Free bird!

I took a mental health day on Thursday to reset my messy mind a little. I've got lots of exciting things going on in various aspects of my life and I think that taking the time to pause and reflect is important so as not to get bogged down with the details! Horses have always offered me that sort of reprieve and I'm grateful to be able to turn to them when I needed a distraction or support (or just a good laugh).

We're almost snow-free at the farm, but with all that snow melt comes MUD and lots of it. Not to mention the ring is super cuppy and deep right now as it attempts to dry out and drain. It was too sloppy to ride in the ring so we decided to free jump a bunch of the horses (Riley included). Our free jump area is really cool. It was once a ring designed for little kid pony rides so it's essentially a ring with another ring inside it (so that the ponies couldn't dash into the center or run away). It has footing and is large enough for the horses to get a nice pace and rhythm.

Riley heard that Bobby was the fanciest show pony, so he got jealous and struck this sweet pose to show off all his angles.

Product review -- Dubarry Clare Boot

I received these boots as a very generous birthday gift from the most wonderful SO of all time a few weeks before my birthday (so mid-November). I wanted to wear them a bunch and have a chance to ride in them before I gave a proper review!

Swoon

Truth be told, I have always wanted a pair of Dubarry's (I never wanted to try a pair on because I knew I'd end up loving them and they were something I'd NEVER buy for myself) but I've never liked the ones that seem to be so popular (the Galway boot) -- those tassels in the front would drive me absolutely mad.  Furthermore, if I'm going to have a boot of this quality, I want to be able to wear it on the street as well as at the barn... enter the Clare.

This boot really combines all the things Dubarry is so well known for... luxurious full grain leather, interesting details, fine craftsmanship and of course, they are completely waterproof (all the way to the top!!!). What I especially love about them is the interior leather piece that's made for (occasional riding).

Love the detailing in the back!

I've worn these nearly non-stop since I got them and they are now pretty well broken in. At first the leather (especially around the heel/ankle) is quite stiff. But as anyone knows with good quality leather goods, the break in period is necessary and worth it down the road! The right boot was always a bit stiffer than the left, and I think it's because my feet are different sizes. I was really nervous about them getting dirty and scuffed at first (this is why I can't have nice things) and I kept changing out of them at the barn and into my Hunter wellies but I realized quite quickly that these things can take a beating and keep on going. Even the grossest mud and rain is no match for these guys! A quick wipe down with a damp cloth and a little leather conditioner and they look good as new. These are definitely made for someone with a slim calf, which is actually something I struggle with a lot (boots being absurdly wide and unflattering around my lower leg) and I believe the opening is 15-15.5" at the widest point. Because they don't have zippers, going up a size is recommended (which I did, and I wear a 7.5), but they also have boot pulls sewn to help you out during the break in period!

Last week, I rode three horses (okay 2 horses and a pony) wearing them and they are delightful to ride in! It was really nice not having to switch into my paddock boots and half chaps and just throw my helmet on and go! I have very unstable ankles due to competitive gymnastics as a kid and so the additional support around my joints was welcomed. I was a little concerned about the foot bed being bulky in my stirrups, but they actually looked fine (with plenty of space on either side of the sole) and the thickness of the sole felt great to balance on (probably similar to riding in Blundstones).

Outside of the farm, I've been wearing them several times a week and I think they look pretty fetching with jeans, leggings, and even dresses! I've gotten quite a few compliments on them around the city. With winter just setting in, it's been so nice to have a quality pair of boots that are truly warm and waterproof!

The price point is pretty steep coming in ~$500, but at this point in my life my feet are not going to change much and I have come to understand that investing a few, quality things (especially leather goods) will last a lifetime. From what I can tell from wearing them almost exclusively for the last two months is that they are only going to look better with age. The best part is that they can go from daily wear (fashion), to the barn to the saddle! That's worth in my book!

Buzzzzz, buzzzz, buzzzz... that's the sound of inviting winter in.

We've had an unseasonably warm winter here in Philadelphia, as in... a few years ago we had several feet of snow and ice everywhere to deal with. This year, I haven't put more than a sheet on Riley (and he's being going without one on most days)!

With (another) move under our belts and new and exciting facilities awaiting us, I knew we'd be legging up much earlier than I was originally planning. I had his shoes pulled a few weeks ago, so I took his shoe allowance and spoiled myself by having him professionally clipped! Woo hoo!

