Step 3: The stuff

Since as of yesterday I can accurately state that I can ride in all of my own tack, I feel more qualified to talk about stuff.  I wasn't starting from scratch, we had tack boxes and grooming stuff from the days of Sheena and yore, and some handy saddle racks dad had installed in the woodshed.  But as far as tack and horsie clothes, it called for a shopping spree.

Kinnitty Capall's Ronan knew exactly which of his saddle's would fit EZ for me to try him in, and then tried to sell it to me.  I didn't want it, because it wasn't black.  All my stuff (boots, helmet, etc) is black, not to mention the horsie himself.  So I wanted a black all-purpose, but it couldn't look to jumpery since I like those dressage saddles at heart, and I hate the square-backed cantles.  And it should be less than $300, but not cheap looking.  Easy, right?  After extensive searching on ebay, I came to this very well-developed conclusion: Damn, saddles are expensive, yo!  And I got to like Ronan's more and more, it fit both me and the horse well, and I discovered EZ's nose is  brown, which makes all the difference.  The dark brown saddle matches his accents!  So, I'm paying on installments.

This just meant that I needed everything else!  The first thing I got was a happy mouth, because EZ mouths are sensitive mouths.  I didn't give up on ebay and bought far too many saddle pads (well, 3, maybe 1 too many), a squishy non-slip size 40 girth (details!), and a dark havana brown bridle, all from the same discount tack seller, trying to save on shipping.  The stuff is pretty good, but it did take approximately a month to arrive, which meant stealing poor Donovan's equipment, and giving mom the excuse," Oh no I really would love to ride, but you've got my bridle...."  But I really did.  Now though, you can't get mom off that horse!  Just kidding, not really.  Not yet.  She just needs a groom first.

So let's summarize, this will be a good game:
-1 happy mouth bit: $25
-1 pretty dark brown saddle, second-hand: $600  (at one time belonging to a "Nicholas Xatzis"--thanks Nick!)
-3 saddle pads, 1 girth, 1 pretty dark brown bridle: $107
-2 turnout blankets (1 heavy, 1 light), second-hand: $150 (at one time belonging to a horse named "Alice"--thanks Alice!)
-1 round bale horse feeder: $300ish
-Oh yeah, 1 horse: $250

Good news is that these are all one-time expenses.  There are way more, like the feeding, and the shoeing, and the worming and medicating, and any boarding or traveling we might do, and the horse treats (we need A LOT of those), and I'm sure a bunch of other unforeseen things.  Let's hope I keep getting a paycheck!