Owl Pics

No barn visit on Thursday, so nothing horsey to report. But I did manage to take a few (slightly) better pics of the owl on Wednesday!

He stayed above the overhead door, so he wasn't being terribly exciting. It is dark enough in the arena, that my lens (which isn't very fast) had a hard time getting a decent picture. I used my 70mm - 300mm lens, and still had to crop to get a usable sized picture. Because of the darkness I had to have a high ISO setting, and there is quite a bit of noise in these pics. (Camera geek talk - basically, it was dark, so the pictures aren't as clear as I would have liked.)

I was informed by a teenage boy that it is a Great Horned Owl (apparently they teach this stuff in school). It's obvious because of a white marking on his neck, or something like that. I just learned from Google that it is the Provincial Bird of my province of Alberta. Huh. Who knew?

Apparently he was in and out of the arena a few times in the summer when the doors were left open. (At least it's assumed it is the same one.) He is picking off the pigeon population that we can't seem to get rid of in the arena, so he is very welcome to stay for the moment. Although the stupid pigeons don't seem to be too concerned about him - I guess one was seen standing right next to him!

Hopefully he sticks around for a bit, at least until he eliminates all of the pigeons. It's kinda cool being in the arena with him flying above your head!

Clipped!

The plan is to start riding this weekend. I should be over the fairly mild case of the plague that I have by then.

One of the things that I needed to do before getting the ponies going again was to clip them. Phantom currently looks like a polar bear, and Cisco tends to break out in a sweat with just a little bit of stress. I don't have time to ride two horses and wait for them to dry in the evenings.

So today was clipping day!

Phantom is never a problem to clip - I've been known to ground tie her while clipping. This was Cisco's first time to be clipped. I've done some homework in getting him used to the clippers so I was hoping that it would pay off. Which it totally did. He was a rock star!

It's hard to see on him, but it's a modified Irish clip.

Extra gold stars for him for having to put up with me trying to figure out why my clippers weren't working. I had taken the medium blades for my Lister Star body clippers in for sharpening a couple of months ago, and this was the first time that I have used them since getting them back. They weren't cutting well at all. They kept getting caught in his hair. I kept trying to adjust the tension, and reset the blades a couple of times, and no change. They gave me a couple of good clips, just enough to get my hopes up, but they were pretty useless on Cisco. 

Pony went poof. 

I was wondering if they weren't working well because Cisco seems to have really fine hair. Maybe it was too fine for the clippers? Nope. I had the same problem on Phantom.

I pulled out the fine blades that had come with the clippers but I've never used. They worked perfectly fine on Phantom. So it appears that the medium blades either weren't sharpened properly or are damaged. Grrr. I don't know of another place in town that sharpens blades, so I might have to go back to the same place.

Phantom's modified Irish clip.

They are both done - I'm not saying how well they are done, but it will do the trick.

And should you ever clip your own horse, go to the dollar store and pick up a set of disposable coveralls. ($4 at Dollarama in Canada) You know, the paper haz-mat type suit? Totally worth it - no hair all over my clothing!

Warm Ears

I had hoped to pick up my parcel from Apple Saddlery yesterday that contained the Hands On Grooming Gloves. It's sitting at the post office, but when I arrived she had a huge pile of parcels to process, and mine was in that pile. I tried to look for it, but couldn't see it. I'm hoping I get a notification before I head out to the barn to clip later today.

So instead I will show you my latest craft project - helmet ear warmers!

It's been years since I've ridden in an unheated arena over the winter. Technically the arena is heated - but the heaters aren't working, and they aren't the priority at the moment (the joys of buying a property as-is that has been vacant for a few years!). My ears and my jawline get frozen really easily. I usually do the hunter-hair wings of hair over my ears in winter, but this year I think I might need more.

I whipped these up in probably 15 minutes. Unfortunately, it came together so fast that I forgot to take pictures for a tutorial. But they were super simple to make, so if you have any sewing skills you can probably figure it out.

Pony Grandma has mad sewing skills, so I raided her stash and the total cost to me was free. Thus I can continue my resolution of not spending any money.

