Month: December 2017

The blogger Secret Santa gift exchange has become one of my favorite things every year since I started all this craziness. The equestrian blogging community is very diverse, but we all have one thing in common: our love for our ponies. Tracy is kind enough to coordinate this little shindig every year (which, I can only imagine that trying to coordinate bloggers is much like herding cats) and it’s fun to try to pick out stuff for someone else that you probably have never met, yet it still feels like you know them on some level from reading their blog.

I was kind of behind the eight ball this year and didn’t get my package shipped out to my SS until Monday (and forgot to write in the card explaining a couple of the items – fail) so I doubt it has arrived yet, but Olivia was clearly much more organized than I was. Which would surprise precisely no one that reads both of our blogs.

Poor Olivia, her first year participating and she got ME. I feel bad for anyone who gets me, I know I’m hard to shop for. She nailed it though, with a cute tote from One Horse Designs (I love cuss words, so this is super apropos), treats for Henny, and a toy for the dogs (or cat). The treats went into Henry’s trailer stash – yes he has treats in my truck, in the barn, and in the trailer, is that weird? – and Stewie has already started tearing the dog toy apart. The tote was put into service to carry my riding clothes to work, and it has gotten more than one chuckle. So, many thanks to Olivia, everything is awesome!

Presto’s Christmas presents also arrived from Europe. Yeah, I went back and ordered the bridle too. They got a brown cob in stock right after the sale ended, but said they would toss it in my shipment and honor the sale price, so who can say no to that? He may only be 9 months old, but he’s got some fancy strapgoods waiting for him. The halter might actually fit him pretty soon, it was quite adjustable so I put it down to all the smallest holes and it seems pretty close to yearling size. The bridle will just sit in the closet and wait for him to get older. Oh – and Riding Warehouse just started stocking this bridle, so for everyone who was asking me where to get it, now you don’t have to order from overseas!

Can we talk about this gorgeous glass that Michelle (Presto’s other mom) painted for me? HOW FRIGGIN CUTE IS THIS? She even managed to capture the crazy in Henny’s eyes! I’m a little obsessed with it.

And last but not least, some of you may have guessed that last week’s post about adults riding ponies/honies was actually going somewhere. If you did, you are correct! Tomorrow the pint-sized jumper phenom Usandro (Sandro Boy x Welcome Sympatico) enters a breeding facility in France to begin the process of producing frozen semen for USA export. There will be a limited number of doses available for sale here in the US for the 2018 season, and we’re excited to see how he crosses on the American mare base. I’m working on getting a facebook page up for him in English, and will keep y’all updated on when the semen arrives. If you’re interested in breeding to him, let me know and I can get some info to you ASAP! Merry Christmas, America, have some French pony jumper semen!

Horse people are weird.

Out of all the horses I’ve owned before Henry, I wouldn’t have called any of them excellent haulers. Most were fine, a few were turds (Sadie and Cruz, I’m looking at y’all), but most fell solidly in the average range. They would get on the trailer within a few minutes, with a little encouragement, and they might paw or kick a little, especially if the trailer wasn’t moving.

When I got Henry I was warned that he didn’t like backing off the trailer, but otherwise he was good. The day I picked him up we got stuck in traffic forever, and that horse rode back there without so much as a peep. For those first two years we didn’t really travel that much, but he got into every trailer I put him in without much complaint. I turned him around to let him unload if I could, although the few times he had to back out were definitely… not that majestic. After riding in Bobby’s Brenderup a few times, he started to get a lot more comfortable with backing out. It was like it just took him a while to get his brain to work in reverse.

When I got my trailer he had to get pro about it real quick, since a) we started hauling a lot, and b) it was a straight load. He always loaded great as long as I went in with him, so for a long time that’s just what we did. Then one day I whacked the hell out of my head in my rush to duck under the chest bar as he was loading, and I decided it was time he learned to get on that trailer by himself.

