Month: March 2021

BUT SOMETIMES IT CAN BE!!!

Someone should cut off my Epplejeck access. Why to the European tack stores always have the best, cheapest stuff? It’s unfair. Back in January I convinced Hillary to go halfies with me on an order because there were a few navy glitter (#navyglitter4lyfe) things that I had been wanting but needed a good “excuse” to pull the trigger. A sale plus splitting shipping was a great excuse, if I do say so myself. I nabbed navy glitter gloves, navy glitter tights, and a navy glitter helmet.

It was all either on sale or really cheap anyway so I didn’t feel too bad about it. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect really, you’re always guessing a bit at sizing and quality with unfamiliar brands, especially when it’s inexpensive, but… navy glitter. Worth the risk. And luck was on my side (or the universe approved of my purchases?) because everything fits and I like it all. I was skeptical that the glove size chart had me in a medium because I have big ol’ man hands and long fingers – I wear an 8 or 8.5 glove. But indeed, the medium does fit, and they’re delightfully glittery but still relatively subtle about it. They’re in the Roeckl style which is quite nice, the only thing they’re missing is the touch screen fingertips. A slight bummer, but they were also 1/3 the price of Roeckls, so I’m not complaining too much.

The next item was the navy tights. I waffled on these forever, because 1) tights are a hard one to get right, I dislike way more of them than I like, 2) they only had silicone-dot full seats. I’m generally not a fan of full seat unless they’re REALLY not sticky at all, and not being able to see them in person, it was a tossup. Plus their stock photo is so dark you really can’t see any details at all. But in the end the idea of dark navy glitter fabric won me over and I said what the hell, and chucked them into the cart. Again they were cheap, cheaper than pretty much any other pair of tights I own, and I figured I could always sell them if I didn’t like them. I also had to completely take a stab in the dark on the size, which is always fun. At least tights tend to be a little more forgiving than breeches.

Once again though, the stars aligned, and they fit! Plus they’re really beautiful. The glitter is pretty subtle so I’m not even sure you’d notice from more than 15′ away, but up close there’s a ridiculously satisfying amount of twinkle in the sunlight. I keep staring at them. If it’s overcast you’d have to be right up next to them to see it, really. I’m relieved that they aren’t too in-your-face. They wouldn’t give too many trainers heart attacks, I don’t think. Plus the fabric is nice and thin which is good for Texas, and the silicone dots are just about the least sticky thing I’ve ever seen. They don’t feel any different from any of my knee patch breeches when I’m in the saddle, which to me is a plus. I’ve basically been living in these things. glitter

Last but not least in that package (subtle foreboding) was the helmet. This one was another thing I waffled over forever, but it was on sale for under $100 and it was just… really pretty. I always did dressage in my navy Samshield but that one is now past its expiration, and I killed my navy Traumavoid when I fell out of the tack room last year. My only navy helmet left is my MyPS, which I wear daily at home, thus its kinda been scratched up from low-hanging branches and the like. Plus, I love that helmet, but it lacks a little… show ring pizazz. You know what has pizazz? This.

I’ve never tried on the BR brand before so I had no clue if it would fit me, plus I was kind of in-between shell sizes, but… what the heck. That thing was gorgeous. Plus sale. Have I mentioned sale? Worth a shot. Miraculously it fits me pretty darn well (it could be a teeny smidge more oval, but it’s soclose) and it’s gorgeous. Like even more gorgeous in person.

3 for 3. That’s some luck right there.

The only disappointment is that they still didn’t have those navy glitter boots in stock, the ones that pulled me into Epplejeck in the first place last fall. I’d tried to go order them about a hundred times but the sizes I needed were never in stock. When I inquired about restocking dates, they said they weren’t sure. I gave up a bit, honestly, but I still checked back regularly.

And then a couple weeks later I got another email about another sale… this time a buy 2 get one free. I’m very much into that. This was just a few days after I’d had that dream about the rainbow box, which was still nagging at me, so I meandered over to the site thinking “Ok universe…” I do this a lot, where I declare things to the universe and leave it to fate as if that somehow absolves me of decision-making or responsibility “if they have the boots in stock, and the rainbow box in stock, AND all of them qualify for the BOGO sale, I’ll know that I’m meant to have them.”. And, well, hell… what do you know. After 4 months of checking for those boots, they were FINALLY in stock in M and L. Tossed a front pair in the cart, then a back pair, then meandered over and tossed a rainbow box in too. Then I went to the cart to see if it qualified for the BOGO and damn, y’all, it did.

