Teach Me Tuesday: Open Seasons

I acknowledge three (3) official seasons: Spring, Horse Showing, and Football. Obviously, spring is the worst because A) the weather and B) no horse shows or football. Also obviously, Sep/Oct is complicated around here because it's both prime Horse Showing and prime Football.

and sometimes we combine the two

In this climate, Horse Shows run basically May-October, Football is September-early February, and everything else is spring. 

I don't think my non-horse friends (or non-football friends) really get it. I certainly do things other than horse show in Horse Show Season, but shows get precedence. Same with football (and yes, game with my team>most horse shows unless there's a tri color on the line). 

def for a tri color

So how do you divide up your year? 

Hoarders: Tack Trunk Edition

Most of you saw and/or participated in the "what's in your tack trunk" blog hop that was going around. Y'all had tidy little inventories of useful things and it was cute.

I was over here like "I have no goddamn clue what's in that giant abyss and I don't really want to find out". As Lindsey can tell you, I've been promising to go through it for like... a month. And hadn't. Oh and yes, it was/is my daily driver. I'd just sort of sit on the lid to squish it down and latch it each day.

But due to some unforeseen circumstances the other day,  I finally had time to go through it. Here's what I found:

bridle rack above

jumbled mess below

 I tried to make a bet with friends that there were 8+ sets of polos in there, but no one would take those odds.

stuff

This photo shows 7 full sets of polos in various states of cleanliness. There are also 3 pairs of polos and there was another full set ready for put on C-rage. That doesn't include two full sets of bandage liners or two full sets of boots.

I also had:

two sad pairs of bell boots

Two whips and a lunge line

eight bonnets

Plus there was this pile:

STUFF

So yeah, that's a quarter sheet, saddle cover, ogilvy pad, mattes shims, and you can just see the tboots. All good things, but possibly not things that actually fit in said trunk. This list actually isn't comprehensive. I had my CO sparkle helmet in a bag with a spare hat and gloves, plus my beater Ovation helmet and winter gloves, plus a couple of mismatched gloves and of course my brush box.

In my defense, I cleaned out the brush box a few weeks back to make room for fancy new brushes, so that part actually wasn't terrible.

I took everything out of the trunk, sorted it by whether it needed to be thrown away, given away, washed and put away, or washed and brought back. Then I threw away the trash, anonymously shoved shit to give away in barnmates' stuff, and tossed the other piles in the back of my car.

WE MUST REBUILD.

Obviously, an empty trunk helps no one, so it was time to start over. 

all I need is one cooler HAHAHA no

Here you see the bottom section of the carefully restocked tack trunk.

That's better

We started with a cooler, then added in the fancy CO for clinics and spur-of-the-moment photoshoots, included the tack cleaning kit (oh yeah, that was in there too), stowed the "bad boy" halter, the lunge line, and a dressage whip. My full set of DSBs (the only acceptable princess boot), one set of liners, and one clean-ish set of polos (much preferred to DSBs), and my mattes half pad. 

And look at that. You can still see open space in case I need to add something else. I do plan to keep two sets of polos and liners in there eventually, but laundry needs to happen first. 

 Add in the brush box and life is looking good.

o0o0o0o0o

 A couple caveats here--Courage's blankets live in an oversized rubbermaid tub outside his stall. You can barely see my wash bucket in the bottom right corner of the picture above--it also doesn't live in the trunk. I have an extensive horse-shit-organization system at home in my garage (which it looks like I'll be going through and cleaning asap).

Oh and I cleaned ALL the leather tack at the barn and reorganized. Now it looks like this:

three bridles, one martingale, one drop

I will admit that it's rather refreshing to actually know what I have around. Plus maybe now I look less like a hoarder? Just try not to think about how all that shit is now somewhere else. (such as in my car. hush you.)

Barn Friends are the Best Friends

I blame JenJ for getting my culturally irrelevant self started on the Justice Crew. I had a pretty kickass weekend--fun with pony friends, sportsball, breeder's cup, bollywood... I like weird stuff. (Anyone want to watch Quantico?)

Anyways. This song struck a chord with me.


In case you hate videos, happiness, or music (not judging), here's a breakdown of the lyrics with vastly-improved visuals. 

At the end of the day

Some you win, some you don’t

So I’m glad that I’m here

With some friends that I know

Always there with a smile

Saying you’re not alone

Singing la la la la

Que sera

(Here we go, yo)

Yesterday is history (oh)

You gotta get through it

Tomorrow is a mystery

So let’s just do it

And even when the rain falls

You and I will stand tall

No matter what you go through

I’ll never leave you

So you gotta be strong (strong)

Live by the words of the song (song)

Together is where we belong (long)

Never stop dreaming

Keep holding on

I may be a grown ass adult with a real job and life responsibilities and hard stuff (tm) to sort through, but my constant has been the friends I make in the barn. I think the massive responsibility of caring for a thousand+ pound animal makes for the most kind, caring, hilarious, understanding and mature friends a girl could ask for.

