I did so well last week with my whole “trying to be less fat” thing. I rode my bike 5 out of 7 days and rode my horse 4 out of 7. So naturally on Friday night when we had our Old Horse Friends Happy Hour I ate like a freaking pig. In my defense we decided this was my pre-birthday celebration and therefore we should order the Pazookie Party Platter. Let me show you what this looks like.

Basically we all got The Diabeetus and gained 5lbs in the process. Worth it. (Side note: my friend K who took this picture just started her own blog! Everyone should follow her, she’s cool and smart and has cute animals.)

On Saturday I was up early to go ride Henry. He was a little wild, which with him comes out as silly spookiness, so we did some snorting at random things and trotting sideways because the sandbags that are always sitting by the rail were STILL SITTING BY THE RAIL. Terrifying. But he settled fine once he got his sillies out and as usual left me giggling at his antics.

After I got home from the barn I had the bright idea that I should ride my bike over to visit my mom in one of Austin’s suburbs… cuz ya know… major day-after guilt from The Party Platter Diabeetus Incident. It really isn’t a bad journey, only about 19 miles round trip, and no major hills or bad traffic to negotiate. What I was failing to take into account is that it was 101 freakin degrees. I opted to wear a Kastel shirt instead of a regular bike jersey to keep the sun off my arms, but again failed to take into account that I wasn’t wearing gloves. Guess who has a super sexy hand sunburn? Guess who just about died of heat stroke by the time she got home? Total idiot. I will say though, that Kastel felt a million times better than my regular jerseys.

Sunday morning I was once again up bright and early (feeling like a tired sack of dog crap) for cyclocross practice. We did a warm-up ride through the park – aka by the time we were done with the warm-up sweat was rolling down my legs and face like someone had turned on a faucet – then proceeded to practice sprint starts 9,000 times. This could be a slight exaggeration, but not much. It was hell. Then we practiced barriers and run-ups, which I can only explain to you as a lot of running and carrying and other awful things like that. By the time we were done I was completely out of gas and really hot. So off I went for a lesson on Henry because as we’ve already discovered, I’m a total idiot.

Trainer had set up an exercise in the center of the ring that basically made a crap ton of turns and necessitated a steady collected pace and deeper distance if you wanted to succeed. Great… the exact things that take a lot of work for me, since I wasn’t already beat to shit. Note heavy sarcasm.

We went through the exercise a couple times with the jumps tiny, then put them up a little bit and did it a couple more times. When I actually sat up and rode and had a plan it worked out pretty well. I wish I could sit here and tell you that I sat up and rode and had a plan more often than not, but meh… 50/50. The fact that I was still on the horse by this point was kind of miraculous.

Then we added more jumps after the zig zag exercise. An outside line that rode in a short six, across the diagonal over what was also jump 4, to the other outside line also in a short six. They were set short enough to where if you jumped in from a gap or with much of a bold pace, it was a 5. Guess what I did the first time? Womp womp.

The second time was better, I actually rode to the deep one with a collected canter and the six worked out on both lines but I still felt like I was crooked and reacting instead of creating. At this point Trainer asked me if I was okay (pretty sure my face was past the color of a tomato) to which I replied “No, I’m about to fucking die. Let’s do it again.”. I really wanted to get it right.

Halfway through the last attempt I was starting to get dizzy but I managed to finish and it wasn’t awful. Still not really what I’d call great but passable. Henry and I were both cooked by then so we called it a day. My quads were quivering when I got off and I had to hose myself down in the washrack a couple times. Completely overdo yourself in one weekend? Yes please!

Video of the last part of the last attempt – best on full screen since it’s little. Also turn the sound on for Trainer’s glowing praise of “Alright… that was better” at the end. Hilarious. Poor guy, sometimes it really must be a struggle to be positive.

Henry Aug10 from amanda chance on Vimeo.

Attention other bloggers:

Since there seemed to be a lot of interest in this idea when I mentioned it yesterday I figured I would give everyone a heads up over the weekend. I do plan on setting this up next week, so now is the time to go through your stuff and make a list and take some pictures. Think of it as summer cleaning!

  

Several unrelated things happening here today, so I apologize in advance for the random.