Now I should say, this was before I decided to keep Presto in training and battened down the hatches on non-essential spending. I wouldn’t have done a lil’ mini splurge if I’d already decided that. So I’ve spent the past couple weeks waiting for the package to get here (seriously Chicago customs, 10 days?) feeling really guilty about it. Then I opened it, was greeted with sparkles and rainbows, and honestly… don’t feel that guilty anymore. If I was gonna get one last package of fun to get me through the next however many months of strict budgeting, this was definitely the box to do it.

First the boots.

They are, without a doubt, the most perfect shade of navy. I love that only the straps are glittery, I feel like they’ll wear better and it’s a little more subtle. They fit Henry perfectly, which makes me think they might be a little small on Presto (which is who I really bought them for) but whatever. I’m obsessed. Dear all equestrian companies: this is the navy I want.

As for the box. Y’all. I understand now why I dreamed about it. This thing is magical. From 10+ feet away, it looks like a normal metal grooming box. Nothing fun to see here.

But then you get closer and you start to really see the holographic effect and it’s like bam.

Then real close: BAM!

It’s so pretty.

I’m still deciding what I’m gonna put in there. I think probably my braiding stuff and all my little show-specific things like boot polish and green spot remover and sharpies and safety pins and hair nets and sunscreen etc etc etc. It’s a pretty good size and I love the mirror in the top.

So really, no regrets here. It was a good last hurrah that’ll last me a while I think. What are the odds that I would like all 6 things? I won’t question my luck on this one. Next time we’re in Europe, if/when they ever let us back in, you can bet that a visit to one of the Epplejeck stores will definitely be happening. I feel like they really get my navy glitter/subtle rainbow aesthetic…

Man, Henry is really feeling himself lately. Presto leaving changed the herd dynamic for sure… he used to mostly just tolerate Presto’s antics and occasionally join in a little bit,but for the most part he was the buzzkill big brother that was much more serious. These days Henry is Captain Yeehaw out here doing laps around the field and airs above the ground.

It’s like taking away the big brother role also took away all of his (apparently fake) maturity. Which to be honest is okay with me. He’s 14 now, I won’t complain if he’s feeling good enough to act like he’s 4.

The weather has been good so I’ve been able to ride him 6 days a week. I can’t decide if he loves or hates having all the attention back on him. I’m not sure that he’s quite decided.

I have to admit that having extra time to spend with my OG Best Boy isn’t such a bad thing. I can’t complain. I don’t have to rush through “the easy one” in an effort to have time for the young one, and it’s kind of nice. We can take the time to go on longer hacks, or wander aimlessly around the property before or after a ride and enjoy the nice weather.

It helps too that the days are getting longer. God I hate winter with it’s short days. There is nothing cool about being dark at 5pm, it makes the day feel extra rushed. Now it’s light from about 6:40am to 6:40pm, which helps everything in general. I can get chores done earlier, and I’m not rushing to squeeze horse stuff in at the end of my work day. I can get up and do a spin class when it’s still dark (y’all, I might be addicted to the spin bike, I’ve had it for 14 days and I’ve ridden it 12 of those. At least I’m getting my money’s worth?) and be walking down to the barn right after dawn, clean stalls, and still be back in front of my computer before my 7:30 meeting.

I’ve been leaving the horses out a bit longer too, since they seem quite content out there on all the spring grass. Both of the chubbers have had no complaints. Henry also got a couple new hanging treat balls from Horse and Herd (a Montana-based business!) so he’s kind of just rotten 24/7. Technically one of these was supposed to be for Presto but I don’t think it’ll be much of a hardship if Henry ends up “having” to eat both of them himself. Luckily he’s slow about it (not a freakin shark like Presto who can demolish one of these in 2 days) so we’ll see how long this first one lasts. I let him pick which one he wanted first and he went for the Pink Salt one.

Otherwise we’re just kind of plugging along. I wanted to get Henry more fit before the hot weather hits, and he’s pretty on track for that. We’ve been doing conditioning rides a couple days a week, flatwork a couple days, a polework day, and a jump day. He’s… quite spunky and full of himself pretty much every single day despite the increased work load, so that’s a good sign. Maybe later on in the spring we can get out to a couple jumper shows and XC schooling, before it’s 100 degrees.

