Breeches collection and mini reviews video post

If you enjoy awkward things, this is the video for you!

I am filming myself semi-regularly in an effort to get more confident for a project I am doing for work. Other potential video posts:

Facts about the horses

Barn tour

Afternoon routine 

Let me know in the comments if you would like to see any of these!

Bates/Wintec easy change gullet tutorial

I recently purchased an older Bates Caprilli saddle. The saddle came with the easy change gullet system and I needed to change the med-narrow gullet which was installed to a medium gullet plate. This post outlines the process in photos, I hope it is helpful to anyone looking to change out a gullet on one of these saddles!

Things you will need:

• Bates or Wintec saddle equipped with the easy-change gullet system (there are other interchangeable gullet saddles out there, this post only shows the procedure for the easy-change system!) 
• Gullet plate you wish to install
• The shortest Philips head screwdriver you can find 
• Patience/free time (probably don't attempt this 5 minutes before your horse goes in the ring at a show etc.) 
• Hand strength
• Beer
• Bottle opener (for the beer)

Step 1: Get your saddle and place on a level, firm surface, I did not need to remove my stirrups or thigh-blocks. There are 2 screws positioned at the head of the saddle. Using a short screwdriver unscrew and remove both screws and put them in a safe place.

 Step 2: Grasp the head of the saddle firmly and pull the lower section away, it will open easily as there is velcro. You can now see the gullet which will be removed.

Step 3: Pull the panels off the tree points on each side (this took some hand strength/ wiggling to do on my saddle). This will expose the screws holding the gullet to the tree.

 Step 4: Grab your screwdriver and remove the screws on both sides of the gullet, put the screws in a safe place. The short screwdriver really comes in handy here as it is a bit of a tight spot!

 Step 5: Now the gullet can be easily popped out!

Step 6: Insert the new gullet (I was changing it to the medium, which is black). I changed from narrow to medium which was not too big of a change. I have heard it is a bit more difficult when going from narrower to wider (from narrow to wide, for example). There is a small leather flap that goes behind the gullet to help hold it in place while you replace the screws. Also be sure the velcro pieces are not stuck under the gullet plate (I had not yet pulled them out in this photo!)

Step 7: Replace the screws holding the gullet to the tree. New screws are best but I did not have any so I re-used the old screws. Bates/Wintec recommends using a loctite type product if you are re-using screws. This took a little doing to get the screws to go in straight, what worked for me was inserting both screws loosely and alternately tightening each screw a little at a time.  

Step 8: Almost done! Slide the tree points back into the pockets on the panels and re-attach the velcro on the saddle head.

 Step 9: Get the screws from step 1 and replace them. Like the gullet screws it can be a little tricky to get them to go in straight, but I had success inserting each screw loosely and alternately tightening them.

Step 10: All done! You can replace your stirrups and removable thigh blocks at this point if you chose to remove them. 

SmartPak Piper Knit breeches review

Find them here! 

Retail: $69.95

I had been eyeing these for a few months before I finally decided to buy when SmartPak had a 20% off sale. The original Pipers never really appealed to me, I couldn't find a color I liked and heard of some fit issues. These knit pipers came in a solid color I was interested in (charcoal) and seemed like a heavier fabric and possibly better fit than the original version.

I ordered 1 size down from my usual per instructions on the SmartPak website and they fit perfectly! The fabric is a heavier knit "yoga pants" like material and is very stretchy and forgiving. I don't think they would work for the hottest summer days but will be great for fall/spring and maybe even winter with leggings underneath. The knee patches are a self patch with a silicon grip design, they look really unique and provide the perfect amount of grip. I have not washed them yet, it will be interesting to see how the silicon holds up. 

Silicon knee patches and my awesome leopard socks

The fabric does attract some dog/horse hair...but hey, what dark color doesn't?

The overall fit on me was excellent, I am very picky about breeches and HATE when they gap in the back, these have a stretchy waist band which did not gap at all even without a belt yet wasn't overly constricting.

No gap waist band, hooray!

The Piper Knits have some really cute details in addition to the silicon knee patches. I loved that the front pockets were big enough to fit a few treats and my cell phone. They also have a cute Piper logo on the bum! I think these are a great value for the money if you are looking for a fun, comfortable pair of breeches!

Pockets!

Cute logo on the back!

PA national horse show benefit trail ride

This weekend I took Frosty to the PA national horse show benefit trail ride at South Branch Farm. I don't have any photos from this event because I was "flying solo" for the first time! Hauling somewhere by myself was one of the items on my 30 before 30 list and I did it this weekend! Even though it was only a few miles down the road I was very excited that I made it there with the truck (John's dually) and trailer (my short stock trailer...aka the pork trailer).

Pork trailer

Map of my first ever trailer trip!

The ride was on Sunday and it was blistering hot, although there was a breeze and most of the trail was shaded which was awesome. South Branch Farm is absolutely gorgeous, I rode in a show there last fall and try to attend as many events there as I can because the facilities are amazing. This was a 6-7 mile ride with great scenery we saw: cows, deer (2 nice bucks), baby horses, the river, and some of the walking trails around the farm as well as a short stretch of the rail trail. Frosty wore her easy boots with pads (I think I posted briefly about attempting to transition her to barefoot...the jury is still out on whether this will work or not) the boots seemed to work well, they stayed on even through mud and water and seemed to protect her well from the rocky ground. After the ride was over I hosed Frosty off (we were both very sweaty) and gave her a drink before loading up and heading home. She had a liniment bath when we got home and turned back out with some extra hay for giving me such a great ride!

Frosty showing at South Branch Farm last fall

Loaded up and trucking!

