From my merry little band of misfits 🎄

I think I’m almost fully recovered enough from the whirlwind week that was Black Friday to return to a somewhat normal posting schedule. Between all my jobs I worked an insane number of hours that week, and the last two weeks were pretty busy too. I’ve got a lot of catch-up to do I suppose, since the last post I had pre-BF was about the arrival of Bingo, who has now been here for over a month. Henry and Presto have been up to some fun stuff too!

First and foremost, I had some lessons with Presto in the first part of November, but otherwise my trainer is traveling for the rest of the year. We were able to fit in a couple jump lessons and a flat lesson before she left though, which left us with plenty to work on in the meantime. I’ve also taken him XC schooling a couple times, and popped over to a POP show to run just a Training XC round.

We’ve mostly been maintaining, but also with very low pressure. I’m in need of a little mental refresh just as much as he was, I think, so while we’re still doing work (like the walk-canter and canter-walk transitions in particular) it’s very much on a “what do we feel like doing today” kind of schedule. Vibes. We’re operating on vibes.

I’m honestly not even sure what 2026 will look like for us, and at the moment I truthfully don’t care. We’re just gonna go with the flow and see what we both want to do. I wrote a piece on EN about how a lot of the latest events have been affecting my mental state when it comes to this sport as a whole, and I’m still kind of in the “taking time to reflect” stage. I’m certain that we’ll be out competing this year in some format, I just really can’t tell you at this moment what that’s going to look like. And honestly, that’s a little bit freeing.

Presto and I have been nose to the grindstone for years now. We’re definitely going to stay in our lesson and training program as we head into the new year – I think I enjoy lessons the most out of everything we do – but as for the rest of it… we’ll see. If 2025 has shown me anything, it’s that this horse’s happiness and my relationship with him are always going to be what matters most, even if that means I have to be more flexible with my thoughts and plans and expectations. There are so many options here in Ocala, I don’t have to be so dead-ass tied to one in particular.

As for Bingo, he’s settled in like an absolute champ.

Really, he’s been an utter delight so far. He was pretty reserved and in-his-shell when he got here, but he’s starting to show more and more of his personality by the day. At first he just kind of went very stoic and still at any interaction, but now he’s been coming up to me in the pasture, nickering for his nightcheck cookies, learning to smile, and showing interest in the things he’s learning. He’s a quiet boy, a thinking type, but he’s actually quite smart. I’ve not asked anything major of him yet, he’s still learning the very basics of how to bend his body and move his parts around. He got introduced to three trot poles in a row this week, and cantered his first pole. He’s been on lots of hacks and really likes exploring things around the farm – he’s a pretty curious type of guy. Even if he thinks something is scary he’s the type to stop and look at it and then want to go inspect it, rather than just panic and flee the scene.

I’m had him on miso and ulcergard since he arrived (he legit was like a walking list of ulcer symptoms) and we’re tapering off those now. He was very very girthy when he got here and did not want to be brushed at all, and now he’s happy to be brushed, much less girthy, eating a lot better, etc etc. He saw my vet for the first time earlier this week when she came for a chiro appointment, which seemed like a good way to get her hands and eyes on him for the first time. She watched him jog, checked all his acupuncture points, felt his joints, etc and then got to work.

Having had my own hands and eyes on him now for the last month, and having ridden him and done carrot stretches and all that, I guessed that his neck might be the biggest area of focus and I was correct. She spent a lot of time loosening up and adjusting around C4, and he had a nice release afterwards. Otherwise, it was a largely unremarkable session in a good way. He wasn’t particularly sore anywhere muscularly, nothing else was really out of alignment, his back feels good, and the only acupuncture points that he showed much sensitivity to were for the front feet. There’s nothing obvious going on there that she could see, so I might try to sync up my vet and farrier in the next appointment or two to get some farrier rads and see if there’s anything that might need some support. And ya know, we’ll see how his body is looking and feeling at his next chiro.

I was very pleased with his behavior for his appointment, though. I was a bit worried he might be grumpy and bitey about it, given how he was when he first came (if I even just ran my hands over his belly he pinned his ears) but he was actually superb. Add an A+ to his report card for his vet appointment too. Next on the docket will be massage and teeth.

As for Henry, he’s also had a little bit of excitement this month. He got to go foxhunting!

It’s been years since I’ve taken him hunting, and I’ve been wanting to get out with the local hunt literally since I moved here but it just hasn’t happened. They had their annual Christmas hunt last weekend and Kathleen and I decided it was finally time to attend. The boys both had a blast. Henry was absolutely vibrating for the first part of it, he knew exactly what was up.

The hunt is Misty Morning Hounds, which is only about 30 minutes from me. It’s 500 gorgeous acres, and they drag hunt, meaning they lay scent down for the hounds to follow rather than actually hunting or chasing any animals. We much prefer that, yes? It’s also nice since you can plan the route and the distance, so not only did we get to go through a range of scenery and over lots of jumps, but we also got regular breaks. Kind of perfect for Henry, who is about to be 19 but remains convinced that he’s 5.

Everyone was really nice and welcoming and it was just a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning. We will be back! Honestly I think Bingo could hunt, but that might be something for him for next season rather than this one.

