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Why I Started Blogging

I’ve been “kinda-sorta” blogging since the days of LiveJournal, which I can’t believe is still around, by the way, so for about 19 years. Back in the days of LJ though, I was just writing diary entries and reading funny posts on my friends page, so it was a personal thing and not something I considered to be a blog. I mainly wrote to stay in touch with my friends or to vent about things going on in my life at the time. 

I don’t remember when I stopped going to LiveJournal, but it was probably sometime around 2012 because I know that I met a friend I still have to this day through a role-playing community on LJ, and we met after the first Avengers movie was released. So, yeah, definitely sometime after 2012. I haven’t had a regular on-line journal or blog since then, but I’ve started quite a few blogs that have failed. 

Oh, yes, I don’t even know how many blogs I’ve started that haven’t lasted more than a few posts before I lose interest in them at all. And the really bad thing is that I love the thought of blogging. I really want to have a regular blog and have tried to have one for years, but I consistently post a few articles and then stop.

So one of the reasons why I started blogging again here on my web-site is because I really, really want to have a blog. I love writing just as much as I love drawing, and I love the thought of having a place to share my thoughts, my writing, my art, and my experiences. Which is why I keep coming back to the idea and why I’m trying it yet again with this site.

What’s been holding me back? What has made me give up on each blog before this? Why do I think I can consistently update this blog when I failed so many times before?

I can definitely answer what has made me give up on so many blogs before this one. And it comes down to one word.

FEAR.

Every time I sit down to write one of these posts, I am terrified. And this is something I have struggled with since the times of just posting for my friends to see it on LiveJournal, but it gets worse when I’m trying to blog about something specific. I think of a topic I want to talk about, begin to write, get about halfway done, and I suddenly get gripped with fear. Fear that no one will read this. Fear that no one cares about what I’m writing about. And, worst of all, fear that I have nothing interesting to say about anything at all. 

There’s a little part of me that believes I am extremely boring and that no one will want to read about what I have to say. There are so many people more knowledgable, more experienced, and more successful than I am in every topic that I want to write about, so why in the world should I write about anything? Even now I’m starting to think that I shouldn’t blog about my anxiety over blogging because why would anyone want to read about me struggling to blog?

It’s a vicious cycle, it really is! Sometimes living with my anxiety can be exhausting.

So part of why I’m really trying to stick with blogging this time is to get over this fear. Or- if I can’t get over it- so that I can learn to deal with it and do this even though I’m afraid. I’ve had a lot of fear to overcome in life. Doing art and working with horses has taught me a lot, including how to work through fear and come out on the other side as a better, stronger, more confident person. I hope that through this blog I can work through another fear, and also that I can share some of my favorite things with those of you who take the time to come here and read the silly things that I write. 

What fears have you had to work through in your own life? Let me know!

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Liz Staley Studios Helping Horses in Bushfire Threatened Areas!

I’ve been seeing the devastating news and photos from the horrible bushfires in Australia and was wishing I could help when it occurred to me last night that there IS a way I can help! For the month of January, a portion of the sale of any of my Brumby design items (prints, ornaments, etc) and the sale of my Equine March 2019 PDF will go to benefit the RSPCA New South Wales Bushfire Appeal to help pets and livestock in threatened and affected areas. I’m so excited about this that I could barely sleep last night so I decided to make this blog post with links to all the places you can purchase my Brumby items and help horses who are caught in this horrible event!

How You Can Help

Purchase any of the items linked below and I will make a donation of a portion of the proceeds to the RSPCA New South Wales Bushfire Appeal to help animals in threatened areas. Items here on LizStaley.com will have a slightly higher amount of the proceeds donated, as I do not have to pay fees to list my items, but merchandise in my Etsy shop is also eligible for a donation!

Matted 8×10 Brumby Print (LizStaley.com)

Handmade Wooden Brumby Ornament (LizStaley.com)

Equine March 2019 PDF Instant Download

Brumby Original Drawing (Etsy)

Matted 8×10 Brumby Print (Etsy)

Brumby 11oz Ceramic Mug (Etsy)

And, of course, you can also make a donation directly to the RSPCA New South Wales Bushfire Appeal to directly help animals in need! 