Let just say, Riley was not super stoked about being removed from his best friend in the WHOLE world to get a bath.

Opinions, he has them.

I actually enjoy the process of clipping (though the hair everywhere sucks) but I don't have my own clippers and Riley's pelt (yes, it can only be referred to as such) is really weird and destroys blades no matter how sharp they are or how clean he is!!! Out of fairness to the groom, I bathed him within an inch of his life and prayed that he'd dry in time! As a thank you for my painstaking work, Riley decided to bite the ever loving shit out of me while I was checking his belly for dampness. Through my quilted vest he very nearly broke my skin (and I'm sporting a huge bruise/welt combo) -- to which I responded with a little reality check on ground manners thankyouverymuch. Needless to say, when the groom arrived he asked me if Riley behaves for clipping and I assured him that he'd be on his best behavior. As a general rule, he's great for clipping and really enjoys it, but you never know.

Look at his sheepish expression. That's what a naughty (clean) horse looks like.

I decided on a hunter clip but I had his whole face done too just for fun (and to see if anything creepy was lurking underneath).

I am so pleased with how his skin looks clipped. In previous years, he's dealt with all sorts of gross rain rot/fungus issues and once clipped he looked a bit sad. This year he's only got a few little spots of funk and the coat underneath was shiny! I think it's partially due to the mild weather, but also because I've been treating his funk with Listerine/water and grooming all his yucky spots feverishly (*honorary mention for Head and Shoulders here too).

So much hair!

But GUYS, I took out his tail braid and combed it out and WHOSE TAIL IS THIS???

It was well worth every penny, and I didn't mind helping to hold Riley when he got fidgety about his face. He looks incredible! I can't believe this is a horse who isn't in proper work yet!

What a handsome beast! Also, he looks wayyy better with a few less lbs. He's usually looking a bit rotund by now.

Best of all, I adore how his face looks clipped! He grows insane goat hair all over his chin and I think it makes him look pretty unremarkable in the winter. I think he has a very cute face when you can actually see it!

Almost palomino for the day! ps. still fuzzy inside those ears:)

I guess I should dig out his quarter sheet as winter decided to show up the DAY AFTER I CLIPPED HIM!!!!!! We haven't had consistent cold weather at all and of course now he has to go in two rugs!

Ah, well, at least cool down time will be a minimum!

Legging up -- considerations

Go away snow + mud!

With the worst of winter behind us in the Northeast, it's time to start legging our horses back up. Unless you're lucky enough to have an indoor, keeping a horse fit and going up here has been nearly impossible (even trailering to an indoor has been tough!). In previous years, I remember distinctly seeing groups of riders walking and trotting along the roads near our farm all season long. This winter, the roads were much quieter, either people migrated to Aiken for a few months, or conditions on the roads were just too treacherous (see: ice).  So, with the ice melted and very little snow on the ground, we've finally been able to get our guys going again. *ps. while I could have technically gotten Riley going a little sooner, starting and stopping with him isn't good for anyone!

After a full weekend of what I consider a good start to getting him legged up, I found myself thinking about the process and what I consider when bringing a horse into work after several months off.

Gearing up, so to speak.

While winter beats on mercilessly in the Northeast, I've been starting to think about the year ahead for Riley and I. I have come up some some short-term goals but they are all contingent upon various things falling into place! Looking ahead for the next 4-6 weeks they look something like this:

*Leg Riley back up -- he's been on vacation for roughly 2 months and was ridden very lightly in November. We'll start road walking and hacking followed by some trot interval stuff before I ask him for anything proper.
*Move to new farm -- that's happening soon, so the transition period maybe interesting to say the least (more on this in a minute)
*Look at some clinics/shows to knock the dust off (tentatively, we are thinking maybe the end of April as a rough goal for a baby HT)
*Train him on the Equineciser (sp?) to work on a baseline of fitness even if the weather is bad -- this is going to be a very cool addition to his schedule!
*Re-introduce the Pessoa to help with his topline. He goes pretty well in this regardless, but I want him to have at least a little work under his belt before I ask him to work 'hard'.
*Get Riley's front shoes put back on at his next trim.

Treats go here.