First – today is the LAST DAY to use coupon code fbpony14 to receive 15% off your Mango Bay order. Get on it!

Second – I measured Henry for his PS of Sweden bridle last night. I was finally able to get in contact with them and they answered some questions for me, so I’m going to take the plunge and order one. It’s definitely different looking but I think it’s pretty and has the same general idea of a Micklem without being so ugly (IMO). I’m sure I’ll get lots of weird looks at shows but I’m okay with that. Hopefully it works for us. He measured pretty solidly in the middle of the cob size measurement range except for the upper part of the nose, where he was on the higher end. I was kind of hoping he’d measure as a full so the bridle would fit Sadie too, but I’m afraid it’d be too big for Henry. Cob it is.

Interesting to note: The prices on the PS of Sweden website include the 25% VAT that Euro buyers have to pay. Of course, I am not a Euro buyer so the bridle is actually only $267 for me. That makes it pretty reasonably priced considering it comes with reins. They are backordered until mid-month for the model I want and then it has to ship from Sweden so it could be a while until it arrives. Fingers crossed that it fits and we both like it! Total leap of faith here but I can’t get it out of my head so I’ve gotta give it a shot.

Third – As I’ve been going through my excess stuff lately I realized that I have several things just sitting around that I’d like to sell. Would anyone be interested in a “tack sale/tack swap” type of thing? Maybe in a blog hop style format or something? Open to suggestions. The idea just occurred to me the other day when I listed a couple things on a fb sale group and I figured I’d see if anyone else had any interest.

And for a little bit of Friday fun… since everyone enjoyed Henry’s tongue antics so much yesterday, I thought I’d make a video of a typical day with him and his weirdo tongue. This is what it’s like pretty much all the time, although the more bored he is the more he plays with his tongue. Last night he was pretty bored after all the measuring. 😉 Now you can probably see why I have more pictures of him making faces than I do of him standing there being normal.

Henryxties from amanda chance on Vimeo.

On Tuesday I was feeling pretty lazy and unmotivated (this has been a trend lately), so I just put Henry’s hackamore on and decided to have a simple fun ride. My friend Amy came out again to play with her camera therefore we have photographic evidence.

He was extremely enthused about the ride from the very beginning…

 

But he started out pretty normal

  

 

Until the lightbulb went off and he realized “Wait a minute… I’m in my hackamore… I CAN PLAY WITH MY TONGUE!!!!”

So I reached down and played poke the flopping tongue while he cantered around the ring yelling “You can’t take away my FREEEEDOOOOOM”, Braveheart style.

Poke the flopping tongue made him angry, so when we started jumping he decided to teach me a lesson and be horribly naughty.

He dolphined all the way through the corner, but he doesn’t seem to realize that bucking should also include the hind end, not just the front. He was very impressed with his rodeo display. I on the otherhand was overcome with hysterical fits of laughter. Naughty Henry becomes confused as to why the human is not appropriately terrified of him.

I was laughing so hard I literally had to stop and collect myself to avoid sliding right off the side. This must have broken poor Naughty Henry’s spirit, because after that he just jumped around with a defeated attitude, like he wasn’t sure how I possibly survived but surely some kind of magic was involved.

Poor Henry. Some horses are just really bad at being bad.

Oh and PS – if anyone is interested in a horse size Ovation figure eight bridle, I have one for sale. 😉

 

 

I’ve got two super fun ways to spend money today!

First – Mango Bay Design has been kind enough to offer my readers a 15% off coupon code! There have been some recent additions to her shop so if it’s been a while since you’ve browsed, go take a look. Use coupon code fbpony14 for your discount.

And since Viva Carlos’ latest blog hop determined that we all need more poneh shirts, here’s your chance to add to your collection while also benefiting a good cause. CANTER TX is selling these super cute t-shirts! TB fans, you need one.

 

To order:
– Paypal Leholmes8@gmail.com
– Price is $25 including shipping, or $20 for local pickup if you’re in/near San Antonio.
– Make sure to put CANTER Texas shirt in the message, as well as your size.
– Keep in mind these are slim fit. If in doubt, order a size up.
– If you want more than one shirt shipped, email the above address for price.

The ponies thank you for your support!