Month: March 2018

If you didn’t read the title to the tune of Bennie and the Jets I’m gonna need you to go back and start over. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

So anyway, now that everyone will have that song stuck in their heads for the rest of the day, let us continue.

Four years ago, when I first got Henry. he inherited a lot of things from his “sister” Sadie. One of those things was her slow feed hay net.

Sadie was a total garbage disposal, plus she liked to pee in her hay, so she ate out of the slow feed net pretty much every day. It basically just slowed her rate of consumption to that of a normal horse, and made for less waste. When I got Henry he seemed much more normal (HA), and he was at a different barn that had way too many horses for the worker to be stopping to fill a hay net unless there was a really good reason. So Sadie’s everyday slow feed hay net got relegated to being Henry’s trailer/show hay net… basically the only times a hay net was needed for him.

The only problem is that, well, Henry is not the brightest crayon in the box. He’s also extremely impatient. Add those two things together and he just literally could not with that hay net. He couldn’t figure out how to eat from it, and the fact that he could only get a few bits of hay at a time seemed to infuriate him more than anything else. Eventually he’d just quit trying and go stand in the corner and sulk. When a horse won’t eat out of the hay net, it makes said hay net kind of moot.

So I went and got him just a regular hay net, with larger openings.

This seemed to do the trick, at least as far as a) holding hay b) the horse being capable of eating out of it. He did tend to drop a lot of hay in the floor of my trailer though, so I briefly experimented with a hay bag, thinking that one opening might control that a little better.

For a horse that was so incredibly dumb about the slow feed net, it took him all of 5 seconds to figure out how to wiggle his nose into the top of the bag and not come up for air again until all the hay was gone. Like for real he had chunks of hay in his nose. This is undesirable for obvious reasons.

Back to the regular net we went.

That one has served us well for the past few years, but last week when I was getting the trailer ready for our drive to Texas Rose, I noticed that the net was… moldy. I think it must have gotten wet at some point and then sat in the trailer getting nice and toasty. My bad. I was going to take it home and wash it thoroughly but the more I looked at it, the more disgusting it was. AND I have a horse that is super sensitive to mold. AND I was kind of in the eleventh hour, I didn’t really have time to wash it and get it totally dry before we had to go. As much as I hate Dover, they’re the only gig in town and I needed it RIGHT NOW, so down I schlepped to see what they had. Really I wanted one like this one, but their selection is always a little hit or miss.

Yeah no. What they had was a buttload of slow feed nets, in about 10 different varieties. After standing there staring at them grumpily for a few minutes, I just picked the sturdiest-looking one with the biggest openings (that wasn’t a hideous plaid) , hoping Henry could figure it out.

I also unwittingly stumbled into a big seasonal sale, which caused me to temporarily lose sanity and somehow that trip into the store for a hay net turned into a hay bag, show shirt, horse treats, belt, ornament, and U7 paste. Sigh.

Anyway, I was out of time so I tossed the hay in the bag, tossed the horse in the trailer, and hoped he’d figure it out on the way.

Yeah no, we got about 2 hours in before I could see him pawing and smashing his head against the bag. I needed gas anyway so I turned into the next gas station and started pulling chunks of hay partway through all the gaps in the webbing, hoping it would get him started. That did help, but this horse is not winning any awards anytime soon for his brains. In a 4 hour trailer ride he managed to eat maybe half a flake of hay. And he was pissed.

When we got there I decided to leave the hay in the bag and hang it up in his stall, hoping that if it was his only option overnight he would have no choice but to figure the stupid thing out. When I came back a couple hours later to check on him, he had indeed made a lot of progress.

Granted, every few minutes he would pin his ears and try to smash the shit out of the bag in frustration, but he was still eating out of it. No retreating to the corner to sulk, like he did with the slow feed net.

By morning he’d eaten almost all the hay that was in there, and on the trailer ride home he spent pretty much the whole ride sneaking little bites out of it. It wasn’t a consistent or coordinated effort, but no more getting mad and pawing, at least. I’m hesitant to say for sure that he’s definitely figured it out, but at least there was progress. I do like the fact that there was almost no hay wasted in the floor of the trailer, and the hay actually lasted through the trip.

