shave & a haircut

Our lesson on saturday was canceled at the last minute when trainer P got word that her house lost heat. This was obviously a bit of an emergency given the extreme cold we've faced. And naturally we couldn't really resent an excuse like that... but it was still a bummer.

The disappointment was compounded when the nearby farms that allow haul-ins were all busy with lessons, so no riding for us :(. It was ok tho - the snowstorm we had hoped to beat rolled in earlier and heavier than we expected, so it would have been a dicey drive anyway. But we still pouted a bit haha. 

'so, um, i see you have apples?' - isabel

The optimist in me actually thought it might be educational for Ms Thing, tho. She came out of the field to see the trailer ready and waiting in the parking lot, as usual. And we went through our whole pre-travel routine. All signs pointed to her having to get on to the trailer and go somewhere. But - when it was all said and done, she ended up back out in the field stuffed with candy canes and apples after not working at all. 

'mmm yurmmy urpples...'

We were still at this point hopeful about showing the next day (whomp whomp) so we took advantage of the free time to trim whiskers and bridle paths. Isabel is a total pro about clipping (and presumably was familiar with clippers in her previous life) but I'm decidedly amateur... 

'soo delishus'

I decided to take off her beard too - and am pretty pleased with how much nicer her whole face looks - pretty tho it naturally is (that's a fact, too, btw - not just my opinion lol). The clip job does not, uh, bear very close inspection haha. But it's good enough and she's starting to shed anyways so whatever I missed will be gone soon anyways. 

'no pics while i'm eeting!!!' - isabel

I also attached all my new nameplates and tags, which was kind of exciting. Part of me was a little concerned about hammering into my saddle... and I was pretty sure that the nameplate on the bridle's crown piece would end up off-center and drive me absolutely nuts while riding (since, ya know, Isabel's ears are usually all up in my face lol). But it was all fine, and I'm pretty pleased with how everything looks. 

For those interested, this is the configuration I settled on for the girth tag. I would have preferred to attach it a little lower on the buckle, or on the side... But the rest of the buckle parts were too wide for the little ring. It's yet to be seen if this will drive me nuts or get in the way of buckling/tightening the girth haha. If that's the case, I'll probably pick up a bigger "S" hook from the hardware store. 

Updated: Here's the attached saddle nameplate too. It's at least the 3rd or 4th plate that's adorned this saddle lol. 

Hopefully the outline of past plates will diminish over time - esp bc the previous plates weren't level, so mine looks uneven in comparison. The darkest spots came off easily with soap tho and I'm conditioning like crazy, so I remain optimistic. If it bugs me over time I'll just reattach the plate higher.