Christmas Presents!

As a break from all of the goal setting and goal recapping posts I thought that this might be a nice post plus, technically, this is a 2018 recap right?

First let's start with presents from other people.

Presents from my Parents:

In the past I've typically stuck to Amazon items for my mom and/or dad since it's easy and they have Prime so they save on shipping. This year though I sent items from The Collected Pony, Riding Warehouse, and PS of Sweden. My mom knocked it out of the park and even though I didn't let her know what my preferences were for my list she ended up giving me two of my favorite items!

I got the HKM pad that I'd previously posted about from the Collected Pony and I adore it! I've been really into floral patterns (especially with roses) this year. It's just as pretty in person as it is on the site and it's the perfect size for Katai. She also got me the Eskadron bandage liners that I asked for. She did get them a size too big (small horse instead of small pony) so Katai looks very European with them on, but they still work and are another awesome bandage liner option. Wait until I put both of these on her with her pink polos ;)

All the pretties

From Riding Warehouse she got me more low sugar horse treats and a pair of Dreamers & Schemers socks. It was a great horse related gift Christmas :)

From my dad I got an Amazon gift card and got a couple of necessities for Katai including more flax seeds and Vitamin E but I also picked up Jec Ballou's new book and some new stirrups. Jane had a thing about metal stirrup irons so I had swapped out my Composti's for some plain irons (and then sold the Composti's since I'm a minimalist). The rubber pads on my current stirrups has been falling apart though and when I went to look for replacements these came up. I've wanted to buy Composti stirrups again and thought that the wide beds might be worth a try. Of course I needed to get them in pink :) Also this Jec Ballou book is amazing so far and I'll be posting more about this soon.

From my bf's mom I got a pair of awesome unicorn socks and a bandage storage bag like this (that was on backorder so we're still waiting for) that she adorably refers to as "the pocket bag" :)

Dreamers & Schemers socks on the left from my mom
Middle unicorn socks from my bf's mom
My lucky unicorn pooping rainbow "show" socks that are much loved
I feel it's important to not take oneself too seriously when one is an adult who rides a pony 

Sort of horse related we did a secret Santa gift exchange with other members of my bf's family and I'd put picture frames as a hint since I want to print more pictures of me and Katai for our apartment and my office. The amazing person gifting these to me sneakily found out my favorite celebrity and found these awesome pictures of Charlotte and Carl which just made these pretty frames even more awesome.

Then there's the stuff that I got for myself. I'd previously mentioned that for black Friday I'd picked up a couple of things including the Lemieux bandage liners and Eskadron pony polos in black and pink. I also picked up an Asmar long sleeve shirt and a couple of other misc items. That was all I'd planned to do except for the couple of items bought with Christmas money above, however, then I saw the PS of Sweden after Christmas sale.

*headdesk*

I really hadn't planned to get anything, much less as much as I did, but I couldn't say no to such amazing things at 50% off and picked up two saddle pads (since they're currently my favorite pads), two sets of polos, a browband, and a jacket. I did need a second jacket since wearing my regular jacket to the barn causes people to stare and point when I'm out in public. Ok, maybe it's not that bad but it's pretty barn smelly. They shipped today and I'll share more pictures once they get here. I didn't really need the other items in any way but that sale totally got me and I can't wait to have all of my pretty new things. More on my 2019 goals for budget soon ;)

Retail Rewards

Awhile ago I put together a plan for a show outfit for me and Katai that looked something like this.

Of course I no longer have brown tack but I have almost everything else in this picture, albeit slightly different brands or styles, except a grey pad. Grey saddle pads are SO tough to find especially in dressage style and pony size. When I first looked I decided to get a Mattes euro pad since I have one and I love the size, styling, and quality and it looks really nice on Katai. However, since Mattes pads are pretty pricy I wanted to get one as a reward for  good show, or sort of feel like we'd earned it.

This past show felt that way to me so I went ahead and ordered a show pad. Except, they had free shipping if you spent over a certain amount and since two pads would get me over that amount I decided to go for it. Now I'll have three Mattes pads including my navy with the pink fleece, the
grey show pad, and another one that will be a surprise :)

Not sure if I've ever shared a clear picture of this pad
but I love it so much and it's held up so well

I also got some much needed summer stuff from Riding Warehouse. I picked out a fly sheet, fly boots, salt block, and I've really wanted to try Equifuse after reading a few good reviews so I decided to try that as well. They also have such cheap shirts that I got a couple of those since you can never have too many summer riding shirts.

I do have to say that this is only my second experience with Riding Warehouse and my first wasn't wonderful. It wasn't their fault, just a combination of a faulty pair of breeches and a show shirt I really disliked. Luckily they do have an amazing return policy so I was able to send both things back. I was anxious to try them out again since I've heard so many great things and my impression was much better this time around. My order shipped right away, arrived quickly, and everything was exactly what I expected. I look forward to future orders with them!