Month: February 2022

First of all, big thank to all of you last week that commented and PM’d me with input on the Patreon idea. As usual y’all thought of things that I hadn’t, and helped steer it in (I think/hope?) the right direction.

Let’s talk about what I don’t want. I really definitely do not want to put content that would normally be on this blog behind a paywall. I’ve been doing this thing for 8 years pretty much 5 days a week for no other reason aside from the fact that I (usually) enjoy writing, I enjoy the community, and I enjoy the discussions it’s brought about. I don’t want that to change. Blogs have been dropping like flies the last few years and I don’t want this to be another casualty. So instead of taking anything away from the normal blog posts, content-wise, I’m thinking I would drop down to posting more like 4 days a week on average (sometimes 3 if I’m really strapped) to clear up some time for producing the Patreon content.

All of that said, what I really DO want is to make the Patreon interesting, worth doing, and worth people actually paying money for. If I’m giving you the honest truth, the idea of dabbling in something a little bit different, but still complimentary all together, holds a lot of appeal for me. I’ve been at this thing for a long time… this blog started in 2014, I’m coming up on 2,000 posts and almost 1.5 million words written. That’s a freakin lot. Having the opportunity to accent it with content in other formats makes me feel a little re-invigorated about all of it. And if I’m not going to do something cool and fun and worthwhile, I’d rather not do it at all. So here’s what I’ve got for the membership tiers and what they would include:

$5/mo “Superfan” – this tier gets access to a private Facebook group with more discussions, early updates on stuff, extra details, etc. To be honest there’s a lot that I either don’t post on here, I post vague info about, or wait until it’s very much a done deal before spilling the beans. It’s kind of a lite version of what all is really going on, mostly because I have to remember that anyone and everyone can see this site. With a private group and smaller audience, I could say more and say it earlier. Like, for instance… Presto’s lameness ordeal of the past couple months… I would have updated on that as it was unfolding rather than waiting til the end diagnosis. Or the Ocala property purchase that I didn’t want to give details about until it was all very much wrapped up. We can also do polls for fun things (want to vote on what bridle Gemma gets?) and stuff like that. Think of it as “the rest of the story” or “BreedRideEvent Plus”. I also want the group to very much be a community where discussion is encouraged.

$10/mo “Supporter” – this tier gets access to the above Facebook group plus exclusive Patreon-hosted content, which will be (at minimum) monthly podcasts and vlogs as well as extra written content. Having it at this price bracket will allow us to keep everything ad-free. The items in this tier require a little assistance in the form of Hillary, who will co-host the podcast and some of the vlogs with me and help with production. We do a lot together, she’s leasing Henry, and she co-owns Gemma, so it’s a partnership that makes sense, we’re friends so we banter well, and she’s someone that you guys already “know”. We’ll also bring in other blog “regulars” like Bobby and Michelle as guests to keep things interesting (I feel like a lot of y’all would love listening to Bobby absolutely roast me for an hour, or hear Michelle talk more about her mares and foals and breeding philosophy). We’ll give more detail about ourselves and our horses, talk about whatever is going on at the moment, discuss more controversial topics, new and cool things that are coming out, etc. When we take trips, go to shows, during the Ocala move, when we restart Gemma under saddle, etc I’ll do some vlogs with a lot more detail and more footage than you would get elsewhere. The white breeches post that the regular blog gets? Patreon gets a vlog version as well, with way more detail, as well as a regular schooling breeches vlog. The results from Gemma’s genetic testing? Blog gets the key points interpreted by me, Patreon gets to see the full report PDF and a fully detailed breakdown. You get the idea. For written content I’m also thinking I could actually publish all those bloodlines spreadsheets I’m always making, plus Hillary has some great budgeting spreadsheets and tools like that as well. This is also where I’ll put the “Where Are They Now?” WTW foal updates as we hear news from their owners. Patrons from this tier as well as the next VIP tier will also be invited to submit topic requests and participate in AMA’s for the podcast or vlogs.

$15/mo “VIP” – It’s hard to gauge how much interest there would be in this tier so we’d have to see how many we got and if it was feasible enough to keep it long term, but this would include the fb group and all the extra Patreon content, plus a “thank you” package of goodies when you sign up (I’ve already got stuff planned out and am fairly pleased with myself, and yes it will also include a card signed by humans and horses because who wouldn’t want a Henry tongue-print and a Presto nose boop?), as well as automatic entry into monthly giveaways for cool stuff. Good stuff, not lame stuff. We’ll kick it off with a bang by giving away a Seaver girth sleeve on March 1.

