We jumped stuff! (Media Dump)

After a bit of time off through the holidays, I finally got on Bailey last night. I probably owed her and Foxie both some time on the lunge (we got a substantial amount of rain that iced over a good portion of the farm - I didn't look in their paddock, but I'm assuming the same is true there) but time was short, and I had hubby along... so we set up a few quick fences and I took the opportunity to try out my new Total Saddle Fit jump girth over fences.

Predictably, Bailey was a hot little chili pepper. And while there was definitely some bucking, head tossing and lots of zooms, it all seemed to be "feel good, must dance" related, rather than naughty. Hubs thinks I'm a bit crazy to differentiate between the two, but it's hard to get mad at a stir crazy horse for being athletic, IMO. Bailey's hard to get mad at in general.

We warmed up quickly and my good intentions of getting her round and listening were kind of side tracked by the fact that I finally had someone there to video, and I probably hurried way too much. As a result, the dragon horse jumped like the dragon she is, and my half halts were not as effective as they usually are. However, I was pleased because Bailey was jumping out of her skin, and was being very happy/bold/forward to the fences rather than chipping to the base like she was the last time.

Seeing the pictures and video made me even happier, because despite not paying any attention to my equitation beyond making sure I was actually releasing (steering and not running over my videographer with my excitedly dancing red horse post fence was my priority, and I was half frozen), my leg was steady and we look pretty good, all things considered!

Now that we've established that we can jump inside, what are your favorite (preferably quick/easy) jump excercises for the indoor arena? We don't have as much space as we did at our previous barn, so I'm going to have to find some new exercises! 

Bailey and the Indoor 2016

I realized while riding yesterday that while our flatwork training may not look all that different to folks on the ground, Bailey has made huge strides in the last year. Maybe it was the barn change, and maybe it was finally getting old enough to brain, but BB is really riding like a grown up horse.

This time last year, we were struggling with major "the number you have dialed is not in service" problems with contact. Bailey would tune me out, grab the bit, get looky and braced and then explode the minute something sensory set her off. She was super distractable, and I was so focused on keeping her packaged that I did a lot of riding around with what I now realize is false contact and getting overly fixated on keeping her head down.

As much as I love these pictures, she's still behind the vertical, albeit the test in the lower photo had plenty of non-behind-the-vertical moments, as well, and that ride was the product of several weeks of dressage boot camp, and after that... we kind of lost our mojo. I don't have any images from last winter, or from this year at all, but I can tell you... it hasn't looked like this:

Proof we weren't totally behind the bit all of the time. 

 It took riding in the Micklem the other week to really make me realize that, but even when she takes a good contact, it's not a confident contact. She gets flustered when asked to weight the bit, and a lot of the time, her tongue comes out as a result - almost like she goes "with all of this contact and bit and stuff, there's no room for my tongue". We've been working on it since then, and the picture is slowly coming together (though it's been hard to tell, since the mirrors are fogged over from cold).

Last night Bailey did a number of surprising things; she didn't jump sideways, throw her head up or even pop her shoulder when the BO came through a door with some horses. This is a huge improvement, even from a few weeks ago. When she did find something worthy of looking at (in this case, some very scary frost on the wall), she turned her head, and then I was able to close my leg, and the bend reasserted itself and we moved on. Transitions were calmer, and more through, instead of the back-jarring house of cards collapsing that they had been. Transitions were also prompt, and while she still used my hands as an e-bake sometimes, I'll take hanging on me over sucking back, at this point.

I received my 14mm bridoon in the mail the other day, and I'm looking forward to getting it on a bridle to test out my tongue theory. I need to get into the habit of videoing my rides, too, since I'm still waiting to not feel super poor so I can take some more lessons. Now that I've got my dressage saddle back, I think we can get into our flatwork that much more and come out next spring that much stronger and more correct. It's so strange to still be working on something so basic, while also knowing that my horse has a pretty much confirmed and lovely leg yield, shoulder in and that we're productively schooling haunches in, walk-to-canter transitions and even a little walking half pass.

Why are the basics so hard? Do they ever stop being hard?

Monday Catch Up

One day I'll get on the rockin year recap post train... Until then, here's what's been going on in #feralredhorse world.  It was really cold the last week, and it was so cold yesterday that the horses got left inside. I stepped away to see if I could find Foxie some more hay and heard a crash:

I walked back around the corner to find the above piglet, being a pig. Before it got way too cold to function, I also rode my horses (Wednesday). I lunged them before, because they just stand around outside and don't move, so we end up with shenanigans as they stretch and play. Bailey turned it up a notch, though:

My horse is such a special animal, guys.

