Guess what I did yesterday???
Yep, Presto is an official, card-carrying, USEA-registered horse. So legit now, man.
Really I was going to wait to decide whether or not to go ahead and get his Future Event Horse registration until later on in the year, if at all. I didn’t want to take him to FEH unless he decided to stop looking like a donkey at some point (which I am not holding my breath for, btw, since his mother looked like that for LITERALLY YEARS). But then USEA released the FEH schedule, and, well… there isn’t a lot for our area. There are two March classes held in conjunction with USEA recognized events, which, like… show me a yearling that is show-ready in March. Unless you want to body clip it and keep it in a stall and feed it like a show hog, none of which holds much appeal to me. Presto has an early birthday compared to most but even he would be just BARELY a year old for those shows. Most yearlings don’t start looking acceptable til late summer/early fall. Early in the yearling year is generally REALLY unattractive.
But our latest FEH class (not counting Championships) in this area is in June. Soooo… hmmph. If I held out until he decided to be slightly less hideous, his yearling FEH opportunities would be gone. Now I’m kinda just like well screw it, if he’s hideous and acts like a demon donkey, then so be it. He’s not for sale so if he doesn’t score well then whatever. Mostly I just want him to get out in the show atmosphere and start learning how to behave in the ring. And of course I want to support the USEA programs at the same time, so FEH it is. Since I don’t want to/literally cannot show him in March, nor do I want to drive 6 hours to Oklahoma, our only other two options are May and June.
They’re both at the same venue near Houston, and honestly they might work out for the best anyway. They are held in conjunction with an unrecognized derby, not a recognized event, so there are WAY fewer people and the atmosphere is much less grand. They’d be good little shows to let him get his feet wet without blowing his mind completely, and if he’s really hideous or terrible then at least we didn’t embarrass ourselves in front of everyone in Area 5.
Therefore I decided to go ahead and do his FEH registration with USEA (thank you USEA for making this level of registration only $25). At least now it’s done for the year and I don’t have to remember it later, and it also means that he’s officially in their system, which is kind of fun.
Of course, if he’s gonna be ready for FEH by the end of May, I need him home in April. He’s got to start learning about the triangle and standing up properly for confo, and get less feral about trotting in hand. So we’ll see if I can actually make this happen, but I’m definitely going to try.
I also took a screenshot of the USEA membership form page as I was filling it out because I thought it was too funny. No wonder people new to the warmblood world find the whole thing to be extremely confusing.
By a Holsteiner stallion and out of a Zweibrucker mare, but he’s registered Belgian. Yet by blood he’s mostly TB with some Hanoverian and Holsteiner thrown in. And actually he’s Belgian Sporthorse (sBs) not Belgian Warmblood (BWP) but USEA didn’t have that option in their dropdown. It’s always fun to try to explain to people how any of this warmblood stuff works (clearly it is mass chaos).
breedrideevent.com 
EEHHHH HOW EXCITING! 🙂 PRESTO IS A REAL LIVE HORSE 🙂 HA.
has he been gelded yet? I think not right?? When are you gelding him? I hope you move him home soon….
VERY EXCITING! I may have to fly out for his debut when you decide which one he is doing….You can always use a second pair of hands am I right??
LikeLike
Not gelded yet. The vet wanted to wait until he was at least a year old, but I’m hesitant to wait too much past that because of fly season. And yes please fly down here and help wrangle the dragon.
LikeLiked by 1 person
will plan on it….neither of those dates conflict with our conference (WHICH IS IN AUSTIN IN JULY SO WILL BE THERE THEN TOO) HA! I would want to geld him sooner too. Flies are horrible when gelding 😦
LikeLike
My horses have always been firm believers in the ‘feed it like a show hog’ approach.
So exciting though! Yay Presto!
LikeLike
Presto is such a vacuum cleaner. And really bad at sharing. Just like his mother!
LikeLike
Coorina forgot Sadie in the pasture when she was about two days old because she got distracted by dinner time. Great mothering.
LikeLike
Yeah, I understand your concern about being show ready…Joey isn’t likely to quite look the part compared to all the babies in under lights being fed like show hogs either (though he’s got the belly to make you think he has…). So exciting that Presto is legit now. Can’t wait for you to bring him home!
