The prizes are here!
I am so easily pleased, you guys. I made goofy happy faces at the box and showed it to everyone in the tack room. Then, of course, immediately put the saddle pad on Tris for a Sunday afternoon road hack. He picked up a happy big trot and maintained it without any urging. I’m declaring it a magic saddle pad!
Huge, huge thanks to PONY’TUDE and ‘Fraidy Cat Eventing for hosting the contest this year!
I kind of lost track of time while shopping and only saw the second half of Phillip Dutton’s clinic on using ringwork to prepare for cross country, but what I saw was really terrific.
I had sat through nearly all of Julie Goodnight’s clinic earlier that day on the canter, and was really disappointed at the amount of time she spent covering extreme basics (like…what a canter looks like, and how you have a right and left lead, and how to cue the canter. yeah. that was the first HOUR) so I was thrilled to see that Dutton had a group of extremely capable riders and was kicking their butts.
He worked with individual riders, setting up broad exercises but then addressing each horse and rider pair’s challenges as they worked through it. These were NOT easy exercises – think one stride extreme slices, and one stride right angles, and big wide corners. He had them up and out of their saddles and in a true cross-country gallop to approach some jumps. It was really cool to see, and to see the riders and the horses improve in just a few minutes.
Here are three of the exercises that I watched.
Dear me of 10 years ago: someday, you’re going to be VERY excited about getting a door installed.
Let’s talk about this #@$#@%@$ door.
It’s between the new garage space and the main basement space, and per code, needs to be therefore a 90 minute fire door.
I had no idea how expensive doors could be until this saga. I’ve been dragging my feet on buying it for two years now. They’re anywhere from $350-$500. For a frigging door. Not even a decorative one, either!
Sigh.
A few weeks ago, it finally reached the top of the financial priority list, and I had a free day. After some intensive Googling, I located the door I needed in New Hampshire, for $295. So, a friend and I took my truck to New Hampshire and picked up this door.
On Sunday, there were 5 of this particular door (size, fire-rating, correct inswing) in stock. When we arrived on Monday late morning, there was only one, and it had a handwritten note saying “no hardware.”
Ummmmmmmm. Cue a 45 minute runaround with a very patient salesman during which we printed out the install directions from the internet and combed through them meticulously to figure out what the heck that meant. Eventually, we determined that it meant that it was missing the 2.5″ wood screws that would usually come with it. I politely asked for a discount, and they gave me 10% off AND a free package of the necessary screws, bringing the door down to $260. SWEET.
Then the door came home, and sat in my basement for two weeks, and then my parents came to visit and my amazing father installed it!!!
The Audacity of a Plan from ‘Fraidy Cat Eventing
I like this. Good argument in favor of planning, lots of things for me to absorb personally.
The Hounds are Blessed from Equine Ink
Looooooove blessings of the animals. This is a nice horsey twist.
Product Review, Big Dee’s padded halter and lead from Weanie Eventer
No such thing as too many halter reviews. They get trashed so regularly that I replace them more than almost any other piece of equipment, so I always have my eye on what’s next.
How to Mount Things in Your Trailer & Product Review: The Organized Barn and Trailer HOSS System from Cob Jockey
ORGANIZE ALL THE THINGS!
GFPC Fun Show: Wyatt from The Roaming Rider
So cute. Sooooooooo cute!
Charles de Kunffy Clinic Notes from The $900 Facebook Pony
Really good notes, and some things I’m going to be thinking about for my next dressage ride.
Show Season by the Numbers from Pony Express
All the data!
DIY: How to Make a Roll Top Horse Jump from DIY Horse Ownership
I made a roll top with Pony Clubbers once. It was hugely rewarding, if a lot of work!
Finances are very much on my mind lately (I have a horse: when aren’t they?), especially after spending yesterday at Equine Affaire and seeing loads of lovely, expensive horses for sale.
I’m going to assume that if you’re a horse person you have gone into debt for something at some point. Maybe for something good, like a new truck or trailer or even a farm. Maybe for something bad, like unexpected vet bills or a new saddle that had to happen sooner rather than later. I shelled out $3k+ in vet bills this summer: I hear you.
In addition to finances, I’ve also devoted a lot of time to thinking about what my next horse will be like. Don’t worry – Tristan is doing great, and not going anywhere. But he’s 22, and I’m an obsessive planner. I have some really specific things that I want, and those things are probably not going to be cheap.
I paid $150 for Tristan. $50 of that was a Christmas gift from my family. I often joke that literally everything about him – from his bridle to one set of shoes to my helmet – has cost more than he did.
I will almost certainly not be going that route with my next horse.
So, I ask you:
Would you ever go into debt to buy a horse? Take out a personal bank loan? Pay a broker in installments? Jointly purchase with a trainer and pay back over time? HAVE you ever done this?
I’m genuinely curious. Please let me know if you would, and if so, what the circumstances would be. Or if you have done it, how did it work and did it work out?
I’ve just finalized plans to make a last-minute trip to Equine Affaire in Springfield, MA for tomorrow, November 9.
I’m mostly looking for some shopping: Tristan needs a new rain/turnout sheet. I need a good bargain.
I’ll also have my eye out for one or two other specific things at a good price; I need to make a list and then winnow it down.
I will probably attend a number of the seminars as well and take some notes. I’m particularly looking forward to hearing Philip Dutton – I’ve never seen him teach before. Gymnastic lines (his topic for Thursday) are not as useful to me anymore but I figure anything he has to say is worth listening to.