_{Shoutout to Aimee L who not only sneakily found her way to the Patreon early, but became our first Patron and first VIP – getting the ball rolling in style}

Become a Patron!

I think all of this is feasible with Hillary’s help in addition to cutting out a day a week (on average anyway) of the regular blog. Then the Patrons would still be getting something fun for their money, I would still have time to produce the type and quality of content I would be happy putting out (again, with Hillary’s help), and the people who don’t want to pay for any of it can still continue getting pretty much the same content here.

Hopefully this is a solution that will keep everyone happy! If you want to be a Patron, we would absolutely love to have you on board for what we’ve got planned. But it not, that’s okay too. ❤

Oh, Texas. You couldn’t just like… let me have one last pleasant winter experience here, could you? I think this place and I share mutual feelings for each other. Or so it seemed last week when it was blowing freezing rain directly into my face at 20mph. Did I perhaps yell “This is the LAST FUCKING TIME, Texas, with your stupid WIND and your stupid FUCKING ICE” as my eyeballs got frozen shut? I mean, perhaps. No one can prove it though, except maybe the neighbors.

The good news is that this time at least I was well-prepared. Winter Storm Uri definitely taught us a few things last year, even if most of those lessons were wrapped up in a big ball of trauma. This year it also wasn’t nearly as bad. We were supposed to get ice for a couple days, but no super prolonged periods under freezing, and no snow. My only real concern was the power. No offense ERCOT and/or Texas Powers That Be, but I have literally negative percent faith in your ability to not kill me. So did I hoard water? Yes. Did I double check to ensure the stack of firewood was ready to go? You bet. Did I haul a weeks worth of hay down to the barn, make sure everything I own was fully charged, stock my pantry with two weeks worth of non-perishables, etc etc? Indeed I did.

To add insult to injury we got 5″ of rain in the couple days preceding the ice storm. That made for some really really high quality mud, as well as standing water EVERYWHERE right before it froze solid. I know I said we needed rain, but what I meant was like… not all at once. Beggars can’t be choosers I guess. But all that rain did turn the runs out behind the horse’s stalls into absolute shitshow disasters, and then they froze over, so I had to close to stall doors and not give them access to the runs. Knowing I was going to have to close their doors, in the one afternoon where it had stopped raining and before everything froze, I did a reset of everyone’s stall – loaded them up with a layer of pellets, fluffed up some extra shavings, got everyone fully loaded on hay, etc. They were definitely going to have to spend at least one to three days inside, but the barn was as prepared for it as possible.

They ended up spending about 36 straight hours inside, and then had a couple mornings where they had to wait to go out, but it could have been worse. We burned through basically all of the shavings in that few day period, even with me mucking every few hours, but everyone was warm and cozy and dry. I forgot the joys of trying to pick frozen poo and pee though… you people that live up north are certifiable.

Other than being annoyed about being confined, everyone fared pretty well. They basically just stood there in their warm jammies while I slaved away cleaning up their shit, keeping them stocked up on hay 24/7 to keep them warm, and soaking their meals in warm water. Rotten animals.

I was a little worried how Gemma would handle the confinement (or really, the subsequent return to turnout) so I did get her out and walk her and hand graze her a few times. Honestly though, she handled it all great. No real shenanigans when they got to go back out, and she did a pretty good job of just standing in her stall eating hay. I mean… she eats like half the amount of hay as the other two fatties, and she seems to prefer eating out of a slow feed net as opposed to the floor or the large hole net (I think she finds the “challenge” more interesting) much to my annoyance, but… she did well for her. She doesn’t like Texas hay very much and I don’t really blame her.

We did get a pretty good coating of ice, but luckily we didn’t lose power. Some people did, with trees coming down on the lines, but the grid kept up with the demand. It did not stop me from laying there the entire first night listening to the frozen rain hitting my windows, just waiting for the power to go out, and constantly checking ERCOT/local outages. Thank goodness though, it was fine. I mean, I had to give a lot of CPR to every single gate latch on this property, and I almost busted my ass on some ice, and snot may or may not have been frozen to my face at one point, but it was still way less miserable than last year. Still 0/10 would not recommend but I didn’t incur any new emotional damage.

