Category: blog hop

blog hop · clothing · stupid human tricks

Blog Hop: Horse Clothes

Amanda1 Comment

I am so very far behind in this blog hop that I totally missed the official code for it, but I was folding laundry the other day and thought “self, you have a really embarrassing number of horse-related shirts, and you need to share that with the internet.”

Aside: does anyone else mentally separate clothes into work clothes, barn clothes, civilian clothes? I think I wear non-work, non-barn clothes mayyyybe once a week. Possibly I need a life.

Fancy technical shirts for riding on days when I need to dress up. On the left, from the Bromont CCI3*, which I’ve blogged about before here; on the right, from my old barn.

Get it? I ride a mustang? There are a surprisingly number of mustang-the-car themed shirts and other gimmicky things that I feel tempted to own.

The two left I got at an Equine Affaire; the right suits my mood sometimes…

One of my all-time favorites, a gift from a dear friend, and a discontinued design on Threadless. The ponies have, from left to right, a stick of dynamite and a six shooter on their butts.

Remember when Life is Good made equestrian t-shirts? This is still a favorite of mine. I deeply regret not getting the eventing & dressage ones when they still made them. (If you can’t read, it says “Hold Your Horses” and the little stick figure is giving the horse a hug.)

Sorry this picture came out so poorly, but: Rolex! I picked this up for, no joke, $12 at the clearance tent on the way out after showjumping. It’s a men’s small, and has only fairly recently shrunk with washing to look not ridiculous on me. It was the only t-shirt I saw all that weekend in my colors (gray & black) and I had to have it.

Volunteering t-shirts! Left and right are Vermont Dressage Days from different years (so in love with the new one I got this year, on the right!). Center is King Oak; for all the many times I’ve volunteered for them I usually take pens. This is the only t-shirt I ever took.

College stuff. I went to college in Vermont. T-shirts would not cut it. LL Bean quarter zip fleece on the left, LL bean insulated jacket on the right. These are both approaching 12 years old and I wear them constantly and I am probably going to have a small breakdown when they finally wear out. I should call up my old coach and have her put me on the next order…
I think I am missing one of the other My Little Pony t-shirts, but you get the idea. 

blog hop · dressage · hitching post farm

(In)formal Blog Hop: Transformations

Amanda4 Comments

Inquiring minds want to know when a blog hop moves from informal to formal? Is there a tipping point number? Regardless, Niamh at Life of Riley proposed we show transformation photos.

Alas, we are not much further along than we were a few years ago, nor do I have all that many photographs showing when we did make progress. I do have something that promises to be hilarious, though.

Behold, the first dressage test I ever did with Tristan. August 2006. He had been under saddle for about 4 months.

Here is a BN dressage test we did at Hitching Post Farm in May 2012.

So not huge improvements in self-carriage, etc., but hooray for staying in the ring!
blog hop

Blog Hop: Unpopular

Amanda3 Comments

Some of us have a lot of ideas and thoughts, well probably all of us. So this is your time to shine and really make a ruckus (no really actually let’s not fight about this we can all just agree to disagree about stuff). What is 1 unpopular horsey opinion you have?

Whoo boy. So many opinions, so little time, so little desire to have everyone hate me.
Let’s go with #1: I am entirely in favor of horse slaughter.
I am not a vegetarian. I eat meat, primarily poultry. I try to make good decisions about what I eat and when I eat, but as much as I love animals, I have no reservations about how delicious they are.
If we slaughter animals for meat, there is no reason we should not slaughter horses as well.
The overpopulation problem is huge. There are many horses out there who will live desperately miserable lives through neglect or mistreatment. They will never be trained up to a useful career. There are many terrible human beings out there who would rather let them starve in a field or abuse them rather than give them a humane end of life.
That said, I have reservations about the way horse slaughter is done in North America. Captive bolt is a terrible way to kill horse, who are not the placid animals that cattle are. Rounding mustangs up in order to slaughter them is really atrocious wildlife management. And finally, if horses are going to become part of the food supply there need to be strategies for regulating the medication & supplements that we use in them.
I will never personally eat horse, much the same as I choose not to eat lamb and would choose not to eat dog if it were presented to me. That’s my personal choice. But I don’t think it should be ruled out entirely for sentimental reasons.
blog hop · mustangs · rescue

Viva Carlos Blog Hop: Interested Parties

Amanda2 Comments

What made you interested in your current horse that led you to buying them in the first place?

Fun question! With a semi-interesting answer for me.

The summer after I graduated from college, I moved down to Maine to live with family for the summer to do something different. I had a job as a cashier at a convenience store on the beach for the summer season, which did not pay nearly enough to continue riding lessons.