At some point I should set the Pivo back up and actually get some media from my Henry rides but I’ve admittedly been kind of lazy about it. We’re just kind of having fun enjoying ourselves with no pressure and without having to rush.

Hope everyone else’s weather is starting to take a turn for the better too so you can get more (pleasant) riding time in. Spring is my favorite!

Sorry for abandoning the blog on Friday. Partly it was because I didn’t have much to say, but mostly it’s because I was busy going through and editing all the pics Michelle got from when we went to visit everybody’s favorite nugget baby last Thursday!

Which means I have a lot of media, which means I’m forgiven right? Good.

If I had any lingering reservations about Presto being away at college, they’re gone now. I wasn’t sure how he’d settle into the hustle and bustle of a busy boarding facility (he looked bored), or how he’d feel about having to be a bit more of a grownup rather than a half-feral pasture kid (he’s met the raised expectations). I knew all of this would be good life experience for him either way, but still I just wasn’t sure how he would process it all. Turns out there was no cause for concern, because not only was he half asleep munching on his lunch hay when I got there, he looked at me, sniffed my hand for a treat, and promptly returned to his hay when he realized I didn’t have one. Ouch. No loyalty in this horse. I see how it is. He doesn’t even have the decency to pretend like he misses me or cares about me at all.

Aside from a little scratch on his face (which, he’s been there a month and that’s the only new wound? pretty miraculous) he looks just like he did when I dropped him off. Or, really, better. He’s starting to get a little bit more topline I think, and he’s got more of an air of confidence or relaxation about him, like he thinks he knows some things now.

And indeed, he does know some things. Megan got him out so we could see her work with him, and she started out doing a little bit of work on the ground. The big thing she’s been working on is getting him more supple in his body and getting him to actually bend through his whole body and move both his front and hind end, so she can access all his different parts and ride him properly from back to front and around her leg. He had a tendency at first to want to drop his shoulder and resist or pull against the bit, so she made it clear that he needed to stay up through his shoulder and soft on the rein. She started teaching him that concept on the ground and then under saddle, but right now since it’s still sorta new to him she checks in on the ground for a couple minutes first to reinforce that she can indeed move all his different parts and he’s paying attention. I like that she broke it down to it’s most simplest form for him so he could clearly understand what she wanted on the ground first before getting in the saddle. The expectations were clear to him from the start.

She explained everything she was doing and why, which I really appreciated. And I completely agreed with her assessment of the things he needed to improve.

Once she got on she repeated the same things at the walk that she’d just asked him to do on the ground – making sure she could move both his front end and his hind end, get him stepping across, put his body in the shape she wanted, and change that shape easily. Access to his whole body, basically, and getting his brain tuned in.

After that they moved to trot. They’ve been working on rhythm and getting him bending in a nice shape around her leg. Without dropping the shoulder of course, which is definitely his favorite go-to maneuver. She changed directions a lot, making sure she could change the bend and still keep the shoulders up, allowing him to come more from behind. He’s gotten way steadier in the contact, although sometimes he wants to default to dropping a little bit behind the vertical. That’s not unusual when they’re first learning, so she just keeps asking him to take the bit more forward again.

As you can imagine, the canter is a bit more of the same. She noted that when he’s relaxed his canter is pretty nice and he’s able to hold a nice rhythm easily, but when he gets a bit tense he tends to get stuck and the canter goes more up and down. I’ve observed that exact same thing. She just keeps pushing him up to a light contact and really allowing him and encouraging him to be forward and relaxed, but without letting him drop that shoulder (which he tends to want to do more to the right – his weaker direction – than the left).

After some flatwork they moved on to some jumps. With the winter storm she’s really only had a few weeks to work with him at all, so she’s only jumped him once before, in a grid. This was his first time doing a little course, or trying to canter fences without guiderails to help him. Overall he was really good. As he’s learning to carry his body more correctly you can see the improvements translate to the jumps too, he’s coming off the ground with more power. There’s a pretty good jump in him I think!

By the end he strung together a little mini-course at the canter, which was adorable. Not bad for a few weeks of a work and a second jump school!

I am honestly really impressed with how good of a job Megan does with the young horses. She’s very cool, calm, and collected, and approaches different concepts with a lot of intelligence. Presto was very clearly not stressed at all, and seemed happy to work for her and calm about everything. Is he still a goofy young horse? Absolutely. But even if/when he got unfocused she just kept riding, diverting his attention to something else that would occupy his brain more. That’s exactly the approach he needs. Plus she likes him, which counts for a lot.