Will anyone else be around on Thursday? Want to stroll the exhibitor floor, grab lunch, audit something together?
Email me: beljoeor[at]gmail[dot]com!
January Recap
February Recap
March Recap
April Recap
May Recap
June Recap
July Recap
August & September Recap
Horse Goals – original post here
1. Put hands on my horse 5x a week – Mixed again; some weeks were terrific, some weeks were awful. Work continues to get in the way; I’m not home before 9pm 2-3 days a week at this point.
2. Be less perfunctory – Blergh.
3. Aim toward dressage schooling shows – This goal is officially defunct; no more shows left!
4. Take more lessons – No. 😦
5. Horse-specific income stream / funding emergency fund –
I’ve also stabilized and started to gain ground on emergency savings. \o/
Emergency fund: $4,350/$15,000
Tristan’s savings: $115/$1,500
6. Do more thoughtful work – Yes. I’m generally pleased with this.
7. Get more media – I’ve done some great pictures lately!
Life Goals – original post here
1. Pay off car – Only $280 left!!!
2. Read 75 books – 79/75, goal is officially reached!
Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson
Everyone should read A Room of One’s Own. Read it. Now. NOW. Why are you still reading this stupid blog post when you could be reading Virginia Woolf lay waste to the patriarchy?
3. Revive history blogs – sigh.
4. Do better about food – Still doing well! On day 202 of tracking my food as of yesterday.
5. Decorate the house – I bought three frames for the art we bought on the honeymoon and have measured the rest to get them frames!
I hung in there for a long time, you guys. I made a personal vow not to turn the heat on until November 1, and I pretty darn well stuck to it. It got as low as 57 in the house, but overall we had a pretty good fall and it hovered between 60-63 at the coldest.
You may – and probably will – think me crazy, but we keep the house at 60 in the winter, and 57 overnight anyway, so it was pretty on par.
The furnace guy came on Halloween morning, and we added another piece to our heating puzzle for the winter: bringing the gas stove in the game room back online. There’s no heat essentially in the back half of the first floor – kitchen, bathroom, game room, man cave. I think when the previous owners renovated the kitchen, they took out a radiator – based on what I can see of the pipes & the leftover radiators we have.
Until this past summer, the game room & man cave had zero insulation. The gas stove that heated that part of the house would have been pumping heat basically straight outside. The floor was icy cold in the winter.
Then, this summer, we got insulation put in! Huzzah! Then we finished the man cave!
So, this year, when we had the furnace guy out, I had him look over the gas stove – out of operation for close to three years at this point, since the house sat empty for a year before we bought it – and fire it back up.
The animals are pretty sure this is the best present I’ve ever gotten for them.
Oh, and now that it’s November, the furnace is officially on.
Gratuitous self-linkage time: here’s one of the bags from my new Etsy store! Click on the picture to go to its listing.
WPRA World Finals from The South Dakota Cowgirl
Whole ‘nother world from my usual, but so cool.
Blog Hop: My First Horse from Pony Express
The story and the pictures = ❤
My definition of a heart horse from The Jumping Percheron
This is just wonderful.
Cold Hands from The Feral Red Horse
Ah, winter gloves, the perennial thorn in my side.
An Infographic View of the Year of Photography from The House on the Hill
What a cool way to display your progress!
Registry Choices from Hand Gallop
I loved reading and thinking about this, since it’s not a problem I expect to ever personally encounter.
In memory of Andromaque from Eventing Nation
I loved her. I saw her go at Bromont. What a terrifically game little mare. I was so hoping to see more of her foals.
Day 01: When and Why You Started Riding from Fat Buckskin in a Little Suit
Super cool new blog hop from Clover Ledge Farm, and a really good post entry.
On the Injured List from PONY’TUDE
Gnarly injury photos + story ahead.
A Horse Called Bast from Guinness on Tap
We do so agonize over names!
Small Business Spotlight & Giveaway: Two Socks Designs from The $900 Facebook Pony
Some very cool products and a great giveaway – check it out!
EV114: dressing for eventing dressage from Hand Gallop
SUPER useful!
I’m stupid pleased with myself this year, guys.
Last year I did ok; with a baseline of 47 seconds, my final time was 5:12 and I was really sweating it to get that out. I started the month off with a better general fitness but sucked hard at my riding goals by the end of the month and did not cover myself in glory at the finish line.
In my defense, according to all my Facebook memories it had started snowing by the third week in October last year, and this year I have a tomato plant trying real hard to bud out right now.
SO. This year, my baseline was worse, at 0:25. That stung. I thought I’d been doing ok with my overall riding fitness, but nope.
I attacked that goal with a vengeance. I committed to practicing every day, every ride. I practiced in my jump saddle. I practiced in my dressage saddle. I rode it in the walk and trot and canter, inside and outside, uphill and down, in all three rings at the farm.
In the last 10 days, I have had to really knuckle down to get my times in, because that early practice faded when I ran into several very long days at work and lost the will to do pretty much anything.
But this story has a happy ending!
Week 1: 0:25
Week 2: 3:32
Week 3: 5:35
Week 4: 8:12
Aaaaaand…
I am stupid pleased with my progress and really proud of sticking to it. I actually wrote most of this post before finding out that I won. I was just that happy to have improved so much. Getting Reserve Champion was the icing on the cake.
And now?
No-Stirrup November, my favorite! (Yes, really!)
beljoeor.com 