So I asked around and found a nearby horse rescue and began volunteering my time: Ever After Mustang Rescue.

I started mucking stalls and doing general cleaning, and moved on to handling horses. We rode some of the older non-mustang, completely-broke horses when we had time, but mostly it was ground work boot camp: how many of these horses can we teach to stay calm while brushed, lead like good citizens, pick up their feet, and in general be civilized domestic ponies? The mustangs there ranged from just in from the wild to some who had been living domestically for years but still had zero training to show for it.
Midway through the summer, a rich woman visited and decided she was going to adopt about a half dozen mustangs and bring them to her land so she could look at them out the window and, I don’t know, get a sense of ‘Murica and freedom or something. She had staff come and look at horses and choose the ones she wanted.
One of those was a red roan gelding that everyone called “Big Red” because at 15 hands with good bone, he was one of the largest horses on the property. (Mustangs run small!) He was very flashy and had a cute face, which fit the lady’s criteria for what she wanted to look at every day.
So I was assigned Red, who could not be handled in any way shape or form: could not be touched, could not be groomed, was moved from place to place (like several other horses) by the expediency of closing off some doors & gates, opening others, and herding him.
Many, many hours and weeks later, I had a nice little horse with pretty decent manners. I started him under saddle, and right about that time the rich lady changed her mind. Red was going to stay at the rescue. I did about five rides with him in a sidepull and old saddle, including one in the open, and at the end of the summer kissed his nose and headed off to the job I had lined up for September back in Vermont.
Except, I had fallen in love with him. And the horse I’d been leasing for years went finally, irreversibly, unsound. And I started number-crunching and pondering Ramen noodles.
So I made the call, and after a $150 donation to the rescue, Red – now named Tristan – came to me on January 2, in the dead of winter, and became mine.
In large part, I lucked out. I did not have nearly as much experience in evaluating a horse to have gotten the horse I did on skill. I knew that he was essentially good-natured, very smart, decently athletic, and very handsome. I knew how we worked together, and that his basic ground manners were good. I had the confidence from my summer at the rescue to continue to develop his ground work.
I would go about choosing a horse very, VERY differently these days, but I do not regret the way Tristan came to me.
blog hop · trailering

Viva Carlos Blog Hop: Travel Bug

Amanda2 Comments
I’m catching up, ok?

Most of us have been somewhere with our horse, whether its camping, a trail ride, a horse show or just moving them to another barn. Like most things with horses, sometimes success is just a measure of trial and error. What is your best tip for traveling with horses?


Lots of other people have answered to make a list and check it twice. I do that. I even have a separate sub-list for my trailer-specific first aid kit. To describe it as obsessive would not be doing it justice.
However, here is my absolute #1 tip for travelling with horses: bring way, way more water than you think you will need, and bring it from home.
There are many reasons for this, so I’ll break it down.
First, horses can become suddenly picky in the weirdest of ways. Having water that they’re used to, from home, diminishes the chances that they’ll go off drinking.
Second, never, ever, ever plan on water being available where you’re going, even at shows. Biosecurity is a real thing. If you arrive at a show, and the only way to get water is out of a communal trough, DO NOT USE IT. Don’t be that horrible example who brings strangles back to your home barn. (I am also fairly neurotic about not letting Tristan graze if trailer parking is in a strange pasture, but I know that’s a little above and beyond.) Bringing your own water helps neatly avoid this problem. If there’s a hose/spigot available, and you can fill up separately from the main trough that everyone and their cousin has used for their horse, then that’s a bonus, and fill up your empty containers before you go home, just in case.
Corollary to this: don’t be that person who waltzes up to the big trough and lets their horse drink right out of it. You are the Pony Club poster child for thoughtless horse owner. I’m serious about this. Don’t do it. If you must, dunk a clean bucket in to fill up.
Third, you never know how long you’re going to be stuck on a trailer. “Oh, it was only a short ride to the trailhead!” becomes a 4 hour wait in bumper-to-bumper traffic on a hot summer day. If you didn’t bring enough water, or didn’t fill all your empty buckets from the (safe!) hose before you left, then you can’t pull over and offer your horse water and you are going to really, really regret your lack of preparation. I’ve been hauling horses at the tail end of what was supposed to be a short drive and sat for hours and hours in stopped traffic when a horrible accident closed the entire highway. I was very glad I could have my companion jump out and offer water to the horses.
I never hitch up the trailer without somewhere between 20 and 40 gallons of water, depending on how many horses I’m hauling. I usually fill up four 5 gallon buckets, and then I have a few 5 gallon gas containers that I fill up with water as well. I dump and refill them regularly if I haven’t used them up. I scrub them and let them dry in the sun if they show the slightest hint of slime. (I also have 3-5 possible buckets to use for sponging or drinking for horses, so they’re not drinking out of those buckets.) I covet one of those big water tanks that tucks under a gooseneck or in a tack room. Someday!
If you’re hauling with someone else who doesn’t have adequate water buckets in their rig, then it’s your responsibility to provide water for your horse and, if you’re a thoughtful person, for the other horse as well.
So, there’s my lecture/advice. Water: don’t leave home without it.
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blog hop

