Jodphurs/Breeches

Everyone is talking about breeches. This blog is equal parts boring and depressing so I guess this topic is a nice one to escape to that everyone can relate to.

We call the long ones jodphurs here and the short ones that have the velcro at the mid calf breeches here in Oz.

I have a variety of the same type of jodphur in a bunch of sizes as I have lost/gained weight over the last few years. I HATE HATE HATE sticky bum jods. Hate them. They're shit to ride in and shit to wear around. The crotch never sits right on me and believe me, I've tried because I love the look of them. I also don't like high rise or hipster jods. They have to sit just right though when I'm on because I have my belly button pierced and often take it out to ride because the rise I like irritates it. I don't really have winter and summer ones because it doesn't get that cold here. 0 degrees Celsius (32f) is about as cold as it gets. It does get hot (like, 45 celcius) in summer but we don't ride when it's that hot anyway. So I have the same thickness for both summer and winter.

Years ago when I was working at an endurance training property I was bought my first pair of jods that I actually wore. I remember telling them that I could ride all day in jeans and they laughed at me, saying I should just try a pair of jods. Once I did a few days training with them I realised that I needed the jods. I've been riding in jods since then (unless I'm super lazy and am already wearing jeans).

So normally for riding I wear a pair of jods (that are always too long for me even though I'm quite tall), folded up with my socks on the inside, with my top boots over the top.

Sooooo interesting, I know. :p As a reward, have a random picture from my phone of my dog meeting Natalie's dogs for the first time. CUTE.

Allie Stresses Me Out

I'm going to put pictures of Allie at comps in this post to make myself feel better worse.

Look at me. So happy. So Naive

 
Ugh. So Allie has had a snotty nose for about 4 weeks now. Started off in both nostrils (I thiught it was a cold she had picked up), then after a week it moved to just the left nostril, never been particularly bad or particularly smelly. Slight odour, sometimes stronger, sometimes not. She has been eating normally this whole time.

Because it wasn't going away, I emailed the vet and she has put her on 10 days of antibiotics. Two days in, and the discharge is getting worse.

So pretty all clipped with a false tail in.

I'm trying to save judgement until after the course finishes. But I can't help thinking that it might be those teeth causing issues.

I hope they aren't dying. Poo bum sticks.

Hand Gallop Blog Hop: What's in a name?

Seeing as there is nothing more interesting happening than a snotty Allie nose that seems to be clearing, let's do a blog hop, shall we?

Ballymount Alleycat - Allie

Miss Allie. In all her muddy, muddy glory.

Allie came with the name Ballymount Alleycat. They called her Alleycat which a) doesn't suit her at all and b) I hate. Years ago there was this poor old Standardbred mare crippled with navicular at the property I used to agist my OTTB which broke my heart. Her name was Alleycat, and to me the name is cursed.

She is so sweet.

So Alleycat wouldn't work for me. I just called her Allie for short and to be honest I love the name for her now. She has a nick name of Al-bal or Allie-ballie thanks to Nat. No idea where it comes from but it has stuck!

Back when she was still pretty from both sides...

Honey Badger - Gracie

Don't let the cute face fool you. She is out for your blood.

So when we first got Gracie she looked like a feral horse straight from the bush, which she pretty much was.

Super feral.

Nat named her Gracie simply because she liked the name Grace. We all know now that she can be a mole of a horse and is rather graceful while tearing around the paddock kicking at your head. She is so marey. So, so marey.

The Honey Badger thing is best explained by this video:

Seriously, Gracie doesn't give a shit. She eats ANYTHING. She takes what she wants, does what she wants, is a general bad ass and really doesn't need any human in her life. She is the opposite of sweet affectionate Allie.

But she looks so cute!

When Nat took her to her first show, she wanted a show name for her but couldn't come up with anything. We joked about Honey Badger, but I don't think Nat was serious about it. Too bad for her that I did the online nomination for them. I chose Honey Badger and it really has stuck. We love it now. She lives up to it on a regular basis.

Shaun's Image - Beckham

"Getting REAL sick of your shit Lisa..."

Beckham's sire was a TB from New Zealand called Young Shaun. Apparently Becks looked just like him, therefore Shaun's Image.

He really was quite handsome.

His stable name when I got him was Gus. Weird thing was, the old man who I got him from was also called Gus. He looked like a Gus, with his big round belly and short chewed up tail. But I hated Gus. Hated it. I couldn't find a name I liked but my mate Casey suggested Beckham. Now, I'm not a soccer fan at all, but the name really suited him. So it stuck.

Gosh I miss that horse.

Wombat - Pom

Oh my sweet pony. Sweet, long suffering pony.

Wombat was my first pony I got when I was 12. He came with the name Wombat. I don't know anything about his history, we bought him from a dodgy horse dealer.

No helmet. No hair tie. No saddle. Really, it's lucky I was even wearing boots.

His nickname was Pom. After about the first year or so I hardly ever called him Wombat. Always Pom. Some people assumed that was his only name! The way a 13 year old girl progresses from Wombat to Pom is this: Wombat>Wombie Pombie>Wombie Pom>Pom.
I shit you not.

So cute, so yellow.

Anira

That is the look of a pony who suffers ownership by a 13 year old pony obsessed girl.

Anira was a sweet old long suffering paint pony we bought from another dodgy horse dealer. Can you tell we didn't come from a horsey family?

Anira is a nerdy nerdy nerdy name. I am a super nerd, just FYI. It means desired in Sindarin Elvish from Lord of the Rings.

Yep.

So she got that name because Natalie (being about 9 years old at the time) desperately wanted a paint mare. This horse was too old and too expensive but she got her because she was a paint mare. The poor pony only stayed sound for about 3 years after Nat got her and retired not long after. She was also always a crazy hot ride. All she wanted to do was go fast, jump, or do sporting events, which her arthritic hocks couldn't handle.

Summer coat, winter fuzz ears.

She was super sweet and quiet on the ground so she wasn't any trouble to have around really. She was loved and I know Nat still misses her terribly.


That's it! What a great idea for a blog hop.

Costs

So Amy wrote a post that included how cheap it was for her to keep her ponies at home.

Made me remember that I recently went through the costs for the yearly bare essentials of keeping a horse in my little part of the world, Western Sydney.

Agistment:$80/week (this gets you a large grassed yard with decent fencing and depending on the situation, normally either half or no care - so DIY mostly).
Feed: $30 a weekHooves: $50 every 5 weeks (trim because I'm a barefoot person)Teeth: $150 by vet dentist with sedation once a yearVaccinations: $300 a year
So bare essentials = $6,690 a year. $557.50 a month for one horse. That's 9.1% of the average full time Australian income (a quick google puts this at $72,800 per year including tax. To be honest, in Western Sydney it would be about $10k less than this).


This makes me wonder - how much does it cost to keep a horse in your neck of the woods? Just agistment (or board or wheatever you Americans call it :P), feed, hooves, teeth and vaccinations. Also, how much of the average wage is this?

Spring fun

Allie has been good. Natalie's friend Hania has come to ride her two days in a row now - I've followed them to the dam and had a hop on myself too.

She has had a snotty nostril that smells a little off. No food particles, just white or slightly yellow/green and not continuous. Just keeping an eye on it for now.