We’ve officially made it to the end of breeding season!

We’ve still got a lot of pregnancy checks to do, but the actual breeding part is finished. Whoever isn’t pregnant at this point will just wait until next year, because it’s already just way too late in the season here to be trying again. It’s hot! I’ll wait until we’re at least through all the black dots, if not the heartbeats, to give you a full list of what we’re expecting in 2027, but I can tell you for certain that we won’t be having as many next year. Some mares are retiring, some we opted to give a year off and start earlier again next year.

We’ve also sold all of the foals from this year now except for 2, ironically the two out of our best performance mares. Tommy, the colt by Ustinov (jumped 1.50m) out of Chanel Z (jumped 1.45m and has already produced a 1.50m horse and a 1.45m horse) is looking for a good showjumping home. He would suit someone who has high level aspirations and experience. And then we have Bear, Neville’s BFF, who is by Dia Corrado (1.45m jumper) out of Headleys Chatterbox (3* eventer and her dam was a 4* eventer). A horse by Dia Corrado was just 2nd in the 2*L at Bromont, piloted by Olivia Dutton. Bear is really outgoing and bold and people-oriented, I think he’d be super fun for either a serious amateur or a pro to bring along. Both boys are big and handsome!

As for Neville, I remain obsessed. He is pretty chill and well-behaved for a 5 week old colt, and I’ve been making sure I take 5 minutes a day to put my hands on him to make sure he stays that way. I put his halter on and off, loop his lead rope around the post (pre-tying lessons… we don’t hard tie babies because their necks are very fragile), groom him all over, pick up his feet, move him off of pressure, work on leading where/how he’s supposed to, the word “whoa”, etc. He’s still very young so it’s literally no more than 5mins a day of anything, but it’s where we start.

He especially liked the days where we were bringing his mom in to scan and breed her. He really enjoyed exploring the barn and putting his nose on everything. Like all of Vee’s foals, he’s so curious and confident most of the time. Exploring is his favorite. That and ear scritches.

Honestly, he’s so stinkin cute. It’s been a long time since we raised Presto… hope y’all are ready to give it a go with another foal.

As for everyone else, they’ve been busy too!

Presto and I have been fitting in lots of lessons (mostly jumping, one dressage) and things seem to have righted themselves. I got my mojo back, Presto has been jumping better, and things are really clicking again. We’ve worked so hard at the rideability, keeping his back soft to/away from the jump, making sure he doesn’t lock the bottom of his neck and use it against me, etc.

We entered the Training division at the POP show this past weekend, hoping to get some nice quiet soft phases in. And while he was exceptional on the flat:

he stepped on his shoe at one point, badly enough to where I thought he’d pulled the shoe clean off. Indeed he did not, but he DID rip away a big chunk of wall and loosen the shoe. There wasn’t a show farrier on site, so I opted to withdraw rather than jump him. I was worried that if he pulled it (which seemed pretty likely) that he’d take a god-only-knows-how-big chunk of foot with it. Not worth the risk!

A bummer, but ya know… it’s just a horse show, there will be more. He got his shoe fixed the next morning (it’s not too terrible but there really is very little wall left, which thrills me heading into wet season) and we had a great lesson doing a SJ round and then popping around some XC at my trainer’s barn.

The more exciting part about the POP show is that it was the culmination of Bingo’s month of training, and his horse trial debut! He spent the last 4 week’s over at Trainer’s place getting some expert riding and general sporthorse life experience under his girth, and I think it was really really great for him. He’s confident, he’s relaxed, he’s happy, and he’s for sure understanding the job a lot more. We entered him in the Starter and the plan was for her to take him, run him there, and then I’d take him home with me.

Originally the plan also included her taking Bingo to the open schooling at the venue the day before, so he could see the sights and pop around some of the XC before the show. Unfortunately she had truck problems and they weren’t able to make it. So, I have to brag on Bingo a bit extra here and how well I think he handled everything, especially considering 1) Florida Horse Park is a huge, busy venue. 2) He’s only been off-property XC schooling once before. 3) He’s never been in a dressage ring in his life. 4) He’s definitely never been in a busy warmup ring like those.

He was an absolute professional about the whole thing.

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The judge seemed to think his dressage test was boring (literally half the comments were “needs more energy”… HA) which to me is a major win for an OTTB’s very first time in a dressage ring. He scored a 35, which was good enough for second.