On the holidays front, I appear to be drowning my bored winter sorrows in horse stuff. While I still need to pick up the faux Micklem I'm getting in trade from a friend, I've been making up for the lack of it by buying other stuff. I got a new bit (14 mm is really different from 16 mm, guys. Totally) and some FANTASTIC new breeches in the mail from Smartpak recently, thanks in part to Amanda from Bel Joeor since I won an amazing gift card from her clipping contest. I got the Smartpak Piper with Silicone full seat, and guys... I love them. Review to come once I've ridden in them, but I spent an evening prancing around in them because they fit like a glove and that's amazing in of itself.

Other than the bit and breeches, I also finally jumped on the #BLING train around Black Friday thanks to Amelia and Dark Jewel Designs. She's been amazingly patient as I tried to figure out what I want, and I can't WAIT to get my lovely browbands in the mail:

LOOK AT THESE BEAUTIFUL THINGS

I already have more plans in the works for a black/brown pearl strand to match my Visions, and will probably reprise a few of the other red/green designs, because I can't get enough of the Christmas colors. I know I'm getting some very special horsey gifts from my family, as well, and it makes me so very happy. I already have neglected to mention my birthday presents from my wonderful hubby, my beloved Ariat Braemar boots (I know, I need to review them...), OneK Skull Cap (reviewed!) and Centaur Fox boot bag. He clearly knows the way to my heart.

Tonight, because the world has made a climb back above 0, I plan to ride both mares. I might jump Bailey again, depending on how windy the walk to the upper barn is. Otherwise, I got my Vision Dressage back from the fitter friend who did a lot of flocking work, and I'm interested to see how much she could do with it. Warmer temps mean  that I might actually get some photos and video to break up my wall of text posts, too! 

10 Questions for December

Thanks to L Williams for breaking up my boring blog with a fun hop!

Does your horse need shoes?

Currently, neither of the mares wear shoes. Fox might benefit from them, but the farrier agrees with her usual work load and age, it doesn't really make sense to shoe her, and would be hard on her already damaged legs to do so.

Enjoy a photo of the chunk to break up a wall of text. 

What do you think of the barefoot vs shoes debate? 

I think you should do what is best for your horse. They're individuals, and while I love barefoot because it's cost effective, I think shoes have a time and a place, and they aren't a bad thing.

Favorite season for riding? 

FALL. It has the best temps, the horses tend to be happy, and especially in the early fall, you can still ride outside because the world isn't a dark dreary place... yet.

Fall rides make for shadow photos

How many shows do you think you’ve gone to? 

Um. Good question. Let's lay things down:

Arabians: 2, though they were at the barn so I don't know if that counts.. I'm counting home schooling shows.

Mary's: Fall shows x 5, Scott County Fair x 2

Wyndem/RRS: 3

Otter Creek Spring - Fox

Roebke's Run Summer - Fox

Roebke's Run Fall - Fox

Dakota: 6

Carriage House - Foxie

Roebke's Summer - Bails

Steepleview HT - Bails

Roebke's Fall - Bails

Otter Creek Spring - Bails

Roebke's Summer - Bails

Bailey says being a dressage horse might actually be fun.

Do you consider yourself a good rider? 

I don't like that term. I'd like to think I'm relatively proficient at the basics, and sometimes ok at other stuff.

If anything, I'm sticky.

How experienced do you think someone needs to be to own a horse? 

I think the jump from lessons/riding to owning is huge. There's a learning curve you don't even realize until you sign the check, even if you've been leasing. I think you definitely need to have taken lessons on the basics, and would strongly encourage leasing/working at the barn first. Even after a summer of barn work and leasing, buying Foxie was a huge learning curve for me. 

Have you ever gotten into a fight with your trainer?
Yep. And I got snubbed/ignored/death stared at while at shows by her and her posse until she moved to another state. I am guessing I will be left alone now that she's gone.

Describe your dream horse. 
I think I own my dream horse; talented, personable, quirky. Some day in the future I'd love to own something Irish, but I'm not picky on looks or anything. Mostly I just dream of horses who are fun to ride - and luckily I own two!
.

One of these derps is derpier than the other. Also one is shorter and wider. Hah.

