Jet Lag Kicking In: What Would You Wear?

Phew- jet lag is finally kicking in! And the timing, of course, is not ideal. The apparel team is "sequestered" in a nearby hotel for the Spring '15 Apparel Sales Meeting- kicking off English & Western apparel product for the upcoming Spring.

I've got a mountain of email, some major fires upon return, and a line of Western product that I double starred in my catalog. Note to self- set aside 1 million dollars for January 1 2015 when all this stuff starts shipping.

Despite the pure exhaustion I'm still super excited to review English product and round up on trends in the market.

Since I am not exactly buzzing about the shows right now- do share- what trends are you all seeing out there?
Rust colored breeches? Hunter green coats? Tek tops in neon colors?
Don't be shy & share your wishlist items!

Dogs of Ariat Sales Meeting- Louie!

Home Sweet Home

Just back from the grand European adventure- which was totally fabulous! I'll be posting over at Em is a Gem should anyone like to follow along!

Truth be told- I did not see many horses hanging about in any of the cities we visited. There was a pair spotted at the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace and carriage rides in Bruges, Belgium.

Needless to say, I was VERY happy to see Ellie today!

My biggest horse related hurdle of the trip? I had REALLY been looking forward to catching up on my horse blogs on the loonnnggg travel days but sadly wifi was not available on either flight!
Paul had a pretty quick turnaround and left today for a work trip in Baltimore- so I know what I'll be doing with my evenings!

Guards at Buckingham Palace

Off to Europe!

We're off on vacation to Europe until May 3rd! I'm going to miss her face!

Juniors and Matching Horses

Our juniors tend to skew a little more traditional in attire- both for themselves and their horses. I have seen some pretty wild things at other barns- zebra polos, leopard saddle pads, and hot pink stirrups- often all being used at the same time.

I did spot Kaitlyn and Fire in matching outfits in our Sunday lesson! So cute!
How do the kids at your barns show their personality?

Right Lead Recap

I rode Friday afternoon in a little flat private with Emma. She's been working with Ellie all week and I swear she has the magic touch. After a quick trot we moved into the dreaded canter. Emma had us figure eight with a simple trot lead change. Despite picking up her left lead instead of her right in the first go around- she quickly came back to a trot and moved into the right lead. After that- smooth sailing! No ear pinning at all- happy as a clam. After a couple of successful eights I suggested that we be done. Emma pushed us a bit and had us do the final exercise with simple change from a walk.  It was beautiful. So we quit for the day.

On to our little Sunday private with Alison- sure enough we were just as successful in getting that right lead! We hopped over a few crossrails but she was starting to get crabby so we kept the program light and ended on a good note!
Happy to see the progress and proud of Ellie!

The weed wacker after her bath!