Photo from BBC
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My Goals for 2020

New years have an energy to them. They’re a time to reflect on the year that’s passed and to set goals for the year ahead. I don’t really make resolutions, but I’ve been thinking about goals for my personal life, my horse life, and my art life for the past few months and I thought I’d like to share some of them here.

My Yearly Business Goals

  • Create more art pieces than last year
  • Grow my social media (Focusing on Facebook and Instagram)
  • Complete at least 12 custom commissions
  • Participate in 6 markets or fairs
  • Blog regularly on my web-site (which I’ve already started, but I’m hoping to turn it into a habit!)
  • Get a daily/weekly routine in place to maximize productivity

My Yearly Personal Goals

  • Make healthier diet decisions
  • Increase my water intake
  • Begin a regular exercise routine
  • Declutter and organize my space

My Yearly Horse Goals

  • Spend more quality time with my horse
  • Keep Glory healthy and happy
  • Go for a trail ride!

The other night I finally pulled the trigger on ordering the Powersheets planner, which I’ve been looking at and wanting to get for months now. Ordering it right at the end of 2019 isn’t ideal, because I should have done the planning work before the new year began, but I finally had the money for it so I did it. I’m really excited to try this system out! I’ve tried a lot of planners and none of them have stuck for more than a few months, usually because life throws me a curveball or because the planner gets buried under junk on my desk (see above goal of trying to organize and declutter my space). But I’m hoping that this planner will help me break down my goals and help me achieve the things I really want to this year! I will probably do a review of the Powersheets after they arrive if I like them.

 

What system do you use to track and achieve your goals for the year? What goal are you most excited about achieving in 2020? Let me know in the comments!

 

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RAWR in the New Year!

Rawr! I started a new series!

Yup, DINOS ARE COMING! I’ve had this idea rattling around in my head for almost a year now, but last year was so crazy that I just never got to it. I grew up with three older brothers, so we were all dinosaur-crazy growing up. I was 10 years old when Jurassic Park came out and I remember going to see that movie several times in the theater. I also saved my allowance for a few weeks so that I could get the “battle damage” Triceratops toy because Triceratops are my faves. 

I am also crazy over “Tyrannosaurus Sue” and would love to get to Chicago someday and see her in person. So that’s why I decided to start this new dinosaur series with Sue! These dinos are drawn on maps of either where a famous fossil was found, or where the dinosaur roamed in the world. Since Sue was discovered in South Dakota, I chose that map for her background. 

Also, sorry about the video quality on the above. I got a video camera for Christmas and this was my first attempt at doing an art process video with it. Obviously I need to either figure out what’s up with the exposure or I need more lighting on my art desk, because that entire video is very, very blue. I’ll figure it out! I got the camera so that I can do more art videos and other videos for YouTube, and I’m loving having something dedicated to film on instead of using up space on my iPhone. So let me know what kind of videos you want to see in the next year!

I hope you all had a safe and happy new year’s eve. I can’t wait to spend 2020 with all of you. Looking forward to another year with all of you!

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Liz Staley Studios 2019 Review!

2019 is almost over, and what a crazy year it has been. I’ve talked about some personal struggles already this year in another blog post, so I’m going to concentrate on reviewing what’s happened with Liz Staley Studios this year. 

