Cob Jockey

We had a heat wave last night (34F!) and looking at the forecast, I knew I needed to get on Disco for the first time in a couple weeks.

We have three days of this heat wave before multiple days of highs not getting much past 10F and lows below zero, and then it's time for my first lesson with my new trainer. So I thought - I need to at least feel confident that we can steer, walk and trot before that lesson.

This horse made a liar out of me. As I was tacking up, I was telling barnmate Leah that I wanted to work on steering off my seat, because as of the last time I rode him a week or two ago, that's still new to him even if rein aids aren't, thanks to his driving background.

I keep joking that he needs to sleep on things to learn them, but it really seems to be true. Not only was he steering off of my seat easily last night, he was stopping off of my seat, moving forward and back at the walk from my seat, and was even moving laterally off my seat a bit when I needed to move him toward or away from the rail. All of this both while neck reining and direct reining.

These were also our first ever longer trot sets, and I could really feel him experimenting with balance. I tried to use my body to stay centered and to help him out, and I allowed him to play with pace. He still defaults to slug mode at the walk, especially if he's unsure of himself, so it was nice to feel him try out a more forward trot. And when it got so forward that it was inhibiting him from finding his balance, stilling my seat and saying "eaaaasy" brought him right back.

It's kind of amazing how safe I feel on this horse already, and how riding him already feels like riding Connor in some ways. I have to remind myself to ride a little defensively and practice grabbing the neck strap, because I know I'll need both eventually. But really, he's being such a good boy.

Emma asked about Connor in the comments of the last post, and since I just sold his Patrick Dressage saddle this week (to a blogger!) it seems like a good time to talk about what he's up to.

Being loved on by children

I had a lot of emotions wrapped up in that Dressage saddle. My first, and probably only, custom saddle purchase. It was well over 2 years of research, searching and waiting before I finally got it, and we were going to get our bronze medal in it. It's just the way of the universe that after all that I never even showed in it, or even really took regular lessons in it.

Truth is, not a lot has changed since this post. Connor is sound, healthy and happy, but he was getting to a point in Dressage where it just wasn't fun for either one of us. That happened around the time the most tumultuous 24 month period of my life began, and I stopped riding, even though it took me until basically now to start calling him "retired."

That Dad Bod is a far cry from his Second Level bod, and he's earned this bod just as much

Connor, at 19 this year and sound as can be, owes me nothing. He gave me everything - the opportunity to try sports I had only dreamed about, the chance to go further up the levels than I thought I ever could in both Dressage and eventing. He put up with me riding him quite poorly for long periods of time before I learned better and yet he never tossed me (I've still never come off of him one single time in 13 years) and he still nickers at me every single time he sees me. And I will cheerfully pay his room and board for the rest of his life if that's all he ever gives me.

Annie and momma riding next to each other because Annie is finally ready to be off the leadline

But he IS still giving. He's got a part-leaser who rides him about once a week, a former co-op member who lost her heart horse a couple years ago and decided to take a break from horse ownership. He's got two little girls that, when it's not miserably cold out, come take pony rides on him. He's quiet enough for me to put anyone on him, but educated enough to still be a blast for a more advanced rider. 

Let's also not forget the fact that babysitting Disco is a very important job too - without Connor, Disco wouldn't have a turnout buddy. Connor would definitely prefer a less boisterous turnout buddy at his age, and I'm grateful to him for putting up with him.

Sorry, buddy.

In a perfect world, either I or the part-leaser would be riding him more than we are just to keep him moving, but I'm not beating myself up about the fact that I don't have the bandwidth to keep two horses going, work my full-time job and still handle farm chores and maintenance. I still hop on him occasionally, but he's not in any kind of steady work, and he probably never will be again unless the right on-farm lease situation pops up.

He's my heart horse, forever and always, and it's such a privilege to be able to give him a sound, happy retirement after all he's done for me.

We have a potential new boarder joining the co-op this month, and at her introductory monthly co-op meeting, she asked "Do you all ride a lot?"

I thought...yes I do! And then I thought, well, no, it's been years since I rode "a lot". But I'm actually motivated to ride now! So...yes! I'm going to!

I mean, I WAS riding...

Maybe this is why we have Januarys as northern equestrians. To let that "I want to!" feeling build and swell on the -2F nights when it's all you can do to just keep the horses alive and happy. To take stock of why you do all this in the first place and what parts of it matter to you. To look at the show calendar and dream of jackets-are-waived weather.

In the spirit of "someday it will be warm again, probably", here are my plans for Disco for the year, in no particular order:

• Trail ride as much as possible. Especially early in the year when the trails are quiet.
• Attend some smaller schooling shows, either as a non-compete or showing Intro tests, whatever he tells me he's ready for.
• Attend one show with atmosphere - maybe NDPC just for the in-hand breed show day.
• Start taking regular lessons again - more on this soon.

