door watching it in case he had to grab the animals and make a hasty exit. And then the next day the city came swooping through the neighborhood trimming trees, leaving huge branches and tools and trash scattered all over the place in their wake. Cool. But hey, the house didn’t catch on fire and now everyone’s trees are well-trimmed, so there’s that.

I was outside cleaning stalls and doing barn chores as the front blew in, which made things extra exciting. On my way home from work I had tried to pop into the sporting goods store and buy the coveralls I had my eye on for Black Friday, but the place was totally ransacked. I diverted to plan B, ski pants, which were suggested by Jen. They were only $30 and miraculously there was one pair left in my size, so I figured why not. Let me tell you, those things have been da real MVP these last couple days, especially when I’m in and out of the house a lot to go dole out more hay or check on the horses. I can be wearing my leggings in the house, slip on the ski pants at the door, go do my thing in glorious warmth, then just drop trou at the door when I come back in. They’re easy, and they make a huge difference. It’s like wearing a sleeping bag on each leg.

The other thing that’s been a great life choice? My alpaca socks. I’ve had them for a couple years but mostly have just worn them around the house at home. Now I’m layering them under my Blundstones and lord they are fantastic. I like them a lot more than my wool socks. They’re a little thicker, but they fit just fine in my boots. Boy are they soft and comfortable, and my feet are so warm but somehow never sweaty. Perfect for barn work in the cold. I came inside and ordered another pair last night (navy of course).

While I’ve been busy adding layers and experimenting with all kinds of new expletives about the weather (“bitchsicle” is a word btw, and it goes wonderfully with my all time favorite, “twatapotamus”) there are a couple of farm residents that have been absolutely loving it. I’ll give you a hint:

The Baby Idiots (which I think has some legitimacy as a band name) have been enjoying themselves immensely. Their games of tag just go on and on and on and on. Quinnie, their supervisor and life coach, is not thrilled by this, but she just stands there and lets it happen around her. You can practically see her thinking “nope, this is beyond my pay grade.”. They know better than to get too close to her.

I think it’s fantastic that Presto has a friend his age to engage in these shenanigans with, because clearly he’s having a grand ol’ time, and it’s good for him to be running around and getting some exercise. He would probably be a shitty racehorse though, since he LOVES to go juuuust fast enough to stay within biting distance of JB’s ass. I suppose it’s a good thing JB loves to be chased just as much as Presto loves to give chase. They’re super entertaining to watch, I’ll say that much. Two peas in a dingus pod.

Presto’s blanket, though… it’s not had such a great time. Yesterday (which, if anyone is counting, is day 4 of being worn by Presto) it suffered a grievous wound.  Four years with Henry and it suffered nary a scratch. Four days with Presto and it’s got a gaping hole in the butt. It’s certainly not a stretch to imagine how this happened.

The other side also kind of looked like he’d tried to roll in the pond with it… there was a suspicious level and color of mud that doesn’t exist anywhere else besides the edge of the pond. I figured he’d end up in there eventually, this horse is a magnet for mayhem.

It was suggested that perhaps instead of a unicorn blanket, he needs one with the poop emoji. I 100% agree. How do I get one of those?

I promise I won’t post about the tiny home thing very often, since this is a horse blog after all. It’s kind of a big deal for me though, preparing to have a tiny home built, and then subsequently moving into it and living in it. Plus technically it’s going on a horse farm, so… it’s relevant. Either way, when I do post anything about the house, I’ll limit it to Tuesdays only and clearly title it so that you don’t have to read about it if you don’t want to. Sound fair?

On Sunday the SO and I went to the Tiny Home Expo here in Austin. Not for any real specific reason, I was mostly just curious and wanted to take a look at what was there to see if there were things I hadn’t though of, or cool gadgets/gizmos on display. The expo was, overall, pretty underwhelming. It did have a fair number of tiny home models on display, which was good, but nothing much else worth looking at. Some of the booths didn’t even make any damn sense, like all the douchey overly perfumed people trying to sell me “instant face lift”. WTF? Clearly they are NOT understanding the type of people that tend to want tiny houses, because, well… we ain’t that. People that are looking to live tiny or rustic or minimalist prooooobably aren’t gonna buy your 10-product face care package from Mr. Walking-Axe-Body-Spray-Commercial. We came here to see creative storage solutions and compost toilets and collapsible fire pits. Just saying.