Does anyone in your family ride? 
Hubs was learning before his knee surgery, and as we turn into surgery #3 I am hoping he will be able to be back in the saddle one day. Other than that, my family ended up on a horse occasionally on vacations but I wouldn't call that "riding".

If you could ride any horse in the world, which one would it be? why? 
Holy. I would really be hard put between riding a talented dressage horse like, say, Valegro, and getting to sit on something crazy and complex but a total machine XC.... Lets stick with Valegro, for simplicity. 

Winter Has Come

If I was whining about being cold before, I was wrong.

This is today. Note the "Feels like".

This is the rest of this week:

Not even considering "feels like" and windchill, it's going to get fucking cold. I broke down and put Foxie in her heavy last night, and am just trying to not think about the "what ifs" like "what if she sweats and soaks her blanket". I'll check on her tomorrow, and hopefully she will be warm and comfortable with no signs of sweat. Bailey, I'm less worried about. Since she wears Foxie's old heavy, which isn't really all that heavy since it's been in service almost 10 years now. I'm almost wondering if her new Weatherbeeta Original medium would be warmer than the old, tattered thing.

PRECIOUS.

We've spent the last few weeks hanging out in the dressage saddle, but now that the fitter is working on it when she can (hey, free doesn't always mean fast, but still. It's free.) we've been rocking the jump saddle on the flat and even jumped last Wednesday. I set up one super exciting fence, a 2'6 (maybe) single vertical with the very scary pony panel, simply because it was the most accessible jump I could find. I don't know if it's the continued issue of the ponies (and now the pigs, we have a pony fence AND a pig fence these days) having eyeballs, or if it was just TOO EXCITING and she couldn't even, but Bailey acted like she didn't quite know how to jump. It was awkward, I was never quite right with the motion, and we were constantly disagreeing about distances. I get not wanting to take a flier when there is a ceiling vs outside, but she definitely was keen, but not quite... on her game.

At one point, we differed on our distances enough that I managed to whap my chin on her neck, and bruised it. We did finally (kind of) get our jumping shit together, but clearly... it's probably time to work some jumping back into our routine. I realized after that she hasn't really jumped since our late fall XC schooling in October - so long ago! Hopefully that jump school knocked enough dust off that we can jump in front of someone besides barn friend J without totally embarrassing ourselves.

My next ride was my birthday ride, and I stuck to flatwork with both girls. Bailey got dressed up, because I'm a mean mom and think she looks super cute in my XC colors:

She did some nice collection/extension work and while she was very wild at the canter, I can't quite blame her; we went from mud to frozen solid in less than 24 hours when it got cold, leaving the paddocks a nasty rutted mess. I'm hoping we got enough snow to at least pad their feet a little bit, but it's still not exactly comfortable to walk on, much less run and play. Foxie was similarly boisterous, and actually gave me a real, live buck instead of her usual back-humping-tail-wringing mess. They both managed to burn off some energy and I was happy to play and pamper and not be rushed too much.

Now that we're truly into the winter doledrums, I think it's time to start making ride plans and start working towards the spring... Might as well be an optimist!

Blog Hop: Virtual Tour De Barn

This is all covered in snow right now, but grassy views are much more pleasant.

Thanks to L. Williams and others who are bringing back this hop, it's time to take a tour of our lovely barn. Those of you who have been with us for a while will remember that Fox, Bails and I moved to our current facility in Hugo, MN from a barn south of the cities. We moved in part because board was going up at the current facility, but also because a friend was moving there, and they had a lot of amenities for a very reasonable price. Let's go down the list:

A - The heated barn, where my horses live in the poor kid stalls with slanted roofs, which is awesome and cheaper. 12x12 stalls with auto waterers, and a small indoor arena off the back. They hold a lot of lessons in this barn, and there's almost always someone around, be it the barn's population of teenage girls or other boarders. The circle is where my girls' paddock is; they go out together instead of in the big mare's paddock with the rest of the horses because Foxie is a wimp and gets bullied.

B - this is the second barn, unheated, with 10x12 and 10x10 stalls. In between the two barns is the pasture area where the outside horses live, and there are also some outside-always paddocks between this barn and the road. J's horse lives in this barn, and goes out in the largest paddock, at the bottom left of this image. The horses come in at night during the winter, but generally spend all summer outside except for feeding time. The larger of the two indoor arenas is the main face of this barn (stalls are an L shape around it), which isn't heated or very insulated. It's great, because that means it's generally emptier to ride in this time of year! 

