And with her new ear nets she went galumphing back...

Galumphing. Is that not a fun word? The first thing that it brings to mind is a ploddy lesson pony. We all remember those days, I'm sure.

A play on a quote from Alice in Wonderland. Fantastic. Now, onward....

Greta got a pair of black ear nets (black because it matches all three of her pads and her polos) that look just absolutely sharp on her. I clipped out her ears for the sake of tidiness, because I'm cruel like that even though it doesn't inhibit her a bit haha, so when her fly mask wasn't on I noticed her shake her head here and there during rides and while tacking up. It also keeps her forelock in place (which is constantly braided, let down for a day, and re-braided to keep her hair from going everywhere underneath her fly mask and halter) and lastly, and I didn't realize this until after I used it one ride that it pads the crownpiece of her bridle!

I love her Wintec bridle to death because when I hose off her bit after a ride, I can get the bridle wet too! It was also one of the only black bridles I could find that didn't have a flash noseband, which is pointless for Greta because to have a flash noseband would A) inhibit her breathing because it would fit funny, and B) it would just treat a non-existent problem that the flash noseband was create to treat, which is gaping of the mouth. Greta doesn't do that, so why pay extra money for a noseband you don't need? But NO, it seems all dressage bridle must have flash nosebands... until I found the Wintec. And it's just nice to have synthetic. So that rant is settled. But now that Greta's fine summer coat is in, her facial fur rubs easily. It was that way last summer even with a padded leather halter. The sweat just makes the hair rub off behind her ears, and the little padding on the Wintec crown piece does not help any. I have yet to find a crownpiece pad that doesn't have some sort of super-special magnets in them or look like Greta has a giant fleece caterpillar on her poll. It grew back quickly during winter, so I figured I would just have to wait it out, but I did feel bad because I didn't know if perhaps it was causing any discomfort....

I pulled off the bridle and the ear net after my first ride with her new ear nets and et voila! No sweat to cause the hair to rub. It'll be a few weeks before I can truly see whether or not the hair is not rubbing off, but until then I accidentally discovered a solution to a previously-thought-to-be-incurable problem! I will let everyone know if the ear net does what I think it might. If your horse has that problem, I'd look at getting an earnet. I found some nice ones on Horse.com that don't have the silly fringe and come in some good basic colors.

So... I will see if my ear net adventure will lead me anywhere. I won't get rid of them, because they look really nice on Her Nibbs and she willingly puts her head into it, so she must like them. Or maybe I'm just thinking it. Probably the latter.

Anyway, conformation shots! The first one is from when I got her back in May 2009.

The second shot is from Tuesday, June 8th. I love how nicely her topline is coming along. Really it shouldn't be getting much bigger at this point in her training, I believe. Once we start moving up and going beyond the working paces, then I'm sure it will strengthen with proper training. She was so sweet and good for this, my little narcissistic pony!

I will put some more stuff of our riding up soon. I keep forgetting the set up the camera and ask people to get new videos. Oops. But until then enjoy some sweet pictures :)

I had been out for two days with parties for graduating and exchange friends after these photos were taken. When I came back Friday and went to go see Greta, she was all nuzzles and "AM I EXCITED TO SEE YOU!" It was one of those many moments when even though so many of my best friends are leaving to go back to Europe or to college, I still got my buddy just down the road :)