Splurges

Just thought I'd share all my splurges from yesterday...still trying to justify them as you can see;) I also have a (fairly lengthy) wish list of new show gear that I'm going to try and slowly chip away at.

Been lusting after this coat for a while. I stupidly left some stuff up in Berkeley when I moved, including my show coat, and considering how things ended with my ex and I, I don't have high hopes for getting them returned. Sad because I had that coat since I was 11 but I'm not too upset because I wanted to upgrade my show wardrobe anyway. Found a great deal on a CO JRY8 in navy a couple months ago which will look schnazzy with this.

Got a full set of this in white (obvi). Another item I had wanted since before I moved back to SB and since my Nunn Finers got left my trainer when I moved, I did need a new set of XC boots.
I mostly got boring stuff from SmartPak (gloves, spurs, leather oil, etc.) but I decided to go for this lovely stock pin as the one I currently have is just plain and super boring.

Lastly I decided to go for one of these beautiful browbands by Dark Jewel Designs as per SprinklerBandit's review. This is one of the options I went for, I don't have a picture of the other but I am sure it will be just as gorgeous!

I was also really tempted to order a custom Frilly Fillies ear bonnet but between all my purchases, HT entry fee and hotel room I figured I should hold off for now. Maybe for Christmas or before my next show if I have some extra cash floating around.

Ready, Set, Show

Well...it happened...I finally sent out my entry for our first horse trials since Galway in November 2011. In less than a month Gatsby and I will be heading out to Fresno County Horse Park!!

I've spent a good chunk of my morning making lists of things I have and things I need and have definitely shelled out a good amount of cash for some new show gear. I am justifying this because my old stuff is either super old or super missing. Now we just need to get ourselves ready to go! We have another jumping lesson this weekend and a dressage lesson so I am hoping to hone in on some areas that I can work to improve on over the next few weeks.

Wish us luck!!

xoxo,
Elena & Gatsby

Back in the Swing

I think it's just time to admit that I might never be a regular blogger. Sorry guys for making you deal with all my sporadic updates!

As I mentioned last time (I think) Gatsby has had a low-key month since I've been back from England. We were waiting for my vet to get some Adequan in to start him on so we decided not to work him too hard until then. Also, I have been dealing with injuries of my own (shoulder, wisdom teeth) and then WE GOT A PUPPY!!!! So he has been taking some of my time and love up as well.

I got the call from my vet last week that I could pick up the Adequan so I decided it was time to start getting back in our groove and see what we're made of again. My schedule is still not going to be as consistent as I would like because of the pup but I think we'll be ok. Gatsby has been doing well with less work so I'm hoping we can get through the Fall like this, he can have a light Winter and by the time Spring rolls around Sirius (pup) will be old enough that George & I can leave him on his own sometimes. Unfortunately my barn has a no dogs rule which kind of sucks but I think they would let me leave him in the car if I needed to.

Friday Gats had a short but really good Dressage school. Our dressage work has been pretty basic lately but now that he's had his shot I want to start ramping him up again. I'm excited to see how he will feel after the loading dose is done! Saturday he had off because we had to take the puppy to the vet. Sunday we had a really great jump lesson with our BM. She found a great grid exercise for him that really helped us work on keeping a consistent canter. Ground pole, cross rail, one stride to a cross rail oxer, two strides to a vertical and one stride to an oxer. We kept the first two jumps small to keep him relaxed and raised the last two. After going through a few times we added a couple solo jumps to make a little course. I was really happy with how relaxed he was but I also was very aware of riding him well to keep him relaxed.

Here is a video of our grid and a couple pics of the new pup!

xoxo,

Elena

Sirius DK