I was perusing Etsy the other day, looking for some bling.  Horsie bling.

I found a little belt shop where this lady makes custom screen-printed webbed belts, Mango Bay.  I immediately found one that was almost everything I wanted.  So I sent the lady a message to see if she had the intentions of making what I wanted - she had the pattern in different colors, but not the color I wanted.  Blue.  I just love blue.  Her bio said that she was occasionally at expos, which would delay shipping.

She almost immediately replied with a photo of the belt I wanted, which she was offering at the Horse Expo in PA.  She invited me over to come buy it.  :)  I explained that I was in Georgia, but would love it if she could make a reserved listing or send me an invoice via Paypal.  We went back and forth for a few days, trying to work on the logistics since she was, you know, working.  I tried very, very hard to be considerate of the fact that she stated on her bio that things would be delayed due to traveling for expos.  By that I mean, I was polite.


Finally, she said that due to her limited mobility, she would go ahead and ship the belt to me.  And then figure out the payment aspect of it once she got to a place with wi-fi.

Three days later, my beautiful, beautiful belt has arrived.  And I still don't have an invoice, so I sent a friendly reminder that I needed to pay her.  Now tell me... how often has the seller gone above and beyond what you would ever expect?  Go show her some love!

Also?  I freaking love her handwriting.

I rode Tuesday night and Archie was also above and beyond what I would expect.  I had a forward horse who was balanced and carrying the contact.  He accepted corrections immediately and with no grumpiness.  I'm thinking it was the sudden thirty-degree drop in temperature, but the Kid felt fan-fucking-tastic.