  • Added the Civil War Cavalry Horses, Vlaamperd, Brumby, Akhal-teke, Thoroughbred, Shetland Pony, Misaki, B’anei, Gypsy Vanner, Andalusian, and American Curly Horse to the Horses Of The World series.
  • Began the Dogs Of The World series, with the Welsh Corgi, Basset Hound, Shiba Inu, Siberian Husky, and Dalmatian early in the year, and adding the Australian Shepherd in December.
  • Unicorn and Krampus were added to the map illustrations, hopefully as the first in a series of mythological creature drawings.
  • Got accepted to Merch By Amazon and began selling exclusive shirt designs through Amazon’s marketplace.
  • Participated in “Equine March” challenge and completed a horse drawing each day of the month of March. These drawings are available as my first digital sketchbook, with artist notes about each prompt and how I chose to interpret them.
  • Added dogs, cats, birds, and cows to my commission resume.
  • Had an article published in The Barefoot Horse Magazine about my art and my horse, Glory.
  • Started selling patterned fabric through Spoonflower.
  • Began offering many new made-to-order products on Etsy, including coffee mugs, leggings, and backpacks.
  • Began offering my original pieces for sale on Etsy, too!
  • Started a coloring club on Patreon that provides exclusive new coloring pages each month.
  • Attended several local events, including horse shows and market days in neighboring areas.
  • Completed over a dozen commissioned pieces for satisfied customers of their own pets or pets of loved ones.

I don’t feel like I accomplished much, overall, this year. I certainly didn’t accomplish some of the goals I’d set at the beginning of the year. But, looking back on the list above, I actually made some big strides this year! I’m hoping to keep up some momentum going into 2020 and to start the new decade off with a bang. My next blog post will be the first of the new year, so have a safe and happy New Year’s Eve and I’ll see you in the next decade!

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What’s In My Grooming Box

My favorite thing to do with my horse is spending time brushing her. I love to ride, and to drive, but I find that even just going and brushing Glory on a day when I’m not feeling great is enough to boost my mood. There’s something magical and satisfying about just spending some quiet time talking to my horse, brushing the mud off her coat and picking her feet, and getting the tangles out of her long tail. 

Maybe you’re new to horse ownership and don’t know what sort of grooming items you should have in your arsenal? It took me a long time to find the tools and products that I really love and that work for me. So here are my favorite grooming tools and products and why I chose them. 

I have no affiliation with these products and this is not a sponsored post. This post does include Amazon Affiliate links that provide me with a small commission if you click on one and purchase something, at no extra cost to you!

Sleek-EZ

Photo from Sleekez.com

My horse gets a super long winter coat because of her Cushing’s. Because of this, I have tried a LOT of shedding aids. The Sleek-EZ and the Grooming Gloves are my favorites out of everything I’ve tried, but let’s concentrate on the Sleek-EZ for a minute. I have the large Sleek-EZ and I absolutely love it. The size is perfect for Glory’s body, and it really gets the hair off! Plus it’s comfortable to hold too. My current one has lasted me through two shedding seasons already and will soon be on its third, and though it probably could use a new blade it’s still going pretty strong. Bonus, I’ve noticed it’s also very good at bringing up dust and dander when I’m using it!

Grooming Gloves

The newest addition to my anti-shedding-season arsenal are a pair of grooming gloves. I didn’t think that these things could do as good a job with getting out the winter hair as my Sleek-EZ, but boy, I was wrong! I like to slip these on each hand and go to town, massaging Glory with circular motions and watching the hair come out like crazy! After ten seconds of using them the first time, I was a changed woman. The long winter coat doesn’t stand a chance against a good pair of grooming gloves. These gloves have also taken the place of my curry comb for everyday use with getting caked on mud out of Glory’s fur. She loves having her neck scratched with them!

Stiff Brush

Any equestrian will tell you that a grooming kit should include a good hard brush. After I use my grooming gloves and/or Sleek-EZ, I use the hard brush on neck, body, and upper legs to get the majority of the dirt, dander, and loose fur off my horse. My hard brush has nylon bristles with a wooden handle.

Flick Brush

After I use the hard brush, I go over where I just brushed with a flick brush– a long-bristled soft brush that really gets into Glory’s coat and throws the dust off. I use the brush with a flicking motion, hence the name! Again, this brush isn’t anything special, just nylon bristles and a plastic handle.

Flex Finishing Brush

I finish up my body brushing routine by using a short-bristled soft brush on my horse. I go over her face with this same brush, as well as over her body and legs to make sure I’ve gotten as much dust off as I can. My soft brush is “hinged” so I can cup it in my hand and make it curve, which is why I like it as a face brush as well. 