During his warmup for SJ he had just jumped his first crossrail when a small, fast-moving and chaotic little gray pony came in the ring and he really thought that thing was a demon straight from hell. Bingo is considerably less horse shy than he was a month ago, but Trainer opted to just go in the ring rather than have him spiral and get upset in the warmup. A bold choice but the right one, because he went in and cantered right around like a pro. I kind of figured he might have a couple rails in SJ because when he’s distracted he has a really hard time remembering that he has four feet, but nope… he kept all the rails in the cups for a clear round.

Then it was straight out to what I was probably most concerned about: the XC. The XC at the Horse Park is soooo sprawling, the start box was next to warmup with the first couple jumps going straight away from the rings/warmup/parking, all the jumps were still well-decorated from the recognized they just had… it was a fairly daunting ask for a horse’s first event and at a brand-new-to-him venue. Bingy really did a “hold my beer” on this one though, because he was foot perfect. He jumped everything happily and confidently and politely, and honestly seemed to be unimpressed by the whole thing. Trainer reported that he was straight and forward-thinking to every jump, and felt like if anything he needed some bigger jumps. Another double clear phase and what do you know, he finished on his dressage score at his very first horse trial to take home second!

To add icing on the cake, he was really good about the general hubbub of the day. He showed out of their big trailer with four other horses and stood on there like a good boy all day. He handled all the noise of the loudspeaker and the music really well (he’s noise sensitive, so this was a big one). He was relaxed and happy and seemed proud of himself. He handled the warmups pretty well too, all things considered. I think sending him for a month of training and having her take him to his first real show was definitely really helpful to him as far as building his confidence and just allowing him to see and do more things. Now he’s back home and he’ll have a lighter week or two, then we’ll be ready to start looking at some summer adventures!

Henny has also been busy too, with his buddy Kathleen. I’ll let her tell you their tales, though.

Trainer will be out of the country for the next month so things will slow down quite a bit here, but I’m still planning to get the boys out as much as possible. The goal is hopefully an outing for each of them every week, whether its for a jumper round or a little schooling derby or just some trot sets on the hills. It is most definitely off season in Ocala, but there’s still stuff to do pretty much all the time as we head into the dog days of Florida summer. Time to settle into that slower and easier summer schedule! I’m looking forward to it.

I feel like I need to start off this post by saying that I am not a complete and total AI hater. I do think there are some legitimate uses for AI, particularly when it comes to the medical industry, both human and equine. This post really has more to do with the marketing side of things, be it social media images, advertising from brands, videos, event flyers, sale ads, the copy for social media posts and blog posts, etc. That is the bone I’m choosing to pick today, because this is the thing that I’m seeing most rampantly at the moment. I think a lot of brands/companies/people in this industry don’t understand the potential long-term impact of what they’re doing, both to themselves and to others.

I feel like at least a few times a week, I’m in some brand’s comments on social media, letting them know that I am disappointed to see the use of AI in their marketing. The response is always interesting, and has been quite varied, but I feel like we can talk about that a little bit later. Let’s start off with identifying some of the most common things that I have seen lately.

There have been many brands, including some really big ones, using generative AI to produce videos of their products. You can always tell when a video is AI generated, if you know what to look for. I’m also seeing it very commonly used to create photo backgrounds for products – so a photo of the product that someone has put into an AI platform and asked it to give it a background or also perhaps slightly change something about the product itself, or the overall image. Or to generate event/sale flyers, or the copy for posts.

What seems to have completely taken over social media, particularly Facebook, is the ChatGPT-generated captions and graphics. The graphics are always very easy to spot with their trademark fonts and layouts… these AI platforms have a very specific style that honestly makes my brain hurt a little bit. They all look the same, and they’re all massively overdone, usually with plenty of detail inaccuracies when you start looking at them closely.

I personally would much rather see a shitty drawing in Paint or a badly made Canva flyer or a slightly out of focus picture or a spelling/grammar mistake. Why? At least those seem authentic and real and human.

The captions in particular are where everyone has really gone wild. There are some very big accounts that post nothing but ChatGPT-generated captions. Usually quite long ones, where it looks like a rant about a specific topic, or an educational post. Every time I see those I can immediately imagine exactly what these people have put into ChatGPT as a prompt to generate these posts. Again, you can spot them from a mile away. I always wonder what’s the point in interacting with something that was written by a machine? It took someone 5 seconds to generate a post that was designed specifically to entice you to interact with it, for the sole purpose of generating social media interaction. Miss me with that nonsense.

