Shopping Spree

I've been on a bit of a shopping spree... I've been making an effort not to buy things/spend money, so maybe it all built up? Sadly, I was able to justify everything (aren't we all when we shop?).

It all started innocently enough:

BOT Brush Boots, in flashy white of course.
I was looking for non-fuzzy brush boots because I'm tired of cleaning my fleece and these were actually one of the cheaper pairs (ME has yet to make their dressage boot in black and a mid-dark blue, so obviously I can't do those).

And then evolved into attempts to help Penn with his current workload because he is SO GRUMPY. Like, you walk by and he wants to bite you grumpy (Hawk can attest to this fact):

I'm doing this on the hunch that his muscles hurt- he's had a whole new workload since November and has laid down a ton of new topline muscle. I opted to put these in SmartPaks so that I could do the money back guarantee and it was actually cheaper than buying the bucket to scoop myself. Plus, total score on the first time SmartPak 50% off!

He started wearing his BOT Mesh Sheet at night- and LOVES IT. His SmartPaks are still shipping, so I know they haven't helped yet. I got a very excited report from BO that Penn was MUCH less grumpy about having his blankets changed (ie not trying to bite them anymore). I ordered him the BOT hood because the massage person identified some issues in his neck.

Other things that I've ordered but I'm not sure when they're getting here:

Lemieux Fairfax Lambskin Girth Cover
Actually extremely reasonably priced for what it is. See the above grumpy pants horse.

Lemieux Mesh Pad because it was a good price with the girth cover and came in navy. 

Acavallo Massage Gel Pad with full sheepskin
The local tack shop is ordering this for me (they are making me a deal on it). See above grumpy horse.

And then to make sure I wasn't left out, a new pair of paddock/summer work boots because my current pair is completely worn out: they smell (actually they REEK), they aren't waterproof anymore (multiple holes in them), and the padding your foot sits on is so completely crushed that I was getting plantar fasciitis in both feet and walking like a cripple for days after wearing them. It was time.

Ariat Terrain Zip H2O boots. I loved my other Terrain pair (note their complete wearing out).

That was supposed to be the end of the shopping spree... but nooooo, Penn can't socialize properly. Penn likes to undress his friends. He also has a new friend who likes to undress HIM. While I find it amusing when Penn undresses his friends, I am annoyed that they return the favor (my karma for laughing I suppose).

Penn's new best friend is an OTTB who is just as mouthy as he is. Within a week or two, the horse has figured out velcro and zippers. Penn's hood didn't stand a chance (thank goodness it's Smart Pak's Ultimate Turnout with 10 year guarantee- that is the only thing that will stand up to this pair of ponies). Every day Teddy and Penn facebox and pick at each other's clothes- Teddy unvelcros Penn's 2 hood closures, and then unvelcros two of the 3 pieces that attach it to the main blanket (the 3rd attachment is an actual clip).

Basically, I have to change both of his SmartPak Ultimate Turnout Hoods from velcro straps to clip-able straps because Penn can't socialize properly and lets his friends undress him. *facepalm*

So I've devised a modification to the hood- I'm going to fold over the edge of the velcro closure and sew surcingle buckles onto the end (which means I'll have to sew additional nylon onto the main hood), so it both velcros and buckles.

Not using the bottom pieces.

Gray nylon. May or may not match existing nylon. From Amazon. Go Prime!

To further help the surcingle buckles stay buckled, I'll put these annoying rubber stoppers on them:

These are the devil's o-rings.

I'm going to go the extra mile and going to sew clips onto the 2 non-clip hood attachments. This is my biggest problem with these hoods- the whither has an actual metal clip, and the attachments on each side of the shoulder are super long elastic with velcro (which you put through a D ring and stick it to itself...dafuq). Why on earth there aren't 3 clips, I'll never know. The elastic velcro lets the hood and blanket gap at the shoulder (by like 4 inches), which lets in the cold and the rain. We've tied knots in the elastic and do some complicated loop through the d ring to take all of the slack out of the elastic. It makes it a PITA to move the medium hood between his medium and heavy blankets. Since I have to wash and sew both hoods already, I'm going to sew clips onto the elastic as close to the hood as I can.

Do you know how hard it is to find this particular snap? I had to order from Dover!

I ordered the main parts from Riding Warehouse and realized I wouldn't get the 2 day $5 air without making the $50 order minimum. Well you know I had to meet that so I can get sewing quickly! The more days it takes me to do this, the more days my pony will end up undressed.

I'm going to convert his BOT mesh sheet to a snap closure up front. Buckles annoy me.

The mesh sheet also has a stupid shoelace type tail strap. It also annoys me because it absorbs shit. Literally.

I love Noble Outfitters Peddies. I ordered two more pairs in black.

On the plus side, I sold Penn's original Stubben 1984 a few weekends ago, along with his old TSF girth, to a lovely lady at the barn who has always wanted to do dressage. She started taking dressage lessons and Dressage Trainer asked her to have her multiple saddles evaluated by a saddle fitter. It turns out all of her saddles are way too wide for her horse. I saw her tacking up with 4 saddle pads under her Australian stock saddle and asked her if she'd like to try my Stubben (she liked BO's Daughter's saddle and mine is similar but with bigger knee blocks). She loved it, but Penn's was a bit too wide for her horse. I fetched my old saddle that is 2cm narrower from the local tack shop the next day, hooked her up with a short girth for it (she has a horse that uses a smaller girth than Penn!), and she used it in her lesson 3 days after sitting in my current saddle. Everyone loved it. She got off the horse and wrote me a check. Awesome! I let it go for less than I wanted, but it is gone and is in excellent hands who love it.

No more shopping for me! This was more than enough.