A Few Favorites

Riding is at an all time low for my lifetime, and so purchases of tack and apparel are few and far between. My old standbys are serving me well and I expect they will continue to do so for some time - my future riding buddies are cob shaped, just like Bridget and Ginger and half the things in my tack room are/were. I'm still me shaped too! I must be getting older, because I notice I am less likely to try new trendy products and more likely to stick with products or brands  I know, even if they're not perfect.

But, here are some tried and true products I think are pretty perfect for me and I have been using for at least a couple of years now. (And no, I'm not sponsored or otherwise incentivized in any way):

- Stubben Care Brush On. This is the only thing I've tried that both detangles and moisturizes thick cob tails. I feel like with everything else you get one or the other, either it detangles like magic, but eventually dries the hair out, or it moisturizes but getting a comb through it takes more work and costs more hair than I'd prefer. My only cons for this stuff is it's a little on the pricier side, and the scents are nice but they're strong. If you're sensitive to fragrances, be warned. I think they smell good (the blue Rose and Green Tea one is my favorite), G's man opinion is "Why does my horse smell like Granny's house?" 

Runners up: Canter Mane and Tail - almost perfect but I did notice a tiny bit of drying on Buck's tail. Eqyss Avocado Mist - I would have said it's my favorite until I met Buck,  it doesn't quite detangle his curly hair enough.

The hair situation is real and braids or tail bags aren't going to be safe when he lives with a friend who lives for destroying and grabbing things. I keep threatening that if G wants 'his' horse to have a natural looking mane and tail he's going to have to care for it, but Buck absolutely loves a good spa day and I'm a pushover for both of them.

We veer off topic for a moment for me to make my case...this deceptively innocent looking horse may have stolen the hose this morning while I left it unattended and filling their water. Evidence shows he chased/sprayed his friends thoroughly, then dragged it into their house and flooded it. In related news, he absolutely hates baths and all things me attempting to get near him with a hose running. /sidetrack

-Purodora Lab - Horse Urine Cleaner & Odor Neutralizer. This stuff works miracles here. I have a mare who seems like she's permanently in heat and who only pees in one specific spot in her paddock. It smelled bad no matter what I did. I ran the hose on it daily, I dug it out and replaced the gravel, I added copious amounts of lime, still, yuck. Maybe not a big deal if you're on a giant acreage but in our semi residential neighbourhood I'm pretty conscious of my neighbours and want to keep the farm smells to a minimum. It's easy to use, I add a cup of the concentrate to a big bucket of water and dump on the offensive spot abut once a week. You can also mix it into spray bottles, mop buckets etc, and while I haven't needed it for that I can see it being very useful for horse trailers or smelly stalls inside the barn.

-Maya Delorez Function Breeches. OK I know I said I'm not riding a ton, but these are my all time favorite riding tights and I like them so much they still get use out of the saddle. Every other brand I've tried has either wanted to slide down, has legs that are too long, or get stretched out. These do none of that. These are like my favorite gym tights but with a silicone seat added. My only caveat is that they are more of a summer weight. They're on the high end of my budget once I pay duties and shipping, so I haven't explored winter ones yet. Runner up - Free Ride Define leggings or Lux breeches. These don't fit me as nicely and are IMO almost too stretchy, but I do find them comfy and nice for the price point.

-Ecolicious Comfort Me Skin Balm. I'm sure there are many products like this, (and at it's heart it's probably just zinc oxide cream with a nice smell). But I keep buying it, and the horses keep using it up so here we are, I think it gets favorite status. It smells really nice and feels a little indulgent. I do use it on my hands, but of course it's main purpose here is all those itchy scabs, nicks and scrapes and missing patches of hair young playful geldings seem to be full of. Plus Sophie. She's her own brand of suffering consequences for her poor decisions and normally has a spot or two needing attention. A container lasts me about a year and it makes me happy to use, so I feel like I get my money's worth.

