Ok, let’s see, what else has been going on aside from the Presto lessons…

Texas got hot again (stupid False Fall getting me all excited for no reason) and it’s remained dry dry dry. The grass is crunchy and sad and brown. Today is supposed to be the last hot (mid 90’s) day and then we get to go back down in the 80’s and there’s actually chances of rain over the next few days. Bring it on please. I get sad when the grass is crunchy, it was so green and beautiful for most of the summer and I think we all miss it. All of this to really just say that the ground is hard, so we aren’t jumping much and when we do they’re all set back to a lower height. So… not much of note to report on the Henry front considering all that, and the fact that he enjoyed a nice long weekend off since I was away at the clinic with Presto.

Who, speaking of which, leaves this weekend for his California tour. They’re headed straight from here to Woodside, where Megan’s got one in the 4*S, one in the 2*S (Tenny’s first international!), and Noodle in the Novice.

Then they’ll all head over to Tamie Smith’s place, where they’ll be based out of for the rest of their time in Cali. The plan right now is for him to do the West Coast YEH Championships a few weeks later at Twin Rivers, and then Galway the following weekend, then heading home from there. I tried a lot of different finagling to try to figure out how to make the logistics work for me to be able to come out for YEH Champs and stay through Galway, but I just couldn’t figure out a good way to do it that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. So instead I chose Galway, since that one seems way more fun with a 4*L and all that. YEH Champs are cool and all (I guess) but at the end of the day it’s just a derby and Presto isn’t gonna win. So… more bang for my buck fun-wise to fly out for Galway instead.

Oh and Presto’s latest Futurity vlog was posted last week in case you missed it. This was the last required vlog for the Futurity, although we’ll probably make one more at the end just to wrap things up in a tidy bow. But, this is the last chance to get some final entries for the Presto’s Favorite Things contest, so make sure to get your likes/comments in if you want more chances to win! I’ll pick a winner within a few weeks after Championships. I’m not sure yet when the voting for the Futurity’s Fan Favorite award will start but you can be sure I’ll let y’all know.

Speaking of Championships (isn’t it nice when things segue like this), while I won’t be able to attend the West Coast one, I will be in attendance at the East Coast one since it’s happening in conjunction with Maryland 5*. It took Michelle and I a little while to commit to a plan and get our airfare sorted, but I did book everything a couple days ago, so Maryland here we come (again).

You’re probably looking at that thinking “you’re on crack, Orlando isn’t in Maryland” – ah yes, we’re making a bit of a pit stop in Ocala for a couple days first to attend to some bidness. I’m not letting that particular cat out of the bag until everything is final, because jinxes are a real thing, but it’s exciting. We’ll fly from there up to Philly on Wednesday night and then head to Maryland, making one big Austin – Ocala – Philly – Austin triangle over the eastern half of the US. I think it should be a fun week. Our priority for Thurs/Fri will be watching the YEH horses, then we can switch focus to the big event. Who else is going to the 5*? I’m really excited to get back to spectating again, I’m an eventing fan first and foremost.

And thanks to the European championships I finally got a win in our little friends league in the Eventing Manager app, which I have become stupidly addicted to despite being really horrendous at it.

I’m putting this here for posterity because I’ve never come close to winning before and probably will never come close to winning again. Let it be known that there was indeed one time when I managed to come out on top. I always pick sentimental favorites because I just can’t help myself, and usually it doesn’t work out that well but hey at least I feel good about my picks. Proof positive that even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while. Kate, I await my trophy.

The only other recent happening is that I had my second Airrosti appointment yesterday. I’ve def seen some noticeable improvement in some areas since my first appointment last week (my back and my glutes at least) and this time there was more focus on my “terrible” hamstrings. Indeed… they’re friggin terrible. You know it’s not good when they’re like “don’t squeal, this will probably hurt”. Indeed it did, once she found the pain point in my left hamstring and went to work on it. She was also able to adjust my sacrum, but that part felt pretty freaking amazing. I was sent home with more new exercises to do this week, including a lot of foam rolling and stretching with resistance bands.

Those hamstring stretches, y’all. I can’t even tell you how bad they are. My god. I’m fairly certain my hamstrings are just petrified blocks of wood because they’re 0% pliable. I was laying on the floor this morning thinking how ironic it’ll be when the thing that finally kills me in all this is the stupid hamstring stretching. Send help.

I think that gets us all caught up on everything else that’s been going on around here… hope y’all are having a good week! Fall is coming…