I used a double layer of polar fleece. I made a paper pattern of the shape of my harness over the ear area, and cut out 4 pieces of polar fleece. For my Troxel helmet the shape is pretty symmetrical so I didn't have to worry about a front and back, other helmets might be different. Make sure you add enough for a seam allowance.

I stitched a square of the soft side of Velcro onto one piece for each ear. This will go on the outside.

Then I got an idea of where the stiff side of the Velcro straps would need to be placed by fitting it against the harness. I left them attached to the big square and cut them long enough so that they could be stitched in when I stitched the two layers together.

Next was to stitch the two layers together.  I took one of the pieces with the Velcro attached, and a plain piece, and pinned them right sides together. I stitched them completely along the two sides, and across the top I just stitched in a bit from the corners, which left an opening along most of the top to be able to flip it through once stitched.

I tested it before closing the hole and discovered that it kind of slid down along the harness when installed. This helmet has a liner that the stiff side of Velcro sticks to, so I cut a short piece and stitched it into the top seam when I stitched it closed.

And voila! Cozy ear warmers!

I plan to make a set for my One K helmet which I'm pretty sure has a different harness shape so I will try to remember to take pics along the way!

Hooters

I don't know if Cisco's savior has arrived, or if he has a new nightmare.

The weather finally started to improve on New Year's Day. It slowly warmed up through the day, and is expected to continue to warm up overnight and through the next day, to just below freezing. It's going to feel like shorts and t-shirt weather after the deep freeze we've been in.

Forecast for the next few days. That's in Celsius!

I made it out to the barn mid-afternoon. The plan for the day was to chase the kids around a bit in the arena with the hopes that they would burn off some sillies and thus I won't die when I hop on later this week. Unless I die because of the head cold I have first. (It's actually not that bad, I'm in the snotty-constantly-blowing-my-nose phase.)

When I entered the arena with Cisco I immediately noticed a bird flying across the ceiling. But it was definitely not a pigeon. It was way, way bigger. And it was kind of gliding.

Was it an owl? I've seen one out in the yard a couple of times.

It parked itself on the top of the overhead door track at the end of the arena, and I used the camera on my phone to zoom in to take a picture. Yep - it's an owl.

Crappy cell phone pic, but definitely an owl.

Then I looked up to the ceiling for the pigeons - I didn't see any! The owl has eliminated the feathered rats. Of which I quickly saw the damning evidence.

The remainder of a pigeon.

I'm pretty sure Cisco noticed the owl when we entered the arena. But because he's so quiet, and you don't hear him at all, even when he's flying, Cisco didn't seem too concerned about him. I'm not sure if Cisco will chill in there now that one of his stresses has been eliminated, or if a bird of prey will be the cause of more spookiness.

Apparently Owl has been in the arena for over a week, and he hasn't been a problem when people are riding. I know lots of people get creeped out by birds, but I am not one of them. It's kind of cool to have him flying soundlessly above me. 

I'm sure he won't stick around for too long now that his food source has disappeared. Unless there are a whole lot of mice in there that I don't know about.

(I will take my good camera out on my next visit and hope that he hasn't cleared out yet. Hopefully I can get better pics!)

2018 Goals

I am a horrible goal-setter.  I don't want to put that much effort into coming up with a plan and feeling like a failure if it doesn't happen. I am probably better at horse-related goals than any other life goals, and trust me, that doesn't mean much.

So here is what I hope to accomplish this year.

1) Ride more.
Three times a week is acceptable, anything less is not. Weather permitting for the first couple months of the year, and work permitting for the last two.

2) Learn how to ride better.
I would like to get some lessons in this year, but no idea who it will be with.

3) Get Cisco trailerable.
I will need to make this a weekly session as soon as the weather gets decent in the spring.

I need to be able to do this with only one pony.

4) Don't buy shit I don't need.
I get to buy Cisco a new Kensington fly sheet if the price is right, and hopefully Greenhawk comes through on the blanket liners I ordered on Black Friday that didn't have an ETA for arrival. And the new saddle that I hopefully get shipping information about soon (and thus will need to be paid for). Provided the girths I have fit, I can't think of anything else I should need this year.

