From the end of the world to your town

The last few weeks have been full of poster art and riding and writing! The riding has been fantastic because I finally bought the the proper winter riding clothes. No more Mr. Nice Guy Construction Worker in my Carhartts. From this...

...to this!

Ta da! I bought a Mountain Horse Regal Coat and it is very regal and warm!

Smartpak had the coats on sale and I loved the first one so much that I immediately tried to order another one, but I was too late - they sold out!! No wonder - this coat is amazing. Also, as modeled by the adorable Noodlebug...

I got a pair of the Mountain Horse Polar Breeches which are warm as toast. On this particular day I had so much mud on the bottom that I slipped out of my boots and breeches in our mudroom so they could dry. Noodle thought I left them out specially for her!

Kristen over at sweet horse's breath recommended the SSG 10 Below gloves and she was right. These are perfectly warm for riding, even after bucket scrubbing.

In my new duds, the boys and I have hit some different trails. Both Foggy and Pie have been antsy to go off the property and I am finally warm enough to acquiesce. Foggy took me across the street to the church and then to the Webercroft neighborhood. We ran into a neighbor who was in shorts (!!!) and we talked to him for quite awhile. It was snowing while we talked and he didn't seem cold at all. I don't get that! Foggy "visits" with people like we do this all the time. He cracks me up. He nuzzles the person and listens intently. 

Pie made me ride up a secret hill near the Turnpike. He loves going places that are unusual and scary. The trucks are very close on this particular stretch. They can't hit us at all - we are safe, but they are close and loud. Pie likes to see them, I think. He makes me laugh.

All my post ride grazing and grooming sessions have been long and good for the horses because I don't feel rushed. Usually I am miserable after a ride because I am freezing, but with the proper clothing, winter isn't so bad.

In addition to the riding, I've been working on some posters to advertise the 150th Anniversary of the Confederate Occupation of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. (You can see one of the designs at the top of this post.) Our town is going to have a reenactment of the event this summer. In June of 1863, the Confederate soldiers came east toward Harrisburg and stopped for three days in Mechanicsburg. While here, they were kind to our townspeople, but they did demand food to be provided for the three day occupation and they stole our civilians' hats! Apparently, at this late date in the war, the soldiers' clothes were pretty shabby and most of them were hatless. The story goes that the soldiers loved to trot by on horseback and steal the hats from the residents in town. 

Some historians posit that the Confederate soldiers were worn out and tired when they got to Gettysburg precisely because of riding so far east to our town and back to Gettysburg. I am not a Civil War buff, so I don't know if that is true, but it was fun working on the posters and I plan to help out this summer with the horses during the reenactment. 

And, in exciting writing news, I had the opportunity to write an article for the Equitrekking website! The article is about my bit to bitless bridle journey and features the sweet OTTB boys. You can read it here! There is also a link on Facebook. If you are not familiar with Darley Newman and the PBS Equitrekking show then you are in for a treat if you visit their website. Darley travels all over the planet - but she is on a horse! She learns about different cultures and travel destinations and shares her adventures while riding. She rides the horses that are provided to her at each location, so she has to be able to ride in all kinds of conditions and in different types of tack. The show has won multiple Emmy awards too and it is no surprise to me. Darley Newman created this dream job, but she delivers. The show is suberb and I am thrilled to have an article on their site.