Over 1 Year of TBE!

Happy anniversary to us! This is a late posting but I just noticed that I've had this blog up and running for over a year now! Enjoy this trip down memory lane- it's 2014 memories in order!

Just the major things: the first ride of 2014, when I snapped my fender, when we went camping, swimming Drift, riding Ray with the new bosal, getting the mares, Pigeon's first ride, Riley's first ride, when Pigeon tried to kill herself, Zara riding Pigeon, my first lesson, Pigeon's first drill team pattern, Riley's first REAL ride, and Christmas. 

Thanks for an eventful year, guys! I'm excited to see what comes in 2015! 

2015 Updates

I seriously keep forgetting to post on here. Whoops. I do have a few things to go over- I'm going to do them in order.

First order of business is the saddle pad from my Dover Christmas thing. It's starting to stain from my saddle around the girth on both sides, but that's it. You can actually see the stains in the picture, they aren't too bad. I've had no tearing or slipping issues, and I think the Velcro is really convenient. 

And suddenly: SNOW. I'm in Northwest Tennessee. We do not get snow EVER, and the really rare occasion we DO get some, it's mostly ice and there isn't much of it. But this was like a giant dump truck of snow fell from the sky overnight. It was so deep in some places that I have a picture of a friend of mine standing with snow up to her chest. Once it warmed up a little, I went to get snow pictures with the beasts. They were being goofy as usual, Riley kept trying to shove her head into my arms, and Pigeon actually didn't stand up when I walked over. I ended up laying on her for probably an hour before I rubbed her legs and pulled her up.

Ignore my riding. Goofy boy was feeling GOOD and was galloping straight for a massive drop off onto ice and he couldn't see it was there because of the snow drifts. So this picture was of my "Oh CRAP! STOP!" moment. But he looks graceful and snow is pretty so yay.

Product Review: Sundance Halters Reins

So I got some custom paracord reins because I think they're super cute. Yeah, I'm just now jumping on this bandwagon. Some of my older followers will probably remember in July when I got ripped off with my bosal.. That's why I haven't ordered anything like this until now. Christina was super patient with me, showed me different combinations of colors braided, and was willing to try a style of reins she had never made before! (She now offers the cobra braid) I really am happy with these reins! They're the perfect length and are really cute and not as weird to use as I thought they'd be! They're usually 8ft long, but I asked for some extra length so they are the exact same length as standard braided leather reins. So I can use them for English as well as western with no hassle at all!

If you want to know-

These are 6 strand reins, 9ft long, in "Bucky blue camo" with 6 royal blue decorative knots and royal blue cobra braiding by the buckle. 

The pictures where the reins are darker is their actual color, I just had incredibly bad lighting. And you can see where my loving mares decided to rub out their manes. Hooray, now my spring will consist of trying to fix that! 

*OH NO IGNORE WHAT IM WEARING. it went from like 8 degrees to 70 degrees in 2 days and I wore shorts with my boots. Don't you judge me.*

I started working with Riley on neck reining. I took off her headstall and just clipped the reins so they were like a neckrope/cordeo, and worked on just a light cue to back up clicking to go forward, and extremely light cues to turn each way. I would start off with just a touch, and increase the pressure until she took a step, then I would instantly release the pressure and praise her verbally while petting her. She started to do it really well after not even 5 minutes, so we worked with her verbal cues to walk up to me. She's getting better at that, too, so maybe I can start leaving her halter off soon. (Check out that mane rub) I wasn't pulling on her like the pictures look like I'm doing, either. I was just trying to evenly distribute the pressure so she had clearer cues and wouldn't get confused.

Product Review: Laney Farm Designs Bridle Charms

Okay, big news time! We are now officially brand ambassadors for Laney Farm Designs!! Delaney sells various bridle charms, bracelets, hand painted stall signs, and hand painted brush sets. She's got great prices, great quality products, and great customer service! I fixed up a new website for her, equibling.wix.com/laneyfarmdesigns, and got two anchor charms with royal blue gems as a thank you. I can't wait to try these on the babies this weekend! The color is just about accurate in the second photo- they're incredibly bright blue. That was such a pleasant surprise! I'm totally in love with these and am very, very obsessed. I am planning on having a charm for each bridle and name tags for some new halters I'm going to get very soon. Like before summer soon. So I'll try to be better about keeping this updated for you all. Thanks for being patient!