Wedding cake perfection, amirite?
Bel Joeor: Life + Horses
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Wedding Cake?
I have zero plans to write about wedding planning on this blog (for one thing, reading about me planning a wedding would be even less interesting than reading me writing about paint dry), BUT.
Wedding cake perfection, amirite?
Wedding cake perfection, amirite?
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Social Niceties
I got engaged last week. Yay! Not a huge surprise (have been with the boyfriend 5+ years now) but still a happy thing.
I was chatting with a friend over the weekend about wedding registries and confessed that I have no clue what to register for. I have every kitchen gadget known to man already. I'm not terribly excited at the idea of matching guest towels.
So now I am wondering: registering for horse stuff, kosher or not? Can I surreptitiously slip my Smartpak wishlist in with the invitations?
(okay, fine, I wouldn't really do that, but it does seem like a waste of a gift-giving opportunity if I don't ask for something horsey...)
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Blog Hop: Bit it Up
An excellent and timely blog hop from L. Williams at Viva Carlos!
I wrote once before about the bits I've used for Tristan in the past, and why: Bits I Have Loved.
This past Thursday, Tristan's new bit arrived. It's this Stuebben Loose Ring Snaffle, with the copper bean in the middle. I bought it based primarily on the reviews and the measurement. Tristan needed something thinner in his mouth than the JP Korsteel Loose Ring Snaffle that he'd been in for a while.
The difference of 4mm (18mm for the JP, 14mm for the Stuebben) doesn't sound like much, but it's actually pretty significant!
I wrote once before about the bits I've used for Tristan in the past, and why: Bits I Have Loved.
This past Thursday, Tristan's new bit arrived. It's this Stuebben Loose Ring Snaffle, with the copper bean in the middle. I bought it based primarily on the reviews and the measurement. Tristan needed something thinner in his mouth than the JP Korsteel Loose Ring Snaffle that he'd been in for a while.
The difference of 4mm (18mm for the JP, 14mm for the Stuebben) doesn't sound like much, but it's actually pretty significant!
JP above, Stuebben below.
Things I am very happy with: The thinner bit definitely makes a difference. The copper bean definitely makes a difference. In all, an upgrade. The jaw crossing and tongue sticking out were greatly diminished, and he was happy to mouth the copper bean - he was dripping foam more than he ever has!
Things I am less happy with: I bought the 5" despite the nagging feeling in the back of my head that he needed the 5 1/4", because what 15 hand horse needs a 5 1/4" bit? My idiot horse, that's who.
Now, it's not criminally small, but it is right at the edge of acceptable. He did not object dramatically to it. But, especially with the loose rings, it's a bit too close to the corners of his mouth for my comfort.
The good news is I can either return it to Smartpak OR sell it to someone else in the barn, who has a dainty Lusitano mare that has been going in a 6" (!!!) bit. M. is going to try the bit on the mare this coming week and if it fits her I will sell it to them and order the 5 1/4" for Tristan. Problem solved!
Friday, May 23, 2014
Training Board
About a week and a half ago, I emailed the barn's main trainer, who was now back from Florida. My work schedule is ramping up to a truly ridiculous degree, and will stay at that fever pitch through late June. I'd had a few evenings in which I went to the barn prepared to ride - and could not flog my brain through the basics of dressage. Input/output was broken. I wasn't reacting fast enough, I wasn't processing at all, and I was not riding well.
I asked: in light of my upcoming work schedule, can we talk about partial training board? We talked. I was thrilled with what she outlined. I said yes.
On Wednesday, Tristan had his first proper training ride in many years. It was great in many ways: first, he did not magically become an amazing dressage horse. Whew! So I wasn't riding him all that poorly.
Second, I was able to see pretty clear progress from start to finish, and watch as the trainer's assistant trainer/barn manager M. did things that I would've had trouble doing easily, quickly, and cleanly and moved Tristan through his usual evasions and trouble spots.
Third, she enjoyed riding him! She pegged him right away: stubborn, smart, not terribly supple but with a good understanding of the basics. It was a pleasure to watch Tristan go, to know he was getting a great ride, and to chat with the trainer, who had come to watch.
I'm going to watch a training ride again tonight, and then he'll be on his own riding schedule 2x a week with M. We talked through my goals for him, and what a realistic outcome of six weeks was, and I'm happy all around.
I'll continue to do fitness rides, hill work, hacking out - the stuff that I don't need to engage higher thinking for. Fun stuff, for me. He'll have someone else doing the calculus with him, and I may play around occasionally but it is a huge weight off my mind to know that I don't have to.
I'll try to get pictures tonight - I'm excited to see what his next ride brings!
I asked: in light of my upcoming work schedule, can we talk about partial training board? We talked. I was thrilled with what she outlined. I said yes.
