It wasn’t a planned blogger weekend, but it turned out that way.

Friday after riding and swimming (ow, arms) I met up with Karen of Bay with Chrome and another long time horsey friend for happy hour. They’re always fun chicks, and I had this beautiful pink drink that unfortunately tasted like how Windex smells. At least the company was good.

Saturday was rainy and gross so I skipped the barn and instead tried going clothes shopping. After 2 stores and 2 hours, trying to find black leggings for a downtown outing that evening, I realized that the only ones I sort of liked really just looked like a cheap version of my Aztec Diamond houndstooth breeches. So instead I wore the breeches, which looked a thousand times better anyway. I got several “I love your pants!” comments. Breeches as evening wear? YES!

 

Sunday was also rainy and gross, and really cold, but I dragged myself out to the barn anyway and hopped on my pony bareback for a hack around the property. Brandy from Auf der Autobahn met me there, and it just so happened that Jen of Wyvern Oaks was out there with Paddy, so we had an impromptu blogger hack!

 

Then Brandy and I turned “da boys” out together and let them play. They’re such bros, with basically the same personality.

Today the farrier is coming, and later this week we’re supposed to get some pretty crappy weather. Goody. I guess I should start getting serious about riding again, since we’re now less than 2 weeks away from Derby time. Meh… being prepared is overrated.

A hypothetical for funsies, because the weather outside is… well… frightful.

Let’s say you had a mare by the hunter stallion Westporte out of a TB dam. She’s 16.3h, leggy, of medium build. Let’s say she jumped like this:

And moved like this:

I have no recent confo pictures but here’s a basic idea:

Now let’s say that you were breeding said mare with the goal of producing a marketable hunter foal. What stallion would you pick and why?

First of all – my SS loot arrived this morning! At 6:58am… which I know because the mailman rang the doorbell. This time I’ll forgive him because a pretty little box was waiting for me from Beka at The Owls Approve. She definitely wins for artistic box decorating skills.

 

And it contained some awesome loot! Treats for the dogs, treats for me, and SOCKS! I love socks. And these are my favorite brand – Sock it to Me. Thanks Beka, you did great! I love everything.

I already gave Stewie his treat. Sadly, it is no longer with us because he devoured it in 30 seconds. RIP pretty Savannah dog treat. Delia isn’t out of bed yet so she doesn’t know what she’s missing.

I also might have had some of the pecan praline and am now riding a very impressive sugar high for not even 8am. Thanks again, Beka!

On to the Christmas summary… this year we had our family Christmases before actual Christmas, so SO and I decided to make this a “Just the two of us” X-mas extravaganza. First we rolled out of bed at a lazy 7:30 (late for me), I popped a hash brown casserole in the oven, and we opened presents. I think, as usual, the dogs made out like bandits.

Then we loaded up the car and headed down to the local mountain bike trails. The weather was absolutely perfect for it, and I didn’t die (a couple near-misses don’t count), so that’s a bonus. My legs still felt a little tired from all the spin classes though.

Then it was home to shower and change before heading to the barn. SO very rarely sees Henry so he was quite entertained with taking pictures of Henry’s funny faces while I picked his feet.

Then he got a big warm carrot bran mash and I tried on his new blankets. Perfect fit! Hopefully those stupid rubs will start going away now. Anyone want a lycra shoulder guard that doesn’t seem to do jack?

The dogs got to come to the barn and play too, wearing their new outside coats.

Then we walked over to the other barn to say hi to the basically famous Autobahn and give him some treats since his mom is out of town. Any guesses as to why he and Henry are great buds?

After a quick pit stop at home to drop off the dogs it was off to – what else – a Chinese restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner. The food was nothing to write home about, but it was definitely an experience.

And then we stopped at the gross local neighborhood bar for a beer (him) and cider (me). This was a great reminder of why we never go to said gross local neighborhood bar, but there weren’t many options on Christmas.

And then finally, we headed home to veg on the couch and watch the Doctor Who Christmas special. All in all – a pretty awesome day.

I hope everyone else had a great Christmas too. It’s back to reality for me today – starting with a trip to go get my passport. Joy.

 

 

Wednesday words of wisdom: 3 spin classes and 3 rides in 4 days make for a tired body.

I’m not saying PS of Sweden has a few awesome sales going on, buuuuut I’m just gonna drop this here… http://www.psofsweden.com/en/offers/. I know a few of you were talking about buying one, so get yourself a nice Christmas present. I mean really, look it in the eyes and tell it you don’t love it.

Also, this is your last reminder to get those entries in for the logo contest! You have until December 31. In addition to the awesome prize pack offered to the winner, I’m offering a gift certificate for a custom Firefly bonnet to the runner-up (an $80 value) and an Ogilvy baby pad (a $40 value) to the second runner-up. Don’t forget to title your submissions CONTEST ENTRY and email them to charliebrowntb (at) hotmail (dot) com. Note that if you have several files, it’s probably best to only send 2-3 at a time so hotmail doesn’t reject them.

Everyone enjoy your holiday! From the $900 Facebook Pony – Happy Holidays!!!