Busy, Fun, Hot Weekend

This is the first week of fall and the hottest weekend of the year so far. It has been an unusually cool summer, however, at five o'clock tonight was was 106 degrees!!! Red-flag fire warnings are in effect due to the hot dry conditions, so I have my fingers crossed that no wild fires break out. I rode early before the heat really set in so as not to torture my horse too much. Poor Kylie has already grown a winter coat. As soon as the days begin to get shorter the hair grows. Time for body clip #1.

We had a nice dinner at Edendale in Silver Lake on Saturday night. It is located in a beautifully restored craftsman-style firehouse, built in 1924. The restaurant is named after the Edendale Valley, a stretch of what is now Glendale Boulevard that was home to some of L.A.'s first film studios. The bar has a really cool hammered-tin ceiling and firehouse doors and sits on what was once the station’s fire-truck bay. We enjoyed the perfect night on the large outdoor patio, which was really charming all decorated in twinkly lights. The food and drinks were good, but it was our good friends that really made the night fun.

This morning we met a friend and her two doggies for the 12th annual Wiggle Waggle Walk fundraiser to benefit the Pasadena Humane Society. Literally thousands showed up to walk around the Rosebowl - a gigantic dog party!!!! It was fun checking out all the other dogs in every possible shape and size.
After the dogs were exhausted we dropped them off at home (in the air-conditioning) and me and my friend headed down to Santa Monica for the gem & jewelry show. I found some GREAT things today. Lots of vintage equestrian themed clasps, charms, pendants, and a few rings.

Murphy beating the heat by enjoying some yöghund, doggie yogurt. He absolutely LOVES it! But then again he loves anything remotely edible.

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Horse Show

I don't show Kylie too much anymore, just a few times a year, but decided to at the last minute this weekend. I woke up super early to go pick her up and get her to the show and into the ring before the show started. Luckily she got right in the trailer, since I was the only one there to load her, and it was pitch black out. We got to the show and she was so relaxed and happy. She warmed up perfectly. My first equitation class was pretty good, she was forward and relaxed, all my distances were good, but I added a little leg in the line (just to make sure) when I should have just sat still and she swapped leads coming out over the oxer. I was happy with that round. In second round, she was great, but I had one fence I would rather forget. Stupid mistake, again if I had just sat still and stayed out of her way, Kylie would have made a better decision than me. I won the flat eq, and ended up reserve champion of the equitation division. The last class was a medal class. I laid down an awesome round, nailed ever jump and felt great. I was called back on top for the work off and not sure what the judge didn't like about my work off, but moved down to third. My trainer said I should have won (and the girl who moved up from 4th to 1st was also her student). Who knows? It didn't really matter to me because thankfully, I wasn't trying to qualify and I didn't need the points, but I'm sure I would have felt differently if I was trying to qualify and needed to win to get the points. I was just super happy at how good Kylie was after not showing for so long. Fun day!

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Treasure Hunting for Mixed Media Necklaces

I've been on the hunt for cool and unusual things to incorporate into my new line of jewelry - vintage buttons, coins, antique pins, trade beads, and pieces of vintage jewelry. This jewelry is a combination of the old and new, of contrasting textures and colors, repurposed, reclaimed, redefined, reimagined. They are all one of a kind made with unique materials.

Free Rein Equestrian Necklace

Equestrian Treasures Necklace

Bel Cavallo Necklace

Equestrian Victory Necklace

Vintage Inspired Show Jumper Equestrian Necklace

Vintage Inspired Equine Couture Necklace - SOLD

Horse Treasures Bracelet - SOLD

I went to the Rose Bowl Flea Market this weekend, and it was a bit overwhelming. I was looking for vintage equestrian jewelry or even broken pieces to incorporate into my new designs, but wasn't able to find much with horses. There are over 2,500 vendors there, tens of thousands of people, and tons of junk to sift through. Some people are better than others at "treasure hunting", I am not very good at sifting through junk. I got frustrated pretty quickly. The stuff that was neatly organized, was priced accordingly (high), so basically in order to find a bargain, you had to dig through lots of junk to find a treasure. Some vendors had big boxes filled with trinkets a foot deep. I think I would need gloves to dig through that, not knowing what lurked beneath.

