A collection of all of the random tidbits (most of which end up on Facebook or Instagram)…none that really justify a full post of their own, but collectively, enough for me to justify sitting down and uploading media and chattering on for a bit.

I hit a new level of neon visibility with my tights. These particular pairs are from Ride Boldly, and I love them. They’re completely custom made to size, and they fit me the best of probably any of the tights I own. Plus, they’ve got two large cargo pockets, one on each side, that easily holds a phone. Tested one pair out at the Grand Canyon ride, and they passed with flying neon colors.

Playing around in the arena. I think I was messing with my camera’s timer feature…I have very little media of me riding, aside from ride photos, and need to figure out a way to get some more. I’m drooling over the idea of the SoloShot3 automatic tracking camera, but the budget decrees that the price point on that level of spiffiness is going to have to come down significantly. Maybe a basic tripod/remote/phone set-up would be in order.

Cranky pony a couple weeks ago. She was in a mood and half, and we spent a solid half hour schooling manners when she got all kinds of rushy and gate sour. We were both hot, tired, and filthy by the time we were done. She never lets me get too complacent or bored, that’s for sure.

Happiness is: tack ho’ing. New stirrup leathers (that smell so good…I adore the smell of quality leather goods) for the dressage saddle (to replace the non-matching brown ones above, and so I can stop playing round robin among my saddles with not having enough stirrup leathers to go around) and a new bit for the pony. (Myler loose ring MB33WL, which is a lower, wider port version of the MB33 mouthpiece that’s worked very well for her.)

First time in the new bit today, and she loved it. For a pony who thinks the purpose of bits is to deliberately lean on them, she was amazingly light and soft in it. No clue how she’ll do in it on trail…but that’s what her s-hack is for anyway.

Obstacle course play day at the barn today. Fun chance to play around with all of her bells-n-whistles buttons that I spent years installing. Just a few minutes of tuning her up and she was phenomenally responsive and eager. Although she still thinks the point of caveletti is to deliberately hit them.

(I was super proud of her stepping up on the box, too. She doesn’t particularly like it, and it often involves scrambling and flailing on her part. But today she was happy enough to step up, stop, and stand quietly.)

Super-happy pony by the time we were done today. She looks so ridiculously cute in her tack get-up, too. So perfectly coordinated and matchy-matchy. Once an endurance pony, always an endurance pony…

And I like seeing that kind of happy expression on her face. I know she’s getting old, and aging…her quality of movement definitely isn’t the same, and I know she’s got some arthritis happening. (No surprise, she is 25, and has lived an active life.) But as long as she’s serviceably sound, happy, and wants to keep working, that’s what we’ll do.