The Horn of Shame

After her terrible behavior on our hack, Dee had to wear the "horn of shame" today.  

I jest... sort of.  I actually just love dressing my horses in silly costumes, and this was a remnant from DragonCon, where I dressed as a unicorn.  I decided that Dee would make a cute unicorn, and since she is a good sport about letting me put ridiculous things on her head, we just went with it.  The BM got a kick out of the fact that she just lets me do these things to her.  As you can see, she does not look thrilled about being a unicorn.

Eventing Nation posted this great list of Ten Things Eventers Love to Hear, and some of them definitely hit home.  For instance:

1. That little rear/buck/scoot combination during your test was quite spectacular!
I have heard a variation of this.  When Kess and I went to an event in Wilton with Dusty, he was being an absolute troll in the Cross Country warm-up because he couldn't see Dusty.  He was leaping, rearing, spinning, and doing some really impressive airs above the ground.  I was half a second away from killing him, and one of the Pony Clubber girls there to volunteer came up to me and said "wow!  Your horse is SO talented and gorgeous!"  It gave Kess a stay of execution and he went on to absolutely rock the cross-country (even though we had to gallop by the trailers).

2. Trainer: Your 20 meter circle actually somewhat resembled a circle! 
Ok, so Dusty was not always the best behaved dressage horse.  During one test early in our partnership, the test called for a canter transition followed by a 20-meter circle.  Basically, I asked for canter, Dusty may (or may not) have held it together for a stride or two (I can't remember), and then she went on a broncing rampage.  I somehow managed to keep her in the dressage ring, and got back to where we needed to be in the test, but we definitely never made that 20 meter circle.  When I got the test back, the judge had given us a 3 for that movement (!) with the comment "circle not round."  Uh, you think?

3. How do you keep your white breeches so clean??
No one has ever in the history of my riding career complimented me on how clean and tidy I look.  I am a dirt magnet.  It's not something I strive for, it's just a cold hard fact.  Back in the days of horse camp, I earned the "dirtiest camper" award because I was always covered head to toe in grime by the end of the day.

Day 21- Your perfect riding outfit
As you will notice in #3 above, I am not renowned for my clean and tidy riding attire.  My perfect attire includes boots without holes, half-chaps, and a comfy shirt.  Sometimes I can't manage the "boots without holes" part, but so far my new paddock boots are holding up.