C and D - These areas make up the cross country course, with C being the water complex and also a cool mound up and down between two trees and D being the bank and ditch area. There's a small path in the trees between the two, and  you can also get there via the track. We have questions through Training level, and due to clinicians coming through on a regular basis the fences get moved and improved a lot. 

E - I added this to note the rest of the gallop track, which surrounds one of the many hay fields (the barn makes it's own hay). The track is sandy, but isn't "maintained" like some of the fancy gallop courses. But either way, it's GREAT to have, and both of my horses have gotten to really stretch their legs on it. 

F - This is the outdoor arena. Usually there is some kind of jump course up, but the fences get torn totally down a few times each summer to accommodate the show arena (G) using it as a warmup ring. The footing can be a bit ishy when throughly soaked, but in general, this is one of my main riding areas. The lesson groups usually use the indoors for beginner lessons, and we have a lot of beginners, so I'm often the only rider out there.

G - Show arena. This arena puts on several barrel races and other events every summer, including a Gay Rodeo. I'm not even kidding. We don't get to ride in it normally, but the stands are Very Scary to Bailey, which is good exposure. I occasionally will do a ride in the grass "parking" area just to have a dressage ride on grass, which is nice.

In addition to making their own hay, the barn also has a large herd of ponies for lessons and an equally large herd of lesson horses, who go out on pasture each summer and are rotated around the farm. This somewhat limits the accessibility of the XC, but makes us focus on a variety of activities instead of jumping every single ride. Bailey has gained oodles of confidence over fences since we arrived, and I'm hoping this translates into more successful shows next year!

Tasty Tuesday: Banana Cupcakes!

On the blog front, I have nothing exciting to report. We've been doing flatwork, pretty much exclusively. It's been muddy AF, Bailey has been good (if not *quite* as good as she was in the micklem, but that could be a lack of my total force of will) and winter is finally sauntering in. I had a mildly terrifying moment over the weekend when Bails thought a friend's enthusiastic whip use was for her, not for the horse she was lunging, and she kind of exploded forward, but we settled and survived and I only regretted not putting a tight helmet over my fresh perm for a minute. Last night was pretty unspectacular, with some weird falling out of the canter and spine jarring transitions, but she also did some really nice walk canters and lots of stretching. I'm hoping she just slipped playing in the vile, nasty ass mud and was a bit ouchy. I called it a day earlier than I planned (because my jarred spine was all "nah brah") and ended up de-dreadlocking Bailey's muddy tail and mud knotting it. Here's to hoping it stays in!

To distract from what would be a week+ of flatwork recaps, here's some Tasty Tuesday for you: my secret weapon cupcakes.

From  the stained pages of my mother's church cookbook from Chancellor, South Dakota, enjoy the addictive Banana Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting. This can be made as a cake, and adapts wonderfully to cupcakes - just keep an eye on them in the oven. This works well with less than ripe bananas, ripe bananas, frozen and thawed bananas... it just works. It's a damn good recipe. Enjoy!

Banana Cake

1 ½ cups white sugar                                        2 cups flour

½ cup shortening                                              1 cup mashed ripe banana

2 eggs           1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup sour milk      ½ tsp baking powder

¾ tsp baking soda

Cream sugar and shortening,  add eggs and beat well. Add sour milk (add a little lemon juice to milk to sour) and dry ingredients. Beat smooth. Add banana and vanilla. Blend well. Pour into greased and floured 9x13 inch cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes until cake springs back when pressed in the middle.  Frost with cream cheese frosting.

You can add ½ cup of chopped walnuts to this but I usually don’t . You should also be able to make cupcakes with this recipe, just bake for ~25 to 30 minutes instead. Watch them, as baking time varies by pan type (glass, dark, light) and other variables.

Cream Cheese Frosting

3-4 ounces of cream cheese                       3 cups powdered sugar

½ cup butter or margarine (softened)        1 tsp vanilla

Cream chesse together with soft butter. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Blend in vanilla.

Review: OneK Racer Skull Cap (with bonus awkward selfies!)

I recieved the OneK Racer skull cap from my husband as a very early birthday present (we bought it on the Helmet Awareness sale in September) to replace a very aged and dropped-several-times Tipperary Titan. I tried on a OneK Defender locally, and took a chance on the Racer, because I prefer skull caps and (call me silly) I have some badass skull cap covers from Sipps Silks that I'd like to keep using.

I take awesome helmet selfies. Just wait.

