all the things, shopping + a zebra

Summer is HERE, yo. Maryland very recently decided to get with the Heat+Humidity program, after what was honestly a pretty mild and enjoyable spring. We've had enough rain to keep the ground from being too too hard (and luckily not nearly as much rain as last year, dear god), but it's still pretty dry out there.

my pet cat + my pet turkey. guess which is which haha

Which, ya know. Is fine by me. It's been a quiet few days around here as Charlie worked through his brief mandated post-stifle-injections stall rest.

Every vet seems to be a little different in how much (if any) stall rest they want for the horses, and I think it depends on the exact formulation they used in the injections. This vet wanted roughly three days, but basically unlimited (controlled) hand walking and grazing during that period.

what do you do when you can't ride? obvi work on your gif editing #skillz lol

Which was perhaps a good thing. Charlie has historically been pretty good about stall rest. But he's also historically had stall rest for REASONS. Like, ya know, when he had surgery on that god forsaken splint. In retrospect, I'm guessing he understood that he didn't feel well or that he was hurting, and so the stall rest suited him at that time.

farewell trail ride for a longtime friend and young rider, off to pursue her dreams!

For this, tho, it's not like he was sick or injured or anything like that. Nothing felt bad. We just wanted to give the joint juice a chance to settle or something, I guess. So maybe from Charlie's perspective he couldn't understand his confinement. And homeboy was PISSED lol.

tho naturally it can't be a group trail ride through the overgrown jungle without at least a little fuckery haha

Thank god that's over haha, and we're getting back into business now. We even finally got the pads on up front earlier this week. Tho it was a bit early in the shoeing cycle so the trim is a bit short. My guess is Charlie might continue to be a little sore on those tootsies for perhaps a few more days, but that's ok.

They finally (FINALLY) got all our xc jumps moved back out into the fields this week too, after they'd been sitting in a pile out front since coming home from Shawan in May ugh. Charlie's happy to go wandering around on the relatively softer grassy fields while I scope everything out and fantasize about jumping all the things haha.

oooooooh is pretty Verhan!!! i'm all about those half blocks, yo

Meanwhile, I've done what every reasonable horse person does when their horse is laid up: SHOPPED!! Obviously, at first slightly ambitiously haha -- like when this gorgeous Verhan dressage saddle came home with me on trial from Maryland Saddlery.

The thing looks brand new, is 18", currently set at a medium tree but is apparently fully adjustable, plus has those half blocks that I love so much.

back before vet bills, when i was feeling good about making foolish choices haha

The actual trial ride tho was.... Meh, kinda disappointing. Probably not helped by the fact that it was one of our last rides before the vet appt and I was already feeling kinda blue about Charlie shuffling around in a massively uninspiring way.

But also, the twist on this saddle felt pretty wide. At first I thought that could be an advantage bc of how it helps me re-position my pelvis (sitting more back on my seat bones instead of perching forward). As the ride went on, tho, it became more clear that this saddle would be going back. Oh well, at least trying all the things is helping my butt get more educated!

ok these are more my price range now haha -- instead of plugging your stud holes you can use these screw-in caulks

Obviously tho, returning the saddle meant another trip to Maryland Saddlery. Where I continue to have an extremely plush store credit account after that whole "KonMari my tack trunk" thing wherein I consigned a fuck ton of old junk, basically all of which sold. Yasssss.

coulda sworn i picked up some small flat road studs a while ago, but either i didn't or i lost them, womp. got 'em now tho!

I'm always fascinated by little mechanical odds ends and gadgets, esp little pieces of hardware. So even tho I still feel like a complete newb when it comes to all things stud-related, I still love poring over the stuff.

The barn mate I went on that hunter trials with had those screw-in caulks plugging her mare's stud holes instead of the typical rubber or cotton plugs. Apparently they just go in and out with the included hex tool?

Anyway, I was intrigued, so when I saw them for like $2.50 at the consignment shop, obvi they came home with me. Ditto the set of simple small flat road studs. This kinda bugged me a bit bc I'm like 97.5% sure I bought a similar set last time I was there, but can't for the life of me find them. Oh well. They were also just like $2.50 so nbd. This style stud is good for riding on roads (per the name, obvi), but also in instances where the ground is rock hard.

the pink rubber nunn finer spur straps are fun, but for $6 a pair of simple brown leather straps were a no brainer

Next up was a standard pair of brown leather spur straps. When I first got my lovely new QHP Sophia brown tall boots, I thought maybe the above pink rubber Nunn Finer straps would be fun while also being kinda less visible on the light brown.