Will this hay bag get to stick around for the long haul? That is yet to be seen, but maybe. I need to use it a few more times to see if he keeps figuring it out or if he just gives up.

Poor Henny. Life is hard, but it’s even harder when you’re not that bright.

I finally had a chat with the barn owner the other day where we formally finalized the details of bringing Presto down. Well… ish. I still don’t know exactly when he’s coming, but we narrowed it down to a general time frame, picked out his stall, whiddled his turnout pasture options down to 2, and settled on a price. All the basic stuff.

Of course, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a yearling in my care. 10 years, to be precise. I’ve had to really wrack my brain to figure out what, if anything, I will need for him that I don’t already have.

He doesn’t need tack yet, of course, so it’s really just a halter and lead rope. I’ve got a rope halter sitting aside waiting for him for everyday use, and I’ve got about a million and one lead ropes scattered around various trunks because I’m one of those people that thinks there’s no such thing as too many. All of the thick-cotton-with-bolt-snap variety, naturally, because yeah I’m picky about lead ropes too. I thought about buying him his own new lead rope in whatever color I pick for him but I couldn’t decide. Will he continue the navy theme from Henry? I don’t know. Am I putting waaaay too much thought into a lead rope for a yearling, which will probably end up broken or lost? Omg yes. So for now he uses the spares.

I do plan on ponying him from Henry, though, and for that I really want him to wear boots. I’m pretty certain that all of Henry’s will be too big for him right now so I figured I’d just grab him some cheap used cob-size brushing boots and calling it a day. I still haven’t come across just the right set, though. For now he is bootless.

I did pick up a used surcingle, because I’ll need that eventually. Side reins can come later. All of that stuff is a couple years away still.

He already has his own brushes, plus Henry has about a billion.

I mean, really… what else does a baby horse need?

Oh, I did go ahead and get his Future Event Horse outfits together. I bought the halter and bridle last fall during Black Friday sales – a black Kavalkade Ivy halter and brown Kavalkade Ivy bridle. Naturally I had to buy leather lead shanks to go with these because we are not showing up at FEH with a non-leather shank… if he’s going to look like a mule he’s at least going to be a well-dressed mule, dammit. I had an amazon gift card to spend anyway, so I picked up a black and chrome plain leather shank (I already have a chrome chain if he needs one) to match the halter and a brown newmarket shank to match the bridle. All of these things are currently sitting in the guest bedroom, looking adorable.

The only part I’m still really hung up on and completely indecisive about is what to feed him. I spent a while waffling back and forth between a ration balancer plus alfalfa pellets vs a commercial feed, but I think commercial feed makes more sense for our situation. I think he’ll need the calories, and at a big boarding barn it’s just a lot easier if there is a) one feed, b) it doesn’t require soaking. So now I’m debating between Triple Crown Growth and Bluebonnet Intensify Growth and Development. I’ve even started a spreadsheet to compare them. Who am I, Olivia???

Right now he’s also on Stride Transform, a supplement that I love and would like to keep him on but holy god it is expensive. There’s just no way I can justify another $100 a month for a supplement on top of everything else. So I need to see what all the feed will cover, and if I need to try to find another supplement that can fill in for the Transform. Or not, if he doesn’t need it. Currently driving myself completely crazy over this, trying to figure out the best choices that also aren’t stupid expensive. I just… I know he got a bad start in life and I know he’s still probably not quite 100% up to where a normal yearling would be, so I’m finding it to be of crucial importance that I get his nutrition right. I am absolutely going to analyze this part of things six ways to Sunday.

As far as stuff goes, I think he’s almost set. Unless I’m forgetting something? The food part, I’m still nerding out about and probably will be for a while.

You know when you’re like “I should probably stop doing this, it seems excessive.”? And then 5 seconds later you’re like NEEEHHHH it’s fine and keep doing it anyway? That’s me. About a lot of things right now.

Like… clothes shopping for Henry, for example. I KNOW, I was just talking last month about how this horse has way more clothes than any Texas horse should probably ever have. But in my defense, I did sell a blanket and a quarter sheet. And then bought a scrim. Because someone posted it late at night (which to me is like 9:30) on facebook and it’s my colors and technically I don’t have a scrim and also it’s new but half the price of retail so LEAVE ME ALONE.