I'm incredibly lucky to have the friends that I do, and I always know they'll be there to back me up in a crisis, talk me off the ledge, celebrate my victories, and cry with me when I lose. And I know that, because I'm there for them the exact same way. 

So here's to barn friends, new and old. I'd be sunk without them.

Why Horses

I have a problem that I suspect most of you share: horse obsession. It colors my waking hours--how soon can I get to the barn, could I ride here, why isn't this golf course a cross country course, do you think they're calculating the year end points right? It's not that I can't focus on my job and my non-horse life and be a productive human being, because I certainly do all those things.

It's just the thing that drives me to be better, try harder, do more, and most importantly, always keep on learning.

I come by sportsball honestly

But why? Why do I (from a totally non-horsey background) have that equine fire?

I distinctly remember that as a little girl, my favorite color was pink. My favorite animal was pigs. Because pigs were pink. Obviously.

Then one unforgettably traumatic day, I got a book on pigs from the library. In fact, very few varieties of pigs are pink. They're mottled and multi colored and ugly and I found myself sitting on my bed (in my room with pink walls and a Beauty and the Beast mural), trying to pick a favorite animal. There were no poignant pink animals left, so I had to find a new criteria.

living the dream

I remember sitting there, not more than five years old, and saying to myself, "Well, I want something I can ride."

Thankfully, that translated as horses to my young mind instead of camels or elephants or reindeer or the like.

And here I am, decades later.

Why do horses captivate my imagination and dreams and plans so thoroughly? Why didn't I ever "age out of it"? 

I don't know, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Let's face it--the rest of you are here with me. How did you get here, anyways?

Teach Me Tuesday: Barn Dogs

AVOID GIANT DOG

To tell the truth, I have always been 100% anti-barn-dog as an adult amateur rider. I think they're underfoot, in the way, spooky, and an accident waiting to happen. It irks me when people brings dogs to horse shows because #1 it's a goddamn HORSE show, not a dog show and #2 I hate having my horse spook at dogs.

On busy evenings, my current barn is really more dog park than horse barn.

And at first, I HATED it. HATED. No way around it.

Then I went to a horse show.

boss corgi investigates

And a dog trotted through the arena during a dressage test.

And I realized that even if it had been my test, my horse would have given no shits about it because he's so dog broke at this point that it really doesn't matter.



So while it still annoys me deeply when a dog blasts into the arena while I'm riding or pops out from behind the spooky jump pile, I'm learning to accept it. Life is unpredictable and the more prepared my horse is to face life, the better chance we have to succeed together.

Other thoughts on barn dogs, yours or otherwise?

How to be a Happy Boarder

Courage

Like many adult amateurs, I don't have my own property and have to rely on care provided by others at least part of the time. I've boarded in a good never of different situations and a variety of barns and I've found a few principles to be consistent.

1) You are your horse's best advocate. 

I don't care whether you're in a backyard-and-barbed-wire situation or the fanciest show barn in your state. Ultimately, your horse is your responsibility and you can't always trust the BO or your trainer or whoever to make the best decisions for your horse. Ask their advice, certainly, but if you're uncomfortable in any way with the care your horse is receiving, it's on you to speak up and address the problem. You have to be willing to be the PITA boarder if the situation requires it. 

That said, if you're having to speak up a lot, the odds are that the situation just isn't going to work for you and you would be advised to move along. 

Self care

2) Good care varies from place to place. 

Just because horses in Florida or Kentucky or Virginia have heated 12x12 stalls and 18 hours of turnouts in grassy fields that never have mud and only ride in a dust-free indoor, well, that doesn't mean it's realistic for you. Instead of worrying about what everyone else has, focus on what's important to you and your horse. My always/only/ever is clean water, good hay, turnout, and shelter. I'm willing to either do my own turnout or have my horse live out with shelter. 

There are other things that I love to have, like trail access, good arena footing, jumps, lights, and an indoor, but I'm willing to let go of those things in pursuit of what's more important. Your list will probably vary--some people insist on having an on-site trainer. Others want stalls. Others hate stalls. It doesn't really matter. Just know what's important to you when you're looking for a barn. 

Living on full care pasture with shelter

3) Pick your favorite crazy people.

Horse people are nuts. It's just part of who we are. That said, different people can deal with different levels of nuts. I will deal with a neat freak BO. I will deal with a BO that only boards one gender of horses. I will deal with a BO that never wants horses to get rained on. 

