Guess what I did five years ago today? Impulse-purchased a 6yo TB named Jerry, sight unseen!
It’s normal to buy a horse off of a picture like this, right?
Jerry, of course, became Henry, also known as the single greatest purchase I have ever made. Life is short, buy the horse. Even when maybe you shouldn’t. Even when it doesn’t make a damn bit of sense, and you didn’t wake up that day expecting to buy a horse, but for some reason you just really like him.
We’ve come a long way since then…
Jan 2014Dec 2018
and done a lot of things. He’s been a hunter, a jumper, a trail horse, a foxhunter, and an eventer. He’s also been a pretty fantastic “big brother”, teaching the next generation how to be a proper horse.
and/or llama
He puts on a pretty believable grumpy front, but – not to ruin his street cred – he’s actually super sweet. He likes his little brother (although maybe he just likes having someone to boss around) and he definitely loves his job. Every year he continues to blow me away with how hard he tries, and what he’s capable of.
a corner in 2015a corner in 2018
He might not be the best mover, or have the most correct conformation, or care much about leaving the stadium fences in the cups, but he puts up with a lot. I couldn’t ask for a better teacher and partner, and to me, that makes him perfect. It hasn’t always been easy, but it’s been really fun.
I feel like I talk about how great Henry is all the time, so I’ll keep this one short.
Happy 5 years to you, bestest bud… it’s an honor to be your human. ❤
While Presto is, on the whole, a very easy and well-behaved little baby colt, he’s still… well… a baby colt.
HAI
He goes through phases where he thinks it might be fun to test the boundaries a bit, or attempt to discreetly break rules that he definitely knows exist. Kid has a mouth on him, and he likes to explore with it. He quickly remembered why that was a bad idea, when he tried to explore ME with that mouth, and he almost lost his face. That won’t stop him from trying again in a few weeks though, whenever he manages to rebuild the courage and/or forget what happened the last time he tried. He also knows that he’s expected to stand in the MIDDLE of the crossties, not swing his butt around to the side until he’s as parallel as possible and gawking at the horse in the stall next to him. That doesn’t stop him from doing it the SECOND I get out of sight. Last week he waited until I disappeared into the tack room then swung his butt all the way over to the bridle hooks (he’s so flexible, it’s like Gumby) and pooped on my lovely new Horseware jacket. He claims it was an accident but I don’t believe him.
The face of innocence
He’s solidly in that teenage phase where he enjoys toeing the line a bit. Part of it is the coltishness finally finding it’s way to the surface. For an almost 2yo intact male he’s about as quiet and non-studdish as they come, but I think his hormones just show in the form of mouthiness and being easily distracted. Then again he’s also (almost) 2, and those are common traits of 2yo’s anyway. But those little jewels are set to come off whenever the weather cooperates, IF it ever cooperates. I need a good 5 day span of cold temps but no rain.
everything is soggy all the time, which this baby event horse thinks is kind of fun
He’s still on a lighter training schedule than he was earlier in the year, when I was really trying to solidly establish manners and tying and desensitization and all of that stuff. We’re holding steady at one “working” session every week or so, where I just check in and make sure he hasn’t forgotten what he’s learned, and remind him that his life does indeed have expectations attached. Lately this has entailed wearing a saddle, spending 5 minutes walking, trotting, and halting on the lunge with voice commands, and then standing at the mounting block. It’s a very easy existence.
Almost looks like a real horse!
He seems kind of bored though, and when I’m in the barn doing stuff with Henry I often look out and see Presto standing at his gate, staring at me intently. He craves attention, and he loves coming into the barn. For that reason, I think it’s important to keep doing enough with him to keep his brain engaged and check in with how he’s retaining his basics.
Since his sessions have become less frequent, sometimes he forgets little things like… the shape of a freaking circle. Or that whoa doesn’t mean stop and turn your shoulders in. Or that I exist. Sometimes I have to remind him that when we’re leading, if I take steps backward, he has to back up too. The rule when we’re leading is for his shoulder to stay at my shoulder, unless or until I say otherwise, no matter which direction I go, without me having to touch the lead rope. Sometimes he has temporary amnesia. Especially when the mares in the field next to the arena start chasing each other around because it’s dinner time, a circumstance under which he is NOT exempt from my rules.
Help, my mom is a tyrant.