I make no apologies for this, nor will I stop doing it. Maaaaay have also picked up another pair of BOT quick wraps for $40 on another late night facebook perusal too. Henry’s got a banging wardrobe.

On a similar note, it’s possible that this horse has 5 different kinds of treats in my tack trunk right now. Mostly because he’s a unicorn and saves my butt all the time, and our agreement is 100 cookies per butt save, which means I’m constantly in debt. Also because when treats are on sale I will always buy them. Hence how I ended up with 5 different kinds of treats.

I don’t see this as a problem. Neither does Henry.

Anyone who follows me on Insta is probably tired of seeing approximately 9 million cat photos or videos per day. She is definitely the star of my Instagram stories. I can’t help it, she’s freaking cute and does the dumbest, most adorable things.

I have no plans to change the level of cat content on my social media, nor will I apologize for it.

I also can’t seem to stop watching clipmyhorse.tv at extremely ridiculous hours on the weekends. They have so many live streams from Europe, everything from horse shows to stallion shows. If real tv was like that, I’d watch it all the time.

I mean who wouldn’t want to turn on their tv and swoon over Diacontinus at 5am on a Sunday? I originally signed up for the free one month trial of clipmyhorse.tv so I could have uninterrupted Saint Lo access, but honestly I think I might just keep it. 15 Euro a month seems reasonable for this level of entertainment when you’re as big a nerd as I am.

Remember those elastic surcingle belts that I made for myself when it was raining and I was bored? A few other people asked me to make one for them so I hopped online and ordered a few different elastics. Because options, ya know? Or… at least I thought I ordered a few different elastics.

When everything showed up last week, what I remembered as a few was apparently a dozen. And I also got both brass and sterling hardware, which… I don’t even remember ordering, but I did. Clearly I went out-of-body there for a minute and lost all impulse control. Guess I will be making a lot of belts.

Having had nothing but green horse after green horse after green horse for, basically, ever, I am really enjoying this phase that Henry’s in. He’s 11 now, which sounds so mature, and he’s now entering his 4th year of eventing. He’s starting to actually feel like a horse that knows how all this stuff works. It’s a bit foreign to me to have a horse like this, but it’s also quite nice.

We went to Texas Rose this past weekend to school XC one more time before season starts. I arrived on Friday night, got Henry settled into his stall, set up my tent, and we both went to bed.  Northeast Texas had record amounts of rain up there (I say “up there” because it’s literally 4 hours north of me) in February, but somehow the footing was pretty fantastic. The weather was perfect on Saturday too: sunny and highs in the 60’s. Couldn’t ask for much more than that.

Our group headed out around 8:45 and Henry immediately knew what was up. He’s been to Texas Rose 3 times before, so I think he’s figured out where everything is at the facility. As soon as we turned toward the road to the XC course, his walk doubled in speed and pep and soon we left the rest of the group behind. He was LIT, and super excited to be out.

 

Despite showing at TR a few times (once at BN, once at N, once at T) we’ve never actually schooled there before. The course has such a wide variety of fences though – two waters, several ditch questions, good use of terrain, etc. It’s a nice mix, so it’s great for schooling. We started warming up, which was mostly me convincing Henry that yes, we did indeed have to TROT before he could canter. If you’re into trantering, we’re pro-level. He wasn’t spooky or stupid, just really really really pumped to be there. It was a good feeling. Like a horse who knew what was coming and couldn’t wait to get down to business.

We hopped over some warmup fences to start and he just felt fantastic pretty much right from the beginning. He was focused, he was forward, he was balanced, and everything came up easily. Then we headed over to one of the waters, jumping some Training and Prelim fences. Again he was super on the first trip through, so we opted to save his legs and let everyone else school it more. That first water was definitely deeper than normal because of all the rain… we got soaked.

