the emperor's new clothes (+ Bingo Stories Due!)

Happy Pi Day, y'all!! Just a reminder - for those of you playing Bingo who want to enter the $25 Riding Warehouse gift card drawing, you must submit your BINGO! story before midnight tomorrow, March 15!

charlie wants your stories!!!! (and your smooches)

 A rules refresher:

• Review your assigned BINGO! cards and choose a hypothetical winning path (as in, a full row, full column, or diagonal line from the card).
• Write a story about how the blocks in your winning path might come to pass in real life with your horse (or any horse!). 
• Publish said story in any of the following ways by 3/15/2017:
• Post on your blog if you have one (ideal if the story comes with pictures/illustrations/visual representations)
• Post in the comments of the new dedicated EVENTING BINGO page
• Or email it to fraidycat.eventing at gmail and I will publish it for you

That's it! A winner will be randomly selected from the pool of participants!

I currently have entries from the following group of five (plus a few others have let me know their stories are coming today - exciting!!). This means tho that the chances of winning that gift card are pretty high for all involved, so get those stories in!

Sara
Olivia
TeresaA
Courtney
Wendy

The above linked stories include everything from nefarious water fowl, jeering Miami Dolphins fans, and dressage ring teleportation, to manure-splattered white breeches and high-flying mules. Click the above links to read!!

SO. BLUE.

Meanwhile. Every year, Two Horse Tack reaches out to members of the equestrian blogging community asking for product reviews of their tack as a way to promote their products and generate buzz.

Some of the participating bloggers this year include Liz, TeresaA, Leah, and Grace, tho perhaps there are others - feel free to link below in the comments section if I missed your review!

apologies for slight blur. this is a clear representative shot of the hardware, stitching, and materials. that lighter blue material is BRIGHT

I chose to receive their beta biothane two-color combo turnout halter and lead, with a blue base and light blue overlay. I also opted for the "Horse" sized halter, which is indicated as: Fits most Horses 14.2 -16 hands.

snazzy matching flat lead! probably not suitable for tying the horse but is otherwise a standard flat lead. that matches.

Charlie clears 17hh on a short day.... but honestly his head really isn't giant. Long? Yes. But he also fits into Isabel's old dressage bridle so..... yea. He can do most cob sizes and probably most full sizes too. I figured it would be fine.

yep that fits!

And it is! The halter's fit easily accommodates his nose, jowls, and face length. Plus there's still room for adjustment up or down on both sides of the crown piece should I decide to tinker further with fit.

did i mention that blue is BRIGHT?

I wasn't sure about the narrowness of this material on Charlie's face. Especially in the low light of these pictures, the dark blue base somewhat recedes into oblivion in contrast to that bright BRIGHT blue overlay. But I actually like it! Charlie's face could be mistaken for plain, but (call me biased if you want) I think he's actually quite expressive, in a subtle kind of way. And this halter does not diminish or overpower that.

Pretty sure that blue might actually be day-glo tho haha. Charlie doesn't wear his halter out in the field but if he did, I'd never have to worry about finding him in the darkness ever again lol. The color definitely stands out!

such a sweet face! wish i hadn't chopped his nose off tho haha

I like the biothane too. It's obviously different from nylon or leather, but it has a good feel to it. Substantial like it'll last, but also forgiving against skin - and probably also forgiving in the event of a panicking caught-up horse. There isn't anything that's obviously 'breakaway' about it (tho they have leather crown piece options too) but in my experience.... there's usually a weak point if a weak point needs finding. Just ask that Eskadron halter I reviewed a while back... (In that instance, the hardware itself broke. I really should get pics....)

I also like that the material doesn't fade and is easy to clean (use your hose, washing machine, or even your freakin dishwasher -- beta biothane don't care!).

easy to pick out of a pile lol

But most importantly - I appreciate the weather-proof aspects of this halter. As I've mentioned before, Charlie's halter hangs out on the pasture gate while the horses are in turnout. So it must be able to withstand all the elements - baking sun or soaking rain. The elements were already beginning to put some wear on Charlie's nice leather halter, so this was a big priority for me.

Oh. OH. And. Haha. There's one other thing about it that gives me a sick sense of joy: The style is decidedly..... not traditional or classic - especially not in the h/j sense of the word. Considering Charlie lives at a farm where everyone strictly uses white saddle pads (even colorful trim is discouraged!) I've found myself edging slowly in the opposite direction: Bling all the things, Wear all the colors, Shock all the sensibilities!!

SPACE CATS TOO

Which led me to another recent discovery: the uniting of two items that have been in my wardrobe for a while now, but that had never occurred to me to be perfect purrfect partners!! Which will undoubtedly be inseparable now, and will be my perfect answer to all the nameplate belts and Tailoreds in hunterlandia haha.

Obviously I'm talking about the SPACE CATS C4 belt Stephanie gave me for the 2016 equestrian blogger gift exchange. And these sweet blue Montar breeches I picked up at Dressage at Devon last year at The Horse of Course's shop (not coincidentally also while visiting Stephanie!).

nasty winter weather means getting creative with arena turnout and makeshift stalls lol

Which, by the way, I've kinda waffled on whether to review these pants. Is that the kind of thing ppl would be interested in reading? Let me know haha.

Bc in the meantime we're all just hunkering down here while all of winter condenses itself into one week. Boo, March. Boo. At least Charlie gets to be reunited with his friends in the indoor haha. Poor guy has been switched to solo daytime turnout bc it's just been too cold for his delicate constitution to be out overnight with his usual herd.... #hesawimp

charlie is very happy to be "out" with his friends ... even if they kinda give him the cold shoulder lol

Goofy horses haha. They seemed happy tho. Even if they all kinda pushed poor gentle giant Charlie around.... Whatevs, maybe he's into that kinda thing?

Anyway tho. Don't forget to get in your Eventing BINGO! stories if you're playing along too. Oh and be sure to check out Two Horse Tack - if you're interested at all in their products, sign up for their newsletter to get 20% off your first order. Readers can also use the promo code: THT407 for 10% off Two Horse Tack merchandise.

Stay warm, y'all!