Anyway, having all the tiny home models there in the convention center was the saving grace of the expo, and made it worth the trip. We got to look inside everything from a hunting cabin to a shipping container home (by far the most godawful thing I’ve ever seen in my life) to a plastic dome yurt thing to a converted school bus to a “bohemian bungalow” to a gypsy wagon. It was not lacking in variety.

The builder that we’re using was also there with two models, one a towable tiny home and then one park model RV, which happened to be the same model that we picked out – The Tumbleweed. It was finished out quite differently from what we’ve picked, but it was really good to see it again and stand in it again and confirm, without a doubt, that this was for sure our favorite. It really wasn’t even a contest, we still both love the layout and the space. It’s definitely bigger and lot more open than your usual tiny house.

We also took the opportunity to do some things we hadn’t thought to do when we saw the model a few months ago, like take measurements for the area where the couch goes. I wasn’t sure what would fit, but we’ve got 84+” to work with so I think we’ll be able to find a smaller sectional without a problem. We also got to see some of the upgrades that we had picked out but weren’t in the model we saw at the showroom, like the stainless steel farm sink and appliances, and the front load stacked washer and dryer. This one had all of those upgrades, and I loved them.

This is the video tour of the one they had at the expo. We won’t be doing a back deck, since it means sacrificing a closet and a dresser in the bedroom, but otherwise the layout is the same and it’s got the same size front porch that ours will.

What stuck out to me most, though, in walking through all these models, is that what I really seemed to be drawn to were the little pops of character. For the most part I’m boring, I don’t like big walls of color or tons of bright accents or anything that looks busy. For those who don’t remember from the first tiny house post, we picked out a quite GRAY interior. Which I like, but now I’m second guessing a few parts of what we picked out, like the cabinets and the backsplash.

I do still want the place to have character. Seeing the unique tile accents, or the stained glass panels, or the little pops of color, or even the super fun and unique drawer pulls… I loved those touches. It gave the spaces a little bit of personality and made them feel less cookie cutter, less bland.

This is perhaps the first time in my life that I’ve wished I was a little more girly. I have  no eye for design, no concept of what will work or what won’t. I don’t really know how to go about adding these little things that will give the space some charm without making it look like… well, a gypsy wagon.

I went a little bonkers googling things on Sunday night, and just flipping through Wayfair to try to understand what I even like. I’ve never paid that much attention, to tell you the truth. I found some really cool handpainted knobs that I’m wondering if maybe we could incorporate into the bathroom or something…

I’ve always loved stained glass but never even thought about putting it in the house until I saw the accents in a few of these tiny houses. Then I was like OMG WE COULD DO STAINED GLASS DOORS. OR A TRANSOM WINDOW. But… thinking that might be a bit much and/or awfully permanent, so maybe I could hang a nice panel on the kitchen window or bathroom window or something and get the same effect?

Then I realized we’d also have to pick out rugs, a couple counter height chairs for the island, porch furniture, a coffee table, and a couch… at which point I pretty much just curled up in fetal position and gave up. Thank god this place is only 399 square feet and requires very few items of decor or furniture.

Basically, I came away from the expo feeling like my mind had been opened up a lot, but that quickly morphed into feeling a bit lost and overwhelmed. I’m astonishingly bad at being able to imagine what things will actually look like in the space, and whether or not I’ll even like it. Looking at all this stuff just made me think that I should hire a decorator to help us, but I’m 150% sure there’s not room in the budget for that. And I’m scared they’d just put knick-knacks and shit all over the place anyway, which makes me cringe. I mostly just need guidance. Someone with a good eye and some creativity that can tell me what to buy, or like… present me with just a couple options to pick from. That would be so much easier.

Advice? Ideas? Words of wisdom? I’m all ears.

It’s official: as of Saturday I’m now living out at the barn full time! The barn owners and 3 of their horses left for their farm in Florida (a little jealous right now since cold front is about to blow through here and drop us down below freezing) on Saturday morning, and I swooped in as they were pulling out.

