Not gonna lie, I’ve been walking on air since we finished on that 28.3 (whaaaat?) and scored our last qualifying placing for AEC’s. If this is a dream, please no one pinch me.
Although when Henry and Halo got home from Corona and we tried to be nice by turning them out in the round pen for a few minutes, they decided their weekend long bromance was over and broke up in pretty epic fashion. There was a lot of kicking and horrible noises but it looks like both boys managed to escape with just superficial wounds. I might kill them, but they managed not to kill each other. This is why Henry has no friends.
Not even that could damper my mood, although it did make me feel like I should cover him in bubble wrap with a layer of full body armor over top until September. Brace yourselves for much obsession over every bump, lump, scratch, scrape, and funny step for the next 4 months. I already booked the hotel because I know as we get closer to opening date the rates will skyrocket, so cross all your crossables that I haven’t jinxed us. I’m about to get very superstitious and unreasonable and crazy. You have been warned.
Of course, it’s still so swampy and gross here that we’re never riding again anyway. It’s getting to the point where everything just smells like rot.
On the bright side, my horse has this one clean spot, so it’s not all bad right?
Not even the shitty weather can kill my buzz right now. You know why? Because BOOM.
Yep, that’s gonna get really obnoxious really fast.
Otherwise there’s very little else to report here except that I think I finally settled on the Airowear Outlyne as my new vest of choice, for a multitude of reasons that I’ll explain when I actually get it. Between that and a new Samshield and the cheap-but-it-works skull cap I already got, I’ll finally be all caught up to where I want to be in the safety department. I think Henry already has every piece of equipment any horse could possibly need, but I’ve been thinking about getting him some ice boots. However, I can’t find any that look promising and aren’t expensive. Let’s be honest, if it comes down to spending $200 on ice boots or just polo wrapping ice packs to his legs, I’m taking the cheaper way out. Any recommendations? I want all 4. Or I can just buy old crappy SMB boots and stick my ice packs under those, because I’m lazy.
breedrideevent.com 
What are you using the ice boots for? If it’s for after XC or competitions I really really think the big old yellow jack boots are the best for icing. But they are expensive. (I saw a pair once for cheap on eBay but didn’t buy them. I am now kicking myself for that.)
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After XC yes, but I’d like for them to be mobile. Usually after XC we walk and graze, then load up the trailer and leave. So I’d like to be able to slap them on while we’re walking and grazing.
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Then for the money worth, you’d probably be better off with just wrapping ice packs. I like my ice horse boots but I think they’re expensive for what you get.
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And actually the best part of the ice horse boots are the ice packs which you can buy separately if you were so inclined.
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I’m really interested in investigating the DIY ice boot situation. What I love about Ice Horse boots is the conforming “snow” that stays cold for 2 hours (IN FLORDIA. That is witchcraft.). I feel like the conforming nature of the snow gives you fantastic tendon (or hock) coverage. But I know that after a lot of freeze/thaw cycles the ice breaks down and no longer becomes conformable — so still super cold, but now conforming to the body even less than those little cell-gel ice packs. I’ve seen a lot of recipes for DIY conformable ice packs/snow on the interwebs, but they all seem like they will NOT stay as cold as the Ice Horse ones, and would probably be thawed in my cooler after just one day. So, what to do, what to do.
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Wow, two hours in the fl heat is awesome! They did great in Seattle but I thought that was because it wasnt so humid out there. If you try any recipes, let us know what you find out!
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I’m seriously considering just buying the ice packs and using my dressage boots to hold them on. Pretty much the same thing.
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Whoo! Way to go! I’m super behind on posts, so belated congrats to you for your STELLAR score!
My thoughts on ice boots? The price is not worth it. Just fill a bag with ice and tape it to the leg. Or find a local fast moving stream and stand in it. Ice boots just seem to break/not make contact/be weird/no better than just ice+tape.
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You’re probably right. We have no cool streams readily available in Texas but I’ve polo wrapped ice packs to the legs many times and it’s probably just easiest to keep doing that.
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Henry should teach Courage about how we wait until AFTER we go to shows to be idiots in the field.
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You can share all that goodness all you want. Because you are QUALIFIED baby! Mad skillz.
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I’m so envious that you have the AECs so close to you! Congrats again! I will live vicariously through you!
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This is the last year for Texas. I’m surprised they haven’t announced next years location yet!
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*crossing my fingers for east coast…unlikely as it is…*
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Congrats on qualifying on AECs! Did I already tell you that? I don’t think I did … Hope Henrypants heals up quick! And omg the swampiness is so disgusting right now.
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I have these, they are cheap, and they work great. I use them while we walk/graze or sometimes let him wear them home in the trailer if it’s a short trip, and they have always stayed put. I got the three panel short for fronts, and 4 panel long for hinds. I would like to do his hocks too but he just bucks in place until they go flying through the air, not helpful.
http://www.icewraps.com/other/equine/
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Haven’t read all the comments so maybe someone suggested this already, but Tubigrip, ice cubes, and an ace or standing wrap works JUST fine. It’s cheap, and he can walk around in them. More secure than ice packs and polos, which I’ve done, but I prefer this method.
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i am just so excited for you about the AECs!!!! you guys are gonna absolutely dominate 😀
i like that vest a lot too – and will be eager to hear your thoughts.
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Woot woot I think this makes you a pre-Champion yes? I really look forward to your vest decision-making because I’m evaluating right now. Also do you use and have you reviewed specific XC boots?
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I have a love affair with my Majyk Equipe’s, which I was actually planning on reviewing this week. If I have time to write it up tonight I’ll post that tomorrow.
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REVIEW THEM! i have loved the fronts havent gotten the back ones out of the bag yet just cause i hadn’t schooled yet….LOL
And congrats on qualifying! and poor Henry’s cuts and scrapes. BTW my money spend has gone up higher since I started following your blog. Thanks for that (NOT). 🙂
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This is SO AWESOME! Live it up :)!!!!
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