Then we strung together a few little fences (N and T) out in the open to make sure we still had a good functioning half-halt. I think he was slightly offended to be jumping those, but he obliged. After that it was over to the trakehners, where I tried to kill us both at the Prelim one by running him at nothing, and he proved his ability (yet again) to epically save my ass. We jumped the T one a few times to re-establish the fact that sometimes I can manage to NOT ride like an idiot. Good pony.

Then it was over to the other water, where we jumped the T hanging log in, looped around to the P log in, and then looped around again to the skinny in the water (which didn’t get captured on video, sadly, but you can see the jump – the little red house looking thing). It was Henry’s first time ever jumping a fence in the water, much less having said fence be an decently-sized unflagged skinny, so I think he was a little surprised by it, but he locked on anyway and jumped it no problem. Always game.

Then we played at the Weldon’s walls (they built new ones with much smaller ditches in front but a steeply sloped downhill landing, so it’s fun to ride) which were no problem, then went over and did a line of fences that included a steep downhill gallop then steep uphill to a skinny. That also rode really well. I really like how the new course designer has used the terrain.

I wanted to make sure Henry still remembered how to drop down into water, so we capped off the schooling by going back over to the first water and hopping down the bank. Again, no problem. Really the only bad jump we had all day was the time I rode like a moron to the Prelim trakehner – totally my fault, not his at all. Henry didn’t put a foot wrong all day. He felt fantastic. He felt super confident. He felt… educated. Things are clicking, and it’s fun to feel his progression these days.

Unless you live under a social media rock, you’ve probably heard something in the last few weeks about the new MIPS technology Trauma Void™ EQ3™ helmets that Back on Track® has started distributing. It should be of no surprise to anyone who reads this blog that I was all over this thing like white on rice. Safety technology as it relates to horse sports? Right up my nerd alley. MIPS technology isn’t totally new to me, being a cyclist as well, but I wasn’t as familiar with all of the specifics as I wanted to be, as a consumer. So first I had to learn more about what exactly MIPS technology IS, and what it isn’t. This video is relating to cycling helmets, but I think it does an excellent job at explaining what MIPS is and how it works:

First thing to note: MIPS has nothing to do with standard impact protection – ie what all that padding in the helmet does. Your regular impact protection comes from that good ol’ EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) foam layer that is in all helmets. The EQ3 helmet still has that, just like any other helmet. What the EQ3 helmet also has, that no other equestrian helmets currently available in the US have, is a MIPS layer, which is designed to reduce the rotational forces caused by angled impacts. Traditional helmet testing mainly uses straight-force impacts, but as anyone who has fallen off enough times knows, the majority of our actual blows to the head come from angled impacts.

Okay, so what’s the difference in these impacts as far as how they relate to head injuries? Mainly something that MIPS calls “brain strain” (this is where it’s important to note that MIPS technology was developed by scientists – including a brain surgeon and a dude with a PhD on head and neck injury biomechanics). In their words:

From an engineering perspective, rotational motion is a combination of rotational energy (angular velocity) and rotational forces (angular acceleration) that both affect the brain and increase the risk for minor and severe brain injuries. The reason that the brain is more sensitive to rotational motion is that the brain is very much like water or a gel when it comes to its shear properties. The brain, like water, is also incompressible. Therefore, a linear motion will not affect the brain as much as a rotational motion.

Common injuries that are proven to be linked to the rotational forces caused by angled impacts? Things that probably sound familiar to equestrians, such as subdural hematoma and concussion. The MIPS layer has been designed to reduce these rotational forces, thus, hopefully, reducing the subsequent injuries.

MIPS is basically just a thin layer that is between the EPS and the helmet liner itself that allows the helmet to rotate a few millimeters in any direction around the head in the case of an angled impact. This decreases the rotational forces on the brain itself.

MIPS technology has also been used in cycling helmets, motorcycle helmets, and snow helmets. Originally it was introduced into equestrian helmets in Sweden, via the EQ line, where they have been in use for the past few years. This is the first time that this helmet technology has been available in equestrian helmets here in the US.

By this point you’re probably either buying into the technology or you’re not. If you want to read more about it, there’s plenty of info here. Or just… Google in general. It’s all over the internet. The studies conducted by MIPS have shown that it does actually help decrease these rotational forces. On that same point, you also have to understand that our current testing standards for equestrian helmets (for SEI/ASTM, for example) do not test for things like this. I’ve talked about it here before, but there is a ton of room for improvement in our helmet and safety vest testing methods. For real, look into it, you might be shocked. Alas… that’s a different topic entirely.

