Monday, March 25, 2013

Equine-Themed Clothing

I'll be honest- I was never one of the little girls who wanted a pony themed bedroom covered in pink and sparkles.  Clothing with horses silk screened onto it, or bed sheets covered in pony print, or socks (oh the equine themed socks!) with horse hooves... none of it ever really appealed to me.  If I want to broadcast my equine love, I'll wear my Rolex hoody or maybe even my paddock boots around ;) However, every now and again I come across a piece of horsey clothing I'd love. Though most are classy enough on their own, I think really its the wit that makes them wearable.  Somehow wit outweighs tackiness, making the clothing appealing rather than adorable, but somewhat cringe-enducing... which seems to be the norm.  For example:
Who wouldn't want this? Especially if you have a mare...
I spotted this shirt at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair a few years ago & fall in love! 

Dapplebay's Three Days Three Ways long sleeved tee.

For some reason I couldn't get a picture of the actual shirt, but its just a grey fitted tee, and if you check out Behind the Bit, you'll find a link to the shirt.

And today, I came across another piece of horsey-clothing I'd actually buy (and now desparately want) while browsing SprinklerBandits blog:
Riding Ninja Apparel.  Adorable, and entertaining!
You can check out all the differend designs for yourself here or on Facebook.  OR you can also go to SprinklerBandit's blog, and check out her contest to get one for free!  I figure I'm safe to share the contest info without ruining my own chances of winning because anyone (of the 2 or 3 readers I've got :P ) who reads my blog probably reads hers as well!

Saturday, March 23, 2013

I Hate Drama. ALL Drama.

Seriously. And yes, I know... I'm probably in the wrong sport, but my love for riding is (currently) still greater than my drama-hate.  Thankfully, I've got a group of amazing close friends who are about as drama-less as you can get, and I find that the people who tend to cause the most drama are the ones I subconsciously gravitate away from, so my personal life is about as drama free as you can get.  I've also been extremely lucky in that the barn where I board is also pretty drama free.  Our biggest excitement was when a boyfriend and girlfriend who co-owned a horse split,  (now, granted that was a bit of a special case because it was nearly 4 months post-break up before they stopped living together....) so the "shared custody" of their horse is as exciting as we get.  But as they say, all good things come to an end.... and it would seem I've run smack into the center of a big, unavoidable wall of drama.

Now on a personal level, I've got no idea how two people who get along so well and have worked together for several years can suddenly become so vehemently against each other, but then again I probably don't want to know. And I would just continue with my coping strategy of ignoring the issue and pretending it doesn't exist so long as it doesn't affect me, but that's just it. Their issues are affecting me, & in big ways too.

Basically, the current situation is that my coach can't coach at my current barn past mid-April.  So to move or not to move? That is the question.  On the one hand, I want to just suck it up and move.  I mean, I LOVE my barn- I love the people, I love the care, I love the facility, I love the location, etc. but I also love my coach, and while there are other barns, there's only 1 of my coach.  So...  But the issue is further complicated by the fact that due to school (something I avoid talking about on this blog) I'll be moving either 1 or 4 hours away, which means I'llCadence in August, regardless of what happens with the whole barn situation.  So even if we moved her in May, she'd only be at the new place for 2-3 months before she has to move... AGAIN. Basically, this leaves me with two options:
1. Move my horse now
or
2. Stick it out & trailer out EVERY WEEK for lessons (as I'd probably ruin Cadence within a month without my coach's watchful eye keeping us in line!)

Option 1.
If I go with option 1, as I said before we'll be going to what'll basically be a temporary farm, until we both move again in August.   The pros to this are that I'll be able to continue on with lessons at whatever facility I move to, I can have my coach come in and ride Cadence when I'm away (which doesn't happen a ton, but does happen once every few months so its a common enough occurrence that its something to think about) and I can basically move on from all this drama.  Which for me, is a big plus.  The cons are that I love my barn, I love the care my horse gets, and in my opinion moving twice in 4 months is a LOT for a horse to have to deal with, especially considering the fact that we'll still be competing, so she'll have the stress of competition to deal with too.  Ultimately, my horse's welfare is my top priority, so this is a big consideration.