He’s worn his saddle for two sessions now, both of which were a non-event. He gives zero shits. Since that went so well, our focus now will be returning to the bridle. I haven’t really asked him to wear one since the summer, and it’s time to revisit the concept a little more thoroughly. The other day I put it on and took it off a few times, until he figured out to lower his head when I asked and open his mouth when he felt the bit on his lips. He’s not much of a fan though, so I think that’s something we’ll have to continuously work on for a while. After that we’ll revisit ground driving, and eventually work our way to ground driving with the lines attached to the bit.
But first… nut removal. I owe him one for pooping on my jacket.
This year promises to be a bit lean all around, as I have to pay for things like Presto getting gelded, insurance renewals on 2 horses, shots/coggins for errybody, membership renewals, and truck registration. Oh, and Christmas. Seriously, Dec/Jan are the freaking worst. Hopefully no one expects a particularly good present from me, and several people that I normally exchange gifts with have all agreed that maybe let’s all just do cards this year. But the SO and a couple of relatives asked for a list of stuff I might want, which I know some people think is lame, but man do I love it. Partly because it gives me an excuse to go gallivanting around the Internet maniacally, like a modern day version of Supermarket Sweep.
seriously, what a great show
Perhaps it’s less fun when you try (I said try) to keep everything on said list under $150ish, because hahahaha horses are expensive and I’m not gonna be the a-hole that puts a whole bunch of stupidly expensive stuff on my list. Whatever. Still fun. Also proof that I could easily blow through a lot of money in no time, not that any of us needed proof of that. Anyway, here’s what I came up with!
This is intriguing to me since it’s got all of my favorite liniment things: arnica, witch hazel, and peppermint oil. This is relatively new from BoT so I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s interesting and it’s only $10, so it’s a great stocking stuffer or add-on item if you’re trying to make a free shipping minimum. Or if you only want to spend $10, which is also fair.
I’m a diehard Roeckl lover, but I also think the Samshield gloves are really pretty and would love a navy or brown pair for shows. Plus gloves are something that I always need, and will always use, so you can’t go wrong with that as a gift. At least not for me, the glove lover.
These breeches have quickly become my go-to, especially for shows. They’re so comfortable, and relatively inexpensive. I only have one white pair though, and I would gladly take like… a dozen more. Or at least one or two more, so I could wear them on both days of a multi-day show. I did happen to notice that the suede knee patch version is on closeout, if you happen to fit in the sizes they have.
I actually NEED this, although it’s a bit too expensive to actually ask anyone to buy me for Christmas. Except for maybe the SO… I can usually sell him pretty well on safety items. I still haven’t quite decided if I want the AirMesh or the RaceSafe ProVent, though. Sizing is the real question mark on the Racesafe, since I’ve never tried them on. I know that I love my current Airowear, and I know what size I need, so that’s probably the more practical choice. Neither of them come in navy though, which is some real bullshit.
This might seem like the equestrian version of “underwear and a toothbrush” when it comes to Christmas gifts, but when in doubt, buy me more clipper blades. I will ALWAYS use them. I feel like this is pretty standard across the board for equestrians. Ulcergard would fall under this same heading, along with fly spray and horse shampoo and hoof pack and horse treats. And it’s way less weird to give someone any of that stuff than it is to give them underwear or a toothbrush.
Y’all know how I feel about wearable horse technology. This is a neat little sensor that attaches to your blankets and tells you via an app if your horse is too hot or too cold or just right, how much time they spend laying down or standing still or moving around, etc. Do I need it? Prolly not. Do I want it? Of freakin’ course.
Look, I wanted this on Black Friday and I still want it now, even though I have the original ISI2 and there’s nothing wrong with it except for the fact that the ISI3 exists and is better and therefore I want it. Also they still have their Black Friday pricing deal. So.
OK OK I’M CHEATING A LITTLE. I know I already have a navy one, but I want a green one too. Or… like… get super festive and get me green and burgundy. A girl needs options, ya know? I can’t help it.
If we’re really testing the boundaries of how much someone loves me, I’ll take these:
Or this:
Because he said he wants to do RRP with me. Oh, btw, I’ll also need approximately $700 a month every month forever to accompany him. Ya know what, better round it up to $1,000. Please and thank you.
Or you can just get me liniment and clipper blades. That’ll work too.
If I had to sum up the 2018 show season in one quick sentence, I would say that it definitely did not suck. Not even a little bit. There were moments that sucked, don’t get me wrong. We tried a lot of new and harder things this year, and growth is rarely comfortable. There’s still A LOT to work on and plenty of room for improvement. Overall though, I feel like I learned a lot and so did the boys. There were ribbons, which was fun, but mostly we’re all better than we were when we started, which is the real point. Also if you had told me at the beginning of 2018 that I’d end the year with a Prelim horse and a FEH Champs winner, I’d probably still be laughing.