Now that I’ve gotten past all my initial panic about having him away from home, I’m really loving the changes I’m seeing. Enough so that I’m convinced he’s exactly where he needs to be right now, and I think it would benefit him greatly to stay there for a little while longer. The complication was that Megan is about to leave for Ocala for six weeks, but after a chat and some creative planning, it’s been decided that Presto will be going to Ocala with her. I just think he would get SO MUCH from an experience like that, where he can see a lot and do a lot and there’s everything right there on his doorstep. He can get more experience there in 6 weeks than he could get in 4 months here.

When he comes back we’ll see how we all feel about where he’s at mentally and physically and progress-wise. If we feel like he’s happy and doing great and has an actual shot at this YEH stuff, he’ll stay on with Megan for a bit longer and we’ll give that a try. If not, he can have a break and then revisit things later on. Absolutely no pressure.

I have to be honest, when I signed him up for the Futurity it was mostly just for fun and to showcase the kind of horses that WTW is producing. Just looking at Presto, I really wasn’t convinced he was that horse. He’s still awkward and gangly and wouldn’t turn any heads just standing in the barn. But you put a saddle on him and a rider like Megan in the irons and holy shit, y’all… this horse is nice. Like… nicer than I realized. I want to give him a fair shake, and no matter what he ultimately ends up doing, I want him to have the absolute best start to his eventing career that I can, so that he’s a better horse in the long run. I think Megan can give him that. So my budget will be absolutely LOCKED DOWN for the foreseeable future (and all my excess stuff that I’ve been meaning to sell for a while will actually be posted now to help fund Presto’s Ocala trip) but I feel like this is 100% the best thing for him. Seeing him there with her, all I could think was “how do I keep him here longer”. They get along great, and though I definitely do miss him at home, seeing him thrive like this makes it a whole lot easier.

I finished and submitted Presto’s second vlog for the US Event Horse Futurity! These beginning ones still kind of have more of that “historical” aspect – the first one was the breeding one, and now this one is the starting one. I felt like everything Presto had done in his first few years kind of led up to starting him, so I felt like there was as lot to cover. Y’all are used to me being long-winded by now, right? It’s under 6 minutes though, that was a feat.

I’m not sure yet when the Futurity will start posting the starting vlogs on their page. They’re due by mid-March, but I know we’re still waiting on a couple of the first breeding vlogs to wrap those up. My blog readers get special perks though, which in this case includes early access.

Making these vlogs is hard, I feel like I have so much to say and so much I want to include, but I also have to condense it way down to account for time. I tried to hit all the main points though.

I’m excited to get rolling on the actual training vlogs after this. That’s always the fun part, seeing them do more under saddle. And today I’m headed up to visit Presto, so hopefully I’ll have more media. Michelle is even coming and bringing her real camera. Fancy times indeed.

I think that the ol’ “what age to start horses under saddle or in work” question might be one of the most hotly debated topics in the horse world. On one end of the spectrum you have the racehorses and western folk, who start pretty early at 18-24 months, typically. Then you have another subset of people who believes that no horse should even be sat on or lunged or anything until it’s 5 or 6 (or more). Most of us probably fall somewhere in between, but it’s one of those ask-10-people-get-12-answers type of things. It’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t have a real opinion on this particular subject, and most people have a lot of conviction behind whatever they believe. You often see this particular graphic being passed around facebook, but used to support total opposite viewpoints, which I find particularly amusing. I swear I see this have a resurgence at least once every couple months (psst, this isn’t even totally accurate).

Opinions are one thing, science is another. Studies should give us clear answers, right?

Meh.

There have been a lot of different studies by now, using a lot of different variables, and the validity of those seems to be as hotly debated as the subject matter itself. I came across a new one the other day though, and new material seems fairly rare when it comes to this topic so it’s always interesting when something does surface. I myself have a few mixed and admittedly conflicting opinions after reading through all the data and looking at all the figures, but I’d rather toss it out here without my own impressions first to see what other folks think. Again it’s another racehorse-centric one, specifically about whether or not 2yo’s should train and race, so… how you feel about that is one part, and whether you believe that’s at all comparable to the sporthorse world or not is another part.

The link to the study is in that post. You can click Full Text to pop up the whole thing, or click on Download PDF.

Thoughts? Impressions? Have any of these studies impacted your opinion at all or do you rely more on your own personal experiences?