John and I went on a trip for our 2 year anniversary this past weekend. The dogs went to a boarding kennel and we loaded up 2 horses in The Mothership v. 2.0 (our big trailer) and headed to The Fork farm in Norwood, NC. This is the farm that hosts The Fork horse trials and they have a lodge for overnight visitors and stabling for horses as well as a sporting clays course.

The Mothership v. 2.0!

The plan was to leave on Friday after dropping the dogs off. We got approximately 1.5 hours away when my truck started having wheel bearing problems. We turned around and thought about canceling the trip but ended up deciding to pick up John's truck and leave early on Saturday instead. I went to visit my parents on Friday night and came home to see that a new toy had been delivered to our property for John. 

More detailed post about this coming soon! 

Four AM on Saturday came WAY sooner than I wanted and we departed for the second time (I'm sure the horses were like WTF at this point). It took forever to get through the I95 traffic but the horses traveled very well despite the stop and start traffic. When we finally arrived it was over 100 degrees! John went to shoot sporting clays and I got the horses settled in. The stabling was beautiful and there was a nice breeze in the barns, plus we had it all to ourselves! We went to dinner in town (and John drank a $12.00 beer!) and then went riding around the cross country course and a small section of the property. The jumps for the horse trials were HUGE and the property was so nice.

A huge jump shaped like a shotgun!

Sunday morning we went for a ride before packing up and heading out. The drive home was also very long, one of the trailer tires blew off from the heat of the pavement and the heat shield on the truck rotor started coming off (John fixed this with hay string and a zip tie..somehow). At this point the horses were pretty much over being in the trailer and we were all very relieved to get home around 10pm.

I'm glad we went on this trip and that Chester (retired race horse) is such a pro at going to new places. He settled right in and was a champ for all of our riding, he ate all his feed and drank really well in the heat! I am so thankful that John has the mechanical knowledge he does and that we were able to get the truck down the road, also that he can drive The Mothership because it is huge.

After all that...we will be staying much closer to home for a while!! :)

10 Questions for July

Blog hop from Viva Carlos

1. Do you actually always pick the horse’s feet? Always? Really? Usually I do before a ride, but I only ride around once a week soooo...

2. What is the biggest obstacle/reason preventing you from becoming a professional or competing full time with ease? I really have no desire to compete anymore...I'm not actually good at riding...shows are expensive etc. etc. 

3. Do you think it will ever not be about the money? Nope

4. Was there ever a horse that you loved and really wanted to have a connection with, but it just never panned out? Details. I worked with a mare in college that the owner was afraid to ride, I never really hit it off with her. She was a nice horse though and the owner ended up being able to sell her on after I rode her for a while, so I'm proud of the work I did. 

5. What is one weakness in your riding that even your trainer doesn’t pick up on, only you? I sit crooked/twist my shoulders, some people see it others don't but it is definitely there. 

6. What is the biggest doubt/insecurity you ask or tell yourself in your head? Since I'm not moving forward with my riding and don't ride often there is no point in continuing.  

7. There is a barn fire. You are the first person to discover it and see that the roof is collapsing in slowly, and you can tell that it’s going to come down any time. Do you call people first, or head in straight to save the horses? Open the doors and call 911? I don't think anyone can really predict what they would do in a situation like this.

8. What is one event in your riding career/horse/anything that you’re still not over, even though you might tell others you are? I fell off during an opening day hunt and got reamed for it by the other members for the entire 3+ hours left of hunting afterward, I don't really hunt anymore because of it.  

9. If you could tell off one person you just don’t like, what would you say? I think my success so far speaks for itself, so I wouldn't say anything. 

10. Have you ever seen questionable riding or training practices, but let it go/ignored it? How do you feel about it in hindsight? Probably? How other people ride/train does not really have anything to do with me so I don't see why I would get involved. 

Country fried

Fried things that are good:

1. Chicken

2. Pretty much every other food 

Fried things that are bad:

1. My pastures/grass

2. The horses

3. Myself 

Crispy.

We are currently in a hot/dry spell in SE PA that is not showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon. The ground is rock hard and dusty and the pastures are pretty much done. The bug situation has been insane also, which is surprising considering how dry it has been. There are some upsides to this though, Frosty does not have to wear her grazing muzzle anymore which I'm sure she appreciates and there is no flooding of the usual things around here that flood.

This weekend was mostly based around avoiding the heat as much as possible while still spending some time with the horses and dogs. 

John had his horses shod and picked them up from their "vacation home" field in northern Chester County while I was at work on Saturday. When I got home I bathed both horses and all 3 dogs, I thought they would appreciate this but I was incorrect! Later in the evening when it was a bit cooler and less buggy I trail rode Chester at Spring Valley, we took it pretty easy since he has been off for a little while and just recently had his hind shoes pulled**. 

Angry dog is angry after her bath

I had big plans to go trail riding EARLY Sunday morning but didn't make it out until around 9am at which point it was already hot and the deer flies/horse flies were out in full force, Chester handled the crazy bugs like a champ and I was very proud of him because he really hates bugs but was a good boy anyway! I was getting a migraine during this ride...generally not feeling it, Chester kind of wasn't either...or maybe he was just feeding off of me, who knows! When we returned home I pulled Frosty out of the field and took her for a quick walk around the farm which was nice and relaxing. Frosty recently had her shoes pulled as well**, so again taking it really slow. 

**note: I have pulled Chester's hinds/Frosty's front shoes due to the shoes getting stomped loose from the bugs and me just not riding all that much lately. I unsuccessfully tried to transition Frosty to barefoot last winter and only had Chester for a short time without his hind shoes. Any tips/tricks from people out there who have gone through a barefoot transition would be VERY much appreciated!!**