RTR Blog Hop: Superstitions

Amanda7 Comments

So, the blog hop asks: What superstitions do you have when it comes to your horses, riding, and/or showing? Do you have any good luck items/charms?

I am actually not an overly superstitious person! I don’t really have any good luck charms. I don’t have any particular things I have to do before a show.

That’s not to say I am not fussy in other ways: I tend to read too much into small things on a day when I’m really nervous, especially at a show. (Whether I can find things quickly and/or in a way that “makes sense” to me, what number I get – not that I have a lucky number, but more if the numbers “fit.”) I have a few OCD tendencies in that there are routines I do to feel comfortable, like the ways I tap my saddle after I’ve put it on. (It’s kind of tough to explain!)

The only really superstitious thing I do, in that I feel like I’m reaching toward a higher power rather than my own individual neuroses, is directly related to Tristan but doesn’t come into play around him.

I wear a St. Michael’s medallion around my neck. It’s a small silver-colored piece about the size and weight of a nickel. I got it on a trip to Normandy while I was studying abroad.

Mont St. Michel
I actually got it at a small parish church on Mont St. Michel, which is an island/monastery off the northern coast of France. My college advisor, a very close friend, got married in the parish church and gave me the contact information for the priest to look up and say hi to. We had a lovely chat and I got a behind the scenes tour of the church. (Not the big famous monastery, but a much smaller and more intimate chapel in another part of the town.)
Before I left, I dropped a few euros in the collection box and lit a candle, which I do compulsively when in Catholic churches, though it is at this point that I suppose I should say that I am not actually in any way Catholic, or even really religious. (I lived in a nunnery and regularly attended mass while living in France but it was more cultural than spiritual.) Next to the candles, they had a dish of these St. Michael’s medallions, with St. Michael slaying the dragon on one side and a profile of the island on the other side.
This isn’t mine, but it looks very much like mine – the saint’s side anyway.
When I got back to the city I was living in from my Normandy trip, I bought an inexpensive chain, and have worn the medallion around my neck ever since. It’s small and simple and I find it comforting. I’ve always played with it and fiddled with it on and off since. I’ve worn it for about ten years now.
I’d worn necklaces before, and had always had the habit of making a wish when the clasp rotates down to the front of the necklace and bumps up against the charm. I think someone told me about it in elementary school.
After I got Tristan, which was about a year and a half after getting the medallion, I found one day that the clasp had rotated down. I was about to turn it back and make a wish when I realized that the wish I’d so often made when I was a little kid – to have a horse – had come true!
So ever since then, every single time, when I rotate the clasp back around, I pause for a second or two in whatever I’m doing and I think about Tristan. I send a quick silent prayer for his health and happiness, I thank the universe for bringing him to me, and if my day is particularly hectic I close my eyes and think about a long fast gallop, or burying my face in his shoulder, or the sweet smell of his nose.
I’ve only deviated from this a bare handful of times in the last eight years, maybe three or four times, and each has been for another horse: a friend’s horse in danger, or another friend’s horse who died suddenly and heartbreakingly. Always horses I know personally.
Most of the time, it’s my charm for Tristan, and it helps me feel like he’s with me even when my life is hectic and I can’t see him as often as I’d like.

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bits · blog hop

Blog Hop: Bit it Up

Amanda1 Comment

An excellent and timely blog hop from L. Williams at Viva Carlos!

I wrote once before about the bits I’ve used for Tristan in the past, and why: Bits I Have Loved.

This past Thursday, Tristan’s new bit arrived. It’s this Stuebben Loose Ring Snaffle, with the copper bean in the middle. I bought it based primarily on the reviews and the measurement. Tristan needed something thinner in his mouth than the JP Korsteel Loose Ring Snaffle that he’d been in for a while.

The difference of 4mm (18mm for the JP, 14mm for the Stuebben) doesn’t sound like much, but it’s actually pretty significant!