As for Rubes, he found his perfectly ideal person and left for his new home in Tennessee a few weeks ago. He’s already very very spoiled (his standard, really) and I’m delighted to know that he’s in great hands. Moving him on to a different climate was a very hard decision that I agonized over for months, but I think it was the right call for him and I’m excited to see what he does with his new mom. She’s keeping up with his facebook page, so you can still follow him there!

Find yourself needing to repent for the capitalistic sins of Black Friday week? (I’m kidding… sort of…) Today’s the day! If you’ve got any scraggly dollar bills left over, consider donating to your favorite charity. Here are a few of mine:

Strides for Equality
Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance
Detroit Horse Power

In celebration of the season, TurnoutHQ is also offering to match your donation. If you join THQ as a full member today 12/2 (or if you’re already a Free member, upgrade your membership to Full) and not only will all $10 of your membership fee go toward your charity of choice, Turnout will also match it with $10 of their own. I told you they were good people! Together your $10 donation becomes $20, plus you get the added benefit of a full annual membership to TurnoutHQ, which includes access to buy and sell on their secure, verified, no-scammers Marketplace.

Go to TurnoutHQ

Once you’ve joined, hop on over to their community forums and come say hi in the Equestrian Bloggers group and introduce yourself in the Founder’s Club group. We’ve got groups coming soon for OTTB Fans and Warmblood Breeders, too!

As we discussed in Monday’s post, my list is being (very graciously) hosted by TurnoutHQ this year. Same format, same daily updates, same yours truly doing all the scouting, and the first edition of the list is officially LIVE!

If you’re already a TurnoutHQ member (its free to join!) you can go straight to the list here:

SET MY WALLET ON FIRE IMMEDIATELY

If you haven’t joined yet, hop on to the this link, create your free account, verify your email, and then you can access the list!

DANGIT LET ME CREATE AN ACCOUNT REAL QUICK SO I CAN SET MY WALLET ON FIRE IN A COUPLE MINUTES

Thank you all so much for supporting TurnoutHQ by joining, looking around the site, and posting in the community. We see all of you! Even if all you ever do is view the big holiday sale posts, it’s still much appreciated. It’s a new website/app and the very small (but mighty) team behind it is SO excited to see the numbers and engagement grow day by day… your participation means a lot!

Happy Shopping!

Yes, have no fear, it is coming (starting Wednesday morning, to be exact… I’ll post here and let you know when it’s up, or you can follow this facebook page for updates). However, this year will look a little bit different! Y’all know I’ve been putting together this entirely insane and gargantuan list for years, and back in the days where I had a corporate job that included paid holidays, taking all that time was more doable. But these days I do not have a corporate job, and now time is money… even on holidays. After last year I was very on the fence about whether or not I would do it again, because the time it takes to do it well has become less and less justifiable for me.

BUT… in stepped TurnoutHQ. As you guys know, I’ve been doing some work for them over the past few months as their website and app have gotten off the ground, and they have graciously offered to host the list this year, as well as pay me for the time it takes to put it together. All hail TurnoutHQ, they’ve single-handedly saved the list (and my bank account, honestly).

So this year the list is officially transitioning from Breed.Ride.Event. to TurnoutHQ, enabling some serious upgrades.

To be honest, this is a boon for everyone. By hosting the list on TurnoutHQ, we now have a larger team working behind the scenes, which means a more comprehensive master list, faster updates, more eyes, and the ability to hunt down more deals as soon as they drop. You can still expect the same format you know and love:

• A massive list of all kinds of Black Friday deals for horse people: clothing, tack, equipment, stable supplies, training courses, gifts  – you name it, we’ll have it.
• Regular updates all week and weekend long. We’ll be working morning and night to monitor all the sales and bring you updates ASAP.
• Exclusive discounts and codes available only through TurnoutHQ. Yep, that’s right, we’ll have some discounts that can’t be found anywhere else.

Basically, the 2025 list will be the same as years past, just even more absurd.

Important to Note: You’ll need a free TurnoutHQ account to view the list. 

To access the list this year, you’ll need to create a free TurnoutHQ account and verify your email. This isn’t a paywall, it’s security. TurnoutHQ verifies every account to keep bots, scammers, and bad actors off the site. That means the deals list and links (as well as the broader THQ community) stays safe, trustworthy, and scam-free. Signing up takes less than a minute, and once you’re in, you’re good to go.

Bonus perk: creating a free account = way more than just the sales list. We’ve also got community groups, our forum-style space in a friendly and welcoming environment. There IS an equestrian bloggers group, although right now it’s just me and Stacie. Come join! It would be nice to have a little community space that isn’t on bookface (which I hate more by the day).

TurnoutHQ also has marketplace listings for buying and selling used equipment, and thanks to the account verification you know you’re getting a scam-free experience (side-eyeing bookface marketplace aka scam central).

Basically, moving the Black Friday Sales List to TurnoutHQ means that not only will it continue, you’ll get more deals, more security, more accuracy, and a stronger community behind it. I hope you guys will show TurnoutHQ some love – as they’ve done for me – and create a free account, explore the site, comment on posts, make new ones, suggest new community groups, etc. It’s a really great team of horse people that have been super supportive of me and have an incredible vision for what the site and app will eventually be in the future.

Happy shopping!