In reality, tho, they're kinda chunky and stood out more than I expected. So these brown straps will be better for shows and stuff, I think. I do like the rubber Nunn Finers tho - they are SUPER easy and require zero maintenance. So they'll stick around for fun, or if for whatever reason I ever decide to have a second pair of spurs aside from these nudgers.

would have preferred buckle ends, but it's not every day you find such a nice set of 60" rubber reins for $25

Last little bit of equipment was a new set of reins. I've been low key browsing new reins for a while now, but so far have resisted temptation. My giant rubber Stubbens on our competition jump bridle are slowly dying, but they're at that weird sticky rubbery phase that actually helps me hang on to them well right now haha. Plus they're CRAZY long.

My schooling bridle tho just has a pair of beat up laced reins that's missing a keeper on the hook end. Plus they're not quiiiiite long enough for Charlie's brontosaurus neck (neither are my dressage reins, for that matter). So anything I picked up would have to definitely be long enough. Hopefully these 60" brand new rubber reins will do the trick!

who is even shaped like this?? i tried them on for shits and giggles haha, but dear god, no pictures

Anyway. Moving right on along. I'm really not much of an apparel girl. Most of my tops I get from the active wear section of stores like Marshalls. You can get stuff that looks identical to the cute Noble Outfitters tops but at a fraction of the price. That's a no-brainer.

I do like browsing the sections tho, and am always on the look out for the perfect pair of whites. The above were, uh, NOT that haha. I think they're Kingslands or something euro like that? Lol..

assuming i ever go to a horse show again, i've got the clothes for it!

I've wanted a new sleeveless show shirt tho ever since I picked up the new RJ Essentials show coat with mesh sleeves. Again I hate spending a lot of money on stuff like this, esp white stuff that I'm probably going to ruin with stains and poor #laundryskills within the first four times of wearing it....

But this Kerrits ice fill shirt was reasonable enough (esp considering it was paid for by all that KonMari junk lol) plus I like the cute collar pattern. It's getting reserved exclusively for recognized shows tho. If, ahem, any ever happen. Sigh.

plus who could resist a brand new pair of full seats from consignment for $36!?!

Almost by mistake I spied these Devon Aire breeches in my size out of the corner of my eye. I like the pocket detailing, the full seats, plus the silicone knee grips. And the color - stony mossy mineral-y type colors are kinda my jam lol, esp if they're on the darker side of taupe.

These have a slightly lower rise than I quite prefer, but for the price, I'm fine with slapping a belt on them and calling it a day. Esp considering I'm still rebuilding my breeches collection after finally losing all the weight gained following breaking my leg.... Bleh.

anyway. i told you there would be a zebra, right? saw this on my evening barn commute haha

Anyway lol. There were a few other odds and ends I picked up. An actual Noble Outfitters top that is suuuuuuper cute, and brand new yet steeply discounted bc #consignment4lyfe. No pictures yet tho. Also a new pinny holder bc mine somehow vanished, womp. No pictures of that either. It's a pinny holder tho. Not super exciting lol.

grazing with the ponies <3

I'm excited to start putting some of this stuff to use tho. I'm thinking I'll put the stud caulks in Charlie's front shoes asap, since those shoes just got replaced and the threads are fresh. The farrier ran out of time for the hinds, but will do them in a couple days. Then I'll get the caulks in those too.

Has anyone else ever used them instead of more traditional plugs? Did you like them? Did they become a pain to get in and out if the hex holes get very clogged?

twu wuv!

The reins will hopefully go on my schooling bridle asap so I can start conditioning my poor fingers to fresh rubber nubs haha. For whatever reason I fell off the gloves bandwagon and prefer to ride bare handed now. Tho perhaps these will change my mind? We'll see.

The new schooling apparel will also obvi go into rotation immediately. The show stuff will have to wait tho, le sigh. I was so super stoked that they finally set up our home xc course ahead of the recognized HT a little later this summer. That event was sketched roughly into my plan for the year, but alas I just learned the course closes to competitors 6wks out from competition.

charlie may think this life ain't so bad.... but i think we're both missing the xc a little bit haha

That leaves me with the choice of either doing the home show OR being able to school to my heart's delight throughout the next month and a half. Considering the vet straight up told me I don't jump my horse often enough, more schooling is definitely a high priority. So.... Unfortunately I think the trade off isn't worth it to do the show. Bummer. We can do the starter trials later in the summer tho, maybe.

Of course this is all assuming my horse is ever sound again haha. One can dream, right?? Does anyone else like to go off the deep end with shopping whenever your horse is laid up? Do you like to try to keep things practical and reasonable, or would you have gone whole hog and bought the damn saddle too?? Lol...