A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Barn

I found myself off my usual path the other day. And 3 minutes from a cowboy tack store I'd never been to. I thought I'd pop in and see if they had the teal boots I so desperately need to complete ZB's western outfit game.

i really love this picture
sure could use teal boots

They did not. Which is fine. But since I was already so far off the beaten path, it made sense to go just a little farther to see if the next tack store had said dream boots. 

And. 

They did not. 

But what they did have was the purple version of my beloved teal reins. 

You see these reins? They are the shit. Soft and sturdy with little hand stoppers to hang on to. Nice weight, happy colors. If I'm being picky, I'm a purple person, not a teal person, but teal is a really lovely color and ZB looks amazing in literally everything but snooze-fest-navy. 

And yeah, I was looking at them in purple. 

Now I know buying purple reins is the opposite of solving the teal boots problem but here's the thing: when has a little detail like that even slowed me down when I decide to go full tack ho? 

Fact: it has not. 

So then I had purple reins and I was headed back in a more usual direction when I drove past A THIRD TACK STORE that does like fancy custom cowboy shit and that I have never been to because A) it's far away from me and B) while I love playing cowboys, I'm not going to drop $$$$ on a legit set up to toodle around in. 

But on a day like that, why wouldn't I stop? 

she's in as long as there's snacks

Even with the purple reins, I was trying to stay on message. I got a little bogged down debating what local friends I might be able to talk into producing a couple babies so I could justify the ADORABLE child's western saddle I found but even with that, TEAL BOOTS GODAMMIT. Teal. I already have the fancy matching pad. Let's go. 

Do you know what I saw on the shelf at store #3?

o hi

Funny story. 

Purple boots. 

And hey! Guess who just happened to have two thumbs and matching reins? 

I did browse the whole display but there was simply no teal to be found. None at all. 

i mean everything is her color but HELLO

So uh. 

TL;DR I still don't have teal boots but now I need a purple saddle blanket. 

Oh and in a strange twist that I wasn't going to include but here we are, apparently these conchos are a thing that exist and that can be added to any headstall you own. And can be made in any color you want. 

I mean.

So stick that in your pipe and smoke it.