I have to admit, I’m starting to feel a little bad for my Texas friends. They seem to be on a bit of a hair trigger lately, probably because they’ve been sizzling on a triple-digit frying pan for like 2 months now and is basically never rains so everything is apocalyptic and the ground is gross and there’s no grass and their brains are just quite literally fried and the price of hay is insane. I’m over here like “here comes more rain, the grass is getting out of control, oh noooo” (please read with heavy sarcasm).
It makes me wonder – is this how everyone else in the world has been living this entire time? You mean to tell me it’s not god awful 9 months out of the year in other places? I mean sure it’s hot here during the day and yes I sweat profusely every morning when I ride, but I also sit outside at the end of the day and enjoy the 75 degree evenings. And the grass… there’s so much of it. It’s blowing my mind a little bit. I keep seeing everyone back in Texas posting their pics of dust bowl pastures and not being able to ride because it’s so damn unrelentingly hot and I feel… the opposite of whatever missing something is. Plenty of people love it there but I didn’t really realize just how much it was not for me until I left. I’m happier here for sure.
We’re out here having our best Florida summer. On days when it gets above 90 I bring them all inside under fans for the afternoon, and they come inside when it storms, but otherwise they’re outside a lot. Presto is looking a little bit sunbleached but he’s also filling out a lot and seems content with his life, so… he can be a little buckskin. That’s fine. He had a training ride and another lesson this weekend, but I actually got a lot of media from that so we’ll do it in a separate post. Otherwise we’ve just been chugging along working on things “brick by brick” style at home, and doing lots of hacking.
Aside from riding and taking care of the beasts, I’ve also been busy getting other stuff done too. We’ve officially got a washrack now, which is pretty exciting considering I’ve just been hosing my horses off on the driveway and neither Presto or Gemma is particularly great about standing still (that is a massive understatement in Presto’s case). I’m delighted to be able to crosstie his ass and hose him off with fewer dramatics. Hopefully now I will get less soaked in the process. We managed to do the washrack for next to nothing, since we already had base from another project and I reused the mats that were previously under a hay storage area. They’re older mats that are a little beat up and none of them are quite the same size, but they certainly do the job. Also, shoutout to the MVP item of the week that made it possible for that to be a one-person job.
I also had to run a bunch of errands on Friday so I tacked on some fun things at the end, making the trip into town to Aldi (god I love Aldi) and stopping to pick up a repaired halter (thanks Gemma) and my new custom sparkly whip from Tack Shack. It’s got real unicorn vibes and I love it, although now all I can think about is how I could build so many others with all kinds of fun options and I’m concerned that this could be a gateway drug situation. Someone help.
I’ve also been working as fast as I can in my spare time (lol) to crank out these July custom pedigree reports for Breed.Ride.Compete. They’re a lot of work but I’m having fun with them (gosh do I fall down some rabbit holes due to my own curiosity sometimes though) and really like getting feedback from people about them. With every one we finish I feel like the process gets nailed down a little bit more. I love helping people learn more about their horses and their ancestry, so I find it to be really rewarding. The next phase to roll out for BRC will be the breeding consultations, so I’ve also been thinking about how I want to structure that, the cost, etc. Hopefully that’ll be ready to go soon.
Otherwise things are just kind of slowly moving along, as they do. The SO sold our house in Austin (it was on the market for two whole days) – they closed last week and he’s supposed to be moving down later this week. Things might get a bit more hectic for a little while after that.
Until then, if anyone needs me, I’ll be out here scratching baby horse bums.
breedrideevent.com 
That whip is beautiful
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It’s really terrible here in the Lone Star state at the moment as far as weather goes. I am dreading August which is usually the worst. Thanks for the foal pics! Super cute.
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I’m in Montana, it’s God awful 9 months of the year….but the other direction. (Slight exaggeration, it’s only really awful from January-April…but it’s not what anyone would call warm from September through May….sometimes even June…) But we pay that price and a “really hot day” in July is a whopping 88 degrees, with minimal humidity (usually less than 15%).
Also, no idea how much you know about equine nutrition (I’m guessing a far amount since you’re someone who likes learning especially if it benefits your horses!), but in many cases, added Copper and Zinc in their diet can help with sunbleaching. Depending on a couple other factors, it may not totally stop it, but often helps. Example: My stepdad’s black/white pinto horse usually fades to bay and white in the Colorado sun. Over the winter he added copper/zinc (on my recommendation to help with hooves), and this summer, he’s stayed a whole lot more black with only a little fading where the tack sits. Nothing else changed with his diet/environment, so the difference is mostly related to the added copper/zinc!
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Honestly, if you can deal with June, July and August you will really love the rest of the weather. We do get tons of rain showers and thunderstorms in the summer but the trade off is evening cool downs and green, green grass. Mowing can be a full time job but really saves on the hay bill.
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The excitement around the winter season is amazing! If you can handle the summer, you will love that. The weather is (mostly) great, but the overall vibe is like no other. You feel like everywhere you go, you are among your people!
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It already feels like that to me 😂
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What, there are July days that *don’t* get above 90 ???
I need to rethink some life choices …
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We’ve had multiple days here that haven’t gotten out of the 80’s 😬
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I’m so glad that you are loving Florida!! I find the first couple humid and hot weeks a little tough and then I acclimate, sweat a bunch, and don’t actually feel that hot the rest of summer. I have so many friends from back home in Illinois who act like Florida is so much worse in the summer but trust me, I think it’s been hotter on the 4th of July at my Mom’s house almost every year than it is down here. Something about the daily rain that comes through and the fact that it rarely and only briefly gets into the mid-upper 90’s just makes it so tolerable.
I will say my least favorite month is September because it’s one last fairly hot month that in my mind is “Fall” but I can deal with one or two, heck even 3 less than ideal months a year for the rest of it!!
I guess you probably had a similar winter, but there really is something SO cool about being able to ride outside in regular riding clothes and not be miserable in the winter. It just makes me so darn happy!
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I really thought it would be hotter there this time of year, but for your sake, I’m glad it’s not! I’m legit jealous of the rain though. We haven’t had much at all up here.
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The big question though: have you seen any alligators???
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No, which is largely disappointing.
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