So many feels for these kids ❤
The year started out a little bit slow, as far as shows go. 2017 was our first year running Training, during which it became pretty comfortable. Over the winter into 2018 I focused more on trying to smooth things out and nail down some of the harder stuff, which carried into spring as well. But in January we did go to a small local show and do our first Prelim combined test. The dressage definitely felt challenging, but we muddled through it for a 38. The stadium was about half Training height and half Prelim height, relatively soft, although we had a couple rails. It was the perfect first little intro to something a bit bigger, starting to experiment with pushing the boundaries of our comfort zone.
February was disgustingly cold/wet and March was pretty consumed with Presto, XC schooling, and side gigs. Our next show and first recognized show of the year wasn’t until the first weekend in April, at Texas Rose. Dressage was tense but relatively obedient, stadium was a little flat (story of my life) and lacked focus on my part, but XC was fantastic and a really nice confidence boost to start the season. Texas Rose used to scare the pants off me, but Henry made easy work of it.
A couple weeks later we went back to the small local venue for another try at the Prelim combined test, with a better dressage and a clear stadium (still with a “soft” course, with some set below height) to finish on a 35. This was the show where I tried out the hackamore for SJ, and really liked how Henry felt in it.
also the sky was super pretty during dressage
After that I got a bit distracted with getting Presto settled in at the barn, and playing with him, and generally felt a little uninspired about our usual list of recognized shows. Plus a lot freaked out about paying board on two horses. I decided to buckle down on the finances a bit until I felt less cringey writing that big gross check every month, and sat out the rest of the spring recognized shows. That didn’t stop us from having Presto make his big fancy show debut in May though, at the same little local venue doing an in-hand trail class. There was a lot of neighing, but overall he was a freaking champion about everything. He mostly went just to hang out and see the horse show sights, but his 3rd place was an adorable bonus.
he was clearly very concerned about the show atmosphere
The next weekend it was Henry’s turn, and we went to Trainer’s barn for a Clear Round jumper show, doing one Training height round and one Prelim height round. This show wasn’t messing around with their measuring stick, and the Prelim jumps were all set to legit Prelim height and width. Trainer gave her official seal of approval to the hackamore, and Henry was a beast.
By the end of May everyone decided they wanted to go spend two weeks showing at Chatt in July, and I couldn’t resist the temptation to join. I’d made a good bit of extra money from some side gigs, and was itching to branch out to a venue we’d never been to before. So with Georgia penciled in during the summer, I sent in a hasty entry for the June schooling horse trial at MeadowCreek, to knock some rust off and get a XC round in.
This show was a bit of a “trial” in a lot of ways. We’d just started a new approach to Henry’s dressage, and Trainer wasn’t going to be at the show but gave me very explicit instructions on what to do. And wouldn’t you know it?
she’s very smug sometimes.
This ended up being a turning point in our dressage. Before that we were usually mid to lower end of the pack after dressage, but since then I don’t think we’ve been out of the top 5. We had one rail down in stadium, but a double clear XC helped bump us back up to ultimately take the win.
he’s so weird
After MeadowCreek it was Presto’s turn again, and I hauled him down to Houston for his first official FEH class. I really just wanted him to score 70 or above, not really expecting him to make the Championship qualifier cutoff of 72, especially not with Peter Gray (one of the Championships judges) judging. Presto was SO growthy at that point. While he placed 4th out of 4 nice yearlings, I was thrilled with his score of 75.95. He was qualified for Championships!
The most exciting part was that he trailered by himself, stood tied at the trailer for hours, and overall handled himself like a pro all day.
A few days later, Henry and I left for Chatt. The first week was so hot and humid and miserable, I was really regretting all my life choices that led me to Georgia. Dressage continued on it’s “better” trend from MeadowCreek, though, and cross country was AWESOME. I really love going to totally new venues and jumping totally new things. Stadium was borderline tragic when I lost a stirrup, panicked for no actual reason, and rode Henry directly INTO an oxer. We survived, albeit with 8 penalties. I decided I really should buckle down on addressing my show anxiety, because that was just dumb.
Week two saw an even better dressage (scoring what I think was our first 9 ever), and a much improved stadium, although still with eight penalties. The number doesn’t always tell the story. But I did accidentally try to kill us both on XC when I rode terribly to the upbank out of the water and Henry had to pull out a 5th leg to save us. Granted, the course ate so many people that we still ended up 6th. I just couldn’t put all 3 phases together either week of Chatt, which was frustrating.
who could forget this particular gem?