There is absolutely no question that the use of AI has definitely gained a strong foothold within equestrian social media as well as its marketing. The real question is: is this actually a bad thing? And why or why not?

I’m sure it would surprise absolutely no one to hear that my opinion is that I think it’s absolutely a horrible thing and I hate it. To the point where, if I see it more than once, or if there’s a discussion about it and the business owner or brand or creator digs their heels in and defends their AI usage, I immediately unfollow all of their accounts. Is that an extreme response? I don’t know. But I do know that the only way I can really make my opinion heard – and more importantly felt – is by removing myself from their potential base of supporters. Voting with my feet and/or wallet, if you will.

Why do I think it’s such a bad thing? As horse people we have to start with what is perhaps the most obvious and impactful thing for our industry, which is (in my opinion) the environmental aspect. Data centers are popping up at an alarming rate, driven largely by this surge of unchecked AI use, and many of the places that are being targeted to build these data centers are more rural communities. These data centers have terrible impacts on the local environment, and the rapid installation of them will have a definite impact on the global environment, whether you have a data center near you or not. According to Pew Research Center there are currently more than 1,500 new data centers in development nationwide, with heavy emphasis on the South and the Midwest regions (often in already marginalized communities that have little power to fight back, and in places – I’m looking at you, Texas – where they really CANNOT handle more strain to their power infrastructure or water supply).

In this day and age, being a horse person must come hand-in-hand with being a steward of our environment. The impacts to land are real, and we are already feeling it in this industry. From event venues disappearing, to the cost of land rising year over year, not to mention the climate impacts that affect crops and the ability (and cost) to feed our horses… if you aren’t a champion of environmental causes, I think you’re being shortsighted and naïve.

The second big thing, in my mind, is the impact that this has on the human brain. There are already multiple published, peer reviewed studies about how using AI is making us collectively dumber. Is this really the time in human history where we want to reduce everyone’s ability to think deeply, creatively, and critically? Well, I suppose there’s a large group of people that would really love that and benefit from it, but for humanity as a whole it’s sad at best and terrifying at worst.

The third big thing to me, and yes I do say this as someone within the industry, is that it cuts out the human element. Sure, you can have ChatGPT write a blog post or a caption for your Instagram reel in just a few seconds. But I would caution people to pause and consider what it is that actually makes someone connect to and identify with a person, a brand, a product, etc. When everyone’s marketing looks and sounds the same, with nothing genuine or authentic about it, what’s the difference between your brand and someone else’s?

Authenticity and originality have always been key elements of what makes a person or a company or a brand successful. It’s what makes a blogger interesting to follow, or makes one brand’s products stick out more than others. When you think back 10 years or so, when blogging was really in its heyday, the people that were most interesting to follow were the most authentic people, the most interesting people, and those who had something different either within their story or within the way they told their story. It wasn’t bland or cookie cutter, and it didn’t sound like the same person wrote every single thing. Think about your favorite store/brand/creator… why are they your favorite?

When it starts to feel like every image and word is being generated and fed to me by a machine, you’ve lost my interest completely. I will admit that as someone who does copywriting for a living, I’m probably more sensitive to this than most people. I can spot AI-generated content from a mile away, and I have no interest in consuming it. To me not only does it lack creativity, but it looks lazy, and there’s nothing about it that makes it special or warrants any of my attention. If you didn’t put in any effort to create it, why should I put in any effort to consume it?

Another huge issue I have with AI is that all of it, literally every bit of everything it knows, was stolen from somewhere. The vast majority of articles or books or captions or paintings or drawings or photographs or music that have been fed into AI was without the permission of the person who created it in the first place. That person gets absolutely no credit and no compensation. When it comes to this type of use, AI is one big giant theft machine. That machine uses the work of real people and slightly modifies it to generate something to your specs, and the original creator gets no benefit. Do you know who does? The huge companies that own and run these AI platforms. Not only is this morally wrong, but it will also have deep and lasting impacts on the job market, and force many creatives out of the space. Is that really what we want, a future where everything looks the same and has no personality or creativity behind it whatsoever?

