Treat Yo Self Thursday, Lesson Recap: 2/28, and Weekend Update

I've had a good week of rides but I didn't make it to my goal this week. With the seasonal change in full swing I've had some headaches (I have a lead on a really good PT that I'm going to try out to see if that helps) and was feeling like I was getting a cold again so I ended up taking it a little easier. Also, at my lesson last Tuesday Katai was a little short in the right front. I wondered if it was just a sore muscled but she was pretty short still on Thursday after a day off on Wednesday so I decided to give her Friday off as well.

She's had some Thrush so that was my first thought and my second was just that she's been working pretty hard and had some soreness and time off would be good.

It turned out that the combination of additional Thrush treatment and a bit of a break meant that she felt amazing on Saturday and was quite the speedy pony.

Back to Tuesday, I had another great lesson! Again, Jane called out movements and I did them and we worked on things along the way. We started with nose to the wall leg yield at the walk which was really helpful and Katai really seemed to figure out what we want. Since then her leg yield has been great and she's really crossing over.

After that we did some trot work and then canter. During the trot work we got the best lengthening that I've had! It was so cool to feel her shift into that higher gear again :) Our canter work was tougher but not bad. She wasn't struggling strength wise, just not wanting to be straight or on the bit. we worked on getting flexion at the canter and I had some of the best trot/canter transitions that I've had. Finally we did some more shoulder in. I'm slowly figuring it out and will keep right on chipping away at it.

Then on Thursday my local tack shop had their 35th anniversary sale. I was invited as a "special customer" to shop the pre-sale on Thursday afternoon. I shopped but am very proud of myself that I didn't find anything that I "needed" enough to buy.

However, I've been wanting to make a trip to the tack shops on the west side which are Dover and a place called Coach House Equestrian. Coach house is my favorite tack shop and Dover has enough variety that it's a great place to try on clothing.

Coach House shopping!

So many cute things!

I ended up not going to Dover just because I found something I really liked and used up the money I'd budgeted on it. So much adulting!

Finally found my show shirt!

I didn't end up buying the shirt though, instead I got a spring jacket. I've been envious of the Rolex jacket that one of my friends has but I found a Longines Show Jumping Ariat jacket that's similar. It was on clearance for less than the shirt and it was the last one so I got that instead.

Then, that evening I had a great ride! Katai was quite hot, mainly because I was doing some work to reinforce my forward aids. Recently she's been ignoring them and freezing up so this time I corrected her each time, rather than just waiting her out, and that made her pretty fizzy. I still got some amazing work including some really, really good leg yields. Also, even though she was fizzy she never really lost it, she was just forward and I just was calm and went with her but still kept getting her slowed down/kept her slow so it was a great ride :)

Look at that lipstick :)

Then, today my plan was to do another Sunday Spa Day but I woke up with a really horrible headache/stomach ache. I really think that all this crazy weather is messing with me. At any rate I ended up laying on the couch watching tv for most of the day and by the time I felt up to doing anything I needed to get chores done to prepare for the week.

My favorite recent vegan meal :)

Since I'm flying out next weekend I'm going to plan to be there every day this week and Saturday (obviously not riding every day) so that she's ready for a week off.

Champagne Tastes On a Beer Budget

I've been on a minimalism kick recently and for me that means owning one, high quality item for something you need rather than several cheaper versions. With that in mind I've been saving my pennies for nicer things rather than bargain shopping, at least for the important things. This is my current list.

Wardrobe Stuff

Asmar long sleeve polo in navy blue

Asmar compression top in black

Pikeur Crystal Competition Shirt in grey

Ariat Polka Dot Sunshirt

Ariat Volant S Zip Boot

Tack

PS of Sweden Bridle

Prestige Lucky in Tobacco (if it fits)

Another pair of People on Horses Dressage Boots - this time in Navy Patent

Mattes Euro Dressage Pads in ALL the colors

One of these Custom Wool Dress Sheets

2016 Shopping Goals

Ok, so I'm sure we all have them. I've always loved shopping for my pony and it's sort of like a side hobby to the actual riding hobby. What I've been surprised about, especially this year, is that as Katai and I progress and as I ride on a more regular basis I've become less and less interested in buying things for her.

It's almost like I was living vicariously through the nice dressage stuff that I was buying and now that we're doing well I don't even feel like I need to do that. Of course it's not that I don't like shopping for her it's just that I've got a set of tack that I love and other than a few items (PS of Sweden bridle, sparkly browband, a set of navy dressage boots, and a show appropriate dressage saddle pad) I just don't have that much on my wish.

However, that doesn't hold true for stuff for me. I've decided to focus on myself this year and one of my goals is to get myself more riding clothes. I've got a few things I love such as this Kastel Denmark sun shirt,

This Asmar Equestrian jacket,

and this pair of Horze breeches in burgundy.

But that's about it. I have a few pairs of schooling breeches but I'd like to have more to rotate through since now that I'm riding 4-5 days per week I go through them pretty quickly.

I have a pair of great tall schooling boots, Ariats, in a field boot that are great and a pair of Roeckl gloves that I adore but those are wearing out and are going to need to be replaced this year. That's it! Seriously, how can I possibly survive with only 4-6 pairs of breeches.

One of the big things on my list for this year was a new helmet. My old one was over 4 years old and although I've never fallen in it (knock on wood) I know that they're supposed to be replaced every 4 years or so either way. Thanks to my Christmas gift money I got this!

Sorry for the spots, our barn drips in a couple of places in the arena from condensation and I thought I had wiped it off. Apparently I hadn't...

I was really tempted by the matt Navy one but decided to go with the traditional black since I think it will give me more options for everything else. Plus the last thing we need is to stand out even more ;-)

The other main items on my shopping list for this year are breeches, all of the horze breeches please, as well as more riding appropriate tops (fitness tops from target or polos from Goodwill probably but I would like a few more sun shirts) and of course schooling show appropriate clothing. I don't think that boots will be on the list for this year but I will be replacing my Roeckls at some point probably. Now I just have to pick a color!

Maybe the black and brown ones since that will match my tack best? I LOVE the blue ones though. Damn they would have been cute with the blue helmet.