The best part of that whole Chatt adventure was getting to spend all that time with my trainer, getting lots of lessons and feedback. When you rarely get more than a lesson a month, if that, having a bit of a “summer camp” like that is SO valuable. We got a lot done in that two weeks.
After Chatt Henry got his annual vacation while it was too freaking hot to do anything else. In August Presto put on his big boy bridle and went to a local h/j show to do the hunter breeding class, so I could get one more show outing under his belt before FEH championships. He behaved himself pretty well, and was the winning yearling by default since he was the only one.
Reserve Best Young Horse lololol
Henry was back to work by the end of August, but it’s still too damn hot to event around here that time of year. The next show on the docket was again for Presto – FEH Central Championships! I opted to have Martin Douzant show him for me, so I could sit back and enjoy seeing my little baby horse do his thing. I had zero expectations for Champs, really just wanting to not be last. I was shocked when he scored a 79.9 (an 80.2 from Robin Walker, and a 79.7 from Peter Gray) to win the yearling colts and take Reserve Champion overall yearling. I don’t take FEH results that seriously when it comes to accurately predicting a horse’s future, but considering what a rough start Presto had, it was still a really amazing and fun moment. As a “hobby” breeder, with a 2nd generation homebred, I was hella proud. Still am.
he picked a good day to be cute
The following weekend it was Henry’s turn, with the recognized event at Willow Draw. We hadn’t shown there before, partly because it’s a one day, and partly because it intimidated me a little, but Henry was perfect. He put in a very solid dressage (except for an unnecessary flying change – oops) for a 32, I finally got my act together in stadium for a clear round, and he was a little machine on XC (even when I tried to bury us at the trakehner), finishing on our dressage score for 2nd place. FINALLY I managed to put together 3 good phases.
The fall seemed to pass like a blur after that. The next weekend we went to another Clear Round jumper show at my trainer’s place, doing more Prelim classes. There were a couple small mistakes, but Henry was super, and we were both really feeling comfortable at the 1.10m height.
If spring was a little slow, we were making up for it now. A couple weeks later we headed to Louisiana for Holly Hill, all by ourselves. The dressage judge really hated us (to be fair, she seemed to hate everyone) and we got our worst score of the year, a 39, on what I felt like wasn’t a bad test. We put in another good stadium round though – clear – and a REALLY FUN clear XC. A couple of fences had me worried, but Henry was on fire. We finished on our dressage score again for another 2nd place.
I really don’t buy that many dressage pictures, because why would you when you could buy THESE?
There was no rest for the wicked, and a couple weeks after Holly Hill we were off to Texas Rose for our first P/T. I was relatively terrified, because Texas Rose is by far the biggest most intimidating venue in Area 5, and why I let trainer talk me into doing my first “real” Prelim stadium there, I had no idea. The dressage was ok, aside from my error (hey there’s no half pass in Prelim dressage, just FYI), and we got another 9 on our test for a score of 34. For a first recognized Prelim test, with an error, I’d take that all day long. Stadium was huge and terrifying, I wanted to die, but aside from goofing up one fence, it was a decent round. There were rails down, but it wasn’t bad. An unfortunate slip on XC led to me having to circle in a combination, picking up a 20, but I was still really happy with the show. I left feeling like maybe we could really do this Prelim thing for real.
through the triple like a boss
Which was good, because turns out we really were doing this Prelim thing for real. We officially entered our first Prelim horse trial, with Trainer’s blessing, at a schooling show in December, held at a venue that uses the same courses as their recognized events. Legit Prelim without the added pressure and cost of recognized, and it was free since I had so many volunteer credits to use. Can’t beat that. My only goal was to finish, but Henry really stepped up and blew me away. He got a 30 in dressage, our best score of the year. A few rails fell in stadium but it was a solid round, just a bit flat and quick, which doesn’t work that well when your horse isn’t particularly careful. But on cross country, he was a freaking machine. We had one of our best rounds EVER at any level, everything flowed really well, and he was just eating it up. I took my time on purpose, so we had lots of time penalties, but we finished with no XC jump penalties and a newly minted PRELIM horse.
over the last XC jump of the season
2018 was quite a year! What stands out to me most is the growth, partially in skillset but mostly mentally. Some things went well, some things didn’t, and some things are still an ongoing process. But my viewpoint has changed, the way I look at showing has changed, and my goalposts have moved yet again. I learned so much throughout the year, about riding and about myself, and I’m so grateful to have Henry and Presto to take me on this journey. I’m not sure that any year will top this one, but I sure am looking forward to finding out what 2019 has in store.
