OTTB Charm

Tonight, Charmer has a vet/chiropractor appointment. Mostly a routine "get all the things back in line" checkup, but also checking up on a few things to ease my paranoid, nervous, crazy horse mom brain. Assuming all goes well in his appointment tonight, I will have some very  exciting news coming up tomorrow. I cannot say anything until all of the i's are dotted and t's are crossed, because the situation is somewhat delicate, but suffice it to say, I am busting with excitement and nervousness about it right now. This is my face about our exciting news 😁 Also there is a new piece of tack that is gracing my plain bay horse's face. I haven't gotten the chance to ride in it, but it is a new noseband from  Uisce Saddlery . I first heard about them from  SprinklerBandits blog  and got a sudden itch to get one. I have wanted a white padded, fancy stitched noseband for Charmer for quite a while now, and that seemed like the perfect thing to order. It arri...

For the first time in 2017, I finally got a chance to ride my horse! Proof that it happened And the strangest thing has happened during the last 2 months. My horse has improved . You know how usually after an extensive break, your horse forgets everything you have taught them? Well that didn't happen for us. I mean, sure he was a little rusty on a few things, like leg-yields, but overall, he felt more broke than he has ever felt before. Still nailed his leg yields even though he was rusty For anyone that knows Charmer, or has seen him in any setting, they will know that, while he has an incredible canter, it is usually a lot  of work to make it nice, and the transition is usually a train wreck. Drooling over all our pretty new things But the strangest thing happened in our ride. He was light and floaty. He offered canter transitions even when I didn't ask for them. And they were some of the most uphill and balanced transitions that I have ridden on any ho...

Its been at least 3 weeks since I've been on my horse. At least. Like 2.5 of those weeks, I couldn't even get him out to groom him because so much ice. So how do I cope? I unleash the inner tack ho, and buy tack. Lots and lots of tack. So due to some various family generosity around Christmas, and good little chunk of saving/planning, I was able to have the cash to really upgrade like 75% of Charmer's wardrobe. The other 25% is all still fairly pretty and entirely functional, so I didn't NEED to replace it. Yet. Don't worry, there are things still on my list of pretties for him. This was the big ticket item. New saddle. Monoflap. Gorgeous. Brand new. Worth every penny. Plus the stirrup leathers and stirrups are also new. The stirrup leathers are made by Millbrook Equestrian, and they're supposed to help with leg stability by increasing friction. I am intrigued, so I had to try them. Then with the stirrups, well, I just always love/need wide track stirru...

I have a lot of big dreams for things I would like this year to upgrade for me and my horse. So this is my Christmas list/wishlist of things that I want. But to be real, no sane person in their right mind will spend this kind of money on me for Christmas, so it will end up turning into more of a wishlist for the things I want to buy for myself throughout the year. Ovation Tierra Monoflap Saddle I can feel the security just looking at it This saddle is a huge goal for me and Charmer. The interchangeable gullet system is great for his ever-changing topline. And the fact that it's a monoflap with nice, large, external blocks are a huge bonus for me in the security department for those green baby horse jumps. Also if I can pull off getting this saddle, it will be the first slightly higher end saddle I will own, so very excited for that! Millbrook Leathers Okay I do not know if these leathers are just a complete hoax, but honestly I think they are the coolest things ev...