- Carr Day & Martin Leather Care Belvoir Duo Box. Another magical product. Not riding as much means this stuff mainly works for a living in the form of cleaning and conditioning outdoor leather halters and my well used winter paddock boots. I like the ease of use with the spray bottles. Most importantly, they make everything look new again, even after weeks or months of abuse. The amount of grime the cleaner pulls off is surprising. It's one thing on my nasty barn boots, but I do look after my tack and give it a quick wipe and condition now and then even if it's not in use. I was shocked at the amount of stuff it easily cleaned off a bridle I would have previously said was put away clean and very well cared for. The conditioner leaves a nice soft feel, and isn't overly heavy or oily.

-Proper ground driving reins and cavesson. I've been of the double longe line off a halter or bridle persuasion my entire life, but if ground driving or longeing is something you do regularly as part of your training or fitness, both these pieces of equipment are well worth a look. I'm wondering why I didn't rethink my choices sooner. Two lines that feel more like reins are so much easier to handle and the weight is so much more appropriate than my longe lines that felt like they were forever floating around and threatening to tangle. With the cavesson, the feel is much more like I'm riding and the ability to use outside/inside rein independently and effectively makes me feel guilty I didn't start doing this sooner.

I have the Kieffer Ultrasoft Longe Cavesson. I chose this one because it's a bridle like fit and has multiple rein attachment points. It comes with clip on bit attachments too so you can transition to riding with a bit, perfect for baby horses.

We Survive, Maybe We Even Thrive

Autumn is my favorite season. BUT. Halloween.

I love the idea of all things Halloween, however, having horses at home in this particular part of the world on Halloween night can be an absolute nightmare. For a variety of historical reasons, it's our occasion for fireworks. More locally, our normally quiet and isolated semi rural neighbourhood is the place to be.

This year the weather had been absolutely horrible and I didn't see a ton on social media about neighbourhood parties beyond the odd person saying they might postpone due to weather. The horses had been fine the last couple of years even with some very close by firework displays, so I wasn't overly concerned for them.

No fancy pictures this week, but here's a shiny pony

However, the weather cleared last minute and things literally started with a bang with some guests of our neighbours lighting screechy firecrackers and pointing them to go off over the horse's paddocks. I was actually out cleaning paddocks and it felt like a near death experience, because there's a big difference with horses OK with fireworks nearby and firecrackers actually 'chasing' them and exploding above their heads.

The horses were super rattled and there wasn't much hope of coming back from it when the regular firework parties started. They exceeded all previous years, and then some. It was absolute insanity. Things didn't settle until about 3:30am, only to start up again the next day and night. My ears are still ringing days later and I most definitely had an overwhelmed/sleep deprived meltdown or two of my own. I can't imagine how the horses felt.

Silver linings of animals and fireworks is that after 2.5 years our grumpy kitty decided he could share 'his chair' with his baby 'brother'

Luckily they are all Best Ponies, and very polite, so me standing with them during the worst of it and and having a halter/lead on Reggie and walking him (he's the most reactive and the other two were feeding off it) was enough to curb the blind panic and impending fence/stall demolition. I just cannot with horses sometimes, why are they so incredibly trusting and kind?

I preemptively booked space at the therapeutic riding barn over at our club grounds for next year, and have a request in for sedatives from the vet, because there is no way I can handle or want the horses to handle anything like that again in this lifetime. 

In non Halloween news, the weather has been fairly horrendous and our upcoming mid month clinic is a no go, which is completely understandable. Winter came early and you'd have to be extremely dedicated to even think about riding outdoors in the wind and rain we've been having - it feels like we're constantly in some kind of weather warning, plus it's too dark to see much at about 4:30, yuck!!

Reggie is the only one who wants to leave his haynet and go outside in the rain, and even he's not sure some days

Outside of horses I'm making a change and feeling out moving to consulting/contract work. The security of my existing regional gov't job is hard to leave, so I'm doing both while I feel things out. That means I'm putting most of my 'real' life to the side to make career moves happen, but this does feel like the perfect timing for that. If I was going to do it I needed to do it now. 

Sophie is back longeing and getting riding pony ready, but if all goes well I think I'm going to send her on a lease.