When the OneK arrived, I was a little scared... It was a lot higher profile than my Tipperary Titan, and after riding in super loose older helmets all summer, the OneK felt very snug despite the same size in the Defender being very comfortable. 

The OneK was definitely wider, and sat higher on my head.

It has a lot more mass, but still overs great coverage down the back of my head, which is a piece that I really liked about the Tipperary. 

After a few months of wear, I really like my OneK. It fits snugly, and feels very safe. While it's bulkier, and the weight took some getting used to, I don't find it overly hot (though the Titan wasn't exactly as breezy as it's sibling, the Sportage, anyways). My Sipps covers fit it, though the texture of the helmet gives them kind of an odd appearance (the bubbling you see above). The cover hasn't moved an inch, and while I feel like the peak is a bit small for the width of the helmet, I'm pretty sure that's a me thing, having been used to a slimmer, more oval helmet. I would say that it does fit a bit more round than the Defender, but I don't have any slippage, or feel like there are pressure points on my head. I've toyed with the idea of buying a large liner, but so far, I haven't actually been motivated to do it. I do still have to rock a low pony with this helmet, but I really like the coverage and comfort it is providing thus far. 

All in all, I'm really happy with this helmet; it was cheaper than a Charles Owen, and while I'll definitely be trying on some CO Skull Caps when I come across them (just in case) I feel like I made a great choice with the OneK. I am hoping to be able to better test out the breath-ability of this helmet and will update if I discover anything life changing. It's high quality, and is not only a great safe helmet, it also feels safe, which goes a long way for me, since I often have panic moments when Bailey decides go  temporarily insane and worry about hurting myself. Maybe not a great thing to say, but I really like a snug, safe feeling helmet. 

BB and the Bridle

I've spent the last week working Bailey in a trial Micklem bridle from our favorite local tack shop. I was just planning to shove her back into a snaffle bridle from her BS of Sweden bridle at shows and call it good, but then a friend mentioned her mare didn't like her Mick(lie)m bridle after all, and said she was going to be selling it. And I happened to have some breeches she wanted. So we chatted about a trade, and I went, wait... I should probably ride my horse in this magikal bridle and ensure she likes it before I drop monies on it.

So I did.

First things first: I hate brown tack. Especially bridles. I guess I can't complain about the brown TSF girth that I know is coming my way for Christmas (I can deal with brown for a girth. It will just get dirty anyways, right?) but the brown Micklem? HORRIBLE.

Bailey was not meant to wear brown, in my mind. It makes her painfully plain looking and a friend and I had a hard time deciding if the bridle or the color was making her head look like an anvil. She was, however, freakishly soft while riding in an arena where she was normally very stiff/looky/spooky (the upper indoor is haunted, obviously) and had tons of white lipstick after ride #1. I wasn't going to count my chickens, so we kept using it... and I even, for science, slapped the same snaffle on a figure-8 bridle to see if things felt different. She continued to be soft, less confrontational about bit-related discipline and wasn't sucking back behind the bit nearly so much. Her tongue did come out a few times, but I'm hoping with more practice at taking a firmer contact, she won't panic so much. And if she does keep acting like her mouth is over full, we can always loosen the noseband and go in search of a narrower diameter bit.

So here I go throwing more fancy spoiled pony gadgets at my spoiled red horse. Divas! I swear. Since the Mick(lie)m I am buying has a fancy dutch drop browband that is missing some crystals, I took advantage of Small Business Saturday and am working with Amelia at Dark Jewel Designs to get B a fancy beaded browband. So far, we have a "fancy" strand worked out, and I'm delighted. I can't stop checking to see if we have progress on the other strand, though... Because life is never complete without some red and green!

The top one will be coming to a showground near you next year!

We continue to do a lot of work in the dressage saddle, which continues to be the love of my life. I've got it shimmed in the back, which has made it even more of a dream to ride in. I've had my front shims shoved into the back of my half pad, so I took advantage of Smartpak's sale to replace my rear shims that I (think) I sold with another Trifecta pad a few years ago. Bailey's back continues to not be sore, and while I have been (oh hai, actually doing stuff while riding) I'm happy to think that we're finally solutioning so I can just ride and not worry about equipment. The saddle still needs to see the fitter (note to self,  bother fitter) but once we're there, I think I will be able to buckle down and just... ride. For once. Won't that be grand?!

