Equestrian Blogger Secret Santa Revealed: Thanks Bel Joeor!

The holidays came and went so quickly! Christmas day hubby and I flew to Chicago to see my side of the family, New Year’s Eve we flew back home to Orange County to regroup, New Year’s Day we drove six hours to Mammoth Lakes, California (hubby skied) and the following day we drove three more hours to the Lake Tahoe area to see his mom. We drove home (nine hours) four days later to stay one night only to leave again for Pasadena the next day to attend a weekend Balboa camp (swing dance workshops)! In the middle of this whirlwind I found a box on my kitchen table and the return address was Vermont! I was so excited! (This post contains affiliate links.)

I’m not sure how Amanda from Bel Joeor (and her horse Tristan) did it–I have never met Amanda in real life–but she selected gifts for me as though we have been friends for ages! I was really quite touched by her thoughtfulness and generosity.

So without much further ado, I will tell you about my lovely treasures which you can see in the picture.

1. A piece of pure Vermont maple candy in the shape of a maple leaf. (As I typed this I just went to the fridge and took another bite out of it). My husband helped himself and tested it out while I was showing him all the other items. (By the way, we LOVE maple syrup and buy the real deal from Trader Joe’s. There’s always syrup in our refrigerator and pantry, so that little treat came to the right home).

2. The coolest vintage poster/ad for Kendall’s Spavin Cure. It has a horse and foxhounds and an elegant equestrian of yesteryear dressed to the nines. Fun Fact: Kendall’s Spavin Cure purports to “cure the worst cases of rheumatism, corns, bunions, frost bites, bruises, cuts, sprains, or lameness.”

3. A cute pair of thin riding socks you can see in the upper left corner (which I will put to good use one day when it stops raining in California and I can ride again when the arenas and trails are opened).

4. Green Mountain Dog Treats (with liver). Funny story: each of these great gifts was wrapped individually and so because I’m part kid I took all the gifts and put them under our tree for a few minutes before I unwrapped them. Well, let’s just say that my Golden Retriever cruised over and casually picked up the dog treat package and walked away. I KNEW at that point it had to be food-related! Missie my Doberman came by after the fact to investigate but Tigger had already made off with the booty. So, that was the first thing I unwrapped and as you can see from the picture, both Tigger and Missie were thrilled.

I lost my tree skirt somehow and didn’t have time to come up with a new one until after Christmas!

1. The German Horse Muffin Whole Grain Horse Treat. I already know Knight will love these because I have tried them before and they were eaten quickly.

2. Cashel’s Horseman’s Knife which is a dream come true because I HATE opening new bales of hay because I can never find scissors or a blade and I use old twine and rub it back and forth until it cuts the new twine and it hurts my fingers! Besides cutting twine ability it has a bot knife, frog knife, hole enlarger AND hoof pick! So cool! Thanks, Amanda!

Our banana tree was ready to harvest when we got home NYE. We did not use the new knife to remove bananas.

And a special thank you goes out to Tracy from Fly On Over who orchestrated this Equestrian Blogger Christmas Gift Exchange for the fourth year. I can’t wait until next Christmas–I wonder who I will get and who will get me next time. . .

Your Turn: Was Santa good to you this year? What was the most thoughtful (or wackiest) gift you received?

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