And I did finish my cob shaped (aka barrel shaped) saddle stand one rainy day

There is a lot I feel like I should/could do with the horses now, but none of it is necessary and it will keep.  I'm very lucky to have G on my side, this wouldn't be doable if it was just me. He retired early (and is 10 years older than me if you're wondering about that math and me still wanting to work ;) and is doing morning pony chores most days. Plus everything else he does - he basically takes care of the house, the grocery shopping, the vehicles, the feed store trips, all those things that are so easy to take for granted but make everything so much easier.

Halloween Story

 It's not directly horse related, but it is about the house on our little horsey micro farm. 

I bought the property 20 years ago, pre husband, pre welsh cobs, pre current career. Everything was completely overgrown and the house was a teardown. It had been foreclosed on and the price was extremely reasonable. I was in my early 20's, had a good job and a horse in a boarding situation that wasn't working. It felt like a reasonable thing to buy the place with mid term plans to sell once the market went back up or I moved away from the area. In the meantime I would have an investment and a 'free' place to keep my horse.

So, that all went fine. I hired an excavator, we cleaned up the property. I built fences and a cheap shelter. The horse moved in.

Cheap shelter still standing today, one day we'll get to those fancy barn plans :)

But what about the house? It was definitely creepy and falling down, but maybe it could be saved?

First step was cleaning it up. There was a lot of filth and water damage and literal bags of garbage rotting in there. It wasn't great. 

Then. THEN.

During the cleanup, I went down the stairs into the basement. As I stepped into the basement, the lights shut off. "Not funny!!!" I shouted up the stairs to my stepdad, who I was sure was pranking me, knowing how creepy I thought it was down there "Turn the lights back on!".

And so the lights turned on. I head the switch flip behind me. Wait, what? The switch is behind me? Cue getting scared, running back up the stairs, and finding the house empty. Stepdad was outside, nowhere near any light switches or power and no clue what I was talking about. The only switch powering the basement lights was that one at the base of the stairs.

So, OK. That was a weird thing. But I am a logical person.  I decided to stay and fix the house. I spent more than I paid for the place in basically rebuilding the house, including a new electrical panel, new service, the whole nine yards. Two way switch installed on the top of those basement stairs, as well, light that thing up bright before I get down there, it's just safety, nothing else to discuss ;) Weird coincidence, sketchy electrical, that's all it was.

A couple of years ago, in that same basement, as we discussed electrical changes to go with our kitchen renos,  I was reminded of that story and told G about it, like "ha ha silly me, either the electrical was bad or stepdad was really sneaky!" Exactly as I finished the story, the lightbulb above our heads went out. The timing was impeccable. The look on G's face was pure horror, surprisingly my reaction came out more angry like "HA HA HILARIOUS THIS IS REALLY NOT FUNNY!!!" And so, a pause, and the light came back on. Which almost made it worse.

Nothing like that has happened since. I know logically it had to be a coincidence and a faulty bulb. But, I still am weirded out enough that I will not ever mention this story inside the house ever again :D

Happy Hallowe'en everyone!

October Check In

 I just had a week's vacation and it was absolutely the best thing. I'd suit being retired (or independently wealthy), I think. As always, a day off my real job has me a lot more active and busy than sitting at my desk, and I love that.

Happy field horses

New front gate. This is number three, the bears keep climbing and wrecking them every fall. 

I was lucky enough to catch the last of the nice weather before our version of fall/winter (rain, and more rain) arrived. The horses had a good bit of field time. I got the barn and trailer organized and winter ready. I've got a fun project on the go building a cob shaped saddle stand. I renewed or signed up for a ridiculous amount of online content so I'm prepped for winter learning. I think the current list is Ridely, Burghley TV (They have multiple years available on demand and the dressage commentary is normally very valuable, Carl Hester or the like), Jody Hartstone, H&C TV, and all the YouTube channels.

dump truck of sand delivered for a few drainage and paddock surfacing projects. Buck volunteers to help spread it.

