Horses, horses, all horses!

Horses:   It's been all about horses around here lately.  Some of that might have to do with the fact that I've been in horsey boot camp for the past week.  In an odd turn of events, Equestrian Girl got grounded from riding a week and a half before her first show.  In the spirit of "teaching a lesson", it was decided that I would do this show and she would do all the things I normally do for her to get ready.  Gulp.  The good thing is that was this to be a "hair" show meaning no show clothes, no clipping, no banding, etc.  That made things a tad easier but my lack of riding in the hunt seat saddle for over a year didn't.  My thighs have been on FIRE all week.

Sadly enough, the forecast for this weekend is horrible.  Rain all day today and then even more rain with thunderstorms for tomorrow.  I decided we weren't going.  I want my first show to be fun and showing in the rain isn't.

In the mean time, we've been getting this season's show stuff together for Equestrian Girl.  The big deal of the year was a new showmanship outfit.

We had the jacket made by Wright Place Show Clothing  but I made the pants.  I love the way it turned out!  Next year I'll have chaps made to match so she can wear it for riding classes.

Our other big purchase was for tall boots.  Equestrian Girl is obviously very tall and very thin.  I was having a heck of a time finding boots that were both tall enough and narrow enough for her skinny calves.  I talked to a shoe repair guy and he said if I found good leather boots that were tall enough he could probably take them in a little if they had zippers.  But I still couldn't find any tall enough unless they were 3 sizes too big in the foot!

Then I happened upon a pair being sold on TackTrader.  They were custom made Der Dau boots and from the ad, they sounded perfect!  They had never been worn...After some negotiations we settled on $225 and when we got them...they fit perfect too!!!  They need to be broken in a little since they are stiff on the ankles but from what I've learned, these are very, very expensive boots.  Like $800 expensive to buy new.  Hopefully they last her a very long time now.