Hoof Pick

I like my hoof pick to have a plastic handle, a thick metal pick, and a brush. I find the thinner picks with metal handles to be hard to hold, and I like having the brush so that I can clean the flat of the hoof as well as the grooves, without having to use the pointy metal part too much!

Mane and Tail Brush

I have been blessed with a horse that has a thick long mane and tail. Though her mane isn’t as long as some horses, it’s still pretty long, especially up near her poll. Her tail is long and fairly thick, and I love that it falls naturally into pretty little ringlets. But it can also be a giant pain in the rear to brush! I do use a detangling spray/leave in conditioner, which I’ll talk about later in this article. But for my brush, I like a nice hefty handle that’s comfortable to hold, and bristles with the round plastic bits on the tips. I love the big circular head of my current brush because I feel like it covers more area with each stroke, making the process a little faster.

Thrush Buster

Glory has little feet with deep grooves, which makes them a great place for thrush to grow. She spends 99% of her time in a dry lot that has great drainage, but still gets muddy when we get more than a moderate amount of rain. We keep a bottle of Thrush Buster on hand for when we need it for both the horses! (Though, if we can find something that works as well as this product and won’t stain our hands purple every time we use it, we would definitely switch!)

Eqyss Avocado Mist Conditioner Spray

My best friend and I use this on both our horses and we love it! We spray this on manes and tails to get the tangles out. Not only does it condition and get knots out easily, it smells AMAZING. Sometimes their tails are even easy to detangle the next day or two after we use it because it’s so good.

Eqyss Equine Spray Marigold Scent

We bought this once when the store was out of the avocado spray, and we don’t like it as much as the product above this on the list. However, I do use this every few days on Glory’s coat to help with her dry skin. I can brush her for thirty minutes and still have dust coming up because her skin is dry during the winter, and I don’t have access to hot water and heat lamps to give her a bath when it’s cold! So, after a ride or as a step to a grooming session, I will spray this on her coat, especially her back and flanks where the skin is the driest, and then work it in with my flick brush so it gets down where it needs to be. I’ve found that doing this a few times a week, along with regular brushing, helps keep the dandruff down until I can give her a proper bath.

And those are all the tools, brushes, and products that I use on a regular basis in my grooming box! I hope this post gives you an idea of my daily routine and maybe helps you out if you’re shopping for your first grooming kit. What brushes and products do you use to groom your horse? Let me know in the comments!

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What I Listen to When I’m Creating

I’m not one of those artists that can sit around in silence when I’m in my studio. I need music, a YouTube video, movie, or a show playing in the background pretty much every minute of my day. I can’t stand silence most of the time, and it’s very rare that I’m creating without anything playing from either my computer, tablet, or phone. Here are my top picks for what I listen to while I’m working away in my studio!

Music

I have a very eclectic taste in music, and I judge what I like on a song-by-song basis. This means that though I don’t like Country or Rap as entire genres, I do like certain songs from those genres. My most important criteria for music is whether it has strong lyrics. If I can connect with the lyrics and they move me or make me think of an experience in my life, or they tell a story, then I’m more likely to love the song.

My top favorite musical artist right now is an independent band called Icon For Hire. I stumbled across them randomly on YouTube one day and have been to two of their concerts, am a member of their Patreon, and participate in several of their Facebook Groups. Icon For Hire is fronted by lead singer Ariel Bloomer, an amazing song-writer and just an amazing human in general. In the beginning of 2019, she released a book called Turn Your Pain Into Art that I not only own multiple copies of (including the audiobook and a signed copy) but I have purchased it for several friends who deal with mental illness and self-hatred as well. I could write an entire blog post about this band and the impact they’ve had on my life, but maybe I’ll do that in a future blog! Instead, here are links to a few of my favorite songs from Icon For Hire.

