Make Show Clothes Great Again CONTEST

We all know I think "horse show clothes" are beyond ridiculous. But then Andrea posted this picture of the sweet Pikuer coat she snagged for a song and I thought "that is the coolest thing I have ever seen someone do in a show coat".

SWAGGER

And then 10 seconds later "I CAN DO SOMETHING COOLER".

So I promptly called up Alyssa and Lindsey and we did this:

i had to actually growl to make this face

so metal it hurts

hair band style

The occasion? Thursday.

situation normal

But why should we have all the fun? WE SHOULDN'T. The obvious solution to this is a sweet contest with an awesome prize.

Show me, people of the internet: what is the most awesome thing you can do in a show coat?

Here are a couple guidelines:

1) You must utilize a show coat in your picture or video.You do not have to own the coat. If you can't borrow one, you can certainly improvise one, but it has to be very out of place and dorky and preferably make you look like a penguin.

2) GO NUTS. Run a spartan race. Ride backwards. Pose with goats. Be a pop star. Make a music video. Find a way to make your show coat fun and cool and enormously dorky. The only real rule is that you can't submit a photo of you actually showing a horse in the coat.

Submit your media entry (photo, video, gif, whatever) via instagram #sprinklerbandits and tag me @sprinklerbandits (to make sure i find you) or email it to me at SprinklerBandits@gmail.com.Entries are open now through 4/25 at midnight, which gives you two full weekends to get this figured out.

#makeshowcoatsgreatagain

OH AND THERE'S A PRIZE

Beka at Straight Shot Metal Smashing generously agreed to sponsor this contest. Winner gets a bridle charm and a bracelet custom made by Beka!!

Impress me, people of the internet.

Tack Ho Memoir: My Favorite Bridles

As blogger Emma pointed out, every time I give y'all a tack room tour, the major bridle players have changed. That fact is as true as ever. HOWEVER. 

I hardly even dare say this, but my collection is starting to find a little stability.

It started with my jump bridle. I had a few different things, none of which I was really happy with. I got a Nunn Finer Figure eight bridle as the result of a trade with a friend when I first got Courage. I ride Courage in a standing martingale pretty regularly, so I swapped the figure eight for a custom race noseband from Ocala Tack Shack (in blue with diamond cutouts, because obviously) and then added in my amazing team spirit custom sparkle browband from Dark Jewel Designs (srsly best sparkle bang for your $ on the market).

Oh, and an awesome custom bridle charm from Straight Shot Metal, because she really is the best at those.

AND because the PS of Sweden Running martingale attachment is GLITTERALLY the best thing EVAR (tm) for those of us who need help from time to time, I also use the PS of Sweden softie reins that are rubber lined with hand stops and PS martingale stops AND CLIPS. I love clips SO MUCH.

It's totally franken-ed-to-death, but I ADORE this bridle. It hits all the high points and is so freaking useful. And gorgeous, in it's own special way. Even when I panic about adulting and clearing inventory, this bridle stays. It's not really sale-able in it's current state and I don't need it to be. It's totally custom to me and if I still have it in 30 years, GREAT.

um hello gorgeous

But y'all have seen my absurd dressage bridle turnover lately. And then Alyssa went and bought another dressage bridle that's GORGEOUS and too small for her horse and she let Courage try it on.

I"ll be honest. I am not a white padding kind of girl. I like it on horses like Valegro and Totilas, but I've just never felt it on a horse of mine. I even had one for a while (like... 5 or 6 years ago, so I forgive you for not remembering) and I just didn't love it.

But this bridle is great. Also not mine.

I briefly considered buying one of my own.

But here's the thing:

it looks good with giant ribbons

I already have this Red Barn Capriole bridle headstall that I LOVE. It's the leather quality I like. It's the style I like. It looks fab on my horse. I got it for a tack-ho-appropriate deal on eBay this summer. It's a crank that I use like a cavesson. It has an option for a flash.

I even had some Red Barn reins I also snagged on eBay that I liked well enough. So like. Whole bridle. Same brand. Easy resale.

But then.

Because I am the ho-est of hos, I regularly (multiple times a week), search for random stuff I kind of want but don't need in the strictest sense. One of those things is reins. I found an unremarkable listing on eBay for "dressage reins". The essentials were all what I wanted (rubber lined, hand stops, rolled fronts, hook studs) and there was one tiny clue in one dark picture that was either really clever advertising or more likely, a missed opportunity on the seller's part.

can you see it?

I figured it was a $40 gamble I was willing to take. Glad I did. So glad.

(Well, at least I was glad until the first time I tried to put them ON anything and realized the the dimwitted Frenchies who put them together apparently have NO IDEA how to cut holes for hook studs that ACTUALLY WORK. I mean. People in India who have never seen a horse and use crappy ass leather can do it better than D'yon. Omg. It took two of us 15 minutes and an ungodly amount of swearing just to get them on. They are now staying on that bit. FOREVER.

