Month: August 2020

 

There was a bit less riding happening this weekend, due to a beautiful and much-needed rain storm that came through on Saturday morning. We got about an inch to inch and a half over a few hours, and it was MUCH needed, so I’ll happily give up a day of riding in return for a good (and rare) August rain. Plus it dropped the temps a little bit, which was an even more welcome reprieve. 

The farrier came last Thursday, and I was really nervous that we’d have to put shoes on Presto since he’s been destroying his feet on the hard, dry ground. The farrier did have to trim a bit more than usual to get everything cleaned up, but luckily Presto had grown so much foot in 5 weeks that even with all the chipping and cracking, he hadn’t done any major damage. For now we’re holding off on the shoes. I’d really like to keep him barefoot a bit longer. I ordered him a pair of Cavallo Simples to use when the ground is hard or if/when he chips his feet up again. They’re a little more streamlined than Henry’s glittery Cavallo ELB’s that I got for when shoes go missing, even if the black is a bit boring after the glitter ones. I now own 5 Cavallo boots. This is getting ridiculous. These new ones fit Presto well though, and I took him out for a lunge in both the grass ring and the dressage arena and they stayed put really well. 

I wasn’t reallllly planning on buying him another set of boots, because I was thinking they’d be more like $200 and Henry’s glittery ones were technically passable (albeit not ideal), but Corro had them for only $120 plus 10% off so I bit the bullet. I’m glad I did, these are definitely more secure on his feet for riding.

When the farrier was doing Henry’s feet I did stand Presto right next to him and the truck for a while though, so he could hear/see the forge and see all the smoke come off Henry’s foot as the farrier was fitting the shoes. He was slightly concerned that Henry was on fire. No one tell him that one day he’ll be on fire too.

On Friday when I came out both boys were sporting a purple ribbon – Henry on his halter and Presto braided into his mane. My mom’s favorite color was purple of course, so I knew what they were for. The barn owner had put them there knowing what a tough week it is for me, and it was quite possibly the best and kindest show of support ever (without looking me in the eye and making me talk about it, which I massively appreciate). Sometimes the most meaningful gestures are the silent ones. I’m not crying, you’re crying.

I love it, and the boys are keeping their ribbons through tomorrow, which would have been my mom’s 67th birthday. It also got me thinking again about how I always wanted to add some sort of discreet purple accent to my show ensemble and never did figure out exactly what. Maybe it’s as simple as a purple rubber band around a braid? I’m still thinking on it, but this makes me think I should definitely revisit the idea.

I also used the last of my Amazon gift card birthday money to buy a pressure washer, which a) officially makes me old and boring b) I’m stupid excited about. It’s supposed to get delivered today, and honestly nothing is safe. Everything that can be pressure washed shall be pressure washed. Especially saddle pads and boots. And I think I might try it on some of my dingier white breeches. And our deck. And our fence. And the house. And my truck. The possibilities are endless.

Hope everyone had a good weekend! Even better if you got some rain.

This week was a little bit more sedate with the babies. Nobody got special toys or a lake or played dress-up. Summer is starting to feel long and tiresome to everyone I think. But they do continue to be their adorable selves and show off their personalities, which I think we’ve all come to know pretty well by now.

Like how Ollie can always be found at both ends of trouble.

Yet he also always continues to be quite pleased with himself, 24/7.

Remi is definitely still the more sedate older brother – calmer, less antagonistic, a bit of an Adonis, and getting blonder by the day.

Oakley has certainly calmed down a lot from her very early days where she was almost as bouncy as Ollie. Now she’s perhaps more into snuggles and naps, but does still enjoy a good romp and definitely doesn’t let anybody boss her around.

And there’s dear sweet gentle giant Ellie, who definitely inherited the big floppy ears and familial derp factor. She’s a bit of a momma’s girl (Sadie thinks it’s super convenient that she birthed something that can already reach high enough to give a good wither scratch) but she definitely has a silly, playful side to her too.

It’s fun to see how they’ve changed a little bit over time, but also how they’ve stayed the same. They’re definitely four very distinct personalities. I know everybody had their original favorite foal – has yours changed at all over time as their personalities have come out more and more? Despite my obvious bias towards Ellie, Ollie’s little devil personality (which is a bit like Presto on steroids, a thought that is both hilarious and terrifying) makes it hard to not love him. Mostly because I’m not the one having to clean up after his various antics or deal with him 24/7. There’s something really likable about all the babies though – Remi’s got an undeniable “it” factor, Oakley is really friendly and smart, Ollie is the most entertaining foal on the planet, and Ellie is super sweet and goofy – it’s hard for me to pick a clear favorite! What do you think?