Alright, alright, alright

I'm back. Sorta.

Thank you all for being patient with me (in all regards).

Just a quick hello to say that I am here, Riley is here and we are very excited about all the great things 2015 holds for us!

A few photos to recap the last 5+ months...

Riley back in November, looking pretty nice in his barefoot status

He got clipped preemptively to help with his winter rain rot, success!

I rode some other horses. Anyone in the market for a 17hh beast of a OTTB?

I had an unexpected stay in the hospital in September, but Riley was there to console me with ALL the hugs.

I looked for silver linings and found them.

We rode into the sunset.

The bad boys club did bad boy things.

I took Riley in an indoor a few weeks ago to see how he was feeling. Result = sound and FRESH!

He made cute faces in the snowy tundra.

Best of all. I found my creative voice again... what was lying dormant for years has been awakened in the most wonderful way. I've been shooting film, working on creative processes, and collaborating and it feels great.

 I hope to get back to serious blogging again soon. We've got some big plans for this year and lots of changes in the mix. I hope you'll continue to follow and support us. Thanks again for being patient with us! I have been reading your blogs pretty faithfully and miss all the interaction!

xo
Niamh & Riley.

Spring is around the corner... I think.

Danger Will Robinson! Alert!

We've had some new additions to the farm over the last week or so... 50 head of beef cattle. Now, Riley and i have ridden through fields with Belted Galloways, one of our favorite places to ride (The Laurels) is directly next to an enormous dairy farm and our barn is across the street from a cow farm, but apparently he was very alarmed when I walked him up the driveway on Saturday and he saw the cows for the first time. *Keep in mind they were at least 100 yards away from the fence line. This was his face when we got to the top of the driveway. He must have made himself 18 hands tall and was just snorting and carrying on. Pretty funny. My general rule with scary things is that you are allowed to look and face the fear but not run away or act ridiculous. I brought him inside the barn and let him hang out in his stall where he could peek out his dutch door and check out the cows for awhile. I have never heard Riley snort at anything and he was so silly about the cows. We have so many animals there and we used to board at a place that was like Noah's Arc, complete with peacocks that would stand on the arena fence while you were riding, so he really has no excuse. But sometimes it's simply the fact that in their brains this thing was not here before, so naturally I should fear it.

Anyway, I was at the barn all day alone so I thought it was best not to take the risk of getting on him without someone else there and after he settled in I took him to our "ring" for a free-lunge session. He was pretty good, though lazy, and took advantage of the fact that I could hardly chase after him in the deep snow (cheeky). He even hopped over the jump a few times.

Prancy pants. Also, don't look at my miserable clip job.

Showing off. Little carousel pony.

I gave him a thorough grooming. I'm so glad I clipped him (even though it's been more annoying to deal with blankets etc since our weather won't figure itself out) because his rain rot is nearly all gone. I'm hoping this year that his new coat comes in a little nicer than last year when he had all these fuzzy baby hairs and then a bunch of longer guard hairs that never went away.

Oh in case you were wondering what it looked like at the top of the driveway when Riley stood at attention:

The sheep and lambs he is used to... but the cattle were on the move and that was a major problem:)

Sunday the weather was chillier and windy, but still above freezing so we decided to go for a hack. I have to say that the one nice thing about Riley being "up" because of the cows is that I got some really nice work out of him on the hack. We did a few trot sets and he found a contact that he was happy with and we just plugged along on the bit with a nice sweeping trot. Everything is so much easier when he's not stuck behind my leg! For those of you keeping track, he's still not shod... that's right, we've been trotting distances on asphalt and he feels great! I need to get new pictures for comparison of his feet. He may still need shoes once we get into more work, but for now he is happy as a clam.

Airplane ears, engaged. I hope those get us extra points in dressage. He gets very relaxed and happy!

We've had two solid days of temps in the high 60's and today's forecast is for rain tonight so I am really hoping that all the snow goes away. Sadly, the temps are supposed to drop overnight and tomorrow is going to be mid-20's and windy! Grrrrr. I really want to get him back in the Pessoa this weekend to see if we can work on some balance. I hope the footing dries up a little to make that happen. Sunday will be another hacking day for sure.

Sorry my posts have been wickedly boring... but at least there are photos!

Riley at the top of the hill in his field waiting for his entourage.