I've fallen in love with wool gear over the years, for more than just the barn. Lounge pants, tanktops, socks, shirts. Merino isn't the heavy, itchy stuff I used to think of when I thought of wool. And it naturally repels the body oils that other fabrics pick up more readily, allowing it to go longer between washes than, say, a technical fabric.

My grandma got me a Minus33 Lightweight Ridge Cuff Beanie - 100% Merino Wool for Christmas, and I have to say that after using it for a few weeks, hats are no longer the forgotten "whatever works" part of my winter wardrobe.

It's lightweight: by far the thinnest winter hat I own. I notice it a lot less than my other winter hats. But despite that, it's incredibly warm. All the way into the low single digits F, I have yet to miss any of my heavier hats. That said, when it does get warmer, wool is a lot more temperature-forgiving than other fabrics, so I expect when (if?) it ever warms up again, it will be comfortable to wear up into the 50s F just like my wool shirts.

Minus33 does have a heavier weight hat, but so far, I haven't felt the need to spring for it.

Another "OMG I can't believe I'm feeding in a t-shirt" photo

It also had the unexpected benefit of playing much more nicely with the Carhartt Montana Puffer Jacket hood, which is sherpa lined. My other hats would catch on it to where I couldn't turn my head inside the hood. This hat is so thin and smooth, it slides nicely underneath it.

Like all wool, you need to follow the manufacturer's recommendation on care, which can vary between brands. This one wants to be machine washed on cold/delicate with gentle detergent and then tumble dried on low. They also suggest storing it in an airtight box in the offseason.

Bottom line: It's a hat - there's not a lot to say, but it's a great hat.

What: Minus33 Lightweight Ridge Cuff Beanie - 100% Merino Wool 

Sizes: One size

Price: $22.99 from Minus33.com, also available on Amazon

Colors: SO MANY COLORS. 26 different colors to be exact.

Longtime readers of the blog know that you could describe me as obsessive when it comes to finding great cold weather gear. I developed Reynauds in my early 20s, and if I let my fingers and toes go numb long enough, I can sometimes pass out when the blood comes back to them. 

After eight years of wearing the same outfit, my cold weather gear finally changed this year and man, some of these pieces are too great not to share with everyone. So here's the first in a three part series about what's new:

I've found the holy grail of winter weather barn coats.

I had to get a new one this year, and I landed on the Carhartt Montana Puffer Coat - Sherpa Lined. On Carhartt's warmth scale, it's a maxed out "4 - Extreme Warmth Rating". For comparison, the canvas coats you usually think of when you think Carhartt are a "3 - Warmest Rating".

Guys, I almost returned this coat. It's TOO WARM at temps above 15F. It's too warm to wear a scarf with, too warm to wear a vest with. Too warm for a single Smartwool base layer. Way too warm to wear my Underarmour 4.0 with. I sweat no matter what I wear under it even though my body doesn't handle cold well at all. You put your hands in the pockets and they are immediately WARM. It's remarkable, and I can't get over it. 

Just as a fun experiment for this post, I did an hour of feeding, turnout and stalls in just a t-shirt and this coat when it was 18F this morning, and I was sweating! I have never felt anything like it before, and I'm truly in awe of it. 

The weather this morning

How I dressed for it

Other upsides to this coat are:

• Extremely durable water-resistant and windproof outer layer. Yes, it's a puffer coat, but it's a puffer coat that takes the abuse of farm work no problem.
  
• Great pockets - big, warm pockets (with zippers) for jamming your gloved hands into, snap pockets to drop things into, a nice big cell phone pocket on the chest, and an easy-to-access massive mesh pocket on the inside.
• Internal wrist cuffs - you can't see or feel them, but you can feel that the cold isn't getting into the sleeve
• It's lightweight and doesn't restrict my movement in any noticeable way.
  

Giant mesh pocket

It does have some downsides:

• It's massive and not at all attractive. Imagine what the Michelin Man would look like if he had all the curves of a cereal box. That's what you'll look like wearing it.
  
• The zipper sucks. It's plastic and sometimes gets stuck. I can already tell I'm going to be making a trip to the seamstress this summer to get it replaced with a metal one.
• The hood is not removable. This really bothered me at first and I felt like it was constantly hitting me in the back of the head, but I don't notice that as much now - not sure if the hood relaxed as I wore it, or if I'm so grateful to be warm that I don't care. I did have to get a different winter hat to fit under the sherpa-lined hood - more on that in another gear review post.

Sexy, it is not

Closeup of the sherpa lining in the hood and body of the coat