Trying to pack for a months-long stay was kind of interesting. I took it as an opportunity to prepare for living in the tiny house. What stuff did I REALLY need? Clothing and shoes especially. Honestly I need way less than I actually own. All the clothing I brought (aside from jackets, which are hanging near the door) fits easily in the closet and a couple of drawers in the dresser. I’ve decided to limit myself to using one shelf in the pantry, and just a few dishes/pots/pans etc. Mostly to see just how much stuff I actually need, vs how much stuff I’ve accumulated back at home. If I don’t use it over the next 5 or 6 months, do I really need to own it? Probably not. I packed what I feel like are the necessary essentials, so now we’ll see how that works out.

I kept myself pretty busy on Saturday, getting settled in. I turned the horses out, unpacked my stuff and put it all up where I wanted, then went to move and set up my jumps. They’d all still been sitting behind the storage barn right where we unloaded them the day before I moved the horses. In reality they all need some repair and paint, which will be a winter project, but I still need to be able to jump in the meantime. So first I loaded up fillers and poles, then drove out to Henry’s turnout (the biggest, flattest space) and started plotting out where I wanted things.

Which took me forever because I went out there with no plan and thus was completely indecisive. Once I had the poles set, I went back over to get the standards. By this point I was kind of glad that I only have like 6 jumps. Moving them all by yourself is a real bitch. But now it’s done, and we jumped them (boy is Henry really excited to find himself pointed at a jump again). The field that I put them in is right up next to the road and someone driving by yesterday stopped to watch us jump… I think I might become a bit of a neighborhood spectacle.

Then of course when I was cleaning stalls, the lawnmower that pulls the manure spreader got stuck in park. Because naturally, day 1, something has to happen. Luckily I’d already done most of the stall cleaning by that point so I just left it there and figured the SO could fix it the next day when he came out. It helps having a mechanic around sometimes. And fix it he did, in like 5 minutes, using one screwdriver. I figured it would be simple and I would feel dumb, and I was correct on both counts. He showed me what to do if it happens again, but hopefully it won’t. I’m a lot better with horses than I am with machines.

Saturday night I went and got groceries, which was the last big thing on my to-do list for the weekend to get settled in. It’s funny, it takes me pretty much the same amount of time to get to the grocery store now that I live 9 miles away as it did when I was 2 miles away. Country roads vs city traffic. Much prefer the country roads. And now that I’ll basically be living as a single person 5 days a week for a while, I got perhaps overly excited about being able to eat whatever I want again. The SO is mostly vegetarian, and before he came along I existed pretty exclusively on variations of chicken. As you may imagine, it’s been tough finding things we’ll both eat. But I stocked up on chicken, and I’ve had it 2 nights in a row for dinner. Also really looking forward to having breakfast for dinner again, which is something the SO just did not do, but I love. I bought turkey bacon for that exact reason. I also don’t have to cook if I don’t want to… like if I get done in the barn late, I could totally just have cereal or a sandwich for dinner, because I don’t have to consider anyone else. I definitely didn’t appreciate that part enough when I was single and yes you’re right it’s kind of sad that I’m so excited about it now.

My favorite part, though?

It’s stalker heaven.

I can see my boys whenever I want, just by looking out the window. Even in the middle of the night, because there are cameras in the barn, I can pull up the feed on my phone to check on them without even having to get up. Not that I’ve done that. Ok yes I’ve totally done that.

I can blanket them how I want. I can feed them how I want. I see them every single day and can observe every little nuance with their condition or behavior. I know how much they eat, drink, and poop. I see their attitude and demeanor. Taking care of my own horses is a dream come true. It’s a time constraint, sure, and it ties me to the farm in a way that gives me a lot less freedom. Given my 1.5hr round trip commute to work, fitting everything into the weekdays is going to be a bit tricky. It’s a totally fair trade to me, though, and one I don’t mind. If I need to change something, I can just… change it. After so many years of compromises with boarding, I LOVE being 100% in control of their care, and it’s worth the work or whatever I have to sacrifice to make it happen.

Of course, tonight that cold front is blowing through, so maybe ask me again in a couple days after I’ve been rained on and frozen solid like a popsicle. Just kidding, it’ll be fine, I brought 3 jackets. I’m ready.