JP above, Stuebben below.
Things I am very happy with: The thinner bit definitely makes a difference. The copper bean definitely makes a difference. In all, an upgrade. The jaw crossing and tongue sticking out were greatly diminished, and he was happy to mouth the copper bean – he was dripping foam more than he ever has!
Things I am less happy with: I bought the 5″ despite the nagging feeling in the back of my head that he needed the 5 1/4″, because what 15 hand horse needs a 5 1/4″ bit? My idiot horse, that’s who.
Now, it’s not criminally small, but it is right at the edge of acceptable. He did not object dramatically to it. But, especially with the loose rings, it’s a bit too close to the corners of his mouth for my comfort.
The good news is I can either return it to Smartpak OR sell it to someone else in the barn, who has a dainty Lusitano mare that has been going in a 6″ (!!!) bit. M. is going to try the bit on the mare this coming week and if it fits her I will sell it to them and order the 5 1/4″ for Tristan. Problem solved!

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blog hop

Horse Owning Bucket List

Amanda6 Comments

Stole this from A Gift Horse, ’cause I kind of love it.

What horses would I like to own someday?

Let us start this post by saying that Tristan will live forever and ever, amen. This list will come into play when I get my own land and have space for more horses.

1. Morgan Gelding

I freaking love these horses. They have personality to spare, they can do anything, they are built like bricks, they are energetic but sensible, and they are gorgeous. For the purposes of this list, let’s say a Lippitt line – something old blood, with TONS of bone, that has the build to go all-around, not just the saddleseat stuff.

Mmmmmmmm.
2. Gotland Pony
This is my eventual child’s pony. They are adorable, they can be genuinely fancy, they are a heritage breed, and they hail from the same part of Sweden as the BF’s family. In my ideal world, I have a pony that will serve for kids, but that I can also drive. Combined driving might be in the top 5 of my equestrian bucket list. Plus, sleighing in the winter!
Seeing a theme? I might have a thing for chunky horses.

3. Haflinger

The very first barn I took lessons at had a whole herd of Haflingers. They were all named things like Hans and Franz and Gunnar. They were extremely difficult to tell apart, especially for a ten year old kid. I hardly ever got to ride them – I was already very tall even as a kid. I still love them, though, and would not kick that face out of the barn!

Or maybe three?

4. Rescue Pasture Ornament

Really and truly one of the first things I do when I get land will be to put the word out to friends that I’d like a pasture ornament horse, something that can’t be ridden anymore, to live out its days with me and keep Tristan company. I’d love to always have something living with me that just needs a home and hay and love. I know from experience working at rescues that these horses are so tough to place – but so deserving of love.

5. Mustang

I may have ended up with my first mustang by accident, but I’d like to have one at all times. They are such special horses. Their intelligence, sense of self, toughness, and personality are all second to none.

If I ever win the lottery, this is what my backyard will look like.

blog hop

Viva Carlos Magical Blog Hop: Right Here Right Now

Amanda2 Comments

L. Williams from Viva Carlos asks: What are you currently working on in your rides?

We’re trying to accomplish a couple things, but if I had to summarize them, it would be consistency.

Consistent schedule during the week, which I’m still struggling with. (Oh, puppy.)

Consistent transitions – sharp and quick and responsive.

Consistent forward – maintaining that jump in the hind legs through corners, across diagonals, around circles. We’ve been using the poles as WT suggested: trot through the line and then keep that feel around the ring. When it fades, go back through the poles. Try to keep it longer and longer.

Consistency in the bridle – inside leg, outside rein! Lots of half-halts and encouraging sit, up through the base of the neck, up through the back, especially through any changes like transitions and changes of direction.

Consistent suppleness – even, through steps in both direction, the ability to play around with what I need in terms of bend and looseness.

blog hop

Our Commercial Moment Blog Hop

Amanda5 Comments

From L at Viva Carlos.

What are you buying next? Not your “Wish I could” list but your actual practical pony shopping list. And if its a high ticket item you are saving for what is it and when do you expect to order/get it?


I have two big-ticket items coming up in April, but neither is technically a purchase. Both of Tristan’s saddles are getting reflocked on April 21, and most likely on that same day his trailer will go in for inspection + repairs. Saddles will probably be $255, and I’ve budgeted $500 for the trailer.
After that, it’ll be tickets to Everything Equine, and while I’m there I’ll be looking for a new bit for Tristan: loose ring but thinner through the mouth than his current bit. Say another $75 for those two.
Longer term, I need a new car at the end of the summer (I’ve been saving for this for a few years now, and expect to have about a 50% down payment), and then this fall I’ll be shopping for a new riding helmet. I’ll probably go with an International, but I’d like something a little nicer and less bubble-headed than the schooling helmet I wear now.