I’d like to pretend this was some grand horse training moment and I had to use some kind of skill to teach it, but here’s what really happened.

I tossed his lead rope over his neck, stood next to the ramp, and gave him a little tug forward. The first time he got about halfway before he realized he was alone, at which point he stopped and slowly backed out. We tried again, and this time when he got halfway I started clucking. He thought about it for a second and flicked his ear back at me, at which point I said “You get in that trailer!”. And he did. Because he’s Henry.

He’s been self-loading in my trailer ever since.

Yeah, I know. Wow at my fancy horse training.

The real test for his newfound skill was this past weekend when we took Trainer’s trailer to go foxhunting. It was as opposite of a configuration as possible – a step up slant load. There were also other horses in there, and Henry pretty much always hauls alone. There’s also a rear tack, so the loading space is a bit narrow. I led him up there and clucked, fully expecting him to flip me the bird, but after a second he stepped right on up. Huh, how about that. Isn’t it nice when horses make us feel like we’re some kind of competent horse trainer, even when we didn’t actually do a damn thing?

As far as traveling goes, he’s pretty good. A couple times a year he gets mad for whatever reason and tries to buck a couple times to express his displeasure (he mostly did this in Bobby’s trailer) but that’s pretty rare. He doesn’t paw, and he’s pretty chill. I’m exceptionally grateful for this, because we’re on the road a lot. Last week he was on a trailer 4 out of 7 days.

Having a horse that is this easy to travel with has been awesome, especially since I’m alone 99% of the time. It has definitely made me determined to get Presto to be this reliable and easy… hopefully he can train himself, too.

I’ve never named a Gadget of the Year before, but if I had, it probably would have been the Ultimate Hoof Pick pretty much every year. I love that thing a lot more than is probably normal. And this year I have a new contender that is worthy to sit side by side with that magical hoof pick!

I finally started consistently using studs on Henry this season. It’s been a good 15+ years since I’ve had to stud a horse on a consistent basis, so when I was putting my kit together I opted for a couple of cool things that didn’t exist back in the day. One of those was the Bionic Wrench.

I admit I originally got this thing because a) it looked kinda neat, and b) I vividly remember how much I used to hate using wrenches to remove studs. Especially if they were wet or muddy or had been torqued in there really tight. I lost a lot of skin off my knuckles. Plus I had to carry around a couple different wrenches because not all of my studs were the same size, and I inevitably always reached for the wrong one.

Clearly all of those things scarred me deeply, because I’m nothing if not a total cheapskate, yet I opted to spend the $25 on the Bionic Wrench instead of a few bucks on a couple of traditional wrenches. It was worth every penny.

Being able to grip each side of the tool and squeeze them together gives you a lot more power with considerably less effort. It’s much easier to get the studs tighter when you put them in, and much easier to remove them afterwards. The head of the tool grips all the sides of the stud, so there is zero slippage, and it can still grip the stud even if it’s covered in mud or turf. It fits any size stud, taking the guesswork out of figuring out which tool you need. For me this thing has been fantastic, making it much easier to get studs in securely and out quickly.

I also used it to tighten some loose nuts on a couple of my jump standards, and loosen a couple of stubborn, painted-over nuts on my horse trailer windows when we replaced the screens. Even if you don’t stud your horses, it can be a really useful tool to have around the barn. The amount of time, skin, and cussing it’s saved me definitely make it worthy of being my 2017 Gadget of the Year.

 

WE FINALLY GOT TO GO FOXHUNTING! Or in this scenario, bobcat chasing. Whatever you call it, we galloped around for like 2 hours and it was freaking awesome.

