Orange Is The New...Orange: Including My New Favourite Neck Strap!

Solo getting his glow on in last fall's gear

Autumn:  beautiful riding weather...and rifle season for deer!  This means it's time to play "decorate in reflective strips & blaze orange" to make sure there is no room for uncertainty -- I am indeed a dork on horseback, NOT an enormous doe.

Once again, the great folks at Horze.com can help you & your partner stay safe with more accessories (enabling sequence initiated)!  Even outside of hunting seasons, being seen is critical, particularly if you ride near roads or in low light.

Orange You Glad I Can Use This Pun?

This October, they sent us a pair of their blaze orange reflective splint boots along with a matching nylon harness/yoke.  Both are emblazoned with broad reflective tape & bright print to appropriately scream, "HEADS UP!"

Sexy turf horse safety (sorry the orange looks yellow in pic)

One of the things I've appreciated about their products is the feeling that someone was thinking about what really matters to the average rider:  affordability & simplicity without completely sacrificing practical durability.

The boots are neoprene lined with solid, even stitching; they slid right into place & stay put while jumping without having to use "velcro death grip."  Which for those sensitive-skinned TBs, means no rubs either.  You bet they are lined up for use as turnout boots too (free bonus: finding your horse in a dark pasture gets much easier).

Can you see the boots??  ;P

I loved the easy clip around the neck of the yoke, which was also adjustable there & at the "make your own girth loop" attachment.  Visibility + neck strap rolled into one!  Although I think mine has the buckle stitched on incorrectly for the girth loop -- no worries, though, with their 100% happiness guarantee & free shipping both ways.

Reflect upon the visibility power!!

And my favourite part of both?  Hose 'em off when you're done, hang to dry, all clean!

Remember:  Knowledge IS Power...And Safety!

No matter where you are, always be aware of your local laws & regulations.  NC has a new law this year, making it legal to hunt deer with rifles on Sunday on private land (previously only bow-hunters & falconers could hunt Sundays).

So check your area's natural resource agency webpage:  we must all be responsible when sharing land & do our best to help prevent accidents.

U.S.: Get started finding yours here (although missing, uh, ours, LOL)

Our state's law requires all hunters to wear blaze orange in season & our Hunting Safety Education officers have done a great job making it a universally recognized symbol statewide.  We can use that to our advantage even if we're not the one in the deer stand.

Thank you again to Horze for sharing; check out more of their great line of safety gear (oh, I covet the sheet!!) & be seen, be safe, no matter what!

 

Help Me Help You! Sharing Struggles?

The almighty Google Webmaster has been telling me that there are many sharing fails occurring on the desktop version of our site.

Please help me quench the wails of anguish: I've tested both sets of sharing buttons in 3 browsers in both mobile & desktop platforms & can't seem to break it (make that ONE thing in my life that works).

Share your input so I can make everything better! Please add any relevant (or irrelevant, that's how we roll, after all...) info in the comments.

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Do You Struggle With Sharing?

Ever Tried To Catch A Greased Weasel?

Because that's pretty much what it's like trying to pin down sentences in my brain anymore.  Little buggers are elusive...

I know my last post was not entirely upbeat.

But a life is always far more complicated to actually DO than it may appear.

It could appear that my life is its own paradise. And there are many good things:

• The farm is beautiful in every kind of light.
• Fall field work, aside from the 4-hour drive to get to the watershed, is usually a lovely change from the heat-stroke ridden July trips.
• Two chestnut faces greet me twice a day, each voice unique.

But memories can be haunting.

But I’m doing my best to break everything into 5-minute increments.  My brain can just about DO 5 minutes.  And then I can check something, however small, off the list.

Well, my knee surgeon told me in 2012 I'm not allowed to run.  But I have a match in my hand (which means I’m probably burning my fingers, heh), though it flickers.  And I'm walking as fast as I can.

And damn it, I'm going to at least see what the walls of the tunnel are made out of.  And then my horses & I are going to gallop out into blazing sunlight.

At which point we’ll probably trip & throw a shoe, but hey, someone’s got to provide comic relief!

Why Should I Ride?

TB always ready! (Get it?!)

I felt a restless hassle, mixed with now-familiar fatigue, as I slipped the saddle billets into girth buckles.

Why am I doing all this?  I seem to have lost my goals for the time being…

Rational brain shook a finger at impulsive brain, saying, "Just get on the horse, you’ll see why."

I sighed & buckled my helmet strap as I led Encore into the top field.

With a quiet, ready eye, he took his place by my mounting cinder block/dressage letter & I swung up to his back with a fistful of mane.

As I slid my foot into the opposite stirrup & gave Encore his cue of Good Boy! to move forward into the crisp dusk of autumn, I looked towards my pond over my left shoulder.

That’s why.

Last autumn's pond delights

Oranges & reds of the setting sun were reflected in the concentric circles rippling out from a spot where a fish popped up to nab an insect, breaking the mirror surface of the water.

After the windy damp of the hurricane & the too-many rainy days before it, the clean breaths of a sun-cleansed evening were a glorious gift.

Everything in my body clicked into its respective place, my muscles wrapping around & channeling the energy of my horse, both us reveling in the sheer act of motion.

He responded in kind, stretching over his back, reaching up through the bridle for the connection, soft & ready to use his restless body.

Yes, most definitely yes.  That’s why.

C'mon, mom, there's a whole world out there for us!