LikeLike
Yeah, like… on one hand I don’t want shitty scores to go on his public record for everyone to see, but at the same time… who cares? He isn’t for sale, he’s not a stallion, we aren’t trying to impress anyone, and plenty of horses score badly in the beginning and then get better as they develop. One person’s opinion on one day doesn’t really mean much in the grand scheme of things. Still though, it’s a lot less appealing to go horse show when you know in advance that they’re not at their best.
LikeLike
I was checking out the FEH schedule yesterday too! There is only one show in Area IV that has FEH classes this year, and it’s in October. Might be doable, but I’m going to wait and see how my filly is looking closer to the event. She’s an appendix QH that looks a lot like a little TB, so probably won’t score very well at an event horse conformation class. It might be more practical to just take her to local schooling shows to get some experience there. But it’s so tempting to think about taking her to something big and fun like that!
LikeLike
Man, I would totally prefer October! I say take her, you never know. If nothing else its a good “big” experience for her.
LikeLike
Ooooh look at Presto, so legit! 🙂
LikeLike
He’s unimpressed I think.
LikeLike
Super exciting!! That final photo about all his registered stuff is quite confusing…
My horses also believe they should be in the “feed it like a show hog” category. Sadly, they are constantly disappointed by my lack of belief in that route.
LikeLike
I guess this is why Presto takes it upon himself to double his dinner.
LikeLike
I was trying to explain Warmblood breeding to a WP Arabian trainer. Like how my filly is Hanoverian/Oldenburg/Trakhener but is registered as none of those. Pretty sure she thought I was nuts
LikeLike
Once you understand it totally makes sense, but you have to basically forget everything else you’ve ever learned about other breeds and breed associations LOL.
LikeLike
Yay! Presto is officially official! Can’t wait to hear about him being less feral LOL.
LikeLike
I can’t wait for him to BE less feral. Someday.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exciting!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s like Facebook official, but for horses LOL
LikeLike
Pretty much!
LikeLike
Awwww baby’s first registration! Congrats on the big step!
He’s the cutest. Even having the baby uglies, still adorable.
I’m so excited for you to have him close to you. ALL THE PICTURES PLEASE!
LikeLike
I can’t wait for that gross baby winter coat to shed. I think there might be a horse under there.
LikeLike
Yay!!! So exciting! Does USEA have a lifetime horse registration like USDF does?
LikeLike
USEA has “levels” of registration. There’s FEH (which is for FEH classes, obviously), Limited (which is for horses competing UNDER Prelim level, so BN through Modified basically) and then Full (which is for horses competing Prelim or higher). You only have to do each level of registration one time. FEH is $25, Limited is $40, Full is $150. You can upgrade from Full to Limited for $100. So Presto is good with his FEH registration through his 3yo year basically, and then he will need the $40 Limited when he starts competing under saddle. Hopefully someday he’ll need the $100 upgrade to full as well, if/when he gets to Prelim. 😉 He is already lifetime registered with USEF too.
LikeLike
I knew about limited/full, so that is cool that the FEH is the same through his 3 year old year and you can just upgrade! I did Ellie’s USDF, USEA, and USEF lifetime registrations this month as well. Pricey but at least it is done, right!? LOL
LikeLike
Yeah, totally worth it to do it all early! Presto’s USEF lifetime is rolled into his sBs registration (its so nice that most of the wb registries take care of that now) so I didn’t even have to worry about it, but there’s a HUGE price difference in doing it the year they’re born vs later on.
LikeLike
There should be a breed classification called The Best Part of a Number of Things. That would solve the multi-breed conundrum. ;O)
LikeLike
That’s kind of what the majority of warmbloods are by default lol. It’s just a matter of which region issued the papers!
LikeLike
This is why you are my guide to warmblood land. You should write a book. I would buy it.
And I so wish I was closer so I could photograph your potential demon donkey’s first FEH experiences. Damnit.
LikeLike
I might not want photographic evidence.
LikeLike
Aww such a grown up!!
LikeLike