This started as many of our adventures do, with Trainer saying “Hey Chance, you wanna ________?”. To which my answer is almost always yes, because duh. My friend Kathy was kind enough to invite some of her eventer friends out hunting with Independence Foxhounds, and a whole bunch of us showed up to see what this thing was all about. Independence is a small hunt, and they were very kind about letting us newbs have a lot of leeway with attire and tack. So if you’re used to very formal hunting, prepare to be offended by my appearance in these pictures. I, however, am very appreciative of not having to run around last minute and try to pull together something very formal for a first-time, lets-see-what-this-is-all-about kind of thing. Especially since the only really hunting appropriate thing I own is tan breeches. They even sent out an email mid-week saying we could wear raincoats, since rain was in the forecast.

Since the place where they were hunting is about 2 hours away from me (isn’t literally everything?) I left Friday afternoon after work and hauled to Trainer’s place. We set to work with the important tasks on Friday night, like preparing the flasks.

Then Saturday morning we were off bright and early to load the boys and head out. It’s been a long time since Henry’s been in a slant load, he kept trying to walk straight in and chested the divider. Derp. And since he was in the last spot, he also had to back out on kind of a slant, and step down at the same time. Double derp all over the place. Bless him. But we made it, got tacked up, and he immediately took up the role of Uncle to Trainer’s 3yo OTTB, Jack.

Everyone got mounted up with little drama, flasks in one pocket of the rain jacket, phone in the other (bc I gotta get pics of THIS!). We got a mini-briefing on rules and etiquette, sorted ourselves in second flight behind Kathy (poor Kathy, being responsible for all us idiots), and away we went.

We started out at a very civilized walk/trot, with periods of stopping and waiting as the hounds struck off looking for scent. We hung way back just kind of waiting and staying out of the way, while also being VERY ENTHUSIASTIC to be out hunting.

Then the hounds kind of went rogue after some deer and things hit pause while the staff went off to round them up. That’s when David, poor David he had no idea what he was getting into with us, came back and asked if any of us wanted to go for a gallop. Um. Yas. Yas we would. At that point we split off into two groups… the ones that wanted to run around and be idiots went with David, and the ones that wanted a more relaxed w/t experience stayed with Kathy.

And that’s how we ended up first flight. I think all of us thought that David was going to take us for a loop and bring us back, but basically we spent the next two hours galloping around. First for fun, then catching up to and following the hounds. We’d gallop for a while, then take a few minutes for “refreshments” (ie drinking and chatting).

Most of the trails were pretty open and flat with a few creek crossings, but it got a little wild a few times when we weaved through the woods. I took a tree branch to the knee that turned into a pretty bruise, and at one point while galloping behind Highlander (the draft/paint X) he tossed up a poop/dirt clod out of one hoof that got me right in the chest. And that’s how I got horse poop all over my saddle. Lesson learned – don’t gallop behind Highlander.

As with many things he does, Henry took this quite seriously. He listened intently to the hounds and horn, always very very interested in them but not scared. I think he caught on that we were following them, and the longer we were out there, the more into it he got. The hounds ended up finding a bobcat and chased it for a while before it climbed a tree. This led to more galloping around on our part.

Henry started out a little slow but by the end he was finding a whole new gear and was still full of run by the time were done, after almost 3 hours total of being out. He basically pranced back to the trailers.

And for the data geeks among us, the GPS map from the master’s horse and the hounds is pretty cool. Her horse covered almost 11 miles. No clue how far we went, but we went there fast. I should turn on my GPS next time.

Yeah that’s right, I said next time. Because holy shit that was fun, I totally want to go back. Galloping and/or giggling for 3 hours was basically all of my childhood dreams come true, and it’s some seriously awesome conditioning for the horses, especially with the different terrain and footing.

Except I want to be a little less ghetto next time, so I’m gonna try to pick up a plain navy or black coat for cheap. Luckily they’re all over eBay for like $25, since nobody wears the wool coats anymore. Henry also thinks he’s earned a hunt bridle, but I’m not convinced yet.

Maybe after a few more hunts, kiddo.

I can’t thank Kathy enough for inviting us, or Independence enough for letting us come see what it’s all about. Foxhunting has been on my bucket list forever and it was just as fun as I thought it would be. We will definitely be back!