I know there will be a lot of people defending their AI usage by mentioning the cost factor. Does it cost more money to pay a copywriter or a photographer or a social media manager? Of course it does, because you’re fairly compensating them for their work, ideas, time, and creativity. You’re not doing that with AI because these companies stole it from other people to begin with.

As I said earlier, when I see these accounts using AI-generated content, I generally try to give people the benefit of the doubt and start a conversation about it. The response has varied greatly. Some people have attacked me for questioning their use of AI at all. Others have just deleted my comments and any other negative comments. I have had a few fruitful discussions with people who genuinely didn’t know any of this. I’ve also had many a discussion where they definitely knew this and just don’t care. Those are the most disappointing I think, because it makes me question your core values in everything you do.

If there are business owners out there reading this, I urge you to consider how the use of AI within your marketing affects your brand’s reputation. While it might seem quicker and more cost-effective up front, believe me when I say that people can absolutely tell you’re using these tools. This can give the consumer a feeling that the business isn’t honest and does absolutely nothing to build brand loyalty or built a lasting relationship with your consumers. Your business should have a voice, and not a generic one. Also consider that using AI-generated (or even AI-improved) images to represent real products can lead to legal issues with misrepresentation.

There are things that AI does well, but marketing, authenticity, and reputation-building are not among them.

What I’m hoping is that sooner or later everyone else will get tired of this as well, and we’ll swing back towards a trend and desire for individuality and creativity. I think it’s already begun. But for now, it’s disheartening to see how many people and brands have jumped aboard the bandwagon of AI with seemingly little consideration to the drawbacks. Whether you use AI or not, whether you love it or not, I’m asking people to just think about the long-term ramifications. Not just to the environment, or humanity, or your own morality and ethics, but also to the long-term reputation of themselves or their brand.

What is it that you want to be known for? I think we should be asking that question now more than ever.

Last week I promised an update on everything that’s been going on aside from all the babies, so here we go! Plus… more babies. Tis the season, after all.

First and foremost, I did make the trip to Kentucky again this year.

This year I was flying solo, and mostly was there to collect and generate social media content for a few clients. I drove up from Ocala, which is about 10 hours with gas stops and traffic, but it was a pretty easy drive to and from. I stayed with Lauren (the person who now owns Rubes) in her camper onsite, so it worked out great. To give a quick summary of Kentucky (because to write it all out would be days… it was a whole Patreon podcast episode in and of itself): Friday was content creation, picking up some frozen semen at Hagyard to bring home, the stallion showcase at Spy Coast, tattoos with friends, then dinner out. Saturday I traipsed around the ENTIRE day getting content, from one end of the trade fair to the other and one end of the XC to the other multiple times. I met up with my friend Jenn to watch the 5* and she gamely traipsed around with me while I was getting content, then gave me a couple Founders Club tickets for the big Grand Prix that night.

That was a very bougie and nice experience, the food was fantastic and so was the view. Sunday I was up early to catch the morning jogs, then hit the trade fair one last time to wrap up some loose ends before I hit the road to Georgia. I stopped there overnight at Rising Star Farm and picked up more frozen semen and booped all their stallions and babies before I was back on the road before dawn the next morning for the final leg home.

It was a relatively insane few days where I clocked 28 miles of walking, but boy did I squeeze a lot in. I also did a small amount of damage in the trade fair, picking up a couple new nameplate bracelets, some sweaters from Mango Bay, a new breastplate for Bingy, some treats, a few grooming related items, and souvenirs for friends. Oh, and this stock pin. I almost never wear a stock or a stock pin, but on the rare occasion that I must, I now have the absolute perfect pin. I couldn’t pass it up.

I also got one more little thing when I got home…

Your eyes do not deceive you, that is a black glitter show coat. I saw it on Instagram and immediately googled the maker, found the model, googled the model to find stores that had it, dug around until I found a singular tack shop in Florida that showed it online, messaged the store owner, arranged an appointment to come shop at her house (she has mobile stores) which was conveniently 30 minutes away, and went and bought it the next day. Shoutout to SunSpree for being the most accommodating. I mean, the coat was made for me. Plus it was only $165. In horse girl math, that’s a free show coat.

After I got home from Kentucky, Bubby was born, and then Neville. I am completely obsessed with Neville.

