Month: March 2016

For most parts of the country spring is just beginning, but here in Texas we’ve been having spring-like weather for almost two months already. I don’t particularly love Texas or think that it’s a very attractive state in general, but even I will admit that spring in Texas is pretty great. It’s the only time that the grass is truly lush, and we get a pretty amazing assortment of wildflowers.

This spring has been particularly nice so far – temperatures are mostly in the 70’s and 80’s and we’ve gotten enough rain to keep things green but not enough to really impact our riding schedule. This probably means we’ll have a horrid summer, but I’m enjoying it while I can. The grass looks amazing, Henry is done shedding and looks sleek and shiny (yes, sadly this does mean his butt unicorns are gone), and the footing is perfect. I’ve especially been enjoying our hacks in the field lately.

Texans have this super weird tradition of plopping their kids in the bluebonnets and taking pictures, which I have never quite understood. Maybe you have to be a native to get it. But naturally SO and I (ok it was mostly me) decided to put Quinn in his best bow tie, plop his fat fuzzy ass in some bluebonnets, and take our own “kid” pictures. My fuzzy kid is way cuter than their regular kid, that’s for sure.

We’re also firmly into our show season now. Our first recognized event of the season is only 3 weeks away. Louisiana, brace yourselves for the Amanda and Bobby Shitshow invasion.

I’m sure this level of amazingness won’t last and soon I’ll be back to whining about flooding or 100+ degree temps or both, but for now… everything is beautiful and Texas doesn’t suck.

I haven’t updated you guys on little baby Merlin since the weaning post, but now it’s finally time. This is probably the last you’ll hear of him for a while, since a) he’s gone to a new home, and b) the first few years of a horse’s life are boring.

First important fact, which I’ve mentioned before: he ain’t little anymore. You may remember the picture of him with his 2yo friend that was his buddy for weaning:

He seems a lot like his dam (my mare), Sadie, in many ways. Starting with those big ol’ donkey ears and his amazing ability to wear his food on his face.

It’s been fun to watch him grow in pictures and videos… definitely reminds me a lot of Sadie when she was a baby. He’s bigger though. And fancier.

Merlin was sold well before he was weaned, and last week he left West Texas for his new home near Houston. He found the absolute best people and will someday end up in the jumper ring, so I think we’re all pretty excited for his future. He even got some seriously fancy digs for his first long trailer ride.

 

I know Michelle was a little sad to see her first Willow Tree homebred go, but it also has to feel incredibly rewarding.

 

Especially when his new home is so great. I think Merlin must have been a little bit shell-shocked by all the green grass! West Texas definitely doesn’t look like this.

Sadie wasn’t so happy about the weaning thing, but she got over it and the barn/fences seem to have survived her wrath. Now she’s off at the breeding farm getting ready to be bred to Mighty Magic sometime in the next week or so. I’m trying not to think about it, because when I think about it I get super nervous. I forgot how seriously nerve-wracking it is to breed a mare, successfully get her pregnant, and then try not to die from anxiety during the 11 month gestation. It’s like having a knot in your stomach that takes up permanent residence for a year. Cross all your crossables that we get another one as nice as Merlin (although please not quite so big).

Happy trails, baby Merlin!

 

Now that I’m independently mobile and able to do lessons, schoolings, and shows whenever I want, I’ve become even more appreciative of Henry.

Having owned horses in the past that didn’t really load that well, or were nervous haulers, or weren’t trustworthy about standing tied at the trailer, or were screaming messes at shows, it’s REALLY NICE to have one that isn’t any of those things. At this point in my life it’s non-negotiable that whatever horse I have is (or learns to be) a good traveler, especially since I often travel alone. I didn’t even know how strongly I felt about this until I started traveling with Henry and realized just how easy he is and how much nicer that makes things.

He was pretty easy to start with, but over the past few months of adventures pretty much every weekend, he’s gotten to be a total road warrior. A couple weekends ago at High Point, for instance, I loaded him in the dark at 5:15am (he never questions my sanity in these situations), he was chill enough on the two hour trip to eat his entire bag full of hay, unloaded, looked left, looked right, and buried his nose in his newly re-filled hay bag, even with someone lunging a wild screaming horse only 20 feet away from the back of my trailer.

The day before that at Scissortail was the same thing, even with crazy wind and the fact that we were the first trailer there, I had no qualms about leaving him at the trailer with his hay while I went to pee and pick up my number. It’s nice to be able to take a leisurely pee instead of trying to pee as fast as possible to avoid your horse taking an unauthorized tour of the showgrounds.

What’s your stance on trailer/traveling manners? Are they a Must Have, or can you live with some more difficult behavior?

