Alright, a couple weeks ago I promised y’all the full story of the tattoos that Holly, Hillary, and myself got at LRK3DE, and I’m finally circling back around to deliver on that.

A few weeks before the trip even started, I had said something in our group chat about how we should get some kind of matching tattoos while we were there. This isn’t the first time I’ve had this idea, and I can’t even tell you why. Last summer when we went to Chatt I was convinced Hillary and I should get our noses pierced while we were there, but with one of my dogs dying and me missing the first week, that didn’t come to fruition. And for some reason my brain went “hey, horsey girls trip = memorial body modification time?”. Yes brain, fantastic idea.

Side note: a few days ago on tiktok I came across a guy who gets a tattoo wherever he travels to and I was like OMG THIS IS THE BEST IDEA I’VE EVER HEARD I MUST DO THIS TOO but anyway the point is that I’m not the only one that thinks like this.

Anyway, we talked about the group tattoo idea and everyone was in, but we just couldn’t come up with something good and fitting that we all liked. The idea fizzled and died and was forgotten (except in the deep recesses of my brain, apparently).

So fast forward to XC day at Kentucky. We’d wandered around the course during the 4*, stopped by the blogger meetup for a bit, grabbed lunch at the RV, and then headed back out to find a good spot for the 5*. Our other objective for the afternoon was finding the Ride iQ tailgating spot to go say hi to them. We had talked to Jessa and Kinsey the previous two days briefly at their spot in the trade fair but wanted to support them and bring more people by their tailgate.

Another side note: one of the best things about big events like LRK3DE is getting to finally put faces to the names of people you’ve talked to so much online. I’ve been a Ride iQ fan since the beginning and have happily sung it’s praises, and have chatted a good bit with Jessa and Kinsey in doing stuff with them on the blog and in my Patreon group. They’re just as awesome in person!

So anyway, we’re at their tailgating spot and they have temporary tattoos with the Ride iQ logo. I jokingly said to Jessa “how much is it worth to you if I tattooed the Ride iQ logo on myself for real?”. She laughed and said “you could do the tagline ‘pat your horse’!”. And ok, I know she thinks she was joking, but bam it hit me like lightning.

I immediately was like HILLARRRRRYYYYY HOOOLLLLYYYYYY LISTEN TO THIS IDEAAAAA!!!

And ya know, if they’re hanging out with me then we already know they’re certain types of people, so they were like

See, “Pat your horse” is something that Kyle Carter says in a lot of his Ride iQ rides, which is why they adopted it as their little slogan, but obviously it has a lot of meaning to any horseperson. Always remember to show appreciation and gratitude for your horse, basically. It’s cute. I loved it. I told the Ride iQ ladies that we were gonna do it and their faces were just absolutely priceless… it was 50% omg this is the coolest thing that has ever happened and 50% are these nutjobs for real right now??? I’m not sure if they thought we’d really go through with it.

Once I have an idea though, it’s off to the races. I started googling looking for tattoo parlors pretty much immediately. By the time XC was over I was on the phone calling all the ones that were open late enough (we had a happy hour at our camper for our Patreon members that evening, so we couldn’t make it anywhere until like 7) and had an opening that night. That narrowed it down to a grand total of one, so I made the appointment, gave them a deposit, and it was on.

Once happy hour was over we got cleaned up and headed out, debating where we were going to put our tattoos. I had told Jessa and Kinsey when we parted ways at their tailgate that I’d keep them updated if we could find an appointment, and when I sent them the above pic from inside the tattoo parlor I’m pretty sure they were like OMG THESE CRAZY BITCHES ARE ACTUALLY GONNA DO IT. Which, since they’re cool, it delighted them to no end. Kyle Carter found it very entertaining too.

We all got the same words and the same font, but different locations and thus different sizes to fit said locations. I opted to get mine on my right arm/wrist, just above my glove line on my right hand. That’s my dominant patting hand after all, and I thought it would be fun to be able to see it while I was riding.

Hillary opted to get hers on the inside of her middle finger, which I think we were all endlessly amused by. It’s a pretty darn clever spot and I thought it looked great there. The tattoo artist kept warning her over and over that finger tattoos hurt like a bitch, but Hillary was unimpressed. Granted, women deal with pain way better than men do (a fact that the tattoo artist also wholeheartedly agreed with). Hers was done pretty quickly.

Last but not least was Holly, the only tattoo virgin of our group. She decided to come out guns blazing on her first tattoo and get it on her rib cage. Again the tattoo artist was telling her how awful it would be, even going so far as to do a “test letter” with no ink just to make sure she could tolerate it. Holly too was unimpressed, and after a few minutes – tada! Group tattoos. Girls trip tattoos, LRK3DE tattoos, Ride iQ tattoos… all of the above, whatever you want to call them.

We also heard some really interesting stories while we were in that shop, since the manager was bored and had nothing better to do than tell us some of their wildest tattoos they’ve ever done. All I’m gonna say is that you can’t unhear some of these things. They certainly cannot be repeated here.

Once we were all done Holly and I got our tattoos wrapped like normal, but since Hillary got a finger tatt he opted to put a glove on her to cover it instead. Which… he put the glove on before she had put her rings back on, so she put her rings back on over top of it, to our endless amusement. She looked like a rich young widow on her way to her poor dearly departed’s funeral. Especially with her little handbag.

Naturally we went to White Castle right after and since Hillary was driving we made her hand her card to/take the food from the cashier with that hand. We all found it to be extremely hilarious but to her credit that cashier didn’t even so much as flinch at this one-gloved, ring-wearing weirdo. I guess if you work the night shift in the drive thru of White Castle you see much stranger things than that on a regular basis.

The next day we headed up to the Ride iQ booth in the morning to show them the finished product, and their faces were just priceless. Jessa’s jaw just dropped. They were delighted, we got fun tattoos and a great story… what more can you ask for?

Is it the best quality tattoo I have? Lol no. Definitely not. It’s… got some character. I’m glad it does though, because it really lends to the whole vibe of the story. If it was perfectly executed, it wouldn’t be a last-minute, seat-of-the-pants, Lexington-Kentucky-type of tattoo, now would it? I freakin love it though, it brings me joy every time I look down and see it, and it sits perfectly exactly where I wanted it above my glove line.

Next on the docket to get one is Kyle Carter, but all the Ride iQ folks agreed that they have to hit x number of subscribers before he can get his. Now it’s become a fun game to tell him that we’re more dedicated than he is, and he’s definitely anxious to get his tattoo.

So ya know, if you want Kyle to also get a pat your horse tattoo, get your friends to sign up for Ride iQ. How’s that for a marketing strategy?