I personally am extremely interested in the MIPS technology, and really eyeballing these helmets hard. My “schooling” GPA is nearing the end of it’s lifespan, which means I will soon need to be looking for a replacement. Of course, even scouring everything that I could find about the helmets online left me with a lot of questions. I sent an email to Back on Track, who referred me to the design company, Trauma Void. I was able to get a phone call scheduled with Maria, who was infinitely helpful (and patient) as I spent half an hour asking her questions. So, here are some of the things I learned.

One of the first things I wondered, when I understood how MIPS technology worked, was whether or not the helmet would “jiggle” during regular riding. Maria said that she had wondered the same thing as well, but that she and the rest of their staff have been wearing the helmets and no one has noticed any movement, nor have they had any customers comment on it.

What about weight? Does that MIPS layer make the helmet weigh more than most helmets? The MIPS website says that the layer is very thin and weighs between 25-45 grams (so 0.0551156 to 0.099208 pounds). Not significant. Maria went a step farther and weighed an EQ3 helmet in each size for me so I could compare it to something more “known” to us on the market. The EQ3 helmet weighed in at 1.25-1.5lbs, from smallest size to largest size. I weighed all the helmets I could get my hands on (for science!), all in sizes 7 1/8 to 7 1/4, and they came in like this: GPA Speed Air weighs 1lb, Charles Owen JR8 weighs 1.2, Samshield ShadowMatte weighs 1.2, and Charles Owen 4 Star weighs 1.4.  So based on that, there is little to no difference between a “regular” helmet and the EQ3. It may even weigh a bit less than a skull cap. 

Because the helmet is being distributed by Back on Track, a lot of people seem to think that some kind of BOT material or product is incorporated here. Don’t worry, head-sweaters, that’s not the case. The liners are made of a Coolmax® material and are machine washable on the delicate cycle. There will also be replacement liners available for sale separately.

Another interesting feature of the EQ3 helmet is a brim that is more flexible than your standard brim, to allow it to bend and flex as needed upon impact, making it less likely that the helmet will shift out of place on your head or cause an irregular impact pattern. On the “smooth” style helmet this brim is covered in a PU (leather like) material, and on the microfiber helmet it is covered in microfiber.

And then of course, the thing we all want to know: how does it fit? Trauma Void says that the helmet tends to fit a bit more on the round side, but they were quick to point out a couple things. First, the helmet comes with two liners, a thicker one and a thinner one. These liners are fairly moldable, and between the two options they have been able to get the helmets to fit properly on most of the people that have tried them. They also offer a 14 day return policy if the helmet does not fit, or if you need to exchange for another size. Currently they are only available up to size 7 1/2, but they might be open to expanding the size range later on if there is enough demand (so those of you who need a larger size and want one of these helmets – EMAIL THEM and let them know!).

The helmets have four vents, two in the front and two in the back. Reports that I’m seeing so far from early users are that the ventilation feels similar to a OneK. Of the two different styles, the smooth comes in navy and black and the microfiber comes in navy, black, and brown. The Microfiber has a slightly glittery piping (black on the black helmet, a slightly lighter shade of blue on the navy helmet, and a golden color on the brown helmet), for those who are looking for something with a little more pizzazz.

At $249 the price seems pretty reasonable to me, all things considered. They also offer reduced pricing on replacement helmets in the event of a fall. You have to register the helmet online within 30 days of purchase, after which point you’re eligible for 50% off a replacement helmet in the first year, or 25% off in the second year.

Whether or not you like the helmet, they are definitely interesting. If nothing else, it’s a fun new technology to geek out over and have discussions about. Within the cycling community I’ve heard a lot of good things about the MIPS technology so far, and I definitely look forward to seeing how it applies to horse sports.

What do you guys think? Anyone bought one yet?

Also Maria gave me carte blanche to email her with any other questions, so if you have any feel free to hammer away and I’ll try to get them answered for you!