The snow sure is pretty, but I have had enough it, for at least another 10 months!

The little girl inside. (This is a horribly written post, my brain is not working)

It's official, I HATE winter. I'm not one to usually complain about the cold, but I am OVER the snow and the ice. We've had over 50" of snow this winter making it something like the 3rd snowiest in history! There's nowhere for the new snow to go so it's getting a little crazy around the farm. There are just walls and walls of it everywhere and we've had to carve out paths to get to paddocks, totally insane! Though, to be fair, it's better than losing power and water like we did with the freak ice storm a few weeks ago.

A beautiful capture in Riley's paddock.

The farm looks completely majestic despite the what an enormous pain in the ass it is to do anything in the snow. Seriously, turning out horses in a foot and a half of snow is exhausting! *I should take some photos this weekend of our crazy paths we've made to get to and from the pastures, it's pretty funny.

Riley emerges over the hill to the sound of the bell

Luckily, Riley and Henry have the luxury of living outside. They have a 20 acre paddock, a stream, a shed the size of a barn and a round bale. They're both really acclimated to the weather so they are happy as can be in their field. It's actually really cute to see them both hanging out in their fort looking out at the horses in their tiny turnout paddocks (we can only reach the small ones right now for the horses in the barn). The only downside to them being out is trying to feed them in all the snow. They basically get the same amount of feed but Riley gets supplements and Henry is on SMZs for a few days. Plus we like to put eyes on the horses at least twice a day to check for cuts and missing shoes etc so it's important that they come down to the fence line for feed. So rather than truck all the way up the hill to the shed, we've been bell training them with a cow bell. It's been going on for a few weeks now and they are getting really good! They can't see you at all when you're down at the gate so you have to call them, shake the bucket of grain and ring the bell. One by one they'll come over the hill and saunter down for breakfast or dinner. They've carved out a little path in the snow so they have to use the least amount of energy to get down to the gate.

Saturday was a gorgeous day at the farm despite all the snow and with my saddle back in my grubby mitts all I wanted to do was ride! There were flurries and everything looked kind of magical so I convinced Emily to tack up her new boy so we could get some fun photos of us out in the big field that hadn't been touched yet! I forgot that her new horse hadn't met the sheep/lambs yet and he was quite surprised when we led the boys through one of the stalls to get to the field! The horses truly thought we had lost our minds when we hopped on and pointed them at the snow (the sheep have a shedrow kind of of overhang so there was a wall of snow to convince them to walk into. Brody wasn't so sure, but Riley showed him that it would be just fine:) It was super deep snow so all we could was walk and it felt crazy, like we were on the moon!

But all you guys care about are photos, so...

Heading out into the giant field, you can't tell but there are a bunch of hills in here.

Ha! Look at his back leg!

This looks like we are both laughing -- I assure you, Riley was NOT amused.

Caught, mid-buck! Cheeky!

Aw, snow pony. SO happy to be back in MY saddle.

The cutest.

We only stayed our for a few minutes because it was impossible to move around, but Riley and Brody were good sports about it all. We walked over near the small paddocks and the other horses gave us a look like we had lost our minds. The truth is, the little girl in me is always crafting up goofy ideas like this. Most people wouldn't want to go for a ride while it's actively snowing in 14" of it, but I was dying to. If I hadn't wanted to ride in my saddle so badly I would have hopped on him bareback! Once a horse crazy girl, always one!

The sweetest horse a girl could ever want.

We're in love.

Of course we got another couple of inches of snow today, but this weekend is supposed to be in the 50's and sunny. Some rain at the end of the week should hopefully get ride of some of the snow. I'm eager to at least go for some road hacks to build fitness on Riley. There's endless amounts of hacking around us so away we go!


I've been bartering with Emily for training rides and I've racked up 3 so far by doing blanket repairs and waterproofing! Woo hoo! Boot camp time Riley!

Getting back on track and setting some tentative goals

Gorgeous sunrise at Derry Meeting.

