Cob Jockey

I've lost count the number of times I've participated in Blogger Secret Santa, and the number of blogs I follow these days, so it's always especially fun when I get a new-to-me blog for Secret Santa!


This year Lindsey at Alta Mira Horsemanship had me, and she knocked it out of the park!  I ended up with a gorgeous new flick brush, to replace my current one which is less...flicky...than it used to be:


And Connor got a bucket of Stud Muffins, which he LOVES.  I've been only feeding them in situations where I want a high value treat, like clipping.  Not that he's ever bad to clip, but I think he's especially excited for it now that clipping = eating these cookies.



Finally there was a lovely bar of chocolate in there too, which I went to take a photo of and discovered my husband had eaten it 😂  He thoroughly enjoyed it, for what it's worth.

Aftermath

Thanks for everything, Lindsey!

This post is a bit delayed due to, sigh, porch pirates.  This is only the second time in all the years I've lived here that I've had a package stolen.  I felt SO bad that my Secret Santa had to make and ship my gift twice,  and I honestly told her she didn't need to send me anything at all after I realized it was stolen - but she did anyway and it was SO worth the wait!


My Secret Santa was Stacie at Amateur at Large and she did an AMAZING job - really she went over the top if I'm being honest, and I love it.


If you don't read Stacie's blog, let me preface this post by saying matching is kind of her thing.  Not like, just matching your pad to your bonnet, but like, REALLY matching. 

When your shirt matches your pad matches your bonnet matches your polo wraps! PC: Stacie's blog

So you can guess what my Secret Santa present looked like 😁

When the coozies match the bag match the cup match the pug notebook.  My husband called the Noble Outfitters Wine Down hoofpick "unsanitary".  I laughed.  Looking forward to using that at shows this year!

But that's not all!  She also sent me a One Horse Threads long sleeve tee.  Let's be honest, most of the time my horse looks like the groom is off duty anyway (which drives Connor's Aunt Mary CRAZY), so this shirt is perfect for us.


And that's still not all!  She also sent me a bonnet - and I am kind of in love with it.  It's in our color, it actually fits Connor (very hard to do) and it's well-constructed.

Yes my bridle is dirty, don't judge, we are in full on "survive winter and nothing else matters" mode right now

Before anyone asks, that's not rain rot on his face, those are bite marks from the pony he's tuned out with

And even though it's winter and I definitely don't need to be riding in a bonnet right now, I put it on him anyway and constructed a matchy matchy outfit in honor of my Secret Santa!

But like, it's just a pad and bonnet, I don't have matching anything else.

I had just one "disappointment" out of the whole thing - peppermint pop rocks DO NOT taste like peppermint!  They taste like strawberry!  I feel so misled. 😂

Eye opening!

Thank you Stacie for the amazing Secret Santa gifts!  You rock!

One of the things I've grown to love best about blogging is the community, and the Secret Santa Tracy has hosted every year for the past...four? years totally epitomizes that.  I especially love it when Secret Santa leads me to a new blog to read like it did this year!

This year Rhiannon at The Horse is Not Black had me for SS.  She sent me a box chock full of goodies:


There were delicious chocolates:

...which were almost immediately stalked by someone that should not have chocolates (Bitsy):


Connor got a Mrs. Pastures stocking, which he devoured with enthusiasm (at least, as many as I would give him in one sitting, gotta watch that girlish figure):






And then I had specifically asked for trailering safety things for Christmas in general, so I was happy to find some magnetic and hookable LED lights and a helmet headlamp - both of which she remembered to put batteries in!


Since I use my trailer for year-round storage of things I don't use often, there are times when I just want to grab something quickly and don't want to bother with carefully backing my truck up so it's in range of trailer plug just to turn on the built-in lights in the tack room.  These are going to be awesome for those situations!  And they're SO bright!


Thanks so much, Rhiannon!  Love it!

Well that was fun!

How about something a little lighter?

I had Cathryn at That Red Mare for my Secret Santa, and from the moment I saw mini-sized anything on her list, I knew that's what I had to buy her.  Shopping for mini tack sounded exciting!

Before I packed her gifts, I had a little fun with one of them (sorry Cathryn!)  I tried to take some photos to show the rest of you the scale of these mini splint boots because they are SO TINY! I had to share.

In no particular order, a 35lb dog:

No dog hair was left on the splint boots in the making of this photo.  I'm pretty sure.

A parrot:

A handle of Tito's:

(And for historical comparison and proof that I am nothing if not consistent, here's Connor's open fronts in...basically the exact same scale photo from September):


Finally, miniature horse split boots are the exact right size to double as a beer/soda/cider coozie, so if you ever find yourself lacking a coozie at a horse show or around the barn Cathryn, now you know my Secret Santa gifts can pull double duty for you.


I hope you and Spud get lots of use out of your new boots, and I hope you don't mind my photo shoot!  Enjoy!

One of my favorite parts of blogging is this community we've cultivated, and Secret Santa is an awesome example of that.  Thanks to Tracy for putting in the work to make it happen year after year!

I always give several "hints" in my request to Tracy so that my Secret Santa can pick and choose the things they like best.  (It's a strategy I've had to employ in my personal Amazon list as well...my Grandma on my dad's side has a habit of looking at my list and deciding nothing "feels right" (What, trailer organization doesn't feel right?))

But this year my Secret Santa got everything I put on there and then some!  Thank you to Amber at Thoroughbred Adventure!


A stiff brush with a nice rubberized grippy back:


A softer brush with a padded and jeweled strap:


Three pairs of winter boot socks:


A Mrs. Pasture's stocking that I'm sure Connor will devour:


Two candy canes, and, most unexpectedly, a jar of Higher Standards!  I didn't ask for that, but it's a great gift, since my original jar is pretty old and the sponge melted into my Viva Carlos Sweet Lemon jar, so...it's kind of hard to use.

I've never tried this scent before, but I really liked it!

Thanks so much, Amber!  You went above and beyond for sure!

I didn't give my Secret Santa a whole lot to go on this year, besides that my horse has recently discovered Mrs. Pastures Cookies and turned into an insufferable treat whore lately.


Seriously, I don't think a day has gone by in four years that I haven't given him a treat, but it was always the peppermint ones from Rural King.  Now I started giving him Mrs. Pastures, and they may as well be pony cocaine!

Anyway, I was so excited when I saw what my Secret Santa had waiting for us!


A C4 belt in my XC colors with a chrome buckle, a Mrs. Pastures stocking for Connor, and a super cute family Christmas card (may have to steal this idea next year!)

My Secret Santa was...JumpPretty!  Thank you so much!

I partially opened Connor's stocking and gave it to him in his stall - occupying the 'Curious George' Welsh Cob brain and all.  It took him a few tries, he would push it around, get bored when no cookies came out, and come to my pockets for cookies that required less work!  But he had fun I think, and I gave him more cookies than he usually gets, cause, merry Christmas!



As for my half...


It's going to make a great replacement for the ribbon belt I thrifted in high school!

Such a cute pattern!

Shiny shiny.

Thank you so much, JumpPretty, and to Tracy for hosting!  Every year it has been fun both to give and to get!