Possible goal, but requires more research first - get my coaching certification. I'm just looking at the Instructor of Beginners, as it will allow me to keep an amateur status, and really, I'm just doing it to keep my insurance costs significantly lower. I have to decide if the cost to get the certification will pay for itself in a timely manner.

That's it! They're all kind of vague and subjective, definitely not SMART goals.

The first three kind of go together - if I am taking lessons, I have incentive to ride more so that I can work on what I'm learning. And I might need to trailer out for lessons, so Cisco has to be solid enough to do so. I guess #4 ties in with the others too - if I don't buy un-needed shit, I can have some money to pay for lessons.

We'll see how this goes.

Happy 2018!

Christmas Treats

I called US Rider for the first time on Wednesday to get someone to come and boost my dead car. Within 40 minutes he arrived and we got my car started. I drove it straight over to a local shop and had the battery replaced.

Which meant that I was finally able to head out to the barn in the afternoon. I bundled myself up extra warm - it was about -22 Celsius with a windchill of -29 (-7 and -20 F). I was just planning on bringing them in to make sure everything was good and stuffing them full of the treats I had bought them for Christmas.

I was actually quite toasty in my winter attire.

Phantom volunteered to come in first. She was nice and toasty in her Rambo, mainly because she's turned into a polar bear. She's so fluffy!

So much fluff around her ears!

I couldn't tell if she was being itchy or crabby about her shoulder when I took off her blanket.  She'll make a face when my back is turned, so I don't quite see it, and when I turn to look at her she looks completely innocent. I'm leaning towards itchy today, as she wasn't complaining when I gave her shoulder a good scratch with my fingers.

Each of the kids was getting 2 apples, 2 bananas, a pear, and banana and gingerbread cookies. The apples and cookies were safe bets, but the bananas and pears were new territory.

Polar bear cookies for a polar bear pony.

Phantom ate the first banana, a bit slowly, but ate the whole thing. Then she had her pear - that was gone in about 3 bites. After the pear, the second banana was deemed not acceptable. The barn pig ended up with it.

Apples are of course awesome, so they disappeared in about 4 bites. Phantom turns into a juicer when eating apples - you want to stay well clear of her lips.

Cisco isn't as spoiled accustomed to getting apples as Phantom is. So he eats it in a bunch of smaller bites. The banana was a flat out no-go. He took a small bite and immediately spit it out, and wouldn't touch it again. There was a very happy pig in the barn.

He was kind of funny about the pear. I think he was surprised by the taste of the first bite. I didn't think he would eat the rest of it. But he kept coming back and nibbling off a little piece at a time. Like, the tiniest bite a horse could take. But he ate it all!

The cookies were inhaled by both horses. As I expected them to be. Two chomps and down the throat.

Cisco also got some scratches on his withers, which he loves. He's going to love the grooming gloves I ordered.

That was it for my visit. I spoiled them and put them back out into the cold. The weather is supposed to change and get warmer after this weekend, but first we have to make it through Friday (the day this is being posted) - the temperature is supposed to reach a high of -27 celsius, and a low of -35. That's frikkin' freezing, and I'm not going to leave the house once I get home from work.

Boxing Day Sales

Through most of the world, December 26th is known as, well, December 26th. But in some countries, primarily Commonwealth countries, December 26th is known as Boxing Day.

It became known as Boxing Day because it was the day that people who were in service were given a Christmas box by their employers with gifts, Christmas bonuses and sometimes leftover food to take home on their day off - the 26th, since they would have to serve their employers on the 25th.

These days though, it's just an excuse to shop.

Boxing Day in Canada used to be the biggest shopping event of the year. For about the last 4 or 5 years, it has been replaced by Black Friday at the end of November. That has become the biggest shopping day of the year, and thus, the day with the better deals.

But we Canadians still expect to find sales December 26th (or starting online on the evening of December 24th).

I wasn't planning on buying anything. Honestly. I spent too much enough on Black Friday.

But then I decided that I needed to replace my inkjet printer. My current one is so old that they didn't update the drivers to support Windows 10, so it's hit or miss as to if it decides to play nicely with my laptop. I ordered one online on the 24th, and got it for more than the posted half off because of a promo they had if I used Visa Checkout. (Which was supposed to a $10 savings, but went through as a $20 savings. Yay!)