Catching Up

Once again, time is getting away from me. Since I last posted, the saddle has arrived(!!!) and I've ridden in it twice now. I haven't been getting the ride time I've been wanting since the hubs has been travelling for work this week, but it's been productive enough. In addition to needing some flocking work (which hopefully I will get accomplished in trade after shooting some really lovely photos for a local saddle fitter on Monday) the saddle also needed some MAJOR reconditioning.

Here's the saddle out of the box after some cleaning with an Effax spray I picked up this summer after having some major mold problems in the humidity. This saddle had some traces of mold, and the seller did mention already cleaning some off, so I went to work. It was very marked up under the leathers and was extremely dry and stiff.

At this point, I was very "FOR SCIENCE" and decided to try Effax Leather Soft on one flap, and Leather Therapy conditioner on the other. As much as I like the idea of the Leather therapy... the Effax is a lot more satisfying for my needs. The saddle legitimately drinks the Effax up and it has consumed the half bottle I had remaining. The saddle did darken, to the point where the flaps are very dark with black knee pads (even darker than they are below), but the skirt areas have stayed a lovely red brown. 

As I said above, I traded some photography for flocking from a local fitter starting out, and I'm hoping she is able to pull some flocking out of the wither, plump up the rear panel and generally smooth out the panels, which kind of have the consistency of cottage cheese. I think with some flocking work, the saddle will be just about perfect. I'm already in love with it, and it's not even optimally balanced yet:

It's a touch narrower than my jump saddle, but I am hoping that resolves with flocking. Both mares moved nicely in it and while there was some bucking from both girls my first ride, I am attributing it to the cold wind blowing up their booties vs the saddle. Am I biased? Probably. But I'm obsessed. And not sorry.

While rides have been light this week, the saddle is getting coated in oil in an attempt to soften up the stiff flaps and ensure that the panels are supple enough to withstand flocking and fitting tools without getting damaged. I'm going to see what I can dig up shim wise to see if I can even it out a bit more while continuing to try it out. I'm also planning to stop by the tack shop and take out their Micklem bridle they have for trials. While I probably won't buy a real one when a friend is selling a much more reasonably priced knock off, it will be good to find out if I need one, or if I can pull off sticking a snaffle back on one of my regular bridles for shows. I've had lots of time for conjecture this week... so I am hoping I have more time for riding next!

Tasty Tuesday: Stress Less Easy Chocolate Mousse

Because owning horses is stressful enough, I don't mess around with gelatin or other shit when I want some pure, rich, chocolatey goodness. I just want my chocolate, and I want it sooner, rather than later.

I tracked this recipe down after falling in love with corner store chocolate mousse cups while studying abroad in London, and have been making variations of it (hubby prefers I put melted peanut butter in his..) to the point that I don't really even whip out the recipe or measure. It's pretty good, even when  you "mess it up" and while I try to wait for it to set up a bit in the fridge... it's darn good straight out of the bowl, if a little runny.

Eggless Chocolate Mousse, courtesy of some weird French real estate site that I don't think is even up anymore.

Note: I think this makes like... 4 Ashley sized portions.

Ingredients for 6 people:

- 3.5 ounces (100 g) chocolate (dark, or semi sweet.)

- 5 ounces (150 ml) heavy (thick) cream

- 1 ounces (25 g) sugar (granulated is usually my go to, but powdered is probably better for consistency)

Recipe:

• Break the chocolate into pieces and then melt it, using just enough heat to gently melt the chocolate (don't burn it, and definitely don't add the burned chocolate to the cream. Ask me how I know). Stir the chocolate with a wooden spoon as it is melting.
• While the chocolate is melting, add the sugar to the cream and then whip the cream until it is foamy.
• Once the chocolate is melted, "fold" in the whipped cream.
• Spoon the mixture into attractive glasses. Place the glasses in a refrigerator for at least an hour before serving, to allow the chocolate to cool.

(A Late) Tasty Tuesday: Thanksgiving Rev Up

I know, I know, double posting. I just couldn't get myself motivated yesterday... sorry? I don't think I am because it just popped into my head to share one of my favorite and current go to for thanksgiving. I'm known as the baker in my family, and I've been  bringing the pie the last two years. I'm working on getting better at decorative crusts... but these two recipes haven't failed me yet!

Sally's Baking Addition's Great Pumpkin Pie

(and a great crust recipe, because crust is important.)

The crust recipe is a gem; I use it for everything from pot pies to pumpkin pie and it's easy, tasty and versatile.  The last time I made it for pot pie was life changing out out of the oven... it's seriously a good tasting crust, and very easy. I'm kind of a weirdo, but this crust even tastes good raw (and I tend to snack on the leftovers like a weirdo.). 