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Museum Day

The highlight of the California Science Center is a 24-foot-long transparent tunnel through a 188,000-gallon tank that puts you face to face with 1,500 horn sharks, swell sharks, giant sea bass, wolf eels, bat rays and other fish swimming in a kelp forest. There are 11 ecosystems highlighted, with lots of hands on exhibits at this museum. Seems like a cool place to take kids (and there were plenty of them there).

We actualy went there to see the 'Mummies of the World', a limited time exhibit. It is a previously unseen collection of 150 mummified humans, animals and artifacts from over 6,000 years ago to the 11th century. Yeah, it was kind of creepy. But for someone who can't tolerate any type of gore, blood, or anything spooky, I actually withstood it quite well. It was pretty crowded, so perhaps that helped. I'm sure if I was alone in there, I would have high-tailed it outta there pretty quick! It was interesting to read about each mummy and where they came from. We then saw the IMAx movie Mummies 3D: Secrets of the Pharaohs about the royal tombs of Egypt, which was really cool. It is hard to fathom such ancient history.

Right next to the Science center is the Natural History Museum.

There are amazing diaramas of both African animals and North American animals, about 20 of each . They really are beautiful and quite impressive. Hardly anyone there either, which was a bonus (at these exhibits).

Waterhole near the Tana River, Kenya

The E. Hadley Stuart, Jr. Hall of Gems and Minerals displays more than 2000 spectacular specimens. I found this particularly interesting seeing all the stones in thier raw form, many which I use in my jewelry designs. Chad was so patient as I looked at each of the 2000+ stones. I loved this exhibit!

This chunk of Flourite was found in Azusa (same town where I keep my horses).

A five-carat, blood-red diamond is one of just three in existence, and it is on display at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles. The Kazanjian Red has quite a history. It was discovered in South Africa in 1927, stolen out of the Netherlands by the Nazis during World War II and recovered by American soldiers. The diamond is on loan from the Kazanjian Foundation, which raised scholarships for needy students.

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Downtown LA and Queen Mary Bead Show

I've been trying to kick the jewelry making back into gear. So I made a trip to downtown LA to get some supplies and inspiration. Although very interesting, it is not the best area. We started out in the fashion district and went to a bunch of stores around Maple and 8th, but all they had was junk. I've been to this area once before, and thought the same thing, but figured it had been quite a few years, so I wanted to check it out again. Found nothing that I wanted there, so back to the jewelry district. I went to my favorite wholesaler up there and of course found plenty of beads I couldn't live without! However, vintage equestrian findings were what I was in search of and found nothing. No surprise.

We talked to this interesting guy out in front of his house. He is a iron sculpture who lives in the Arts District near the Barker Block lofts. He used to live in that trailer on top of the building. He says the area is getting alot better, but I still wouldn't want to walk around alone.

In case this picture is too small to see...the signs read "Legalize LA" and "Immigration Reform Now!" Notice the line of hoopties on hydraulics that happen to be driving by in the foreground. I cannot get through LA without getting fired up about this. I am not anti-immigrant, but I am anti-illegal immigrant. Illegal is illegal plain and simple, it is breaking the law.

I got a laugh at this older man's jacket.

"ARROUND THE CORNER" need I say more?

Whew! The next day, there was a bead and gem show aboard The Queen Mary in Long Beach. Cool! I had never been on the Queen Mary, and admission to the jewelry show included admission to the rest of the Queen Mary. I found some cool box clasps, and some nice turquoise strands. Chad even got something! An anciet silver amulet from Tibet. We put it on a leather cord, and it looks really cool. Afterwards we had fun exploring the old luxury cruse liner imagining what it might have been like when it sailed across the atlantic in the 1930's.

We then enjoyed happy hour in the harbor.

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Bridle Rosettes

My friend Kacy over at All Horse Stuff got me interested in finding out more about bridle rosettes since they resemble my beloved intaglios. I really love these, but like intaglios, the vintage ones in good condition can be quite pricey. Here are my two...the green one was my grandmothers, which was made into a pin, and the other I strung on a choker of vintage pearls.

