this is why we can’t have nice things

Hope y’all are staying warm out there… These polar vortex storms are getting old, not gonna lie… As of this writing, we’re expecting another deep freeze plus possibly a few inches of fresh snow UGH!

the destructive monster herself

Idk about you all, but I was feeling all motivated going into the off season and signed up for all manner of fun activities and outings that are all getting postponed, rescheduled, or straight up cancelled bc bleh… The weather is too hateful!

She may or may not have had murder on the mind while riding amidst lessons the other night

Tho ya know. Maybe it’s all for the best anyway… Poor Miss Thing bruised her feet a bit from a nasty ice ball wedged in her shoe during the first big snowstorm, and is only just now starting to feel better. 

 

at least she’s cute

Tho naturally the ground outside is still completely trashed so she’s simultaneously overflowing with pent up energy…

wild woman had to get it out of her system!

It’s made our attempts at riding a little dicey. I’ve tried to keep getting on her regularly, with the idea being that just walking around nice soft footing is good for her body — even if her feet were too sore for regular ‘work.’ 

well, wild until she got ‘stuck’ in the box lol

But y’all know Doozy, she’s not always entirely on board with the idea of “just walking around” LOL…. And not gonna lie… We came embarrassingly close to causing a major scene a couple times while sharing the ring with lessons… whoops!

there ya go lady - back out the way you came in!

C’est la vie, I guess. Like it’s no secret that the mare kinda needs a fairly consistent degree of work. And I’m not particularly worried about things smoothing out when conditions improve… So ya know. We’ll see where things are after this next storm!

ugh mare!!!

In the meantime, tho, I’m experimenting with some repairs to our brand new (ugh!) and beloved nathe bit, which the monster friggin CHOMPED in our last ride. 

have you used bit wrap before?

We’ve literally only had this bit for a few weeks at this point, so, uh, that’s not really nearly durable enough for something that cost almost $100. But it’s such a good solution for Doozy at this point in her training that I’m hoping we can maybe keep it going with some bit wrap?

it’s just self-adhering latex that can be cut to fit

Like, I don’t necessarily expect this latex tape to be any more durable, but… if it protects the bit itself then, maybe it’s worth just having to rewrap the bit every couple weeks or months? I got this particular tape off Amazon, and reviews said it works about as well as Sealtex, which I think is maybe the more common brand but less available these days? 

my first attempt seems decent enough, lmk if you have any tricks

I dunno. I tried to take a little care wrapping the thing — starting with a clean dry bit and trimming the edges to hopefully be as thin and unobtrusive as possible. I also used a hair dryer on the low setting to help with adherence, tho it naturally seems to stick quite easily.

wrapped our other new bit that i want to try for jumping

I haven’t jumped in the nathe yet so it’s hard to say how well it works when Doozy gets strong. My guess, tho, is that we might end up wishing for a little more in that department lol… So I picked up another nathe with beval cheek pieces. I was just trialing it from my friend, but opted to buy it outright after Doozy chomped the other nathe in case she destroys this one too. Hopefully wrapping it preemptively will be enough tho? 

i thought i sold Charlie’s old Myler comfort snaffle but nope it was just tucked away!

I also re-discovered Charlie’s old Myler comfort snaffle that could possibly work as a back-up. Like maybe it could be similar to the nathe, but less susceptible to chomping, if I wrap it all up? We’ll see, I guess. I haven’t wrapped it yet in case Plan A works and I want to conserve the rest of the roll for keeping the nathe smooth. 

ugh mare… at least with this weather it’s not like we’re doing anything exciting anyway!

Let me know if you’ve had any success with bit wrap. Or, alternatively, if there are other more sturdy materials or styles of bit that might be worth trying for this ridiculous chaos agent of a mare…

off into the storm….

In the meantime, we’re just hunkering down for the next few days — hoping it’s not as bad as forecast! Stay warm out there!