The pumpkin pie recipe is darker than your usual store bought pie, with lots of spices (I tend to go overboard a bit, but I like a spicy, darkly sweet pie) and has turned out nicely both times I've made it. While I still harbor a weird love for Cub Foods pumpkin pies with Redi Whip, I'm becoming more and more of a DIY convert. Plus, I get to taste test while I'm baking, which is the best. 

Exciting Stuff

I'm in a bit of a holding pattern; waiting for it to turn to winter, already, waiting on a very important/exciting package (which was apparently shipped via covered wagon...) and waiting on myself to be motivated.

Last week, I rode both horses in the AP saddle on Halloween; I had to stop and drop my board check anyways, so I hopped on both horses and had a quick ride. And I don't hate it. So I'm content, for now, with keeping it. I might have straight billets put on it eventually, but it really could do both jobs for me should I need it. In the mean time, it fits Fox well and it's comfortable, so now I just have to figure out how to break it in enough that the damn  thing stops squeaking, because that is the worst.

Squeaky. Plus dirty mirror, valentines day style clashing outfit and Fox, who was Over It.

Wednesday was a blah ride in a dressage saddle I couldn't get happy with; even with very limited actual riding, Bailey seemed back sore after and I was just crabby and discontented with the whole day. I changed the blocks out, I changed arenas... and still felt off balance and ineffective. The upside? I broke the husband down with my childish-but-at-the-time-justified pouting and he agreed to let me purchase the saddle I had come across online which I am hoping is the solution to all of my problems.

Not as much of a unicorn as I thought

This brings us to last weekend, which I was motivated enough to put into numbers for ya'all


10: Technically 16, but the number of photos I took at the barn on Sunday, because it was 71 degrees on November 6th and I couldn't resist standing out in the girls' paddock loving their sleepy selves up.

9: The number of times I decided, mid-ride, that I hate riding in half chaps and paddock boots. Seriously why do my half chaps suck?? Do they make half chaps that don't suck?

8: The number of hours I spent doing horse related activities this weekend. This included trailering a friend's horse to the vet, riding my two (she helped) and then driving out to ride Bailey and re-blanket the beasts on Sunday in preparation for the cooler weather this week.

7: Approximate number of times I checked my email before I finally got invoiced on Paypal for my new-to-me saddle. I might be checking my email every hour today waiting for the tracking number to show up. Don't worry, I will post about said saddle when it arrives!

Hint: what's black and brown and my most favorite obsession?

6: Approximate number of times my husband tried to make me feel guilty and do things because we bought another saddle. Also the number of times that I indicated that I wasn't the least bit sorry.

5: The number of pieces of chocolate it took to make me feel human after such a long day on Saturday.

4: Approximate number of times I felt like we were in intensely questionable driving situations while taking J's horse to the vet. No one died, but we did drive without lights for a little while. Clearly I need to remember to figure out why  that connection never stays connected.

3: The number of rides I got in this weekend. Bailey and Foxie both got ridden on Saturday (equally dreamy weather) and Bailey again on Sunday.

2: The number of people I whined to before I could justify not taking my newly-for-sale dressage saddle to the tack swap this weekend. I don't regret this decision, because I'm super lazy and super protective of my tack.

1: The number of times I wished I could be going on a glorious fall trail ride, but then remembered it's deer season and I don't want to die.

(Oh, and exciting update: guess what got transferred from a covered wagon to a jet plane and is going to be delivered. TODAY. Hearteyesemoji).

Tuesday Tasty: 11/1/16

I do actually have hobbies outside of riding horses, and since this is my blog, I've decided to talk about them... a little bit. One of those hobbies is cooking things and eating them. I really enjoy cooking for others and, of course, eating delicious things.

Today, the recipe is a fantastic toasting bread recipe from King Arthur. It's very simple, extremely delicious and I've made two loaves in two weeks. I'd highly recommend this toasted with butter and jam. Even if you've never made bread at home before, I think you can pull this one off; just don't beat the dough more than a minute (I made this mistake; its still totally delish... just shorter) so you don't undo all the delicious chemistry going on with the baking soda and liquid.

Solo XC Schooling!

Or how I accidentally make people uncomfortable by always doing shit alone.