Happy Friday, everyone!

Remember a couple weeks ago when I was talking about all the stuff Presto puts in his mouth on a daily basis and a few people were like “hope he never goes for your reins!” and I was like “that’s one thing he hasn’t really done!”.

Yeah, I should have known better than to say that.

Yesterday while I was riding he put them in his mouth three times. While I was riding. THREE TIMES. Pretty much every time we halted and stood for more than a few seconds he’d reach around, grab it, and just hold it between his front teeth. Great. Super. Cute new trick. I find myself really glad that I bought him some super cheap clearance reins a couple months ago…. I won’t be upset when he inevitably trashes these since they were only $25.

This is why he can’t have nice things, probably ever, since this particular brand of lifelong mouthiness seems to be genetic. I’ve definitely given up on the idea of him growing out of it. Was hoping he wouldn’t develop an affinity for reins like his sire though.

On the subject of things that Presto will likely destroy, his pre-order unicorn sheet finally came in. His monkey blanket came months ago, but I wanted a no fill sheet in the unicorn pattern, which didn’t exist in his size at that time, so I had to request one on their next order. And then I promptly forgot all about it until I got the email the other day saying that it had arrived in stock.

So now he has a unicorn sheet and a monkey blanket waiting for him this winter, and I’m going to absolutely strangle him with the remains after he kills them both, because I know he will.

I also realized the other day that I seem to have misplaced my neck strap. Which doesn’t really make me too sad, because I was thinking about getting a new one anyway, maybe something with a little color. I like the Clever with Leather one, which I could do in brown leather with navy padding, but by the time I add the saddle attachment and a plate and pay for tax/shipping it’s now a $90 neck strap. That’s a lot, I’m definitely not convinced I want to spend that much for what is essentially a belt.

I do kinda like the customizable biothane ones that SuperXCountry sells, they’re fully custom and you can get the saddle attachment as well. In a way biothane is a little more appealing to me for a neck strap, since it’s so easy to clean and Presto sweats a ton. Of course they’re in the UK so I’m looking at around $58 by the time all is said and done, which is definitely better than $90 but I’m still not totally convinced I want to spend that much on a neck strap. What else have you guys seen out there that a) has color (ok navy – navy is the only color) b) has the saddle attachment c) isn’t too expensive? Extra bonus points if you can have a name or saying printed on it or attached to it.

I am admittedly not really myself this week. Monday was the 5th anniversary of my mom’s passing, and the week between that date and her birthday (the 25th) is generally never my favorite. It’s honestly gotten harder every year, not easier. Grief is weird. Normally I’m the type to just shove feelings down and bottle them up so deep that I’m not even sure Jacques Cousteau could find them, but I’ve come to give myself the week to withdraw a bit and indulge in missing her. At some point I’ll crack and have my annual cry in the car, I’m sure, but it hasn’t made its way to the surface yet. I don’t really like to talk about it. But if you notice a decrease in activity on my social media or a weird undercurrent on the blog – that’s why. I’m off kilter.

I’ve distracted myself a bit by working longer hours and – my favorite coping mechanism for anything – disappearing into books. I’ve perfected that particular technique in my 37 years on this planet. But I have also managed to fall into a couple other rabbit holes as well.

I don’t even remember how I found my way to Jump 4 Joy’s page, but I did. Originally I was really eyeballing the giraffe standards (I want these bad)

but then I ambled over to their XC jump page. I’ve seen their jumps at big events before but never really paid them any mind, knowing they’re expensive. And they are expensive, but some of them weren’t nearly as bad as I thought. I was originally eyeballing this super skinny arrowhead

Which, the price of $488 didn’t seem that awful considering it comes with:

• 2x Telescopic Cross Country Stands
  (75cm-105cm).
• 1x Arrowhead Filler – Skinny
  (1.25mtr wide x 1.35mtr)
• 2x Safety Cups.
• 2x Cross Country Flags (with clips)

But then I noticed this one:

At $725 it’s obviously quite a bit more, but it’s also 3 options in one. You’ve got the ladder pieces that could be used as fill, the arrowhead top piece which could be used as a skinny, or all of it put together makes a corner. Plus three of their telescoping standards, which I like (they could also be used for lunging o/f). It’s kind of smart. More bang for your buck. Or I could try to make something similar I’m sure. I’m just… not a builder. I’ve been intending to make a skinny arrowhead panel for like 3 years. Shit, I’ve been intending on buying some brush to make brush rails for at least a year and that’s literally one of the easiest things you can do. I’m clearly quite shit at projects like that. I also have zero jump fillers right now… I should probably acquire at least a brush box or a wall or something before Presto starts jumping.

