[*Liz*]

In the most inconvenient place of course - say in the middle of a mud puddle miles out on the trail:

Hunting for said crop:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...mnessliz/1.jpg

More searching for said crop - dogs did NOT help, despite me asking them nicely to find my dang crop:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...mnessliz/2.jpg

Yay! Muddy crop retrieved!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...mnessliz/3.jpg

The mission is a complete success! My feet stayed dry in my boots, and my crop was no worse for wear - I think my smile says it all
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...mnessliz/4.jpg

My trail partner/photographer was literally in tears laughing at me. Enjoy

[MHM]

You thought your dogs might help? Really??

[hundredacres]

I looked at the pictures wondering why you were in that freezing cold water....then I realized, you're in FL (jealous! It's already cold here!).

Glad you found your crop!

[hunterrider23]

Oh geeze. Haha how did you find it?!? I would be terrified of putting my hands in such murky water, and in a pair of nice looking boots too!

[*Liz*]

I knew more or less right where I dropped it. We were schooling pony through the puddle. Pony was doing well - going through, not leaping/jumping - so I stood her right in the middle. Then after standing about 4 seconds, I dropped the crop, just slid right out of my hand for NO good reason at all - I stared down and said "son of a beach." There was some discussion as to whether it was worth it or not - I decided it was

The water was scary, but we'd been splashing the horses in it for at least 10 minutes, I figured we must have scared most things off at that point - so I sucked it up and went for it.

Don't be deceived by the attire, I was OVER-dressed, it ranged from about 75-88 degrees during our ride - my long sleeves were wishful thinking, haha!

They ARE nice boots And I bought them primarily for situations as such - something that would hold up to hard rides and water, but still nice enough to show in. They're Rectiligne and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! My feet were only in maybe 2-3" of water, but my feet stayed perfectly dry

[hunterrider23]

I bought them primarily for situations as such - something that would hold up to hard rides and water, but still nice enough to show in. They're Rectiligne and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! My feet were only in maybe 2-3" of water, but my feet stayed perfectly dry

They are really pretty, any chance you know what model they are/where you bought them? TBH, my Bevals are falling apart (though Beval has agreed to fix them for $140, which considering that I paid 250 for a pair of practically custom looking 900 dollar boots, I'm happy with).

[*Liz*]

They are really pretty, any chance you know what model they are/where you bought them? TBH, my Bevals are falling apart (though Beval has agreed to fix them for $140, which considering that I paid 250 for a pair of practically custom looking 900 dollar boots, I'm happy with).

It's lucky for you I'm a hoarder of boot boxes I checked, they are the Maryland model. I think I paid about $600 for them including shipping from Europe. They were really hard to find (at least in my size,) and they took about 2 months to ship. I don't remember which website I ended up using though, sorry.

[gabby.gator]

It's lucky for you I'm a hoarder of boot boxes I checked, they are the Maryland model. I think I paid about $600 for them including shipping from Europe. They were really hard to find (at least in my size,) and they took about 2 months to ship. I don't remember which website I ended up using though, sorry.

quick google search= http://www.horsefair.co.uk/product.p...&cat=44&page=2


there's also quite a few pairs on ebay :-) eta (again) nevermind, the ones on ebay aren't marylands............

[*Liz*]

That's hilarious! Is that a public trail by any chance? I'm always interested in new places to ride!

Glad to provide a laugh

If by public trail you mean country dirt road - then yes, it is a public "trail," that happens to be shared by cars and whatever else happens by as well This was out in Lloyd, FL.

[RAyers]

Liz,

Here is an old eventer tip for the future:

Take a hair tie, wrap it around your whip handle, and then slide it around a finger.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...2&l=2ce1221590

Then it won't slip out of your hand and if your hand opens, it still stays there.

[Sing Mia Song]

Liz,

Here is an old eventer tip for the future:

Take a hair tie, wrap it around your whip handle, and then slide it around a finger.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...2&l=2ce1221590

Then it won't slip out of your hand and if your hand opens, it still stays there.

Now that is brilliant!

And Liz, great pics!

[oldgreypony]

You thought your dogs might help? Really??

I am a geologist, and I used to do lots of fieldwork (which means, according to my mother, "traipsing around in the mountains all day").

I left my rock hammer on an outcrop, and didn't notice until the next outcrop, more than a mile away. I told my good old dog, find it! He took off, and returned half an hour later, with my hammer. I still miss that dog.

[horsetales]

great pics Congrats on the retrieval

[Noctis]

Good save! Also, your one dog looks so much like mine I was wondering how you borrowed her for the day!

[ParadoxFarm]

Hilarious pictures! I would definitely have been in the puddle as well. Who wants to replace a decent crop? .

[Canaqua]

You thought your dogs might help? Really??

One of my two dogs would have helped. The old Cattle Dog loves to rescue stuff and specializes in underwater salvage operations. One of her hobbies is going in the lake across the street from us and removing rocks from under water and putting them on the beach. She puts her whole head under to get them. For some reason she thinks that rocks do not belong at the bottom of the lake. There are piles on the shore from her operations.

Her best rescue was when I was pushing my then toddler son in a stroller along the dam. He threw a favorite toy in and then started to cry. It was about a three foot drop off the dam into the water, the water was deepish and the toy was slowly sinking. Just for the heck of it I told the Cattle Dog to fetch it...and she did! She dove off the dam, swam under water a bit and brought up the sinking toy...she then had to swim a bit with it to get to a place where she could climb out and return it to us.

Crop in a mud puddle would be small potatoes for her .

[Silk]

I would have been afraid of being eaten by a gator. seriously, I am ynnaturally afraid of them, and I live in Mass!!! LOL

[skippy60]

does rectiligne make dress boots for dressage? I went to their website and I couldnt tell whether or not they were dress or field because all of the pictures were side views

[*Liz*]

RAyers - great tip! I've never seen or heard of that before. How common is this in eventer-world? I will have to try to experiment with the hair tie to see how it works. My concern would be possible lack of circulation to that finger.

Re: Dogs - The dogs are GREAT, but they're not mine, they belong to trail-partner. They're an excellent pair for the trail. The rotty-looking dog stays with us/the horses, and the husky-cross scouts out ahead and comes back, checks behind and comes back, repeat. Their fetching crops out of mud puddles skill is one of the few they lack

I love the story of the geologist's dog - sounds like a GREAT animal!

skippy - I believe Rectiligne sells most (if not all?) of their models in field AND dress style. Mine are field boots, and I know they definitely make dress boots as well, but I'm not 100% on the models.

[Wordplay1832]

I'm an eventer and use a braiding band around the handle of my bat-it is the perfect size to just slip on but is tight enough around your finger to not slip off, yet not too tight that it is uncomfortable on your hand (especially with gloves on).
It is also not too hard to slilp my hand off of it and switch my whip quickly if it is necessary (though obviously when I switch it I can't slip my finger through a new band while riding).