Of Christmas and NO time!

Rode my boy about 3 months ago with just halter and a non tied lead rope ... BAREBACK!

Now that it has been determined the Muffin is sound, I have had NO time to ride him!  Agh!  I will have time tomorrow and Friday, the question is "Will the weather cooperate?"  I will be prepared with longe line and surcingle tomorrow, weather permitting.  I forcibly made him sound when I went to Tractor Supply and spent about $30 on abscess supplies;)

Seriously, I have NO idea if it really was an abscess.  2 days, that's how long he was off.  I almost think he stepped on a rock running around like an idiot in the pasture, and all the soaking and wrapping made the sole of his foot feel much better.  After buying the supplies, I noticed he walked out of his stall looking pretty sound, so I ran him up to the ring with the longe line, and he looked slow and tight as per usual, but sound and even in all 4 legs.  I am so ready to not be running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  Oh well, it never hurt a horse to give him a little time off!  Saving his legs and all that.

In other news, I will do a product review!  The awesome website www.equestrianclearance.com had a pair of boots very similar to the Dublin River boots.  I've never thought much about them, but upon walking my first xc course EVER (at 7:00 in the morning, of course!), I realized exactly WHY the Dublins and Dubarrys are popular ... wet grass!  Sad thing for me is ... my calf is 16" on one leg, and a 16.5" on the other.  Yup, too fat for any of the Dublins or Dubarrys.  Imagine my surprise and delight when I realized these feature a 17" calf in the size 8.  Hmmm.  I wear a 7 1/2, so I'm SURE an 8 would work!

They only took about a week and a half to arrive from the UK, securely packaged up.  I opened the box and was VERY pleasantly surprised by the excellent quality.  They were gorgeous.  I held my breath as I slipped my leg inside; I have tried on half chaps that were *supposed* to measure a certain size, but all I know is they were TOO small.  Woo Hoo!!!  They went on PERFECTLY.  Downside is they're a little too tall, and the foot is WAY too big, but I'm so delighted they fit my calf, I've been wearing the heck out of them.  Right away, I wore them out to dinner and got no less than 7 people complimenting my footwear choice, and where could they get them?  Lol.  It's fun telling non horse people how to buy horse boots.

I have been wearing them to teach, not trashing them by mucking stalls in them.  Even though they are not *quite* as cushy as they appear in the pic, they're strangely comfortable.  I did ride in them one time; the big foot made it sort of tough, but the calf was super comfy and the stirrup leather didn't pinch or anything.  They've broken in nicely, and I've even worn them over jeans AND long underwear.  I think the extra elastic gullet adds versatility to the fit.  I've had them now for about 2 months, and they're holding up very well.  I think the nu buck leather looks a little rough when well worn, but that's purely cosmetic.  I need to find a product to clean them up some; they have dried mud and arena footing on them, but they're fairly warm and only rubbed a blister when I wore short socks with them.  When I wear long socks (and the thicker the better), the more comfortable they are.

Bottom line, I would absolutely recommend these boots to ANYONE with a slightly larger calf.  They're good looking, they wear well, they're comfortable, and they're functional.  Get them from www.equestrianclearance.com.  HERE