Our main barn worker retired a couple weeks ago.  Laura is a tough, gruff, wiry lady, the kind you’d expect to see working as bartender at a biker bar or something. She doesn’t take shit from anyone, but at the same time she’s incredibly kind and caring. Originally Laura worked in corporate America, at a big company where she got up every day, put on her suit and heels, and played the 9-5 game. Then one day she looked around at her life, realized how deeply unhappy she was, and walked away from it all to pursue a career that would make her feel happy and fulfilled.

First she worked at the race track, as a hot walker, then a groom. She worked longer hours and more days and made less money, but her heart was happy. Every single day she felt like she was making a difference in the horse’s lives, and every single day she got to enjoy being outside and moving around instead of chained to a desk in a cubicle. I can identify with that part of Laura in a major way, and I admire the courage that it took for her to walk away from stability in favor of something more satisfying.

Eventually Laura made her way to my barn, which is of course where I crossed paths with her. When Henry moved in he was fresh out of rehab for his saucer fracture and required a pretty strict routine for his first month or so. Laura impressed me right away with her dedication to making sure that he was taken care of appropriately. No matter how inconvenient, she did it all to a “T” with no complaints.

It didn’t take long for Henry to become one of Laura’s favorites. She thought his cheeky personality was quite funny, and I was getting texts in the middle of day asking something like “Can Henry have banana?” or “Henry wants some of my Bugles, can he have some?”. She shared all of her snacks with him, but his particular favorite was her extra salty sunflower seeds. Eventually she got to where she would buy two bags at a time, one for herself and one for him.

Laura also knew the behavior of every horse, inside and out. When Henry colicked last winter, she called me and said “Henry is half-heartedly eating his breakfast, and every once in a while he stops to paw. I’m worried he’s colicking.”. And she was right, he was. But she caught it so fast that a little bit of Banamine and a 20 minute walk fixed him right up, and for the next few weeks she soaked his hay every day and gave him alfalfa, “just to be sure“.

Henry isn’t the most maintenance-free horse to take care of. In the summer he really can’t stay out past 10am or he’ll sweat to death, and in the winter he requires close attention be paid to his blanketing needs. Laura had no problem with any of it though, always stopping in the middle of chores to bring him in, or coming back down to the barn late at night to put his blanket on. I never had to worry about whether my horse was too hot or too cold. And she always tossed him extra hay.

If she saw me packing up my trailer to go somewhere, she’d stop what she was doing and help me pack, despite my protests. Before I could even turn around she’d be tossing hay up in the bed of my truck or packing Henry’s grain. That’s just her nature. It didn’t really matter if you needed the help or if she had other things to do… she’s a helper, and she was going to help. And every single time we got back from the show, she was the first one asking me to see pictures and video. She thought Henry was just a blast to watch. But really, that shows you how invested she was in “her” horses, and how much she genuinely cared about them. Laura even asked about Presto all the time, and became deeply invested in his journey too.

Laura’s husband had a stroke a few years back, so pretty much every spare minute she had was spent taking care of him. They lived in a mobile home on the property, and she would buzz back and forth from the barn to the house, making sure everyone was taken care of. That was her job, 24/7. But eventually her husband required more and more care, and she decided to retire and move closer to family so she would have some help. A decision I totally understand and respect, but I miss Laura a lot, just the same, and I think Henry does too. If nothing else, he’s wondering where the heck the nice lady with the sunflower seeds went. I still send her texts and pictures, because I know how much she’s missing the horses, too.

Barn workers in general are overworked, underpaid, and a lot of times very under appreciated. Because of that, good ones can be really hard to come by, yet they have one of the most important roles in our industry. They’re the ones that interact with our horses the most, and they’re the ones that are entrusted with their overall health and well-being. So if you have a good one like Laura, make sure they know how much you appreciate them and everything they do for you and your horse… I guarantee they will be happy to hear it.