A Tale of Two Bridles

Or, that time The Sprinkler Bandit and I bought bridles for each others' horses.... years before those particular horses actually came into our lives.

Seriously. I can't make this shit up.

The story probably starts back in 2011, when I impulse bought a horse from an auction, and SB and I road tripped to the Seattle area to go see her. The horse didn't end up working out for a few reasons unimportant to this story, but we did go on an epic shopping trip to Olson's, because our trip happened to coincide with their fall sale.

We might have gone a little nuts.

In addition to a ton of free stuff and a few other things, I happened to snap up a Nunn Finer Figure-8 Bridle for super cheap. So pretty. That bridle basically sat in my house for three years doing nothing while I sat around not having a horse.

In March of this year, SB and her boy Courage came up here for an eventing clinic out at Tulip Springs, which happens to be about 20 minutes from my house. Over the course of the weekend, we decided to try my bridle on C-rage, and wow. It was like it was made for his face. You may recognize it from her blog banner.

Amirite? So classy. Photo credit: me. 

After that weekend, SB took my bridle home with her to Boise on loan, and it's stayed there ever since. Which brings us to the next part of this story...

A couple years ago, SB bought a Mark Todd Fancy Stitch bridle for her beloved boy Cuna (RIP), who although not my horse, was incredibly special to me. The Mark Todd looked really good on his adorable Bambi face. Unfortunately, it didn't suit Courage quite so well. Not only did it look hideous on him (her words, not mine), it didn't fit him at all. So, much like my Nunn Finer, her Mark Todd bridle sat around, not getting any action, for quite awhile.

I miss that face.  

Sometime this summer, the bridle ended up being used on Gigi, when someone (I think Redheadlins?) rode her and someone (I think Four Mares No Money?) took pictures. It looked awesome on her.

Different browband, same bridle. 

At this time, I was not looking to buy Gigi. On my visits to the barn to hang with SB and C-rage, I had seen her quite a bit, petted her, and admired her pretty face. I knew she was for sale, but she was wayyyyy out of my price range, so I didn't give her much thought.  I even helped her owner take conformation/sales pictures of her in July. LOL

Girl, look at that body.

Now, the details of the next part of the story are a bit hazy on my end, but at some point during late summer/early fall, SB, Gigi's owner, and maybe some other people at the barn decided that Gigi and I were perfect for each other. I don't know how they came to that conclusion, but I guess they knew something I didn't.

In September, SB mentioned that Gigi's owners (also the barn owners) were going out of town in mid-October and looking for someone to house sit for them. I am originally from Boise and have a lot of friends (and family) there, and was kind of feeling like I needed to get out of town for a little bit, so I agreed. A little vacation to my hometown, plus friends and ponies? Yes, please. Gigi's owner mentioned that I could ride Gigi however much I wanted while I was there. Score!

Of course, the predictable happened. Gigi and I hit it off fabulously, and her owner made it so I could afford a horse of her caliber.

Oops. My check-writing hand slipped. 

 Fast forward a few weeks, and here she is. In her new Mark Todd bridle.

That expression looks familiar... See photo #3. I'm a little choked up. 

From one big, long, impossibly kind red horse to another.

It's kind of poetic, really.