I will not deal with a BO who always/only/ever insists on one style of horse maintenance or is anything other than a fanatic about clean water. Once you get beyond basic health concerns, this one is all personal preference. I also try to be alert about other boarders--if the BO is great, but all the boarders are nuts, it may not be the right fit for me. 

friends to ride with

4) Know what you want out of a situation. 

Obviously, you're going to get something different out of pasture board/no indoor/no trainer situation than you are out of a full care/show barn/mandatory lessons situation. Both are fine, but know want you want. At this point in my life, I'm a happy ammy. I want good horse care, lots of turnout, and nice people to chat with. 

I looked at a barn with excellent care that I absolutely loved, but it was a very small facility and I would usually be riding alone. I didn't go for it because I like having someone to ride with--that's the big perk of boarding, isn't it? 

different strokes for different folks

5) Be honest with yourself about who you are

One of my favorite boarding situations was at a Morgan breeding farm populated by a mix of natural horsemanship and western folks. There was no on-site trainer, but the people were lovely and we were all just boarders on equal footing. The drawback to a training barn situation is that a trainer is obligated to focus on the clients who put food on their table--if you aren't one of them, you can't be the priority. That's the way life goes.

That said, I've been riding a long time and am ok doing most of the training of my horse on my own. I enjoy regular lessons (when I can afford them), but at this point in my life, I prefer being the occasional haul-in. I'd sing a different tune if I had different work obligations or higher show goals or a limitless budget (maybe. I love my barn.). It's just something to be aware of. 

Finding our happy place

Boarding is just such a love/hate situation. It's constantly dealing with a whole set of very passionate people who may or may not see eye to eye with us. It can be a lot of fun, but it's important to have set standards going in and be honest about them. 

These are my favorite principles to stick to and I have epic spreadsheets to prove it. What are some other important concepts to keep in mind when researching boarding barns? 

Bridles Part 1: Aesthetics

I love bridles. I suspect most of you have picked up on that by now. I bridle shop enough to know just what type of bridle I like (giant, fancy, padded, monocrown, preferably with sparkles somewhere), but I also know that not every horse can wear every style. I always wished that someone would write a useful style guide for those of us who only had one horse to shop for and didn't want to just buy and return stuff constantly.

So I wrote one. You're welcome.

Here's a look at the facial types I've dressed and what looks work best for them.

good

Izzy

Oldenburg Mare
Facial type: bold lines and features. Simple markings. Straight profile.
Dressing difficulty: easy

Izzy was well bred and a nice mover, but clinicians always called her a "handsome" mare and she was frequently mistaken for a gelding. Her face, while expressive, was plain. That allowed me to dress it up just as much as I wanted.

Here she's rocking the Nunn Finer event bridle. I chose brass highlights because I knew she could handle the extra pizzazz without being overwhelmed. It worked ok for her. There was nothing wrong with the look and it was always clean and workmanlike. That said, her face could handle something more.

better

Naturally, she also had a figure eight. This is a Five Star Tack piece--I don't remember which model. Again, because her face is simple, the white contrast stitching and padded monocrown worked really well for her face.

She had just enough white to set it off without so much that I was worried that the details would get swallowed up.

best

This was absolutely Izzy's signature bridle. It's another Five Star Tack model that has unfortunately been discontinued. It's the Magnolia bridle. She's actually wearing it in oversize because that's the only one I could find.

It's hard to see the details in this shot, but it had a 1.5" noseband with a detailed browband and white contrast stitching. I loved all the details, right down to the buckles, and it looked fabulous with the simple lines of her face. The width in the noseband helped refine her otherwise common lines and the details added visual interest. If I still had Izzy, I would still have this bridle, no question.

OH MY GOD NO

Cuna

OTTB gelding
Facial type: complicated lines, small muzzle, very refined, lots of detail, slightly dished face
Dressing difficulty: HARD

Cuna was immensely difficult to buy tack for, which just meant that I bought a lot of it. I tried the bridle on him that was perfect for Izzy, and we were all horrified and amused. The details that made it pop on her completely overwhelmed his face and looked atrocious.

also no

Then I went in the opposite and tried understated. This is a plain raised, horse sized edge wood bridle that I picked up for cheap somewhere.

Horrible.

In trying to get away from the overdone look of the Five Star bridle, I screwed up and got everything wrong. Cuna needed something simple, but this was too refined for a 16.3 hand gelding. He can't do complicated, but he is too big for this to work and the unique edgewood leather pulls all the wrong colors out for a red horse.

He looks sick.

not quite

I put him in the Nunn Finer. Because it is such a basic bridle, it worked pretty well for him. That said, I bought it with brass details to set off a plain head (Izzy) and brass+chestnut is pretty much a no-go.

