TOA Blog Hop- History Lessons

History of the Horse

Before you met, where was your horse?  Who bred him/her?  What do you know about his sire and his dam?  What do you know where he came from?  Tell me about the time before he had a trainer.


Holly aka Homegrown Art  (AQHA)
 born 2008

After lots of digging, I found this:

The youngest pic I can find

http://rockingvt.wix.com/lvu-performance-horses#!horses-for-sale/vstc4=gallery04/vstc1=portfolio

That site is her breeder as far as I know, who was the least helpful person I could find. Her last owner was a 15 year old and her mom. According to her, they saw her in a field at 3, fell in love, and when she went up for sale, they jumped on the chance to own her as a WP horse.

I know she is from :
Sire: Artful Investment (QH) - Pedigree (Well known and well liked sire)
Dam: Leapin Lauren (TB) - Pedigree (aka all I know)

Sexy QH

They put about a year into her before I had her, some trainer work, some showing at local shows (go figure pretty girl won some blues at breed shows), some trailering and trail riding. When you list it all that way, you'd think she'd be bomb proof and understand jumping from under the fence isn't best practice. Clearly there were gaps in her training, and ultimately her nice big stride just didn't work for WP, no matter how low she dropped that pretty head.

1 yr ago

She went back to basics for us, half for me, half for her. I have had my moments of wanting to quit with her sassy, spooky ways. But then summer comes, and she chills out, showing me where she can go with some more elbow grease and patience. 

Trainer asked recently if I'd sell her if someone would pay well. Really well. Truth be it, I'm fairly smitten with my sassy girl. I feel I at least owe her a good season of showing and working this summer. She feels so on the brink of really settling in, and I can't imagine all the sweat and tears paying off for someone else to enjoy. Plus she puts up with my son. That's worth gold.

Apparel Review: Tuff Rider- Women's Ventilated Schooling Tights

Tuff Rider- Women's Ventilated Schooling Tights 

Price: $32 shipped (w/ Amazon Prime) 

I bought size Medium (but would prob do better in a small if not pregnant)
I bought Navy color to go with the most shirts ;)

Description: (Via Amazon) "Lightweight, poly/spandex schooling tights are breathable and have the convenience of a pull-on low-rise stretch waistband. Contrast striping is made with a ventilated moisture wicking fabric and continues across the back to enhance the tights stretch and breathability. Also featuring UltraGripp knee patches for a secure grip in the saddle".

Pros: -Stretchy. They fit me comfortably until 5 months pregnant, and I imagine I could still wear them, they had great stretch-ability. 

- They seemed durable, I am pretty rough on breeches, they get thrown into a cold, delicate wash, and often the dryer on low so I can wear them again. They usually made it about two rides, then felt saggy enough to want to wash.

- Definitely cooler to ride in. I felt significantly cooler riding in these than other breeches. 

- Plenty of length. This could be good or bad, depending on how long your legs are. I am 5'5" (ok, almost) and had a bit of excess at the ankle. Luckily the material is thin, so wasn't super uncomfortable if a little bunched at bottom.


Cons: - Not a lot of good color choices. The above brown I picked so you could see the details, but it looks pretty ugly color at least in photos. I like the navy a lot, but not sure I dig all the stripe combos.

- Underwear lines. Yup, did pretty ok with the dark color, but pretty sure the lighter ones would show major lines (for those of us that don't go commando).

-Slippery. Not terribly so, but not the grippiest things you've ever ridden in. Definitely felt a little less secure.

Overall: Great choice for the price and for anyone who deals with hot summers. I will buy a size smaller once I'm back down in weight, because I think they would ride/fit better snug, even at the price of showing my rolls and panty lines a bit more.

Still waiting for Fall...

Yup, its still in the 70's here. At least its cooling off at night, but good grief, I have cute boots to wear and warm drinks to enjoy, get with it mother nature!

still working on our selfies ;)

Holly is enjoying her half-training life. She's filled out nicely, so I don't worry about her needing grain if it ever gets cold this year. 

Fat and Happy mare

Training rides are going well, she's usually jumping over 3' to 3'3" but now has done a few at 3'6"(eek). She's still kinda a mess that high, but usually after the first rail getting plowed into, she does well now at 3'. 

super blurry screener of WS and Holly
rocking 3' in the scary indoor :)

Its funny when you watch someone else on your horse, you can see so much. Holly is super sensitive about being spurred when jumping, and still really needs support and direction on finding that distance and pace up to the jump. 

Its hard just watching everyone, but at least I get to see everyone's progress while not having to worry about my own ride.

The hard life

And I get to enjoy cuteness.

Putzing along...

Yay for crazy wind hair

Yup, more boring stuff, with me, fun stuff with the WS's.

Holly is reportedly being good for her trainer rides, mostly, she is a princess, and does occasionally act accordingly.

Last night everyone jumped inside, including over the scary lattice pannel. Holly needed the WS's support, but she went over and other than always wanting to rub at the first height change, she cleared 2'9" easily.

Trainer occasionally puts her over 3'3" to 3'6" so I think she appreciates 2'9" now. That certainly looks plenty big to me lol.

Sigh, trying to get it in my head now that the jumps won't stay little for long post baby. Trainer has little sympathy for that whole, but I was just cut in half and had a baby ripped out. ;) Which is good, cause I'd milk it forever, but still.

Working in the spooky windy round pen

This time change is messing with my routine, and certainly is rough, when your kid thinks its ok to now wake up at 545am. No bueno. Since I work nights, I pretty much will be living in a dark world come next month. But at least its cooling off. Yay for warm drinks and tall boots, finally!

Marching past the peanut gallery

Preggo shadow, mare sure knows how to
 look sweet when she's tired

Also go try to win what looks like some great products at The Owls Approve blog. I know these will be on my next paycheck want list :)

Tack Review: Plymouth Raised Fancy Stitch Bridle

Plymouth Raised Fancy Stitch Bridle
https://www.smartpakequine.com/plymouth-raised-fancy-stitch-bridle-by-smartpak-7210p

Currently $69.95- but I got mine on sale.

Figured I'd add my two cents about this bridle. Because I'm not riding so less interesting stuff to write about ;)

First impression: Ok, so I don't buy new bridles (and rarely fondle the expensive ones at stores), so it seemed pretty darn stiff and waxy to me when it arrived, but I am sure there are plenty worse out there.

The wax took some serious elbow grease to get off,  and I don't think I really got it all, but it still started taking oil so I finally figured it was time to take it out to the barn. I also stripped some color out of the braided reins in a desperate attempt to get them de-waxed and soft. Oops.

Riding: The bridle fits awesome, adjusted well to Holly's big but dainty head. She has no rubs or issues with fit. The reins were murder initially. They really don't feel that stiff when your oiling them, but definitely take some break-in time to not feel rather brutal. Over time, they have softened, but I still get tempted to leave them soaking in some oil for a day or two.

Quality: It is holding up very well. Even when being a bit neglected by the WS, it still cleans right up every time I use it. It gets used 6 days/wk, and doesn't look nearly as abused as it is.

Overall: So, its pretty, and considering my trainer (who has bridles that have lasted 40+ years and look amazing) likes it, and how well it fits Holly, I am happy with my purchase. Even my picky picky trainer has even started recommending it to people on budgets!