Crickhollow Farm

Memorial Day with the Horses

Since it's Memorial Day, and we actually have it off, Bonni & I rode this afternoon.  We were going to do so yesterday, but it was so hot and the flies so horrible, we opted to groom and hand-graze instead.  Today was much better on all counts, though, so we took Merry & Rocky to the north paddock for a little ride (the arena was a bit too wet after the storms last night).

I finally got to try out my new Courbette bridle I got cheap at the Expo.  It matches my saddle perfectly and looks gorgeous on Merry.  I think the old caramel bridle will become Morgana's.  I'm quite pleased with that purchase.

Merry started out the ride being a bit of a dork.  He settled down okay, but there's something about starting out in that paddock that puts him on edge.  Not sure if it's the girls nearby (though he doesn't pay them much mind), the size, or if it's just because it's different that's the issue. He was dancing around like a dork and I actually had Bonni wait to get on Rocky because I didn't know if he was going to explode into some idiocy or what and didn't want to set Rocky off, too, if he did.  I got him moving forward and he was fine, but it's one of those things where you wish they could talk so you could ask them what the hell they were thinking.

Now Rocky, after starting out only wanting to trot, was a bit of a slug for the most part, but he did okay in the end.  Bonni was able to get him moving again after each petering out moment and no major battles ensued. 

I cantered Merry a little bit here and there during the ride.  He has a hard time keeping it up in the small space, but he picked up both leads absolutely perfectly, so I'm pretty happy about how he did.

After our ride, I washed Merry.  I wish I had a proper wash stall, with warm water & everything so I could really scrub him, but I got a fair bit of dirt washed off him with just the hose and a bucket.  He looks so nice and shiny, and it really helped to get his mane & tail washed out (and then ShowSheen'd to a fair-thee-well).

So it was a nice day.  I'm glad Bonni was able to stop out again (twice in one weekend!) so we could ride together.  It's so much more fun to ride with someone, and easier to get motivated to do it, too.

Pony Bridle

My new Vespucci pony bridle arrived today.  It was on closeout at Dover Saddlery for $79.99 (it's normally $229).  They didn't have any measurements listed, but I figured it'd have to fit one of my ponies, since I have a range, so I ordered it, not willing to let such a deal pass me by. 

I had a colour choice of oakbark (dark brown) or newmarket (caramel, like my AP saddle), but they claimed it didn't come with reins, so I ordered the oakbark, thinking I'd use the pony reins I got from Bonni last year for my birthday, which are dark brown with lilac rubber.  Well, so, I opened up the package today only to discover that it actually had reins.  This isn't a bad thing, really, I can just leave the lilac ones on the headstall they're on now, but I could have ordered the newmarket, had I known.

Still, the bridle is beautiful.  Quite the nicest leather I've ever had on anything, and it's got padded everything.  The oakbark has reddish highlights to it, which make it quite rich and lovely looking.  It's too small for Morgana, but will fit either Myf or Gimli (this is a minor miracle -- Gimli has such a broad forehead that most pony browbands are too small for him).  I think the colour will be particularly fetching on Myf.  I really need to work on getting her saddle-trained next summer...