Not gonna lie, I was pretty excited about today. One of Steph's clients had brought in a Jimmy Wofford XC saddle (BRAND FREAKING NEW) and was letting Cuna and I play with it. My limited research indicated that the balance should be perfect for me and it was designed to fit TBs with giant withers. Score!!
I really did intend to take a picture of it on Cuna for your viewing pleasure, but alas.... it was a narrow tree, and Cuna is apparently a medium (except for the narrow stubben he's going in). It looked all kinds of bad on him and I could fit my whole hand under the saddle where it was bridging. Terrible. Even a stoic old guy like Cuna shouldn't have to deal with fit that bad.
I was incredibly disappointed. I mean, I had figured that if we must do dressage, we might as well do it in a freaking sweet XC saddle. No such luck. I pulled the saddle off and moved on to making Cuna try on item #2 for the day: a fly bonnet.
Of course, poor Cuna is not into the whole "picture thing" anyways and spring grass was calling his name. Remember how I always take pictures of loose, tacked up horses and attach warnings to children about not ever doing that?
Um yeah. Don't.
Cuna trotted down the aisle and buried his nose in the sweet green grass, promptly pinning his reins down with his foot.
I walked soooo slooooowly up to him, talking quietly. He didn't even look up as I disentangled the reins, then sedately followed me back to the barn. I did remember to snag a decent-ish shot of the bonnet though. This is one I got for Izzy last summer. It's black, gold, and white and it looked perfect on her--flashy but subdued.
I'm not so sure about the whole "black on chestnut" thing. I was more a fan of "black on black". That said, I'm thinking Cuna needs a chocolate fly bonnet with cream trim and a matching pad. How classy would that be?
So classy.
Despite the sunny loveliness that is today, I had to skip riding and finish up chores so I could scoot off to my real job. You can bet I would have been late if the XC saddle had been anywhere close to working for us.
 |
| Escaping Cuna! |
Of course, poor Cuna is not into the whole "picture thing" anyways and spring grass was calling his name. Remember how I always take pictures of loose, tacked up horses and attach warnings to children about not ever doing that?
Um yeah. Don't.
Cuna trotted down the aisle and buried his nose in the sweet green grass, promptly pinning his reins down with his foot.
I walked soooo slooooowly up to him, talking quietly. He didn't even look up as I disentangled the reins, then sedately followed me back to the barn. I did remember to snag a decent-ish shot of the bonnet though. This is one I got for Izzy last summer. It's black, gold, and white and it looked perfect on her--flashy but subdued.
I'm not so sure about the whole "black on chestnut" thing. I was more a fan of "black on black". That said, I'm thinking Cuna needs a chocolate fly bonnet with cream trim and a matching pad. How classy would that be?So classy.
Despite the sunny loveliness that is today, I had to skip riding and finish up chores so I could scoot off to my real job. You can bet I would have been late if the XC saddle had been anywhere close to working for us.
You need to make tack whoring a side business... I have lots of things I would love to have but don't have the time/knowledge to devote to hunting them down. If you decide to be a personal tack-whore shopper, let me know ;)
ReplyDeleteI've had many a fantasy about this kind of job.
DeleteNavy with a tasteful trim looks AWESOME on chestnuts!
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with Niamh, navy blue or hunter green both look sweeeet on chestnuts! :)
ReplyDeleteI love when horses step on some piece of tack, or some piece of tack gets stuck on something while also attached to the horse, and your mind is doing backflips and then it all works out okay. One example... Goodness this could've been dangerous. Somehow, at County Fair, my first horse (Stewy) and I were trying to exit the gate of the warmup ring and I had dropped the reins to open it. He flung his head up and somehow the reins flipped around, got caught around the gate, and then flew up and twisted around my neck. I just about had a heart attack. But it was alright. And I don't think anyone saw either. Preeeetty suave, the way Stewy and I used to inconspicuously get into loads of trouble and then swiftly get out of it. Seemed to happen a lot. :P
I just noticed you changed your tag line to add "Mean Ass Bastard Horse" and I almost snorted wine up my nose when I read it. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm just weird (OK, I am weird), but I kind of like the black and gold with the chestnut. Now, black and silver would be gross, but black and gold works. Of course, chocolate and cream would be nice, too. You should probably just get both.
I taught my horse to ground tie after he broke a bridle, a set of reins and countless cross ties. It's a good skill for a horse to have. I know it's saved my butt a bunch of times!
Cuna looks adorable in anything....
ReplyDeleteToo bad about the saddle. I would have been interested in hearing how it felt.
I dunno, I find the black on chestnut very dashing! You can't go wrong with black...unless the horse is a medicine hat. Then it just looks weird.
ReplyDeleteI kinda like the black - never used to on a chestnut but it's growing on me. I love the ear bonnet on Cuna! And I can just picture him running down the aisle...Charlie would do the same thing. Bummer about the saddle.
ReplyDeleteI've come to the conclusion that there isn't one color that looks bad on a chestnut. I've tried every color combo out there.
ReplyDelete;-)
Cuna looks adorable in black! I like it. That said, I also think every horse looks great in navy, and I like your idea of chocolate and cream, so long as it's the right shade of brown and doesn't clash with him. You'll just have to try out a bunch, which I know will pain you to no end.
ReplyDeleteI also ADORE the look on his face when you make him pose, and I think it is hilarious that he trotted off to eat grass. I can SO relate to having an uncooperative model.
I will warn you, chocolate on orange is not good. Unless it's a very dark brown. Other than that, the only colour I've HATED in my orange horse experience (well, besides pink obviously) is red. Blargh.
ReplyDeleteOkay. I'm going to do something terrible. I'm going to give you this link to the gorgeous fly veils from KL Select. Here.
ReplyDeletehttp://klselect.com/horse-apparel-fly-elegant.html
What's awesome is that they also have matching saddle pads. I can attest to their quality because I bought a pile of the dang things when I lost my mind earlier this year. (Dark brown, hunter, bright green and orange, if you're interested.) I bought my trainer the dark green one that is edged in ecru and chocolate for her redheaded geldings and wow, they look gorgeous in it! So maybe consider the hunter veil for Cuna?
I'm with you on black. I think it can look pretty harsh on a chestnut. A lot of these accessories are edged in chocolate, which still gives you that nice, crisp outline, but the effect is softer.
Please give your wallet my apologies.
Aww that sucks about the saddle not fitting. Oh well. I think the bonnet is cute on him, but I have no fashion sense so don't take my word for it lol. :D
ReplyDelete