He’s out of Vee, aka Vonhra, a full TB mare that has had two foals for the WTW program before – Andy who is now 3, and Dash who is a yearling. The same person bought both of them, and they’ve been some of my favorite foals we’ve raised here. Vee just has my type of temperament, and she reliably puts it on her kids too. They’re confident, brave, smart, really like people, and juuuuust cheeky enough to keep you entertained.

Neville’s sire, Connect, is also one of my favorites. He’s the sire of many upper level horses, although the one most of you would probably be familar with is King’s Especiale. Connect’s sire, Connor, has produced even more upper level horses, like Commando 3, Lady Chatterly, HSH Connor, Senor Crocodillo, etc etc. I’m a big fan of that sire line. When we bred Vee last year, Michelle said I could have first dibs on the foal since I love both the sire and the dam, and in my mind I told myself that if it was a filly, we should def keep it.

And then it was a colt, and I was like well lets wait to see how he moves. And then his personality started to unfold and omg it’s really like he was made for me. He’s got all the characteristics of Vee’s other foals, but maybe with just an extra touch of cheek. He spent his first several days greeting me in the morning with a big gummy smile (seriously, it came pre-installed), and he loves to play with his ball. I adore him. Soooo anyway, Neville is staying. I had to have him. Let’s do it all again with a baby horse, shall we?

After Neville, we had our last foal of the season:

This is Ursa Major WTW, aka Bear, and he is so stinkin cute. He’s a BIG chestnut (will turn gray, hopefully very slowly like his mother did) colt by the 1.45m jumper stallion Dia Corrado (from the Diarado line) out of Gossip. This is the second foal for Gossip, who evented through the 3* level in the UK (her dam evented to the 4* level) – her first foal was Ivy, from last year’s crop. This colt has a SUPER temperament, he’s very friendly and sweet and such a dude. We’ve got to find just the perfect person for him, he’s so nice and really checks all the boxes.

As for the rest of my crew, Bingy has been fabulous. Before I left for Kentucky I took him over to Majestic to do his first XC school, and he was a super good boy. He’s a mix of bold and careful, so I think if we’re patient with him and take the time to properly build his confidence, he’ll be a very bold XC horse. He jumped around the whole starter course and did ditches, banks, and water.

After that school I really started thinking hard about sending him to my trainer for a month. He’s at that stage where he’s soaking up everything so quickly and putting all the basics together, I feel like if I’m going to do something like that, now is the time. There were some main draws to sending him, including 1) his biggest weakness is that he’s horse shy. I cannot work on that at home when I’m the only person here who rides. He needs to consistently be ridden with other horses for a while until he gets over that. 2) they have everything right there at their farm – jumping ring, hacking, xc, etc. He could do more there in a month, without the stress of having to haul out constantly, than I could do with him here in the entire summer.

I hemmed and hawed over it for a couple weeks, bounced the idea off of some friends and then finally brought it up to my trainer. We all agreed that a month of “finishing school” would probably be of great benefit to him. I’m hoping that he’ll come away with more confidence in both his environment and his job, and a better understanding of what we’re asking of him.

I dropped him off on Monday (which was kinda sad for me – I’m SO used to having my horses at home, I hate them leaving my care even when I know where they’re going is great) and so far he’s had a few rides. I got to see his Monday flat ride with Alex, and then his Tuesday jump school with Ellie. Every day he “gets it” just a little bit more, and he does seem to genuinely enjoy his new job.

I’ll get to see him again tomorrow, and then hopefully he’ll do some XC next week. If all goes according to plan I should get him back about a week into June, after which they’re leaving for Europe for a good chunk of the summer.

Which is also why I’m fitting in as many lessons with Presto as I can at the moment. Things seem to be pretty much back on track, and my thought was to spend the summer just kinda toodling around schooling shows and jumper rounds and stuff at Training and Modified height to get us back in the groove of horse showing. Hopefully then we’d be ready to get to some of the fall recognized shows.

I don’t think Presto really requires his standard one-month summer vacation this year, considering how light his schedule has been (and the fact that without having to keep him eventing-fit for Prelim, I have tabled the majority of his conditioning work in favor of trying not to unnecessarily pound on my 17.2h horse’s joints when I don’t need to) but we might take a couple weeks to just hack around or whatever. We’ll see how I’m feeling once the inevitable oppressive heat sets in. There is literally no pressure, so we’re just gonna spend the summer doing whatever we want, really, and try to keep us both moderately tuned up.