It's a box shaped multi-function printer.

Then, in the early morning of the 25th, I bought some bras online. I love Wacoal bras, but I won't pay the full retail of $60 - $90 for them. One of the few places in Canada that sell this brand is The Bay, and they often have discontinued colours on clearance for pretty good prices. Add an additional 20% off clearance, and that puts them in my price range. Four bras came to $125, which included 2 high impact sports bras that normally would retail for $90 each. I recently discovered that there are supportive sports bras that don't mash the girls to your your chest, but actually give them a fantastic perky shape. They're quite expensive, so I'm slowly replacing my monoboob bras as I find good deals.

Not my chest!

I already have this in navy/lime, and it makes the girls look great!

I had absolutely no intention of even looking at tack store websites. There is nothing that the kids need.

In a moment of pre-dawn sleep-deprived stupidity on December 26th, I remembered that Apple Saddlery always has a 20% off almost everything sale during Boxing week. I've picked up some good deals during this week (clearance is an additional 20% off, so things like fly masks and fly sheets are good deals).

I've been looking for a deal on the Hands On grooming gloves, so that was the first thing to go into my cart. I usually order Chaste Tree Berry powder for Phantom, but it really went up in price this year. So I might try her without it for this spring (I'll fill you in one day soon as to why I use it). I was going to have to pay $10 shipping, so what else did I need to justify the glove purchase?

One pony will definitely appreciate these, not sure about the other one.

Oh right - Phantom needs a new girth to go with my hopefully arriving soon new short flapped saddle! And I really wanted to try the Total Saddle Fit Stretchtec girth for Princess Picky. Which Apple sells.

I decided on the neoprene lined one mostly because it was cheaper (reg $260, sale $207) than the leather lined one (reg $290, sale $231).

That was it! No more looking allowed!

I went to work, and just as I entered the building my phone rang. It was Apple Saddlery, and my heart dropped a little as I figured they were going to tell me that the girth was unavailable. Which they did - the neoprene version was unavailable. But they had the leather one, which they would honour the neoprene price for if I wanted it. Hell yes!

So I have a few more parcels coming my way. And I am on a spending cut for the next 3 or 4 months. I'm allowed to buy food and gas, and that's it! Hopefully the weather cooperates so that I don't have time to aimlessly shop the internet. And I'd better not get sick - that's a guaranteed online shopping day.

Weather Woes

I'll get out to visit the kids soon. I promise.

I worked the night shift for 6 weeks, so my body is totally accustomed to that schedule. Nights end at Christmas, and I have to be back at work for 9am on the 26th. The changeover is not easy. I got very little sleep on the 24th and  spent a large part of the 25th in a semi-comatose state. It's currently 3 in the morning on the 26th. I got about 4 hours of sleep and woke up wide awake at 1am. My goal is to be back in bed for 4, so that I can hopefully get another 3 or 4 hours of sleep before hauling my butt out of bed and heading to work. We'll see how that goes.

And this is the current temperature.

Yeah, that's cold. That's -22F, and with the windchill, -34F.

There's are a few reasons why I'm happy to pay my board bill every month. And not having to be out in this weather is a big one.

Ponies are happy stuffing their face in a round bale. They haven't been clipped yet, and have 300g worth of blankets on. They should be nice and cozy. And fat. Very fat.

This weather is supposed to be with us through the weekend. That will give me some time to do some adulting things that I totally neglected while I was working nights. Like cleaning the house, laundry, and reading library books that I've already renewed twice and haven't cracked open.

And getting a new car battery. Since my car is currently sitting in front of my parent's house because it won't start. I knew I needed a new battery, but was hoping I wouldn't get bitten in the ass by waiting until I became a day dweller again. Almost made it, but not quite. Thankfully my dad doesn't have to work today so I have his truck to get me to work. And I'm really hoping he'll have called AMA and someone will have come and started it by the time I get home this evening.

So, I hope to see the ponies someday soon. But I don't know when.