Our work offices were closed on Thursday and Friday due to all the ice on the road, so I did have super light days working from home. I used the extra time to start getting the Patreon ready, get the content organized, lists made, and make a schedule. Everything is set up and ready to launch tomorrow – I’ll have a post here explaining everything and how it’s going to work, and what it will mean for the blog, plus outline some of the content that’s already in the works.

And last but not least I did get one fun bit of mail before the IceFest. I’ve been gathering more whites to include in that big Ultimate White Breeches post (which I’ve got all my people coordinated for the try-ons/photos/videos next weekend so I swear it’s coming soon) and decided to throw in a pair of low-budget bregging style ones into the mix. I’m trying to make it as diverse as I realistically can with a range of prices and styles. A few of you here have suggested that I try Esprit Equestrian in the past, and when they came out with their PRO line they really put themselves on my radar. I like the styling of them and was intrigued by the description saying that they had an inner lining to help smooth out lumps and bumps. I bit the bullet and got a pair of the whites (for science) fully expecting to not like them that much and end up returning them after the try-on. I have to say though y’all, initial reaction is that I’m pretty impressed. Like impressed enough to where I want all the colored ones now. Y’all were right, these things are comfy and really flattering. I’m a little shook. We’ll see how they stack up against all the others.

Anyway, more on aaaalll of this tomorrow… hopefully what I’ve come up with for the blog will be something that works for everyone. If not I’ll just blame it on my brain cells having leaked out of my nose and frozen to my face.

We got the pics back from Gemma’s first photoshoot! Since she’s still got some weight to gain we went for mostly head shots, but I think they came out super cute. She’s a pretty photogenic mare, and I have to admit… that deep chestnut is growing on me a little bit more every day. We’ll have to do another shoot once she’s fully let down from the track and up to sporthorse weight, and slicked off in her summer coat. But for now, she’s got her first set of Glamour Shots… that’s how you know you’re officially in the fam.

Big thank you to Megan Carr Photography for getting these pics of our pretty girl!

So, I’ve had several people suggesting lately that I should look into getting a Patreon. To be honest, I know very little about Patreon. I do support one account on there (Eventing Nation) but other than that the extent of my knowledge is that Elisa Wallace has an active one that she’s always talking about, and that some podcasts put special episodes on Patreon. That’s it.

Clearly I have extremely little knowledge of or experience with it. I’m not necessarily against the idea, but I have a hard time imagining what kind of content anyone would actually be interested enough to pay for. And then, do I have the bandwidth to make said content actually be decent enough that it’s worth it to people, and then would enough people pay for it to make it worth my while to create it?

I’m certainly not Eventing Nation or Elisa Wallace (um, obviously) so like… what the heck could I possibly put on there that would be of interest or value? I’m not bringing you news, nor am I pro rider with training tips and stuff like that, and I definitely have no interest in doing anything remotely like that. I mean… I could explore the idea of a podcast I suppose… maybe me and Hillary with some Bobby and Michelle sprinkled in, or other bloggers as guests? I have no idea wtf anyone would want to hear us talk about, and probably would only be able to produce like 2 episodes a month. I’ve been on one podcast episode before as a guest and I’m not sure if I felt like I was very good with speaking… that was a couple years ago and I can’t seem to find the podcast anymore to re-analyze how I feel about it.

Vlogs are another idea, if I could think of things that people would actually want to watch on the regular, but again I would probably only be able to produce a couple a month because those are really time consuming to make too. Or I guess a mix of both? I’m not sure what else there is aside from merch and stuff that like, which… meh.

The breeding content is the stuff that, time-wise, has the most value (and it’s the only thing I feel qualified enough to make any kind of “educational” type stuff about), but I don’t know that it has enough interest for anyone to care much about extra content on the subject. Plus I may have something in the works with EN on that front so it would probably be a conflict of interest to have things on both places.

I don’t really want to take things away from the normal blog and force people to pay for Patreon just to get updates… that seems shit. I don’t want people to have to sign up and pay money just to follow along with the basics of what’s going on. So I’m trying to think of it more as bonus content, I’m just struggling to guess what anyone would care enough about to actually pay for that I don’t already say/do on here. And like… how much a month is any of this worth to anyone? Thoughts? Ideas? Yay or Nay to the idea? If I’m going to bother to do it at all I want to make sure it’s not lame. Feel free to tell me no.