Otherwise the only other exciting thing left to report is that I went to Rockville again this past weekend. It’s a huuuge rock music festival in Daytona Beach, and last year me and my friend Lisa went for the first time, but only for one day. This year she rented a house, brought her husband and brother, and they went for 3 days. I joined them for Saturday and Sunday, and we had a great time. It was a lot… like… Saturday was a 3pm to 1am kind of day, complete with 1.5hrs sitting on a concrete floor because of a lightning delay where we all had to evacuate. But we fit a lot in, including a trip to the beach (upon which I was reminded how much I absolutely HATE the beach). Between the two days I walked 12 miles and saw about 20 bands, including some of my favorites like Bring Me The Horizon, Motionless in White, The Plot in You, Yellowcard, Architects, A Day to Remember, and My Chemical Romance. Most of them were pretty good, although if I had to pick a winner it would be Motionless in White. It was my second time seeing them and they were just awesome. It was VERY cool to see BMTH as a headliner though, I’ve liked their music forever and never seen them in person before. Incredible show.

I think I’m mostly recovered from that now, and aside from breeding these mares back, there’s not much on the docket for the next few months. Honestly, I think I’m ready to feel a little bit bored and well-rested, it’s been a hectic spring!

I think after this foaling season we’re going to have to change the name of the farm from Willow Tree Warmbloods to Bay Colt Emporium or something. The WTW program is now sitting at 6 bay colts and 1 bay dun/grulla filly, with one mare left to foal out. At least we’re consistent?

When I last left off, we had three WTW foals on the ground: Uncorked WTW aka Cory a bay colt that will go gray (he’s sold), Upscale WTW aka Tommy a bay colt, and Unbothered WTW aka Beau a bay colt (he’s also sold).

Since then we’ve added:

Uncharted WTW aka Charlie, a bay Sportpony colt by Fox Creek’s Masterpiece. Anyone looking for a super fancy large pony sportscar? This kiddo is very athletic and a super mover, he’d be great for a petite adult.

Upgrade WTW aka Madeline, the sole non-bay and non-colt so far. Well ok she’s either grulla or bay dun, we haven’t color tested yet, but still. She is CUTE as a button and is being retained for the program.

Upton WTW aka Bubby, born the Monday after Kentucky and from two eventing parents so he had to have an eventing name. He’s by the Connemara stallion WH TopGun out of our Irish mare Kilpatrick Grace. He’s still fresh and unfolding but also super cute and should make a really fun event horse or jumper for someone.

And then last night we added Uprising WTW (still working on a barn name I think), a bay colt by Connect out of our TB mare Vee. He is absolutely cute as a button with a great type, I can’t wait to see him moving around outside. I might claim this one for myself, I love Vee and her foals so much.

We only have ONE MORE foal left, from our imported 3* mare. Should we take bets on whether or not it’s a bay colt? She had a black filly last year.

I have updates on other stuff too, like Presto and Bingo and Kentucky and aaaaalll that, but it needs to be another post. To be continued…

A lot has happened in the past month, y’all. Time is absolutely flying by, and every time I come in here to do an update I seem to get distracted and then before I know it another week goes by. So we’ve got a lot of ground to cover here, including Presto’s 9th birthday.

It’s absolutely insane to me to think that next year he hits double digits. Just… what??? How??? Never fear, though, he’s never acted his age a single day in his entire life and I don’t think he plans to start now.

We actually had to have Presto’s party a day early, because on his actual birthday I headed up to North Carolina to see Bad Omens, my favorite band. My fellow horse friend and metal lover Lisa lives in Southern Pines and the show was in Raleigh so I drove up on Sunday, went to the concert Monday, and drove home on Tuesday. We had an absolute blast dressing up as characters from their latest videos (I was the sparkly ghost… which in the videos is just a regular ghost but I figured for a concert it should be sparkly, right?) and just being absolutely ridiculous. I had a great seat, front row, and they even hand-delivered a guitar pick to me.

That was my third time seeing Bad Omens since 2023 and somehow, despite it seeming impossible, they get better and better every time. I first saw them at House of Blues and this year is their first arena tour, so it’s quite a big change in the past few years. It’s cool to see how big they’ve gotten but I’m also glad I got to see them in a smaller venue.

