Old, New, Borrowed, Blue

Nope, not getting married but where most girls seem to dream about their weddings, I've dreamed  about doing my first rated show.

I've been slowly putting together a set (or two) of show clothes since I've known for awhile that I couldn't afford to invest in the things I wanted when I finally found out I'd be doing a rated show. I am SO GLAD I DID because I had no idea that I'd be doing a rated show on June 3rd this year until just over a month ago and there's no way I could have bought all this stuff at the beginning of this year. Without further ado, here is what I have so far!

Something Old:

The friend that I lived with and rented from when I first got Katai and I exchanged Christmas gifts a couple of years ago. She got me this incredibly pretty stock pin for Christmas in 2012 so it's not that old but I've never had a reason to use it until now :)

I also have this Horze show shirt that I bought early last year (so not that old but I haven't worn it yet) that I will be wearing this year likely.

Something New:

Most of my stuff could go into this category honestly but these are my newest.

This is the shirt I got at the World Cup! It just showed up yesterday and I LOVE it just as much as I did when I tried it on at the show. With my shape I always struggle with finding tops that look good but breeches are easier. Show shirts in particular have been tough for me and this is easily the nicest one I've found. The fabric is technical and light without being clingy and cut really nice! It was also under $100 which is tough to find in cute show shirts (for my body type) it seems.

There are quite a few things that I'm happy to invest money in from a riding outfit perspective however, a stock tie isn't one. If we start showing more and "earn" a cute one then I'd invest in a nice one but otherwise I didn't want to spend that much. The problem was that even the cheaper ones were expensive in my mind and they had poor reviews. Between spending $35 for something with bad reviews and $60 for something that's amazing I'd rather spend $60 but I just couldn't make myself actually buy the thing. So I went to Etsy and found this for $13! With shipping from Europe it was just over $20 but it's amazing. Really nice fabric and fluffy enough. I went with the pre-tied option because I just don't want to fuss with it but they have untied versions as well. I would definitely recommend them if you want a nice stock tie that isn't too expensive. They have lots of options at great prices and awesome reviews!

Something Borrowed:

Well not borrowed but I bought this from another blogger, Amanda, over at $900FacebookPony. When she listed it for sale and it happened to be dark blue and in my size, and an Equiline coat I messaged her right away. I was really excited about the amazing deal I found but now what I'm actually excited about is that this is an experienced show coat and hopefully it will help me and Katai have a great show experience ;) Oh, and it's GORGEOUS!

Something Blue:

I've got navy blue throughout my show clothes closet. Eventually I want to get Katai a grey saddle pad and then I'll wear something navy blue as a show shirt or jacket. I think it will be cute but not too different or shocking to anyone who's more traditional.

Or the seat of my breeches ;)

Modeling my outfits!:

So sorry for my murderous expression. I wasn't feeling that well on Friday morning but I knew I wouldn't have much time this weekend to do this so I went with it.

First two pictures: EGO7 Show Shirt and B Vertigo Rachel breeches

Third picture: Equiline show coat from Amanda and Horze Desiree breeches

Fourth picture: Back to the Equiline show coat, EGO7 shirt, and B Vertigo Rachel breeches

Fifth picture: Old Navy polo (this was $5 so if anyone is looking for a cheap but cute polo this is a good place to check) and Ovation breeches

I'm pretty happy with this! The fifth picture is what I'm going to wear to the schooling show and will probably go with the fourth picture for my first rated show. No pictures of me wearing the stock tie since it didn't get here until Tuesday and the lighting has been horrible for pictures. I'm sure I'll get some pictures from our upcoming show though!

Getting Ready For the Shit Show

First I just want to explain that I'm not actually as negative about this as I've been coming off in my blog. I'm seriously thrilled just to have the opportunity to trailer Katai off property much less the fact that we are finally SHOWING!!! I'm so freaking excited about that that I can't even tell you.

The reason that I'm talking about the show like this is that honestly that's what I'm expecting. I'm putting on my horse training hat (for the first time in awhile it feels like) and going into this with the idea that there are going to be lots of great teachable moments and while that's a win, it won't be the show as much the environment around the show. I KNOW that Katai will be a handful, I also know that I can handle everything she throws at me.

I'm also thinking and talking about it this way so that I don't have any unrealistic expectations. I'm hoping that she's going to surprise me and be sort of laid back, but I don't think she will be. If she is It will be a happy surprise and I'll change my expectations.

I'm also not going at this with any sort of negativity or hopelessness. I've been doing a lot of visualization of things going really well, Katai being really calm and listening, and getting successfully through each test just as though we were at home. I'm firmly confident that we'll get completely through at least our second test and I have no concerns about falling off, getting hurt, or not being able to get her on the trailer for example. Only that, like I mentioned, there will be lots of good teachable moments.

Moving on, I've had a lot to do since I've never really shown before. I didn't have any type of shirt to wear or a saddle pad or anything. I'd picked up a few things ahead of time like this extremely "cool" sleazy hood (pony is primarily white after all)

and this saddle pad from Horze

plus a white polo shirt type show shirt but pretty much everything else will just be what I already had. For schooling shows at least my field boots, Katai's saddle, and bridle will all be perfectly fine. My helmet is the fanciest thing I have but unfortunately if it's warm out I may end up needing to wear my old helmet so I don't get a headache.

I didn't love the idea of wearing white breaches and a white shirt so I got a black, short sleeved show shirt from Kerrits.

Then ended up not being able to find a pair of white breeches that fit and that weren't ugly and weren't incredibly expensive and of course I don't need them so I'll be wearing some of my regular grey breeches and either the white or black show shirt. I'll be excited to do some more shopping for show clothes this winter as I'm planning for a, hopefully, slightly more competitive 2017 show season.