So I have a friend whose boyfriend plays video games about 3-4 hours everyday, and 8-10 hours on his days off of work. He gets really into them, so much that he can't hear the phone or the door or the kids when he is &gaming&. She says she's ready to leave, he spends no time with her and spends all his extra money on games, he hasn't bought her even a birthday card for 4 years! They argue about it all the time. She even sat down with him and he wrote out a chart of when he would not play and that didn't work. I don't think she should throw her relationship out just like that since he does take really good care of her and her babies in other areas, and its not like he's going out all the time or skipping work to do it, but I see how upset she gets, and I did notice he doesn't spend much time with her. I told her he's just using games as a major outlet, but I don't want to get into picking sides, I really don't even want to be involved, but she is my very good friend. Any suggestions?
Not sure about dressage as i do hunt seat, but smart clothes is riding clothes just not the spiffy show clothes. For example instead of need a pair of tall dress boot you could get away with a pair of paddock boots and half chaps. Just make sure your ridding clothes are clean as well as your tack. If you want to be safe and not use the martingale, my instructor would ride her horse in the warm up ring being a little firm with him then right before going in to compete she took it off as it wasn't allowed in flat work. You can always ask the people running it when you get there or give them a call.
You cannot use a running martingale in dressage. Even schooling shows won't remit the use of martingales.
Daniel has it right - this all points to worn bushings. They get hard in cold weather, making the noises louder. It's a quick fix.