Equestrian Blogger Gift Exchange

Although I started writing my blog just this summer, I have been a lurker on many other horsey blogs for a few years. One of the things I always thought was cool was the Equestrian Blogger Gift Exchange at Christmas. Random horsey presents showing up in the mail? That I didn't have to pay for? Yes please! So when I started writing my blog, I bookmarked Tracy's blog The Printable Pony so that I could make sure I didn't miss out.

And just as I hoped - a couple weeks before Christmas, I had a parcel to pick up at the post office!

I waited until Christmas Day to open it, as I knew there wouldn't be many things under the tree with my name on them.

What did I find?

My secret Santa was Erika, from An Optimist, a Pony, and a Pug. I'm pretty sure I've read her blog before, but it wasn't one of my regular ones. It will be now!

Card with a horse on it. Where do people find these? I always look but can't seem to find one.

I opened the package up and discovered the most awesome pair of socks, and a cozy, ear-warming headband! I giggled for at least 5 minutes when I pulled out the socks. I love the print! And that headband will get lots of use for at least 6 months of the year!

Thank you Erika, aka An Optimist, a Pony, and a Pug!

And also many thanks to Tracy, for putting in what I'm sure is a ton of work to make the Gift Exchange happen. Can't wait until next year!

Merry Christmas!

I hope that everyone is able to spend time with family and friends over the holidays. And, of course, your four-legged critters.

It will be mid-week before I can get out to the barn to give the ponies their stockings. I tried to head out on Saturday night - and drove straight into a snowstorm. The wind was blowing the snowflakes directly at me, giving me the warp speed effect, and when a vehicle passed me the visibility became non-existent. I turned around and came back home.

This will be me going out to catch a horse this week.

Now we are into a cold spell for about the next 10 days. -20 celsius or colder for most of that time (that's -4 or colder for you non-metric people). I'm hoping to get out during the day on Wednesday. Just hoping that the fruit I bought for the stockings holds out that long!

Have a safe, happy Christmas everyone!🎅🎄

It's Getting Chilly

First of all - to my Secret Santa for the Equestrian Blogger Gift Exchange - I received my gift! But I'm not going to open it until Christmas Day. I know there won't be very many presents under the tree with my name on it so I like to wait to open anything I receive. (I'll post about it after I open it.)

I have two more night of work left before switching back over to days and being able to do stuff. Well, I would like to do stuff. But this is the forecast starting at that time (in Celsius):

If you don't know the conversion from Celsius to Fahrenheit, these temperatures are really cold. Just take my word for it. 

I am so not as committed to riding as I was when I was younger. Now, when it's this cold, I'm at home on the couch. Under a heated blanket. With a cat laying on my chest. Watching Netflix.

The ponies are perfectly happy outside gorging on a round bale. (You want me to eat more because it's cold? If I must!) 

I'm guessing I won't get a ride in until the new year. Hopefully it will be in my new saddle. The original estimated shipping date was December 15, but since they emailed me yesterday about my custom cantle detail it's obviously not ready quite yet. Hopefully soon!

Fancy Strips of Rubber

Another of my Black Friday purchases finally arrived - some C4 belts! And they are fantabulous!

The printed belts are harder to find up here in the Great White North. And there were 10 or 20 a few that I really like. I kept an eye on their Facebook page over the Black Friday weekend and managed to see it when they offered a 50% off code. Score!

I capped myself at 5 belts. I already have 3 (or 4?) solid coloured ones. So now I can wear a different one every day of the week!

What did I choose?

Fox Hunt

I had to have a Thelwell. It was a hard decision as to which one, but I chose Pony Chaos.

Pony Macaroni. Because I like saying pony macaroni.

Vintage Horses. I think this is my favourite. It's going to look great with breeches.

And Space Cats. Just for fun. (My cat could be the model for the fat orange cat on it's back.)

I also ordered a couple of buckles, including the metal flip top buckle. Not sure how I feel about this one - the teeth that secure your belt will dig into the top of the belt, and I would imagine leave a mark. It might have to live on one specific belt. It does feel really secure though.

The only downside to ordering 5 belts is that I will have a hard time justifying getting more on Black Friday next year, as I am sure that there will be some new prints I need want. It will be difficult to justify, not impossible. 😉