I got an AMAZING XC school in on Friday at home with the B - I scurried to the barn to get out there during daylight, and Bailey was a rockstar. It had been rainy all week (and rained again on Saturday) but the B really impressed me; she was aggressive and forward to the fences, but also super careful. It was a little awkward to ride, but I appreciated that she was putting an extra stride in when she felt she needed it. We didn't have any sliding into the base of the fences and Bailey was very confident. She got fatigued more quickly than I expected; the unseasonably warm weather had both of us panting, and she recovered well. She was still willing, I just felt like after about 20-some minutes over fences she started to loose steam. I learned my lesson and kept her over the BN sized things, and she was much happier and more comfortable feeling than going over some of the bigger fences. I know she can jump them, I just left them too late into our ride for her to be jumping easily in that weather.

Has scope, but can sometimes be a baby about the weather
(not every horse can be Foxie, after all)

Sunday, however, couldn't have been more different. I was worried about being too cold rather than overheating her; I was wishing I had grabbed her a quarter sheet, but luckily I DID have a cooler in my trailer, so at least I got a good configuration for bringing the damp horse home. I arrived and dropped off my paperwork, found out everyone else who had scheduled a school had cancelled because of the cool, windy weather, and the barn owner gave me a quick tour of the XC and the trail to it on the gator. She seemed kind of worried that I was utterly alone, and at that point... I was too. I had planned to have someone with me, but everyone fell through in the end and I was kind of shaken and disappointed. Bails had loaded pretty easily, and came off the trailer with no drama. I was extremely pleased with that,  and she was surprisingly ok to tack when tied to the trailer at our destination. She was looky, but wasn't pacing uncontrollably and I didn't have to chase her around to tack her. The XC course we schooled on was a bit of a challenge to get to; we had to go down a hill in the scrub/trees, cross a wood bridge with a fast moving, high creek underneath, and then up the hill, which was black dirt and quite muddy. She had a bit of a spook at the bridge, but walked over on try #2 and I was thrilled and could have turned around and gone home at that point. She was so much more ridable than I anticipated in that situation, and I was SO happy I didn't have to get off and walk her across (or wait for the barn owner and the horse she said she was going to hack out on to check on us).

Once we got up the hill, it was game on; after some initial excited spooky/lookyness, B didn't quite "settle" but  did enthusiastically go to work. The course had a ton of friendly log fences of various complexity, and we started with that, and a small ditch (which was an absolute non-event; GOOD MARE!). We moved on to the variety of other fences, and at this point I was so sad I didn't have anyone with me for photos, or a helmet cam... because it was great. No hard stops, tons of try - it wasn't perfect but it was trainable and ride-able and was just a fantastic experience all around. We schooled a variety of fences from ST through Novice. I felt like I was able to have a good combo of harder questions and easy stuff in between to keep her brain from frying. Other than a lot of Bailey happy dancing and a lot of happy galloping after fences, it was very controlled and smooth; I'm not going to stifle her willingness to go forward any more than I am going to not pat her and let her dance when she's happy. She's getting better and better about coming out of it or keeping her serious face on through courses, so as long as she continues to refocus, I have no problem with her being expressive (though I am sure some people who don't know her think she's super hot/crazy/possibly malicious).

I don't have enough words to say how happy and impressed with her I was... but I will say that I've finally managed (as of Sunday, at least) the horse that I was really hoping I'd get out of Bailey when I bought her. She's finally mature enough to go to a new place and jump and not get fried. She's taught me a lot this year, and I think both of us are coming into experiences like this really differently mentally, which is a very positive thing. I did call it quits eventually; I noticed that my riding was kind of thrown off when the Barn Owner was up with us (Bailey was distracted by another horse, I was distracted by feeling like I was being watched) so that was definitely something I need to work on going forward.

Bailey was a bit sweaty down her neck and still felt fresh, but we had jumped almost everything I felt comfortable with and so we strung a handful of fences together and called it a day. She was lovely to untack and loaded SO easily I was shocked... I was able to pack up and get out of there in about 15 minutes, which was amazing. Bailey seemed quite happy and refreshed (albeit eager to get out) once we got home, and I'm hoping she will be in a similar state tonight; she is going to get a bit of stretchy work and lots of treats and snacks for being such a gem yesterday.

Plus she's good looking.

Other than some bank work at home, and possibly a bit more bit experimentation, I feel like with a few productive schools at home this spring she will be able to spend the spring schooling and going to smaller shows, as long as this productive, brain-screwed-in attitude continues!

Anyone have any tips on overcoming "someone is watching me" type anxiety?