The New Skirt..

I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I discovered High Fashion Fabric store in Houston, TX. It is actually 2 stores across the street from each other, one being 1 story and the other is 4 stories that includes upholstery fabrics. This is where I found the fabric for both the new linen jacket and 2 skirts to go with it.

This post though is more about the skirt I wore at SASHA on Sunday. As you know.. I am very honest about both the good and bad .. and I am sorry to say this one leans to the bad.. at least for a riding skirt.

Usually I opt for the embroidered silk or taffeta. The embroidery on this type of fabric gives it enough weight for it to hang just right. My mission for this shopping trip was to find just such a fabric that had some pink in it. Pin Oak Charity horse show raises money for breast cancer research and almost all the lady riders and even many of the men incorporate pink into their outfit to show their support. I was anxious to do the same. I did find a fabric for this skirt.. but I also found another bolt that caught my eye.

It was a medium cream taffeta with light cream check design sewn onto it. It was just beautiful! I got to work on it right away.

The material was very easy to work with but I started to notice something.. the more of the skirt I put together, the stiffer and 'puffier' the skirt seemed to lay. Instead of laying like this )( on me .. it looked a bit more like this ( ). Did that make sense?

I lined the skirt with a medium brown to make the medium cream darker and the light stitching pop more...

.but since my husband used the flash on his camera, it washed out the color difference..so you can't see it..ha ha ..

About my class. This was the Championship Country Pleasure Class so again there were 9 competing. I cannot tell you how much by bottom hurt, specifically the right side from the previous days ride. My goal was one thing only.. to have a clean ride, a ride like we have had at the barn over and over again.

Oliver was not exhausted like he was for our sidesaddle class but neither was he an anxious naughty mess like he was in the Country Pleasure qualifier.. so there was hope!

I am not one who can keep an eye on my competition during a class. I usually do not even know where the judge is looking. I have enough on my plate to just concentrate on me and the horse that is beneath me. I do know though that every horse that was in front of us was working well. We did not have to move away from any misbehaving horses.

Oliver was working well. He did as I asked and had some motion to boot although I thought I could feel him drop his shoulder a bit at the end. When the line up was called for, it hit me that we had had a rather clean ride. I had no expectations for a ribbon, but was very content ... and low and behold we won 6th place!!!!That may not sound like much, but when you are competing against horses that have CH before their names and riders who can ride better than some who train... well I will happily take 6th place any time I earn it!!!

Coming out of the ring, Sandy said, "You are becoming quite competitive Julie!"

As it turns out Oliver did hurt himself a bit. I could see it in a video my husband shot. It probably happened when he was running, jumping and bucking with Sandy the day before.. so the decision was made that he will not be going to Pin Oak with me in 2 weeks. He is on stall rest for a bit. I will instead take Jose with me to Pin Oak....WOW!!!!

My conclusion about this skirt.. It will be stunning with a silk camisole and even a short waisted cashmere sweater at the next formal wedding I attend..but it is just too puffy for a sidesaddle skirt.