So the weather has been a bit bipolar to say the least. We've had days where the high was 5 degrees followed two days later by 60 degrees and rain. The conditions at the farm have held up pretty well considering we had a foot of snow on the ground two weeks ago, last week we got 2 inches of rain in an hour, and now the ground is frozen again. According to the farm owner, our property is holding up better than most (she currently boards her horse at a very fancy facility that she said is a complete mud pit). Now that the ground is frozen again the chopped up muddy areas are tough for some of the horses to walk on, but I have to say that Riley is not even a little sore. I'm hoping he doesn't bruise his soles over the next couple of weeks, but so far, so good. So fingers crossed for that. In the meantime, I've been picking up bits and pieces of tack to replace what was stolen. I broke down and ordered Riley a new bridle (though I'll probably reserve it for showing, etc) and it looks lovely. I was inspired by Aimee's post about bridles, so I took the plunge and tried out an Ovation Figure 8. It has just enough fancy stitching, a fancy padded crown piece and it's nicely padded overall without being bulky.

In the footfalls of legends

Yesterday I moved Riley to a new farm. I'm sure if you've been following my blog for any period of time you're thinking... again? Yes, again. Our current place was only a temporary solution until we could find a barn to rent again. Despite being in one of the most horse-centric areas of the country we had a very difficult time trying to find a place. People flaked out at the last minute, didn't follow through with their promises and some places were just unfit for horses. While the amenities at the current place were great for the price (xc jumps, arena with super footing, hacking, etc) the circus atmosphere was a lot to deal with. That, and it just wasn't convenient for boarding a horse. We had to keep our stuff so far away from our horses that every time we wanted to tack up it became an ordeal, schlepping stuff all over to wherever our horse was cross-tied. That, and despite there being about 30 horses on the property, there were only two places to tack up and we had no access to a stall even if we needed one! We came across a fantastic opportunity that truly felt too good to be true. So the three of us (the two girls who rented the previous barn and I) decided to all go see this place together, meet the new owner and make a decision. It was a unanimous YES on all accounts...

What I didn't know, was that the farm was iconic. I'm not sure how long ago exactly, but the very famous Derry Meeting Farm came up for sale (if you don't feel like going to the link, Danzig and Storm Cat were both foaled there at the farm!!!). It was split into three separate parcels and each one was sold to a different owner. Erin Sylvester has one, I'm not sure who has the other, and we have the third (by we, I mean of course that a couple purchased the property and we are renting the barn)! So we drive up to the property and I immediately recognize the gates in all the fields. They are quite distinctively yellow with a large "V" shape in the middle. The barn is a modest bank barn in really good repair. It's unclear how long it was vacant for, but it was pretty cobwebby when we first looked at the place. This particular property was the broodmare farm, which would explain the gigantic stalls and sheds.

Inside of the barn, looking out the driveway. Riley's stall is the second on the left in this photo.

Despite being a little dusty, the place looked great. We were all a little wide-eyed looking around. It was just what we were looking for, 11 stalls, LOADS of turnout, sheds, access to the best hacking around and quiet. The woman that owns the property has a horse that she keeps in the area and ideally wanted to find a few people to run the barn and eventually she would like to move her horse over too. She's putting in a ring (hopefully in the next month, the contract has been signed -- we're just waiting for the company to finish up Erin's). She was pretty adamant about not wanting a boarding facility, nor does she want any real role in the barn operation, so she was just as thrilled to meet us. We were excited to know that she had a good friend who also wanted to move her horse there and we decided that the barn would be run as a co-op. We all really like the idea of shared responsibilities and a small co-op can be really effective if it's run correctly.

One of the "riding" fields. This is the view from the overhang on the side of the barn with dutch doors, looking out to Riley's turnout field. There's a large pond and a natural stream running through the whole property.

The stalls in the barn are HUGE. I think the smallest is 14' x 18'. Riley's is roughly 15' x 15' with a dutch door looking out over the property. The trickiest thing so far has been leveling the stall floors. They are clay based and were quite lumpy when we first looked at the place. We dragged out a bunch of family members yielding pick axes last weekend and tried to break up some of the old hay, pee, poop that was now like concrete. I worked on painting the newly made saddle racks and Breaking up the surface of the stall. It seriously looked like he took a jack-hammer to it. He wasn't removing any of it as he went along so I had to shovel it out in stages. The floor is looking quite a bit better, but we'll still need some sort of gravel or stone dust to level it out further and mats (down the road). I have a little more work to do on Sunday and then it will be good enough to bring him in at night until we get the other stuff sorted out. It's not a good long term solution, since cleaning stalls with dirt floors increases your costs of straw etc, but... baby steps.