On Wednesday, Tristan had his first proper training ride in many years. It was great in many ways: first, he did not magically become an amazing dressage horse. Whew! So I wasn't riding him all that poorly.
Second, I was able to see pretty clear progress from start to finish, and watch as the trainer's assistant trainer/barn manager M. did things that I would've had trouble doing easily, quickly, and cleanly and moved Tristan through his usual evasions and trouble spots.
Third, she enjoyed riding him! She pegged him right away: stubborn, smart, not terribly supple but with a good understanding of the basics. It was a pleasure to watch Tristan go, to know he was getting a great ride, and to chat with the trainer, who had come to watch.
I'm going to watch a training ride again tonight, and then he'll be on his own riding schedule 2x a week with M. We talked through my goals for him, and what a realistic outcome of six weeks was, and I'm happy all around.
I'll continue to do fitness rides, hill work, hacking out - the stuff that I don't need to engage higher thinking for. Fun stuff, for me. He'll have someone else doing the calculus with him, and I may play around occasionally but it is a huge weight off my mind to know that I don't have to.
I'll try to get pictures tonight - I'm excited to see what his next ride brings!
Monday, May 19, 2014
In Vermont, May is still practically winter...
Sunday: gorgeous sunny day, blue sky, light breeze. We went for a 2 mile hack up and down the road with a friend who's conditioning her new horse. I thought about going up and down the hayfield hill for some additional work, but the trainer was showing a sales horse in the outdoor arena and a galloping mustang probably would've been more excitement than they really needed.
So I untacked and decided to do a bath. I rinsed, and I shampooed, and I rinsed, and I did conditioner, and I rinsed...and then realized I had been scrubbing and bathing for a solid hour and poor Tristan was shivering a little bit.
I promptly felt like the world's worst mom: cold well water, a wash stall in the shade outside, a light breeze, and his flanks were quivering on and off. I scraped off all the excess water and brought him out into the sunshine. He stopped shivering and was perfectly happy to handgraze.
I spent the next two hours worrying about my stupid decision, because that's what I do. When he wasn't drying off as fast as I wanted in the sunshine - which kept going and coming as clouds passed over - I started layering coolers: irish knit on the bottom with a wool dress sheet/cooler on the top. Then I pulled the irish knit and we went back out into the sun for a while. Then I swapped the wool cooler for his rattier fleece cooler, cinched it around his stomach, threw him all the hay he could eat, and checked in with the trainer's barn manager.
"Yeah, I thought you were being really brave!" she said. "It's still pretty cool!"
Sigh. When I finally left, he had a strip down his belly that was still damp, and his legs were still slightly damp. His core had warmed up considerably, chest and sides were once again warm to the touch, and he was happily eating, drinking, and pooping. He's fine today. HORSES.
In the in-between of everything, I hauled all the various storage things back up the hill to my trailer from where they'd been stored in my truck, in our apartment, in my other car...really a bit of everywhere. It was nice to get the trailer really swept out after the winter, go through all the bins and pull things that needed to be cleaned, discarded, or gone through. It looks great in there - and if I ever have time off and energy, we're ready to go somewhere exciting!
So I untacked and decided to do a bath. I rinsed, and I shampooed, and I rinsed, and I did conditioner, and I rinsed...and then realized I had been scrubbing and bathing for a solid hour and poor Tristan was shivering a little bit.
I promptly felt like the world's worst mom: cold well water, a wash stall in the shade outside, a light breeze, and his flanks were quivering on and off. I scraped off all the excess water and brought him out into the sunshine. He stopped shivering and was perfectly happy to handgraze.
I spent the next two hours worrying about my stupid decision, because that's what I do. When he wasn't drying off as fast as I wanted in the sunshine - which kept going and coming as clouds passed over - I started layering coolers: irish knit on the bottom with a wool dress sheet/cooler on the top. Then I pulled the irish knit and we went back out into the sun for a while. Then I swapped the wool cooler for his rattier fleece cooler, cinched it around his stomach, threw him all the hay he could eat, and checked in with the trainer's barn manager.
"Yeah, I thought you were being really brave!" she said. "It's still pretty cool!"
Sigh. When I finally left, he had a strip down his belly that was still damp, and his legs were still slightly damp. His core had warmed up considerably, chest and sides were once again warm to the touch, and he was happily eating, drinking, and pooping. He's fine today. HORSES.
In the in-between of everything, I hauled all the various storage things back up the hill to my trailer from where they'd been stored in my truck, in our apartment, in my other car...really a bit of everywhere. It was nice to get the trailer really swept out after the winter, go through all the bins and pull things that needed to be cleaned, discarded, or gone through. It looks great in there - and if I ever have time off and energy, we're ready to go somewhere exciting!
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