I have a problem

Last weekend at Equine Affaire, I got a $50 gift card to SmartPak for participating in a discussion group with them.

Great, right?

Yeah, except I have NO idea what to spend it on! It's tough to buy horsey stuff when I know I'm not going to be riding very much in the near future. My horse has plenty of tack/accessories/saddle pads/boots, doesn't need a blanket, doesn't need a cooler, and goodness knows my first aid kit is WELL stocked.

I don't want to buy breeches just in case I need a different size post-baby.

I've spent a significant amount of time shuffling through the pages upon pages of products they sell and not one single thing has jumped out at me. I could use a pair of Muck Co. boots but those are $75 more than the gift card. Is it worth the extra cash to get them?

Help a girl out! If you had $50 to spend at SmartPak, what would you buy?

I could be totally boring and put the credit toward next month's supplement order...nah, way too lame.

ps - check out the contest over at My Equine Odyssey, where you can win something from EquiSpa :D

Working for my boots

I have some old friends who have been close to me for about 12 years. I met them in a bargain basement of a local tack store and though they were a bit stiff to begin with, we developed a long-term lasting relationship, full of days spent horsing around.

Having the right paddock boots can really put you on the path to success ;)

Over the last two or three years, I have looked at them often and thought sadly, "you're looking pretty crappy and I know I'm going to need new boots soon, but I am really nervous about this impending change" (insert sad/apprehensive face here).

So I went and looked around and was SHOCKED at the cost of paddock boots these days, especially the Ariat Colbalt Quantums, the creme de la creme of Ariat paddock boots with their lovely soft leather and fancy-pants soles. I also liked the Tredstep paddock boots, but they only come in zip-up and I am a lace-up kind of girl.

Then I got the opportunity to work as a temp hire at the local Dover tent sale, and I earned enough money to buy myself the new pair of Colbalt Quantums! So today, after enduring three VERY long and hot days spent working amongst crowds of very eager tent sale shoppers, they became mine. I spent the entire three days worrying that someone else was going to come in and fall in love with the only pair of size 9's off the shelf but they sat, undisturbed, for the duration of the weekend. THANK GOD.

new and old

Speaking of tent sale shoppers, I met a fan today! How cool is that! She recognized me from my blog! Nice to meet you (you know who you are :D)!

After finishing up at Dover, I headed over to the barn with my new boots and other scores, such as horsey electrolytes, UlcerGard, a hay net, and poultice (and you can probably tell why the boots are so exciting...everything else I bought was BORING). Lucy desperately needed a bath after a very hot weekend where she did a lot of sweating and rolling in the cool mud. I let her eat dinner first, then went to town with shampoo and a curry comb.

this horse really loves her dinner.

pony torture.

I packed the trailer and made sure everything else was all set to go. We are in good shape for tomorrow and I am excited and confident that I will meet my goals, which are (as always):

-have fun

-don't fall off

Oh and I added a new goal after getting my dressage test feedback at the last show:

-don't talk incessantly through my entire dressage test

:D

And I will leave you with a photo of Cairo and a doggie friend we are taking care of while his owner is away, bounding happily through the park on a bike ride the other day:

excellent!

Here's a video from today!



We started out with a little hack, which was probably not the best idea. I did the typical, "ok so Lu has had a week off, let's go on a trail ride and not lunge beforehand!" I am lucky that my horse *really* likes trail rides :) She was great, though Cairo had selective hearingitis and I was very frustrated with her.

The boots stayed put and she felt totally sound in them. She walks very confidently and didn't mind stepping on pebbles or rocks today.

Here are some other cute photos :D

all four ponies looking out the back of their stalls. the barn is built on a slight
incline so the horses aren't as tall as the look here!

oh hi lulu!

then we had a snuggle session

giving soreness the boot

Oh god, someone stop me.

My OTTB is now going in a hackamore, barefoot behind, with boots.

Oh, and I'm also making terrible puns.

Where did this girl come from? My whole riding life I've believed in four steel shoes, a fancy stitch padded hunter bridle, and a snaffle.

The pun thing isn't exactly new :(

Whatever, the boots were a sad necessity and an admission on my part that maybe the barefoot thing wasn't meant to be. Over the last week, Lucy has gotten more and more uncomfortable to the point where she won't stand square; she is always resting at least one of her hind legs (and she alternates between the two). I took her into the indoor two days ago to see if she'd trot around so I could look at her move, and I could not persuade her to move. This is the same horse who normally can't wait for me to take the halter off before she squeals at the top of her pony lungs and rockets across the ring, so yeah, obviously I felt really crappy about this whole thing.

Then yesterday my friend lent me a pair of Boa boots that she had. According to the measurements on Boa's website, they would fit Lucy so I figured it would be worth a shot! I put them on yesterday in the aisle and at first she moved her feet around a bit, trying to get a feel for her new kicks, and when I took her off the crossties she was totally fine.

She started walking to the ring with the same mincing steps she has been taking lately, but as we got closer, she started walking more normally. I put her on the lunge line and let her walk around for a while, then asked her to trot. She looked SO much better. I felt relieved.

I didn't ride her yesterday because though her lameness improved, she wasn't 100%. I think most of what is left is high up in her hind end and was caused from her compensating for the discomfort in her feet. I thought it wouldn't really be fair to add my weight to the equation if I already knew she was sore in the hind end. She wore the boots all day today in turnout and I'm about to go see how she's feeling and hopefully ride. :)