I mean. I can now get them on and off, but that first time is not an experience I'd care to repeat.)

i give myself A+ for iphone pictures

All that was well and good (and long and drawn out), but it's still just another black dressage bridle like all the other ones.

HOWEVER.

This past summer, I ordered sparkles for it with the longest wait time I have EVER ENDURED for ANYTHING. Topline Leather has been on my radar but out of my price range for YEARS. But then I was up too late one night and so was she and I know her from back when she used to blog and OOPS THAT HAPPENED.

it's so beautiful

I have the worst time visualizing anything anyways and then she totally improvised and improved everything (with my knowledge/consent--she didn't just go totally rogue on me). I saw the pictures and REALLY liked it.

And then it got to my house and OMG YOU GUYS.

LOVE

It's perfect.

I have now almost fully Franken-bridled my dressage bridle and I'm happier with it than ever. I guess that's the secret for me? Instead of buying nice things, throw a bunch of unrelated ass-backwards stuff together and I will love it forever.

CLIP THIS HORSE

9 Pictures to Capture the Clinic Experience

Don't worry--I'll include words so this isn't one of those god-awful wordless Wednesday posts I refuse to read.

Sweet Riding Warehouse swag from winning Olivia's contest. So excited to wear pink. Yes on my gelding. He's fabulous.

That's not what a hock is supposed to look like.

Sharing coffee with redheadlins for motivation.

lil Good Juju since we dressaged in the jump bridle as per instructions.

yeah can't wear pink polos with this. sob.

bright side: this noseband is to-die-for

workin' it in black BOT polos (all good pics by Alyssa)

pretty much my favorite pic right now

total clinic hangover in full effect on Tuesday

I feel like I should have something more brilliant to say, but mostly I'm like "lulz so since I'm too tired to think straight, I thought a good idea was to sign up for a schooling show on my onesies tonight." Yeah memorizing that new test is going to go GREAT. I can just tell.

Haha. Anyways. Wish us luck! The judge hates us, but at least maybe Courage doesn't know we're going, so we can skip a round of self-mutilation? I can only hope.

Small Business Awesome: Straight Shot Metal

plus bonus key chain

Y'all know how I am about stress buying. And sparkles. Here's the funny thing: as much as I love sparkles, I really can't get in to bridle charms. I mean, I have more of them than I have bridles (thanks Micaylah for helping make them!), but they don't speak to me the way a sparkle browband does.

Then I ran across Straight Shot Metal.

Hello.

Love it. Need it.

Best halter tag ever

I can't explain it. I'm not a skull person. I'm not a charm person. I'm totally a custom and eye catching person and who can say no to good juju?

That's right. Within like 2 minutes of discovering the store (curated by blogland's own Beka from The Owls Approve), I had ordered my very own Good Juju Bridle Charm with custom hand stamping. Admittedly, it took me probably another half hour to pick colors and stamping options, but that's because I'm crazy indecisive and there are SO MANY FUN COLORS.

It shipped fast, even though it was fully custom, and Beka included a sweet swag keychain with color inlaid in the stamping. Yay being an early customer!

Color. Me. Impressed.

perf

I absolutely loved the charm in person--it was the exact vibe I was going for. Quirky, fun, striking, but not screaming NOTICE ME like some sort of weird teenager thing.

And you better believe I'm milking that good juju for all it's worth.

I mean, I put it on my figure eight bridle at first, then switched it to one of my PS bridles because I couldn't stand to ride without it.

Not kidding.

Like all of my favorite things, it just makes me smile when I look at it and that's reason enough for me.

Well that and the fact that buying a custom, hand-stamped charm will set you back a whopping $7. Yeah. Like if you made minimum wage, you could still pay for this in under an hour.

So if I were you, I'd hop in on this deal before Beka jacks her prices up just because she can. (Noted: she has in no way hinted to me that she would. I just think this is a screaming deal and I'll capitalize if I were you. Or me. My next order is already on the way.) (Also noted: she has hinted to me about this: "Buddha, stars, and boots". Um. Yes. There will be another order.)

Courtesy of Straight Shot Metal etsy

If bridle charms aren't your jam (no judgement here), she also makes sweet bracelets.

That I want.

And I have no self control, so you all know where this is going.

All this to say, I am absolutely thrilled with Straight Shot Metal and you can definitely look for more pieces being featured here. Plus you should check out their etsy store, and drop by Beka's blog to see what's going on.

PS I totally should have leveraged this to see if Beka would give me free stuff, but I didn't. Because I suck at that. Rest assured, my opinions are completely unbaised by any providing of free products and I paid the same as anyone else.