Bridle rosettes, the traditional decoration on bridles for driving horses, have a very interesting history. In ancient Egypt they were used to attract the evil eye to the adornment and spare the horse from harm. They surfaced in the U.S. around 1880 as the "Victorians" (late 1800-early 1900) liked their adornments and felt superstitious enough to still want protection from the evil eye. The Victorian era brought forth rosettes with the colorful die cuts used then and calling cards, under thick glass domes. Companies started using them for advertising as did presidential candidates. Most rosettes were made in pairs with the second being a mirror image of the first and measure around 1 3/4". Production of bridle rosettes stopped in the 1950's but started up again in the 1990's. Very few antique pairs have survived over the years. At best you can find a single rosette that is in decent shape and a nice pair is a great find that brings top dollar. Many have been converted into jewelry by converting the backs to pins or pendants.

Show Stable Artisans has a beautiful selection of bridle rosettes:

Original Huntsman with Hound on Yellow Bridle Rosette as PIN $250

Original Horse and Rider Bridle Rosette as Pin $225

White Horse with Rider Bridle Rosette Pin $210

Fox on the Run Bridle Rosette $235 by Etsy seller shinybycharlotte (she has a bunch of beautiful ones in her ETSY shop)

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Stable Spotlight - Redgate Farm & Leslie Burr Howard

Redgate Farm is where one of my idols, Leslie Burr, operates her business out of along with partners Timmy Kees, Chris Cawley, Molly Ashe Cawley and Gabriel Coumans. Howard began training with famed hunter/jumper legend George Morris at a young age at his farm in New Jersey. As a junior rider, and just 15 years old, she won the 1972 ASPCA Maclay Finals at Madison Square Garden. In 1983, riding her eventual Olympic mount, Albany, Howard was the American Grandprix Association Rider of the Year, and Albany was Horse of the Year, a feat he repeated in 1984. 1984 was a golden year indeed for the pair then went on to help the USET capture the team Gold medal in Los Angeles. In 1986, she won the FEI World Cup Final in Gothenburg, Sweden, on McLain and was voted the American Horse Shows Association's Equestrian of the Year. She had another great horse loaned to her in 1992, when she took over the reins of the famed Gem Twist for injured rider Greg Best. The two won Horse of the Year. In 1994, Leslie again represented the U.S. at the World Equestrian Games in The Netherlands. She rode Gem Twist and Charisma to a 1st place tie in the USET Show Jumping Championships at the Bayer/USET Festival of Champions in Gladstone, NJ.

In 1996, Leslie again represented the United States at the Olympic Games, riding Jane Clarks Extreme. The U.S. took the team Silver Medal in Atlanta. By 1997 Leslie had been honored by USET with the Whitney Stone Cup, and won the world’s richest Grand Prix event, the du Maurier Ltd. International at Spruce Meadows in Calgary riding S’Blieft. She represented the USET and won the first Samsung Nations Cup Series that year.

Her accomplishments have continued to place her high in the national standings, earning the Team Silver Medal at the Pan American Games in 1999, leading the USA East Coast FEI World Cup League in 2000, and winning the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Calgary Since 2005, riding Youp, she has won the highest number of Grand Prix events on the Florida circuit, as well as the Chrysler Classic Derby in Canada.

Her list of highlights could go on for pages! Parallel to her love of competing is her love of teaching, Leslie’s influence can be seen in the rides of some of today’s top Show Jumpers, including Kent Farrington, Molly Ashe Cawley, Christine Trible McCrea, Judy Garofalo Torres, Nicole Shahinian Simpson, Lisa Jacquin, Marley Goodman, Mary Shirley, and Debbie Dolan.


Redgate Farm is a 67 rolling acre farm in Newtown Connecticut. Redgate consists of three 20 stall barns, two of which are operated by Burr Associates and the third operated by Astor Place Stables with trainer Robert McNeel.

Redgate Farm, designed by Bruce and Kimberly Travis, has a total of 32 grass and sand paddocks, an all weather outdoor sand ring, indoor ring, and two grass Grand Prix fields.

The fields are world class training facilities with numerous natural obstacles including progressively sized ditch and Liverpools, double Liverpools, open water, step bank and Southampton Bank, Devils Dike, and Hickstead Slide.

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