Other musical artists that I like, in no particular order: Linkin Park, Panic at the Disco, Fall Out Boy, Katy Perry, Halestorm, Above Only, Against the Current, ONE OK ROCK, P!nk, Poets of the Fall, The Glitch Mob, Fefe Dobson, Mary Fahl, Disturbed, Savage Garden, Meghan Trainor, Breaking Benjamin, Beth Crowley, Owl City, Lindsey Stirling, Taylor Swift, Korn, Kesha, Avril Lavigne, Paramore, and so, so many more.

YouTube

I have a confession to make: I am a YouTube junkie. Right now I have two monthly subscriptions, and one of those is YouTube. I subscribed to it so that I could turn my phone screen off while a video is playing, and so that I wouldn’t have to sit through ads all the time!

I’m subscribed to lots of channels, but when I’m working on art I like to have longer videos (thirty minutes or more) on so that I can get lost in what I’m doing without having to change the video a lot. 

I LOVE true crime and documentaries, so a lot of what I watch on YouTube is in the true crime genre. My favorite true crime YouTubers are Stephanie Harlowe (well researched, multi-part videos about cults and true crime), Danelle Hallan (focus more on missing person cases and solved cases), and Kendall Rae. 

I also like listening to The Mile Higher Podcast, which is about an hour-long or more and covers all kinds of topics from current events to true crime to the paranormal. 

For art topics, my favorite channels are NerdECrafter, Rafi Was Here Studios, Becca Hillburn, and Chloe Rose Art.

My favorite horse-related channels are The Budget Equestrian and YourRidingSuccess. Obviously I need to find more horse channels to follow! If you know of any good ones, drop a comment and share it with me! I used to follow Evention TV, but they haven’t put out new videos in a long time.

I follow a ton of other channels that are a mish-mash of movie reviews, video essays, business advice, anime reviews, legal videos, and a bunch more.

Movies and Shows

So if you hadn’t yet noticed, I have eclectic tastes in just about every facet of my entertainment. It should come as no surprise that I have a wide variety of movies and shows that I like to have on while I’m working. Just like with YouTube, I like to put something on and not think about it for awhile so that I can get lost in the art that I’m doing. This is why I also tend to pick things that I’ve already seen so that I don’t have to concentrate on what’s going on with the plot.

I like all kinds of movies, from animated to sci-fi to fantasy to comedy and more. To list out all the things my husband and I own on DVD and Blu-ray would take forever, so instead I’ll list out a few of my favorites and concentrate on mainly what I have digital copies of in Movies Anywhere (because that makes them easily accessible back in my office from my computer browser, phone, or tablet). I’ve written already that my favorite horse movie of all time is Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken (DVD). But also in my frequently watched are Krampus, Big Hero 6, The Croods, Pacific Rim, Deadpool and Deadpool 2, Spider-man: Homecoming, Wonder Woman, Ghostbusters (2016), Zootopia, Inside Out, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Thor Ragnarok, Into The Spiderverse, and Hocus Pocus.

Shows are tricky since I don’t have Netflix anymore, so I’ve been mainly limited to shows that I can find on YouTube. For YouTube shows, I like Hoarders and I Shouldn’t Be Alive. But, when I get my Netflix access back, I’m going to be back to watching my other favorites: Heartland, Criminal Minds, Free Rein, Voltron Legendary Defender, Trollhunters, Queer Eye, and Parks and Recreation.

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10 Gift Ideas for Equestrians

Disclaimer: This post includes Amazon Affiliate Links. If you make a purchase from Amazon after clicking one of my links, I receive a small percentage of the sale. This does not cost you anything extra, and helps keep my small business afloat. 

I have not purchased every item on this list, so please read reviews and use your best judgment before making purchases.

So, I do have a list of my own suggestions, but putting together these gift idea lists can be really time-consuming, and today I have a shift at The Foundry plus right after that I’m going to Virginia to see the new Star Wars movie! My schedule is a little crazy today. So, I’m going to include my list, as well as a video from one of my favorite YouTube channels, The Budget Equestrian, as well! Her video shares gifts for equestrians that are all under $20, and some of what she suggests are things that are on the list I made! So, check out her video below, then under that check out my list as well!