Oh, and somehow I’ve never actually been to Southern Pines before so it was nice to get a glimpse of yet another horse-centric area and spend a tiny bit of time up there.

And THEN, the day after I got back, Fey had her baby!

Fey belongs to me and Hillary, and this foal is Hillary’s, plus it’s Fey’s first. Her registered name will be Uphoria, barn name Phee, and she’s bay but will go gray like her sire Future Guilty Pleasure. She is very very cute and Fey is being a fantastic mom. I think she likes the job! This filly is already sold, to a 4* rider.

A few days later we had the first foal of the year (of EIGHT) for the actual Willow Tree Warmbloods program, a bay (will also turn gray) colt by Cevin Z out of the TB mare Peyton. He is CUUUUTE as a button, super bold and confident and 100% colt. He too sold very quickly and had a few people in line for him – he also got a fantastic home so we always love that. I think this might be Peyton’s nicest foal to date.

We’ve had two more babies since then (both last week) – Chanel had a bay colt by Ustinov and Nalah had a bay colt by Quality Touch. Chanel is the super nice mare that jumped 1.45m with pros and juniors, and has produced so far a 1.50m horse and a 1.45m horse in Europe. This is potentially her last foal and she really went all out… her foals are all nice but Tommy (Upscale WTW) is absolutely stunning. He’s available to a serious showjumping home.

And then Nalah’s foal was already spoken for, having sold in utero. He’s a very cute dude with a big star just like his mom, and four little short white socks. His owner named him Unbothered WTW aka Beau, although I admittedly have been calling him Piglet sometimes because when he plays he makes little oinking noises. It’s very cute.

We still have 5 more foals left to go for the season, which seems insane (probably because it is). The two ponies are taking their sweet time at the moment, both having gone well over the average gestation length. I guess the ponies will do whatever the ponies want to do but hopefully they release their hostages soon. After those two we’ve got 3 more eventer mares to round us out for the season.

As for the riding horses, Presto spent most of the last month getting some training rides. He decided after winning those two schooling shows that maybe he was The Shit and could do whatever he wanted, however he wanted, and that just wasn’t really working out for us. With a little bit of professional wrangling, after which you will be shocked to hear that most of the problem was me, I think things are hopefully back on track. I don’t have any media of him though, so… I guess you’ll just have to take my word for it.

Bingo tho, I have lots of media of him. He’s been an absolute little superstar.

On the 1st he went back to Majestic’s little jumper rounds show (where he made his very exciting ground poles debut last month) and did the crossrail class. He started out a bit more tense this time, probably because there were more horses and more stuff going on, but I was very happy with how quickly he settled. As soon as you give him a job to do he really tries his best to focus, and then he locks in pretty well. He hadn’t jumped around a course yet but you could literally feel him understanding the job as we went, and by the end he was very proud of himself. I ended up letting him canter out of a couple of the lines and honestly he was just a super good boy. He spooked a little bit at one of the food trucks next to the ring that was starting up a generator, but 1) that’s fair, 2) it was just a slow yoink sideways in the corner and then we course corrected just fine. No big deal.

After that we really got back on his training ride schedule in earnest, because I felt like something really clicked with him at that show and I wanted to jump on that momentum (no pun intended). You know when it feels like they’re really close to understanding it? That’s how he felt after the jumper show. So this month he’s now had 3 training rides, and every single time he comes out a little bit better, smarter, and more sure of himself.

He’s done a few lines now, including oxers and even a little bit of fill, and yesterday he did his first little intro grid. Bingo is a big long horse with a lot of leg and body to figure out, but every time he jumps his shape and his straightness get better. He also seems to like the job, which is obviously a very good thing. I think this week/weekend I’ll try to take him out for his first little XC adventure and see what he thinks of that but watching his confidence bloom has been so fun, especially from his training rides this month. He’s not even the same horse that arrived here in October, all withdrawn, sullen, and irritable. Now he’s full of personality and eager to learn, happy to go forward, and clearly proud of himself when he figures something out. That’s my favorite part.

We’re about to get into really the most insane time of year, with so many mares left to foal, and then breeding season, plus Kentucky (I’ll be there for a few days!). At least the babies are cute, even though they’re stressful.

It looks like we might be on track to try to breed Fey this week, fingers crossed!