Y’all know how much I like ponying. Presto was ponied anywhere and everywhere I could possibly take him for basically 3 years of his life, which I think was definitely helpful. He got to see and experience all kinds of things. There are lots of benefits besides just exercising two horses at once… you can also let a young one see things for the first time with a horse friend and without the stress or perhaps lack of confidence that they might have if they’re facing it on their own with a rider. If they want to be a bit naughty or spooky it’s also a lot easier (and less risky) to keep the exuberance under wraps while you’ve got them on a lead rope, you’re near their head, and you have the advantage of leverage. And the extra selling point of OTTB’s? They already are quite experienced with ponying – they come with that skill pre-installed.

So I decided last Friday that since Gemma had settled in well at the barn and with the other horses, we may as well take her on a little tour of the whole property. At that point she’d really only seen the barn and courtyard area, but she always wants to look at things so I thought she might enjoy a change of scenery. The weather was a bit chillier and windier than I may have preferred, but she’s very polite so I figured… meh why not. I put Henry in the crossties and got him ready, then grabbed Gemma and tied her next to him (she’s still learning about crossties) while I put on my helmet and Henry’s bridle. Then I hopped on Henry, untied Gemma, and away we went. Ponying is old hat to both of them so they knew the drill, the only minor issue was Henry’s attitude.

He’s pretty much all bark and no bite, but Gemma is fairly submissive, so when he would make his nasty faces she would immediately back away. Which then sent Henry on a power trip. His ego is… something. Once we left the courtyard and started exploring she stopped paying as much attention to him, because there were way better and cooler things to look at.

One of the things I really like about Gemma is how curious she is. She doesn’t have that brash bravado that Presto has, where he sees something, marches right up to it, and tries to smash it with his feet, but she definitely wants to see and understand things. She looks, then she touches it with her nose and sniffs it to figure it out. It’s a much quieter, less destructive type of curiosity, but I would definitely still classify her as a brave type of horse. She might want to pause for a second to think about it, but she always ultimately wants to go forward toward the “scary” thing. I hope that translates under saddle too.

We made a lap each way of the front field, stopping near the neighbors fence line so we could watch and listen to their rickety old metal shed flapping in the wind. Henry spooked at it pretty hard, and his spooking spooked her, but she was less upset about the noise than he was.

Then we walked around and into the dressage arena (pausing to sniff the dressage letters and the arena wall, of course) and then through the jump field. I had a couple poles set out so we walked over those too, which was no biggie. She was looking around and very interested in everything, but not upset or worried. We made another lap of the front field and then went back to the barn, completing her first successful farm exploration session. Once she’s cleared to return to under saddle work I think she’ll have a really good time hacking.

I was relieved that we didn’t encounter the rogue cow — omg wait I forgot to tell y’all the story of the rogue cow. Hold up. Screeching halt for one sec.

So a couple weeks ago I was up in the barn doing stalls and at one point I could have sworn I saw a cow way out in the back pasture. We don’t have cows, but the neighbors do, so I was like uh oh is the fence down? By the time I finished what I was doing and walked down there, there wasn’t a cow in sight. I walked the entire fenceline just to make sure there wasn’t a breach and couldn’t find anything at all. We have no-climb back there, so it’s not like it’s an easy fence to get past. I was like well ok I am pretty tired, maybe I just… hallucinated the cow. Maybe it was a deer. The incident became a joke about me being in such a weird headspace that I was hallucinating cows. Fast forward to a few days ago and I’m in the jump field setting jumps for Hillary when low and behold AGAIN I see a cow in the back pasture. I look at Hillary, I look at the cow, and I whisper “do you see the cow?”. She turns and looks and confirms that yes indeed she sees the cow too. Great, I’m not hallucinating. Off we go through the fields to the back pasture, come around the corner of the hacking trail and boom – BIG ASS WHITE COW just standing there alone in the back pasture like he owns the place. We got about 30′ away from him, Mina having now spotted him and started barking, and he very casually looks at us, turns around, and jumps back over the fence like it’s nothing. I was like HOLY SHIT. HOLY SHIT. Ok #1 that is a pretty scopy cow, but #2 HOLY SHIT that cow just jumped right over the fence! Upon further examination of the ground in that area he’s clearly been doing that a lot. I’m so glad Hillary was there to witness or no one ever would have believed me but yeah… we have a rogue, very scopy, tres athletic, fence-jumping neighbor cow.

ANYWAY – luckily we didn’t encounter the cow that day I was ponying Gemma. I don’t know what she would have made of that.