When I’ve had horses in the past that I didn’t trust to stand tied, I would leave them in the trailer instead. An easy remedy, but less so when your trailer doesn’t really have a lot of space to maneuver for grooming or tacking up. One thing is for sure – the next baby horse will spend a lot of time traveling and learning about patience, because I am never again putting up with one who isn’t easy. So thank you, Henry, for having good grown-up horse manners and making my life easier.

Except for that time you turned your bucket over on your own head and when I came back around the side of the trailer you were looking at me like “No idea what happened, this bucket totally just jumped on my head! Halp, I has water in muh ears…”

Three things are clear from yesterday’s adventure:

1. The Cambox is freaking awesome.
2. I need to figure out how to use it better and tweak a few things to make it perfect.
3. Bobby sucks at taking video.

Bobby was showing at MeadowCreek on Friday/Saturday, and he stayed over until Sunday so I could come meet him up there for an XC school. As soon as Henry came off the trailer and saw Halo it was total bromance mode.

 

I put the Cambox on my helmet at the barn but had some issues getting the adhesive to stick to the alcantara on the underside of the brim. Gonna have to play with it to get it secure enough for my liking, but there’s no doubt it looks a million times more sleek than the GoPro.

I also don’t think I charged it enough, or maybe I left it on in between filming, because I ran out of battery not too far into our schooling. Gonna have to play with that too. And I need to turn the lens a little more upward so you can see the fences better. Ok, so I learned a lot on this trial run. Mostly I just got video of the water (which wasn’t much footage when I trimmed off all the extra galloping stretches and walking):

Bobby got a little bit of video though, at least of the Training half coffin and another Training roll top.

I love this screen shot of Halo watching Henry. I think he’s coaching him through…

Then we jumped the scary giant T/P weldon’s wall and Bobby did this:

You had ONE JOB, Bobby! He says he got so excited he forgot he was filming. Or he’s just dumb… you decide. But here’s a picture of said Weldon’s wall from the front.

Henry was his usual good boy self, and it was a super fun and productive schooling. Once I get the chance to play with the Cambox a little bit more I’ll do a review, but so far I’m pretty happy with it. The design is awesome and it’s waaaay easier to use/less obtrusive than the GoPro!

Guess who got a real, genuine leather, CUSTOM saddle and is no longer riding in a Wintec? That’s right, this douchebag:

A few months ago I came across a picture of a really cool saddle on facebook that was in Bobby’s colors, so I sent it to him. He actually said it was beautiful, and I politely encouraged him to ask how much it was. It was made by a very small saddlery in the UK, so I thought maybe the price could be reasonable. And while yes it was SUPER reasonable for a custom saddle, it was a bit more than Bobby could justify spending. So he did what any self-respecting manchild would do and dropped many not-at-all subtle hints to his bf Dustin about what a good birthday present it would be. Dustin pretended to laugh it off, but he’s a devious one…

And so began the process of Dustin and I plotting behind Bobby’s back to get him his dream saddle. Dustin emailed the maker about ordering and payment, and I provided the fit details (seat size, flap length, forwardness, etc) and the tracing of Halo’s back. This was a pretty massive secret operation, trying to get the saddle just right but not let Bobby catch on to what we were doing.

Dustin was able to pull off the extra miraculous feat of getting the saddle delivered to him in about a month. Pretty amazing turnaround time for custom, and the saddle is beautiful.

When it arrived, Dustin asked me when I thought he should give it to Bobby and I said please god do it immediately. #1 keeping secrets as amazing as this one is physically painful for me, #2 if he’s gonna show in it on his birthday at his first recognized Training with Halo, he needs to ride in it a little bit first. Guess who legit cried when he got his saddle? He also told me he loved me. Twice. Just for the record.

Because Dustin is the best human ever, he also asked me if Bobby needed any accessories to go with his new saddle. I happily directed him to a real bridle (no more plastic bridle!) and a new saddle pad from Riding Warehouse, plus the saddle maker provided leathers with red stitching to match. He is 100% re-outfitted and ready to look like a total badass. My little Bobby is growing up!

I have never been so excited for someone else to get a present. I feel like we’ve all won here. I also want to go on record with a few direct quotes from a newly-reformed Bobby:

• “My girth actually works. But wintec is shit so maybe I should go buy a fancy one for him.”
• His comment after he gave me his navy saddle pad “It’s gross, it doesn’t match. I can’t have it near the saddle. It hurts my eyes. I’m buying another pad today so I have two schooling pads. White red or black…..”
• “I want to burn this ugly plastic shit!”