I dunno. Something to think about the next time I’m in a Treat Yo-self position. I.e. not when we’ve just bought a tiny house.

The other thing I’ve been obsessing about is Presto’s feet. He does great barefoot 9 months of the year, so I don’t want to jump the gun and put shoes on him yet, but the extremely dry weather and hard rocky ground of summer are starting to take a toll. They run and play so much out there, he’s breaking chunks off left and right. It’s really difficult to keep barefoot horses here if they’re super active like that. Henry, who isn’t even active at all in comparison, had beautiful bare feet when he arrived in Texas and they were destroyed within a week. Luckily Presto hasn’t done any major damage yet, he’s a hard-knock kid, but he’s making me nervous. I’ve been putting Henry’s sparkly Cavallo boots on when I ride him, just as a precaution, and they’re working fine, but those are their low-end boots which I got to just be a “lost a shoe, need something to wear in the pasture for a few days” type thing. I feel like a different style would probably be better for riding.

But also if he’s only wearing them for an hour a week for the next month or so until we start getting some rain again and the ground softens a little, it seems a bit ridiculous to drop $150-200 on yet another pair of boots. I was kind of tempted to have him wear them 24/7 but I have a feeling he’d destroy any boot I put on him, plus I don’t want his feet to get softened up by being inside a boot all the time if it’s not 100% necessary. I’m probably overthinking all of this. I just mega-cringe every time I see a new chipped piece of hoof right now, or when I see him gallop off across the pasture. The farrier is coming tomorrow, so I’ll get his take on things. I was planning on putting at least front shoes on Presto next year when his work load increases but… I’d really rather not do that until it’s necessary.

Texas, rain please. Some rain would be great. Plus it would match my mood.

When Presto heard about the Willow Tree Warmblood babies getting their own “lake”, he was a little jealous. I’m pretty sure there was some grumbling about how back in his day they didn’t have so many luxuries and kids these days are spoiled. While I can’t go dig him a water feature in his pasture, I can do the next best thing and buy him a pool. (Ok all of this is a massive lie, I saw a video on facebook of a horse rolling in a little inflatable pool and found it both hilarious and very Presto-like, so I bought him a pool from Amazon with a gift card I got for my birthday. Whatever. Totally similar story.)

I got the pool last week, inflated one of the sections, and asked Presto for his opinion.

Not particularly impressed.

He also got a new ball, so I decided to debut them properly on the same day. If you’re gonna have a pool, you really need pool toys right? So on Saturday I dragged the pool into their pasture, put a few inches of water in it, and tossed in the ball. And while he never did roll in the pool, I wasn’t disappointed in the level of entertainment.

Granted, I think he wasn’t as into the pool until I added the ball. It has definitely remained his favorite toy. Once he was done splashing and biting at the pool, he took off with the ball and chased it around for a while.

And while Presto was distracted with the ball, JB dealt a few death blows to the pool. Presto had already put a few small tears in the bottom with his feet, but JB ripped a big chunk out of the side with his teeth, and then proceeded to tromple over it’s muddy corpse.

I’m totally ok with that. I bought the pool knowing it was probably only a one-time toy, and it’s good to see sometimes-timid JB come out of his shell and be brave about playing with scary things. The pool served it’s purpose. Plus I decided I’m going to cut out the bottom and use it to make a liverpool, so it won’t go to waste.

I am a little less pleased about the fate of the brand new ball though. I came out the next day to find a body slung over the fence into Henry’s pasture.

Didn’t even make it 24 hours, that one. In it’s defense, both of the babies were playing with it pretty hard on Saturday. It got chased, bitten, and kicked up one side of the pasture and down the other by both of them. It’s hard to say who dealt the final death blow and how it happened, but this ball definitely had a rough go of it. Luckily I already had another one waiting in the wings, so they won’t have to go without for very long. They could be a bit less murderous of things though… hard knock pasture life.

Still waiting on that giant rubber chicken to arrive. Maybe that will survive longer than a day? Yeah probably not.