So the barn was in almost ready state when we moved everyone in yesterday. You know, for someone who has only had a horse for 6 months I have certainly acquired SO much horse crap. We filled up the back of our Honda Fit, which holds a remarkable amount of cargo and I still had to put stuff in the trailer. I dragged a very reluctant Riley out of his field (ps. His Baker sheet is mostly intact) and threw him on the trailer. He was happy enough to oblige and chomp on hay. As we were loading the boys the two dog kennels surrounding the jump field were deafeningly loud. They were all hysterically barking and it made me feel so happy that we don't have to deal with that anymore (*I will miss the puppies). The new place is only 10 minutes away and the boys unloaded well. We stuck them in a small paddock together to take everything in and Riley put his head down into knee deep grass to graze.

I finished up organizing my stuff into my trunk... I bought one of these for in front of my stall -- seriously... a tack trunk for $68. It fits my saddle (though, I'm not keeping it in there) and 90% of my stuff. It even has a pull out tray that looks like a mini grooming box (I'm planning on keeping medical supplies in it). Eventually, I'd like to have a really tack trunk, but this is completely functional, has wheels, a handle and it locks!

Around 5 I took Riley down the road to his new turnout field which is roughly 20 acres. There's a catch pen at the bottom of it, which is great, as it was previously used for sorting cattle. He's going to be turned out daily with 3 other geldings and about 20 sheep! 

A photo from the real estate listing of one of the sheds. They are GIGANTIC.

I walked Riley up the hill so he could take everything in (Oh, I should mention he walked down the road landing heel-first and sound to his field, progress!) and un-clipped him at the shed and he wandered around with his turnout buddy. No shenanigans, no galloping, just two very happy horses. Phew.

View from Riley's field looking back to the barn (future xc course to be built in the field to the right of the barn in this photo). Not too shabby?

I'll try to take some better pictures this weekend. All of these fields have wide hacking lanes in between them as well as along the perimeter of each field. It could take you an hour to hack around the whole place (at least). While I'm eager for the ring to built, this is a perfect scenario for Riley's winter plan. Hacking, good footing, and lots of turnout with 12 hours of stall time a day to rest. I think we're going to like it here (and the plan is to stay for a very, very long time!) For reference, this parcel of land is located between Phillip Dutton's and Boyd's place!

I won't be out until Sunday, but I'm hoping to get lots done and still have time to saddle him up and go for a hack. Stay tuned!

*If I was ever in a position to take on another project horse, this place would be perfect.
**I'm not.
***Keep me away from CANTER MidAtlantic... I just found another AP Indy grand-baby for a steal.

Brrrrr, it's cold in here -- I need your help!

Okay, so it's actually going to be 92 degrees tomorrow with 1 million percent humidity, but Saturday is bringing a low of 44 and the forecast for next week promises true fall weather! With that in mind, I need some help from you guys. Riley is now living outside 24/7 with a nice big shed. The plan is to continue that throughout the winter. I've been lucky enough until now to borrow things as I've needed them, but with my enabler friend owning three horses now, I need to outfit Riley with a fall/winter wardrobe.

What we need:
*A lightweight waterproof turnout
*A medium weight, high denier (also waterproof) turnout
*A heavy weight, high denier (waterproof) turnout
**Possibly a spare medium weight (our barn likes you to have at least one spare available)

What I need from you guys are some recommendations. I'll admit, I am a little overwhelmed at the options! Some people swear by Weathebeeta, some people say Rambo is worth all the money (and hype) and there are tons in between. I do really like Schneider's products (Riley's flysheet is from there and it's terrific quality and held up well to the rigors of 24/7 turnout). Do you guys prefer to layer? Have one really heavy blanket? Do you like neck attachments? Any preferences on belly bands vs. surcingles? I am probably not going to fully clip Riley, but he will most likely get a trace clip once he gets woolly (and oh does he!).

I'm asking for your feedback!

ps. Riley wears a 78" in case any of you have spares lying around that you would like to sell us!

Help.

pps. I'm trying to flesh out a few more posts before my giveaway! I thought I was nearing 200, but I had 3 blog drafts that were being including in the count. I believe this is post 198 (for real, this time).

Not Riley, yet.