My old coach EC (the eventing/dressage one closer to Vancouver where I lived and boarded a few years) has been doing very well at Working Equitation these days and it's been fun watching the competition live streams and cheering her and Audrey on. Do we remember Audrey? She's the same age as Bridget and was my sometimes ride in those years. I was so lucky to be able to hop on super talented Audrey to get a feel for things when B or I were struggling. I kind of fell in love with her so Audrey inspired the whole search for a warmblood pony, resulting in Sophie. We all know how much I love my cobs, but everything was SO easy on a purpose bred horse. Turns out Audrey (with EC) is one of a kind though, so back to cobs I go! (don't worry we still love Sophie). EC and Audrey have qualified for the Canadian team and the championships in Spain next year. I'm of course very proud and excited for the both of them and spent multiple hours cheering them on via live stream last week.

Meanwhile, Sophie doing Sophie things

Playing chicken. She's such an idiot (said affectionately)

All that has given me some serious FOMO though. I know we can't compare ourselves, and these are not the lives that I would thrive in or be capable of, but there's a real reality check looking around at what everyone is doing while I take a (much needed) break ;) 

These two going to be worth it for sure

I do have some fall/winter groundwork clinics happening, and a plan for next summer boot camp with EC sketched out. That means I need to be accountable over winter for groundwork and prep, but mostly I'd just like to prioritize getting the boys out to see the world a little more. 

Buck in particular hasn't gone anywhere past our local neighbourhood fields and hiking trails because trailering him solo would be a lot for him. The fun part of having three horses is that no one is happy home alone but equally it feels unfair to expect an anxious baby to have a great experience and be set up for success trailering alone to things. Anyone have any tips? I feel like he needs a steady friend the first few times, but the three horse math doesn't work if no one can be home alone.

wild stallion pose

Pretends he's tough but is a big marshmallow

Luckily Reggie is Mr Independent and happily trailers alone and Sophie is of course worldly enough to hate but survive a solo trailer ride ;) It's just Mr Bakari we need to find a quiet trailering friend for temporarily. He's absolutely fine to load and trailer, but he's very concerned about being in there alone. I'm off and on tempted to just Do The Thing and stop overthinking it, and maybe I will - just around the block or something. I want to set it up for guaranteed success, but equally this is real life where things aren't always perfect. 

This happened out of nowhere. She's HATED him for 2 years. Now she's obsessed with him. I like my mares, but wow geldings are so much easier.

Who Even Am I

Two posts in one week after months of barely having any updates? Often when the weeks disappear it's because I'm stressed and overcommitted. That has not been the case recently. As always, I have way too much on my plate. Unlike always, I've just been saying no to doing a lot of it (and even delegating some things to others!) 

Beneficial 'me' time is currently taking priority and the list of quantitative accomplishments is at an all time low. Would you believe I even took up golf this summer? Talk about a waste of an afternoon (but yeah ok no time is wasted if you're having fun). It's enjoyable being terrible at entirely new thing that I have a very minimal emotional stake in. The time out has been refreshing but I'm getting a bit itchy to get back in the saddle. I mean, lets be real, an intervention would be required if I hadn't been secretly eyeing up that golf course as a potential cross country course all summer.

Good news is I have two baby horses almost at riding age so things should return to quasi normal soon-ish. Also, it's been a while since I tried to get nice blog pictures - here are some quick ones from the weekend.

It's maybe too soon to know if this revised outlook is a lasting change but I think it will stick in some way. 2024/2025 has been a time. I'm a bit stuck where in my world it all feels very Big Deal and it would feel a bit like a lie of omission not saying anything at all, but equally I don't think this is the place for it. There would need to be so many trigger warnings and it's really freaking dark and sad. For the purposes of the blog, while I feel different and the horses have maybe been a little back burnered temporarily, nothing I normally write about has changed - the horses are all well, G is still here being his usual wonderful self, our little backyard horse place is coming along, golf as a hobby is probably not sticking around. Riding and regular posting should recommence sooner rather than later.