Last week Roaming Rider did a review of her 2018, and under her Lessons Learned section, one of her bullet points was “form a tribe”. She’s right in that it’s a bit of a corny saying, for sure, but I 100% agree with her on just how crucially important it is to any kind of success.
I know that, for me at least, Henry and I wouldn’t be anywhere near where we are today if not for the people we have surrounding us. Our vets, our farrier, our trainer, our friends… they’re all part of that support group, they’re all important, and when you combine them all together it has a bit of a dream team effect. The importance of the roles of the vets and farrier are obvious – they keep Henry at his physical peak, keep him looking and feeling good, and help me make sure that he stays that way. We’ve had our vets (yes, I use a couple, depending on what it’s for) ironed out for years, and this year we finally locked on to a truly fantastic farrier. Not only do Henry’s feet look a whole lot better, but because his angles are back to where they should be, it’s had an overall positive effect on the entire rest of his body. We’ve done less maintenance this year than ever, despite a busier show schedule, increased work load, and more traveling.
Find your tribe. Post pics of their butt on the internet.
But those are the most obvious “tribe members”, right? It’s easy for anyone to understand why they’re so critical – they look after the physical side of things. But what I think is even more important, although much less visible, is the emotional support. Friends, family, trainer… wherever you get it from, it’s really hard to be successful in this sport, or to grow yourself as a rider, without the right kind of people around you.
I keep a relatively small close group of friends. I’m not the best at socializing (okay that’s probably a gross understatement, I can hear everyone who knows me laughing wildly at that) and I’m not that great with people. As I’ve gotten older I’ve decided not to keep close ties with people who don’t enrich my life in some way, people who make me want to be better and do better. I believe strongly that we become like the people we surround ourselves with. I want to be around people who aren’t afraid to dream big, to raise the bar, to push beyond what other people might see as the limit. They might not be where they want to be yet, but they’ve got guts and they’ve got heart. But also people who are honest and who truly want the people around them to succeed as well. I ain’t got time for petty, or nay-sayers, or people who want to stay in their comfort zone forever and keep everyone else down there with them.
This is Kathy, one of the most badass people I know but also one of the kindest and most humble and most supportive. Also she can drink an incredible amount of whiskey until 2am and still be up at 6am to get ready for dressage like nothing ever happened, it’s goddamn impressive.
I’m lucky to have a lot of friends that I find to be genuinely inspiring. Whether it’s their unfailingly positive attitude, their tenacity, or their sincere selflessness, I look at the people around me and see a lot of good. Everyone is human of course, but what’s in your heart is what matters, and at this point in my life I’ve somehow managed to surround myself with a extraordinary number of golden-hearted people. That trend continues from my close friend group to what I guess you could call my “barn family” – my trainer’s other clients. Pretty much none of us board together, but you’ve never seen a better, more supportive group of people in your life. Everyone is sincerely invested in each other’s success, and that kind of support is priceless on both good days and bad.
I’m truly convinced that the reason there are so many good people in one place is because that kind of attitude comes from the top – the “top” in this situation being my trainer. You reap what you sow, and she sows work ethic, positivity, and gratitude. She can always find the good in a situation, and is one of those truly weird people (completely unlike myself) who seems to always know the right thing to say. She’s honest, she doesn’t put up with self-pity or cattiness or bullshit, and she has a good eye for a horse. Most importantly, she isn’t afraid to dream big FOR you, even if you don’t believe in yourself enough to do it on your own, and she always has your best interest as her priority.
That ribbon is hers more so than mine, at this point.
My whole world has changed since I first started eventing. I’ve always been one of those people who is content to do things largely on their own. I didn’t NEED anybody else, right? I mean, to a point that is right… you don’t really need people to just get by, if you’re self-sufficient. I could take lessons with whoever and check off all the boxes and we probably would have done just fine. “Fine” isn’t what it’s all about though, at least not for me. The relationships I’ve formed have been the difference between “fine” and “wildest dreams”.
Since these people kind of fell into my life and made me realize how much of a box I had kept myself in, they’ve completely changed how I see everything. Most importantly, myself. They’ve challenged me and inspired me, supported me and believed in me, and that has truly changed my life. Find people like that: people who believe in you no matter what, people who don’t let you play small, people who constantly make you want to be better – as a rider and a horseman and a human. Find those people, and your road to success, whatever that may look like for you, suddenly becomes paved.
breedrideevent.com 