 

Click a photo in the list below to view that item’s shop page!

Rechargeable Hand Warmer Power Bank

 

 

Balaclava Neck Warmer

 

101 Ways To Die With a Horse

 

Horse Backpack/Show Bag

Boss Mare Mug

 

Massage Set

 

A Rider’s Journal

 

Leather Care Kit

Horse Ornament

Travel Coffee Mug

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Equilab Equestrian App Review

There are tons and tons of fitness tracking apps out there, but the one that I can’t live without for my riding is Equilab. Equilab is an app for iOS and Android that allows you to track your rides, see how long you spent in each gait, see trends, keep track of training for multiple horses, and also has social features so you can collaborate with your barn and plan rides. It also has a safety feature that allows you to send your ride to emergency contacts so they know that you are safe.

I’ve been using Equilab for a while now and I absolutely love it. I use it on 95% of my rides (sometimes I don’t bother because we’re just hacking around and having a fun ride, so I don’t use it then unless I’m trying to just keep track of how long we’ve been riding) so I thought I would write about it and share it with others.

After downloading Equilab, you can make your own profile, add your stable, and add horses. Adding your stable is great if you’re at a boarding facility because it gives you access to social features with other Equilab riders that are at your same stable. I’ve never used these social features because no one else at the boarding stable we were in last year had this app, so I can’t speak much about them. But from the information on their website, they seem useful!

One of my favorite features of Equilab is the ability to add multiple horses. You can see in the screenshot above that I have both Glory and Raven in my Equilab so that I can track which horse I’m riding and what I’ve done with each one. 

When you add a horse, you can set a photo for them, set their name, breed, gender, and more. You can also turn on the “Share With Stable” option, which shares this horse’s information with anyone in your stable. You can add notes which are shared with the stable members as well (a great way to share any changes to your horse’s feeding regiment!). If more than one person rides this horse, you can add a rider in the horse’s profile after setting it up. Then that rider can track their information on that horse and see their own trends.

Once you have your own profile and a horse set up, you’re ready to start riding! If you don’t see the screen on your app, you can tap on the “Start” option down on the bottom right of the screen, and that will bring up the screen in the above image. If GPS is on, you’ll automatically see a map of the area you’re in. To change horses, simply tap on where the horse’s name and photo is shown and select which horse you’re working with. Then, in the area directly to the right of the horse’s name, you can tap to select what type of riding you’ll be doing.

There are a TON of options for the type of training that you’re doing, even more than would fit in the screenshot I took. Select the one that fits for today’s ride and tap “Done” to go back to the Start screen.

Once you’re all set up, you just tap on the large green “Start Riding” button, put your phone in a tight-fitting pocket, and enjoy your ride! The app tracks how long you’ve been riding, and how much time you spend in each gait. It can even show you a map of your ride, as well! Once you’re done, take your phone back out and tap the button to Stop the ride. Then you can add notes, track the rider performance and horse performance, and even track the type of footing your rode on.

Above is a saved ride I did on Glory. You can go back to your previous rides and get a breakdown of your gaits, how many strides your horse took, your speed, and even how many calories you burned! The app will also show you a map of that ride. (You can see in the one above that I rode back up to the barn once we were done in the arena!)

The main Start screen also has a button with a “+” symbol in it that allows you to manually enter a ride in another screen, so if you forget to turn your app on but you know what you did for your ride, you can enter it later.

Also on the Start screen is the safety tracking option. This is so, so valuable for anyone who rides alone, especially if you’re out in fields or on a trail. When Safety Tracking is on, your location is shared with the safety contacts you’ve set. Those contacts can follow your ride and know when you’ve safely gotten home. 

So that’s my brief overview of Equilab! I don’t use it to its full capabilities, but it’s one of my favorite apps. I use the ride tracking all the time so that my best friend and I will know how long we’ve been riding for and so I can track my progress on Glory’s fitness and stamina. 

What’s your favorite horse-related app? Let me know and I’ll check it out!