Centered in the Saddle

March is a busy time for me, especially this year. There are FOUR family birthdays this month, three of which occur within five days of each other. Two are on/around Saint Patrick’s Day, which is a big holiday in my life. Plus we’re getting closer to W Day and that means there are approximately 1,000 decisions to make and tasks to complete per day.

So it’s probably not the worst time for Duke to be on a short hiatus. He’s recovering from having a cracked molar removed. It all went well. Thankfully he can still be turned out, but this week we’re on handwalk-only duty. Another week of groundwork/lunging, and then should be able to resume riding as usual.

Apparently the vet had to crack the tooth in two to remove it, and told my trainer that “they’ll make great earrings.” Possibly the funniest text I’ve ever received, honestly.

In other good news, spring is trying to come a little early this year. *Knocks on wood* The snow is essentially gone, though it’s completely possible that we’ll have one or two more snowstorms before the month ends. Everything is muddy, but that actually makes me happy because it means the frost is coming out of the ground, and the sooner that happens, the sooner we can ride outside. And the sooner we can ride outside, the better. This is the time of year when the indoor arena starts feeling miiiiiighty tiny. I did get to take Duke for our first outdoor walkabout/cool-down of the year last weekend and it was glorious. Daylight Savings Time is great.

Spring Buying Things

Some people do “spring cleaning.” This year I’ve been doing “spring buying things.”

I went ahead and got the Back on Track Trauma Void helmet, when it was on sale at my hometown tack shop (which, despite being 5 hours away from where I live now, is still my favorite and I still do the bulk of my horse shopping there, either via phone/online or by sending my mom to be my shopping proxy #horsemomforever). I just got the notification that it shipped and I can’t wait for it to get here! I really hope it fits; though I measured my head about 100 times, I did not get to try one on before ordering so…fingers crossed. Don’t judge. It was on sale! That makes it okay. (And also I can just return it if it doesn’t work.)

I also got some Romfh International full seat breeches that I’ve had my eye on for awhile. The color (“Dove Grey”) is discontinued so when they popped up on Horseloverz for 50% off, I bought them. I wanted them as nice summer riding pants, and I figure they’ll look good with my red cross country shirt so I don’t have to try and wear my one pair of white breeches two days in a row. By ordering two pairs (in two sizes, so I can see which one fits), I got free shipping, plus I had some coupons so they ended up being $59.50 each. To which I was like…for new Romfh full seats, I’d be stupid to NOT buy these! And whichever pair doesn’t fit will be returned.

Oh and I also got one of those hanging grooming organizers for all my show brushes, braiding kit, fly spray and so on. I’ve wanted one for awhile and it went on sale for $25. Perfect. It’s going to make keep my trunk from becoming a pit of random mess. And it matches my bridle bag, so double win there!

And finally. Dover has a BOGO deal on Kastel shirts right now, so I got a short sleeve polo in my trainer’s colors. We’re going to have the team logo printed on them. And I did the responsible thing and split the BOGO deal with one of my teammates instead of buying myself two shirts.

The best part is, because I’ve been sticking to my budget and saving plan, I don’t even have to feel guilty about these purchases.  And because stores are putting stuff on hella sale right now, I’m not paying full price for anything. (I mean, realistically I rarely pay full price for anything. I love me some sales and clearance items.)

Have you been taking advantage of spring sales?