Between his adorable fluffy forelock and bright red color, the brass was just too much.

We compromised on this one. The bridle wasn't "bad", it just wasn't best for him. I pulled the brass browband off and we made do.

getting there

Then we tried the hunter bridle route. This was sold to me as a Hadfield bridle, but I've never found a maker's mark to prove it. It worked ok on his face.

Ok, I actually quite like this bridle on him and still have it, but the truth is that his conformation and movement style are NOTHING like a hunter, so while nice, it was a bit superfluous. Still. We were on the right track. His face is busy, so I needed something simple and elegant without being too refined.

handsome

The next attempt was the strangely nice Ovation wide noseband bridle. I dressed it up with a fancy brownband and experimented both with and without the flash.

What I really liked about this bridle was that it balanced the 1.25" plain raised cavesson with very refined cheeks and simple buckles. It really set Cuna's face off very nicely.

While it worked for his face, it never quite satiated my need for "pretty". It was workmanlike and effective and slightly prettier than the Nunn Finer. It did the job.

Best

Then I found something new. This is a Mark Todd bridle imported from England. I actually love how the unique curves of the bridle balance the delicacy of his face with his large size.

If I'd spent more time playing around with it, I think I would probably have removed the flash just because Cuna doesn't like it or need it.

The buckles are technically brass, but they're a matte finish that is quite innocuous. Can I just say I love this bridle?

Of course, as soon as I got Cuna's bridle selection hammered out, he went and retired and I got to start over with facial type #3.

too big

Courage 

OTTB Gelding
Facial Type: Long, narrow face. Lots of space to fill between jowl and mouth. Flashy white. Plain lines.
Dressage Difficulty: Medium

Courage is funny to dress. His big blaze should dictate simple lines because it takes up so much visual attention, but the lines of his face are rather uninteresting.

I started him out in the go-to Nunn Finer bridle. We put a figure eight on it because after 6 years of race training, there was a lot for him to learn about what was and was not acceptable. Unfortunately, despite being 16.1 and 8 years old, he has a tiny little face and the horse-sized piece just hung uselessly on him.

ok

Next we went to Cuna's surprisingly nice Ovation bridle.

This worked pretty well, aesthetically. The refined cheeks didn't overwhelm his narrow head and the cavesson/flash filled up space pretty well. That said, it was a horse size bridle and he was on the last hole of pretty much everything.

It wasn't going to be our long term solution.

good

Our next step was the micklem bridle. For those who have aesthetic complaints about the design, I don't disagree. It's different. I find them a bit distracting when I'm looking through event pictures, but if they stick around, I think that will be overcome. Let's face it: they're not as ugly as (god help us all) drops. Ew. Hate those. (And yes, some horses go well in them. Life goes on.)

Regardless. Because of his facial structure, the micklem actually worked surprisingly well. It's very busy between the jowl and the chin and that is PERFECT for Courage who has a lot of space there without a lot going on. I've used both the bedazzled browband and plain, and they both work with his face.

This bridle is actually cob sized and fits him quite well. That said, it's unconventional looking and no horse of mine can have just one bridle, can they? The horror!

nope

We borrowed a flat hunt bridle in cob size from our barn owner.

I have to say, I'm glad I didn't buy it. Although it fit well, the bridle was all kinds of wrong for this face. It just emphasized how narrow his head was without showing off his character well at all.

I tried it on twice and the results were the same. Although he is a super cute horse, this bridle isn't aesthetically the best choice for him.

best

Here's my favorite so far. It's the cob sized Dover Circuit bridle. It's very similar leather to the edgewood that totally didn't work for Cuna, but Courage is a totally different color and the slightly red tone looks LOVELY on him. (Note: I would never, ever put this on a black or black bay. HATE that combo.)

The figure eight fills up space nicely and the contrast stitching on the plain raised section is just enough detail without trying to overrun his big blaze.

I will say that I also stuck a d ring bit on it because I knew it would look cute. That's not a concern for under saddle work, but I was dressing him for a photo shoot and cute was at a premium.


And that's not even all the bridles I've ever owned. Please, no one go through and total up the cost for that list for me, haha. Not every bridle works for every horse. This post is just about the aesthetics of the bridles I used. I'm planning another one on function and quality, because hey, I love bridles, and Courage is on Christmas vacation at least until all this nasty ice melts.

Anyone have a picture of a bridle on their horse that is just stunning? Maybe one that is less than stunning? Email it to me. (hakunamatata@gmail.com). I want to do a set with reader photos too. Please include the bridle make/model (if know) and any relevant details about the horse. Headshots are easiest to look at bridles.