How lucky am I to have ponies playing in my backyard

I want to say the ponies have been a little neglected the last few months, but anyone with horses at home knows that's really not possible. I didn't do quite a much this summer as I might have originally planned, but they are not lacking in attention. Just the logistics of putting them over in their summer fields means they are getting haltered and led through the neighbourhood twice daily. They have a big local fan club so obviously they need to be groomed and looking their best too :)

Not enough words for how nice this guy is, I think he came installed with all the manners at birth. When I open this gate to their bigger paddock he stands and waits and makes triple sure I actually say it's ok to go out. Then 90% of the time he comes back in right away and checks in, like he needs to make extra sure I'm ok with him being outside his designated area <3

The cob boys are doing really well. I have them separated in adjacent paddocks at night while the weather is still nice. Buck has a tendency towards being a little clingy and insecure. I'm all about them having friends, but it's a little tricky with such a small group. Having only three horses on site means that the fair thing to do is let them remember to be ok in their own skin before there's some bigger reason they can't all be joined at the hip 24/7. Everyone gets turned out together in the day regardless and they spend all night talking over the fence, so I don't think they're lacking too badly in the socialization department.

You might even argue they'd prefer not to be turned out together. Yellow pony very pleased with herself, but is a nuisance as always :)

"Help!"

The boys got re-measured this past weekend. They're pretty much exactly 2.5 years old, and we're close to the two year anniversary of their arrival here on the coast. Both felt like valid reasons for a height and weight check in.

Admittedly looking a bit porky after a summer at pasture, but he's also gradually losing the gangly baby look

Is appropriate weight and still the biggest boy

They're both just a tiny bit over 14.2hh. The weight tape says 950 for Buck, 880 for Reggie. I hear cobs can be late developers, so I'm interested to see where they end up. Hopefully not too much bigger! Ginger, the cob that started the blog, was 15.3 and felt like WAY too much horse for my short legs. 14.3-15hh, 1000ish pounds is kind of where I'm hoping they end up.  For context Sophie is 14.1 1/2, and ideally 800-850 ish and I feel like she's a bit on the small side. I have hopes the boys will both be that happy medium. 

Is round but fierce. Measuring 912lbs at the moment and the vet had to have "that" conversation with me.

Luckily needs no incentive to burn those calories

When the boys arrived they were about 12hh and 450lbs. It's hard to believe that was 2 years ago already or that they were ever so tiny. I'm very excited to watch them continue maturing, it's been the best journey so far. After this I'd definitely be tempted to buy or breed more baby horses, but then my entire existence would be consumed by ponies :D Luckily for everyone the real estate situation forces responsibility.

Buck is so wide already. So far he's been kind of hilarious in that he just magically stays proportionate and grows in all directions equally, so lets hope that holds true and he doesn't fill out to the point where I end up with a giant tank.

His 2024 yearling photo for reference. I need to recreate this, because I think there would be no visible change between then and now, despite him being a few inches taller

Reggie is still in the awkward growing cob phase, but he's starting to look more mature and it's suiting him - his legs and head are a lot more proportionate now ;).

Still looks better in motion than standing still, poor guy. Fingers crossed, maybe we start under saddle next summer, but if he needs to wait until he's 4 that's fine too. 

Awkward photos all day long, I have no shame

Buck is already bigger than everyone. I had wondered if that might mean he might test the waters with Sophie, but she still pushes him around all day. Reggie and him go back and forth on who's the boss daily, it's still more a game than anything serious they actually care about.

Please stop posing and start watching where you are going, we don't need more broken heads! I had said she was going to have this winter off, but the vet thinks she will be good to go back to work. I agree a job might be a good thing. I'll share more on that when I've finished pondering options.

I swear they all pose for the camera though

Looking very golden. I switched back to the less trendy (and cheaper) bulk vitamin/mineral supplement about a year ago and I think it's suiting them. As with all things horse, it could be any number of variables, but Buck and Reggie also kept nice shiny coats that didn't fade this summer. So we're 3/3 for them looking good. They all get pretty much unlimited local and timothy hay, with a bit of alfalfa at dinner. Plus the vit/min mix. And that's it. I used to really go down the rabbit hole on supplements and weighing everything but keeping it very simple seems to be working.