10/4/13

People, clean yo saddles.

Traded my old saddle, the 14 inch Circle Y, yesterday. We went to that huge POA Equestrian facility/barn when a young girl was out on an App for a lesson. We watched for a few minutes and they wrapped it up. Everything was quick, went in and out. I would've liked to look around but the lady was in a rush, apparently, soo........ I was a bit concerned about the size at first but I compared next to my saddle and it was actually slightly bigger than the other, which is good. It's sturdy. 24 pounds and my other was really light, probably a good ten pounds less. :)) She was happy with the trade and while I would've liked to get a name-brand I dealt with it. It needed a TON of cleaning and TLC, it was stored inside but it was kind of moldy. You can tell it was used and it's older.



I worked for a good 45 minutes straight on both of those stirrups. They. Were. Nasty. I know they will just get dirty again but I can't stand it. I clean my stirrups like, every time I ride. I can not stand dirty tack. So now, they are white as opposed to brown. No kidding, they were brown!
David had to check it out.

I had cleaned my saddle before I traded it because I advertised it as in fantastic condition and clean so I wanted it clean, I kind of think you should clean up a saddle a bit beforehand but I'm okay with work, soo...
Look! White stirrups!

Before. :P

There are stains on the seat, which I'm not overly fussy about because my butt will be there and cover them, but the silver is nasty so I'm going to get some polish for the silver recommended by another horsey friend. The scallops are still nasty, working on them some more today. I'll maybe probably be riding tomorrow after some plans with friends if we get back early enough. I think we will. Just have to tow my mother out.
After the cleaning. So Shiny!!

We got word on Spirit yesterday from A. She said that after two days of stall rest he is perfect again, definitely NOT laminitis like we thought it could be. We're 99.9% positive that it's stone bruises. I asked her if she thought he'd be okay for a ride on Saturday-she walked him everywhere to check him out and etc-and she said that she thinks he'll be fine. Acting bratty again so more Spirit-like.
 
The things this kid does.
  After I cleaned my saddle, I logged on my facebook and was welcomed by a mess of notifications. One person said I was "too obsessed" with horses and that it was stupid, so I wrote this huge long status: Ba-boom, baboon.

"People don't seem to understand my "obsession" with horses. It's not an obsession, it's a passion. You may be passionate about a sport, but I'm passionate about something deeper. I love the sport, but I didn't fall in love with the sport, I fell in love with horses. Your equipment is a baseball bat, a ball, but mine is a living and breathing creature, capable of love and passion. It's something that could kill me any second, but chooses not to because I form a bond with it and we make a team. I dream of one day showing in Ranch Pleasure, showing off my passion and my bond with an amazing horse, preferably Red, but if I never get to, I'm fine with that. If my only reward for loving horses is having those special ones in my life, that I know love me back, that's enough. You say I'm obsessed? I take it as a compliment. I'm not partying, or doing drugs like a bunch of other kids do at my age. I'm doing something that I am truly passionate about. I'm making a difference for that one horse that made a huge difference in my own life and I will never regret one second of my horse-crazy'ness. I couldn't be happier with my life. God gave me this passion, He gave me horses and I thank Him for that every day, because I don't know what I'd do without them. (And also, I've made some pretty amazing, life-long friends along the way that I don't know what I'd do without. I'd list all of them, but it'd take awhile and this status is SUPER long anyways, lol)" 

Then I added a photo of Red and I because my horse is just awesome.




Take that, Mr. "Horses are silly."

11 comments:

  1. Best silver polisher ever Twinkle Silver Polish. Its amazing!

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    1. Need to look that up!! The silver on both of the new saddles are awful and need some shine!

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  2. Go Kalin!! :) I'm glad that people understand my passion for horses, but my brother (who also rides) always claims "that you just sit there! You don't do anything but sit there." I think he's just jealous ;) That's not true... He just wants to go out there and ride, not form a bond with his horse. It kind of bugs me, but it's not my issue to deal with, but you're still kind of forming a bond with your horse when you ride, but it's not what you have with Red. The bond you have with Red, it's amazing! It makes me strive to want to make my bond better with Flicka. I've been working with her on groundwork, trick training, and a little bit of liberty. :) In just about 2 weeks, she's following me around the arena, looking for what I'm asking next. I'm really really proud of her!

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    1. Haha! Thanks! Yeah, I can't stand it when people are so focused on the riding but not the actual horse. I don't do liberty, I practice Natural Horsemanship and etc, but I think it's great that you are working on creating a bond with Flicka. I'm happy I can inspire you a bit!! :) You have a one up on me, you see, you have your horse on your property and while Red is close, he's not with me 24/7, no matter how much I want that, it won't happen for awhile if ever. Go out there every day, you'll end up having such an amazing bond. Most of Red and I's relationship was established in those couple weeks when he was at my home and I wasn't even riding. Go out there, sit around and just talk to her. It sounds like a little, but it goes a long, long ways. :)

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    2. I've been looking a lot into the Pat Parelli (Spelling?) Program lately. I'm super interested in it, but it's kind of expensive! I thought about asking for a membership to it for Christmas, but it's a lot of money to spend for a whole year. 99$. That's a lot! But in order to pay for it, I'll do things around the house etc. I'm excited to go outside and work with Flicka today! She's starting to 'get' things more, and what I'm asking. :) I hope you can bring Red to your house sometime soon! :)

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    3. I don't know a whole lot about Parelli but I've heard a lot of good things!! Honestly, you can do the methods without joining. That's what I'd do. Look up the videos on Youtube and read about the techniques. :) I'd love to, but we'd have to move! We're thinking about getting some property with a barn and putting a double wide on it to live in, we're not picky people, but we would like to have our horses at home. Plus Jeff wants a horse and we can't get another one at our barn right now. It'd be easier to work with all of them if they were at home :))

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    4. I was going to go out and work with Flicka, but now it's downpouring. :( Oh well. Tomorrow! I'll have to look into the techniques more. :) You could always move to Iowa! ;)

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  3. I love what you said on your status update...People just need to understand that horses are a passion; they make us who we are. Without horses in our lives, we would be totally different people than we are today. :)

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  4. It's apart of our lives, not an obsession :)

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  5. There is a difference between an obsession and a passion for something. As long as you are putting the Lord first and have your priorities straight, I think you (anyone) will be fine. I think you, Kalin, are passionate about horses and love to share with people what you have been learning and adventures you have with your horse, Red.
    Like other things in life, horses take time, and some of us chose to spend our time with them.
    And in the mean time, like to connect with other horse people through blogs and such! =)

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