Option 2.
Option 2 really has an A and a B, and it is kind of dependent on where I chose to live next year.  One option is 1 hour away from where I currently live, and in that case I'd just move Cadence in June rather than August and commute to and from the new barn for the summer since I'll have a little more time.  I'd still have to trailer out for lessons from now till June, which is a royal pain in the ass not to mention a HUGE time vacuum, but Cadence would only have to be moved once, and I know she'll be well cared for where she currently is.
However option 2 B means I'll be living 4 hours away, in which case I would either have to move earlier than anticipated (a down since that also means I'll probably be losing income with the move) or more likely that we'd have to stick it out and do the trailer-in-and-out for lessons thing till August...... which REALLY does not sound appealing.

My current thoughts on all this? WHY CAN'T YOU PEOPLE ALL GET ALONG?! You'd make my life SO much easier if you did.

Also, just as an end note- I know I'm sitll lacking a show write-up post. I'm currently immersed in mid-terms, and have a few outside of school things happening ATM that are requiring my attention, so I just haven't had the time. It'll come though, I promise!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Big Jumps

Cadence had her first jump school since we've been home. She was awesome-sauce, and we jumped this:




Tuesday, March 12, 2013

XC & SJ with D.E. (Now With Pictures)

08.03.2013
D.E. is probably one of the greats of US eventing, and in addition to being an amazing rider ,has written a lot of articles on breeding and bloodlines that I personally, as someone fascinated with both sport horses and genetics, find fascinating. So when my coach suggested we call up her old 'friend and coach' D and see if we could get in for a xc school, I was both excited and terrified.  On the list of people I DON'T want to mess up infront of, he's pretty high up on the list... but I was also going into the lesson (in my mind anyway) representing my coach's training program.  Just to add a bit of extra pressonre! Anyway, long story short I didn't need to worry.  Cadence was brilliant and D was impressed with both her jump and attitude.  It was an educationan school, and a ton of fun to boot!
As an added bonus, I also got to see an awesome picture of my coach going advanced at the old Southern Pines HT that was on D's tack room wall.  The oxer in the photo was big enough to live under, and they were clearing it by about 1.5 feet!  Anywho, here are some video stills from the day.


Thursday, March 7, 2013

Dressage Lesson- Photo Time

07.03.13
Had a good dressage lesson- focused on calm with all the set up going on at the park right now, prepping for the show.  Had a show warm up type school, focusing on getting Cadence through and relaxed, and getting her off the right rein. Some of the pictures are of her 'bad moments', as well as the good. I think its important to post both- it provides a more accurate 'memory' of things.

Hack & XC- Photo Edition

No time to write, so pictures will have to suffice!

03.05.2013
Went for a hack, & let Cadence 'stretch her legs' with a little canter/hand gallop:


Wednesday, March 6, 2013

The Adventure Begins

03.05.2013
We're here! After 18.5 hours on the road, driving through 5 states & 1 province, we arrived safe & sound in NC around 6pm yesterday. Pennsylvania was a snow storm the whole way through, which is not a pleasant drive, especially with a horse trailer at 3:00am. Though to be honest, I slept through 90% of that- I got to drive through Virginia & into NC, which was lovely and sunny! However, the combination of the Philly snow storm & Washington traffic added a few extra hours to the trip. Cadence was a saint though, & got off the trailer looking happy & bright, and was eating and drinking within minutes.  Here are a few photos chronicling the trip thus far:

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Last Minute Scrambles

Thanks to the nEHV 1 outbreak, some extra last minute stress was added to the last minute preparations for our trip south.  I found out on Saturday morning that in order to be let into the Carolina Horse Park, all horses required a health certificate.  This wouldn't be such a big deal if I'd known this more than 36 hours before we were supposed ot leave, and if it had been a week day, rather than the weekend.  Anywho, one of the other vets from the clinic kindly popped out and after taking Cadence's heart & repsrates, checking her teperature, and confirming that she did not have a cough, he was on his merry way.  I'll probably be paying through the nose for that little visit, but it was very kind of him to come out on such short notice, especially since he wasn't on 'emergency duty'.  I'm off to pick up the papers from him now, and once that's done all I have to do is throw my clothes into my suitcase, and pack the car.  The trailer's already loaded with feed, hay, and 99% of Cadence's stuff, so basically all that's left is the waiting.  I think its finally hitting me that this is real.....