Favourites - blog hop from Raincost Rider

Thanks to Raincoast Rider for sharing this hop. Having material to create posts is really helpful!  I've had this post started for a while now and just had the genius idea (lol) to publish it while I'm away.


1. Favourite show venue:

I’m going with the QH Congress.  Favourite place to watch shows and major bucket list item to show there.

From my first trip to Congress in 2013

2. Favourite discipline:

All of them? I can’t really pick one, but if I had to narrow it down, I love western disciplines – trail, ranch riding, reining, roping, penning etc.  I also have a secret Dressage obsession.


3. Favourite horse colour:

I love bucksins.  Not sure why even.  And a bright bay.  And a loud Appaloosa with a blanket.  A good horse is always the right colour, right?  Says the person who owns two sorrels.  Sigh.

4. Favourite tack store:

Does the entire QH Congress count? It is basically a giant tack store.  I don’t have a favourite local shop – I go to a chain tack shop for necessities, as it is close to work.  I tend to order from the US for most of my stuff – Schneiders, Rods, Stateline Tack, Derby House in the UK.

 5. Favourite breed:

I love my quarter horses. So versatile, so different.  However, I’ll let you in on a secret – my all time favourite breed is the Lippizaner.  Those horses make me swoon.  Maybe someday I’ll buy one or ride one.  Or at least visit Austria and see the Spanish riding school and the Piber stud farm.  My friend in Sweden has bred/trained Lipizzaners, so I would consult her heavily if I ever thought of buying one. 


6. Favourite place to ride:

Err…I want to say the trails I had at home as a kid.  Creeks, hills, corn fields, etc.  Nothing has compared to that since and likely never will. 

7. Favourite piece of riding apparel:

 A good pair of boots that don't hurt my feet, cowboy or otherwise. 

8. Favourite horse related web site:

I don’t think I have one anymore!  Websites have changed and the amount/type of content that is posted no longer interests me.  Most of my horse-related websites besides blogs are for online shopping!

9. Favourite piece of tack:

A fancy show halter - dark oil and silver! 

Wish list - Kathy's sterling overlay...

10. Favourite horse book:

I have read a lot of horse books. I think the one that stands out recently is:  Mark Rashid - A Good Horse is Never the Wrong Color.

11. Favorite horse movie:

Hidalgo?  Not sure on this one.

Feel free to share and add/delete questions as you wish.

Delayed Hallowe'en and random updates

We had a couple of days of storms with high winds and rain over Hallowe'en - our city was contemplating moving Hallowe'en trick or treating to another day so the weather would be better for the kids!  A lot of people were very angry about this, so it was kept on the same day!  I think the city of Montreal did move trick or treating to Thursday or Friday!

Anyway - I was planning on taking pictures of Fred in his skull gear on Thursday, but it was too gross to get decent pictures outside.  This attempt at a matching outfit was inspired by Stacie at Amateur at Large - her outfits and her horse's outfits are pretty amazing, so I thought I would do a post in homage to her.  ;-)  Turns out it is way harder to get good pics and put everything together than I thought. I also dislike taking pictures of myself, so you won't see much of my outfit.

When I did my big shopping spree in late September, I found a cute skeleton saddle pad and halter from Horze.  I like skulls, so I couldn't resist.  They even had a skeleton rain sheet, but I tried to have some self control and didn't get that.

Horze halter and fly bonnet my Mom made a while ago

I also made him wear a fly bonnet even though the flies are long gone (one good thing about November).  My Mom made this for me a while ago and she said it was a pain to crochet, so she wasn't going to do any more!  hahaha.  

I'm not a fan of the Horze halter - the fit was a bit weird, even on Fred's big head. It wouldn't fit a smaller horse well at all. 

Cute horze saddle pad

 Man, my saddle needs some oil. Ahem - add that to the list for this month!  I like to bring tack inside and work on it by the fireplace!

Lame attempt at a selfie with my skull hat...My arms are just too short for selfies!

I found this skull hat (or toque if you are Cdn) at the Dollar store last year. It cracks me up.  It wasn't really that cold, but you know, for the sake of the themed outfit...

Found this tshirt on zulilly a while back - couldn't resist.

The rest of my outfit was boring, so I didn't attempt a photo. I was wearing black tights, black paddock boots and my fitbit with skulls. 

Post work hallowe'en cookie!

We worked on some showmanship stuff and practicing setting up on the laneway, since everywhere else was a muddy swamp.  I switched Fred back to his regular halter after and gave him a big cookie as a reward. I won these cookies in a raffle at a club banquet last weekend! They are super cute and Fred loves them.

New Bucas rainsheet - in black to go with the skull/black theme (or that was the only colour)

 And I broke my no-shopping streak on Friday -  I only made it 8 days - I had to buy Fred another rain sheet at the local tack shop, since his new green one is not waterproof at all! Ugh.

On Friday night, I went to a paint night with a big group of horse friends.  It was a hoot - the painting is easy - they give you templates, so you don't have to worry about the actual painting part as much.  This is a key factor when adult beverages are involved!  Of course I chose something about cats, since they didn't have any horse options.   We are going to do another one this winter and my friend is going to send them a bunch of horse quotes for signs, so that will be fun. 

This weekend has been all about tack and cleaning up and organizing my little barn.  It sort of looked like a tack store exploded in there.  lol  I have a bunch of tack I'm selling for the therapeutic riding centre and a bunch of my tack that needs to go. I brought all of that in the house to clean and take pictures so I can list it online.  I also hung up all the winter blankets and put away (sniff!) all of the summer gear.  So, I'm making some progress there!

And my last random update is that I also have to pack this weekend, as on Thursday I'm heading out of town for a little jaunt to Disneyworld!  It was my Mom's 70th bday this year, so she wanted to go to Disney with my cousin and I.  We fly out of Detroit early Saturday morning and I'll be gone for a week!