JUMP ALL THE THINGS

He is the best at catching air

I'm working like a fiend lately to hit some financial goals, so I haven't had a ton of time to ride. I really, really want to get Courage going over some fun fences, but I also want to make sure his early experiences are positive and confidence building.

So... I threw redheadlins in the saddle and set up a grid. If we want to DO ALL THE THINGS this summer, Courage needs to learn to deal with multiple poles in a row and some related distances and, oh you know, maybe how to use his body in the air.

But anyways. 

Booooing!

I was SO THRILLED to watch my little man go around. Trot in, canter out, no problem. :D He obviously isn't phased by the height or the jumps or anything. Really and truly, the hardest thing with him is just to let him learn at his own pace. He is wicked smart, so he picks up on concepts really quickly. He just needs frequent breaks to think it over and then allow the concept to become established in his mind.




But that's never enough!

ALL THE SPARKLES

We've been having sunny days and perfect weather and I made Saturday become EPIC PONY DAY (srsly. race track, tack sale, ALL THE RIDING).

After a pretty serious horse-girl-consultation with redheadlins and my BO, Courage got decked out in all the blue and shiny.

Trotting with head down VROOOM

His spring coat is coming in, he's totally figuring out this whole sporthorse thing, and he's just flat adorable.

I was hoping to be even more badass than Redheadlins at the whole jumping thing, but it's been a long time since I was responsible for educating a green horse over fences.

LEAP!!

Oh well. Courage was brave and honest and the two of us made some solid progress with good coaching from the ground and pictures! I ended the day very happy with where he was at and what we were able to do together.












 We even cantered our first couple fences of the year! I couldn't be more excited about how my little man is coming along.

And I haven't even started to tell you about our first legit lesson of the year. Stay tuned!!

Dream Horse Studios' WINNER!!!

Drum roll, please!! After an awesome turnout of 126 unique contest entries (compile that!), I am pleased to announce that our winner is:

Wait for it

So cool

CONTESTANT #71, SANDY-RA of ORS DRESSAGE!!! Sandy, please contact me so I can get you hooked up with your prize. :-)

Thank you to all of the participants! I don't even know a bunch of you, so I look forward to exploring new blogs and meeting new faces throughout the next couple of weeks. Feel free to step up and introduce yourself--I always love new faces.

For those of us who didn't win, Dream Horse Studios is running a sweet kickstarter project to try and further expand their product line. The rewards are awesome--You are basically just buying your product, but at the same time helping them get going. My Calypso boots are priced at $145 on the website not including shipping, but for $150 on the kickstarter, I can get them and free shipping. There are support options at all levels and for all budgets, starting at a dollar. I love my dream horse boots and I want to see this super cool company get rolling!

Get Your Entries In!!

You know you want these!

Just a quick reminder that the Dream Horse Studios contest ends at midnight tonight, so get your entries in while you still can!

One entry for a comment on the contest post, a second entry is you show me a link to where you shared it online.

I'll announce the winner on Tuesday! :-D 

Courage loves his boots

Dream Horse Studios Contest!! (plus review)

Dream Horse Studios Carnivale Boot Review

Rocking the C-rage style

As most of you probably noticed, I'm a total tack whore who loves trying new things. I have a wide variety of boots to suit my very different and very picky horses.

I was thrilled when Lauren, the super-nice owner of Dream Horse Studios, reached out to me to see if Courage and I would be interested in doing a review of her Carnivale open front boots. They're standard jump boots with a twist--lovely blue patent leather with a soft black calfskin lining and stud closures on black elastic.

Yes I did just say blue patent leather.

Design and Construction

Still in the plastic!

I tried not to squeal when the box showed up at my house and promptly set up an epic photo shoot to test the boots out. They were neatly wrapped up and smelled amazing right out of the box. I did everything but put them on and prance around the house.

The white stitching is tight and even. The calfskin lining is soft and smooth--no funny edges or uneven patches touching my horse. There are easy to clean--just a simple wipe down. The stud closure looked sturdy enough to handle the demands of every day riding.

Stud closures aren't the most flexible option--there are 2-3 options for how tight to make them. That said, the Equifit T-boots utilize the studs and are massively popular. I've neer had stud closures before, I wanted to know how they would work for a variety of horses with different legs.

Patent Leather Boots in Action

Photoshoot time!!

The gang

We were working with a full set of horse sized boots--open fronts and hinds.

In addition to Courage (16.1 OTTB, medium bone and cannons), we had Diva (17.0 OTTB, big bone, long cannons), and Vegas (15.1 paint, medium bone and short cannons).

Yeah Vegas!

First they went on Ms. Vegas, the completely adorable and awesome paint mare owned by Alyssa at Four Mares, No Money. Vegas is super competitive in the local open shows and has won some serious swag.

She is definitely a candidate for the cob sized boots. The front boots went on her just fine, but her 15.1 self was just too petite for the full size hind boots. That said, she was demonstrating some of her english pleasure/pattern moves and did a couple of jumps in the boots. They didn't move at all and she was perfectly happy.

Diva looking fancy

Next up with the supermodel--all 17 leggy hands of her.

Diva is all legs and built lean, but she has lots of bone. Both front and back boots fit her comfortably. The boots seem to be cut just right--they weren't too tall for Vegas, but they were still perfectly respectable on Diva.

It did take me a couple of tries to get them on right. For reference, the top strap on the front boots goes straight across. The bottom two straps cross. It's perfectly intuitive and fairly obvious when you look at the construction, but somehow I kept messing it up.










AND THEN COURAGE!!!!

Might as well put three rides on the boots for their first day. I put the full set on Courage. He has had mental issues with back boots in the past, but he seemed ok with these.

We had an excellent ride, walk/trot/canter and a few jumps. Courage wasn't bothered by the boots at all and when I got off, they hadn't moved around or caused him any problems.

Plus, they looked totally cute.

At $90 for a full set, they are an excellent value. Even a set of cheap synthetic boots will run you close to that, so I say you might as well have some fun and order a cool color in patent leather. Blue isn't the only available color--there is quite a range available on the website.

CONTEST!!!!

The Calypso boots. Pretty sure I need them too.

Remember how I said Lauren is super nice? Not only did she send me a set of boots to review, but she's also giving another set away to a lucky reader!! Here's the deal: go to the Dream Horse Studios website and look around. Come back and comment on this post with your favorite product. Your comment enters you in the random drawing for a winner. For an additional entry, share the contest on your facebook or blog and let me know you did it.



Entries close on Monday, November 4th (2013) at midnight, so you have a full seven days to enter and spread the word!