Month: April 2023

I really wanted to wait to do this little dude’s introduction until after we’d gotten some pictures of him outside, but with Kentucky happening this week and me having to draft this post early, new pics didn’t happen. Man apologies. I’ll make it up to you next week. But I did debate delaying his intro another week and decided that would be cruel, so you’re welcome for at least not doing that. Compromise.

Anyway, say hello to Vee’s very first foal, Randell WTW.

He’s named after one of Michelle’s vet friends that was instrumental in helping Vee through some late term complications and making sure that mom and baby made it to full term safe and sound.

And they did! This dude is huge, and with Vee being a maiden she really had to push hard to get him out, but she did a great job with just a little assistance. Although he did go face first into the water tub during his initial attempts to stand up and I literally had to full-body lift him out of it like an equine lifeguard. Lil Randy might not ever live that one down.

In all seriousness though, this lil dude is leggy and tall and very elegant, and he seems to have gotten Vee’s absolutely gorgeous face, complete with an adorable little marking. His curly mane is giving me life too, even though it won’t stay like that for long.

Some of you may remember that this is also the foal who was the product of combining two half-doses of frozen semen, some from Araldik and some from Lingo. We’re in the process of getting his DNA kit done so we can determine exactly who’s the baby daddy, but for now it’s a very hotly debated topic around here. Who do you think the sire is?

We’ve now only got one more foal left for the year, and it’s due pretty much any day now. For those keeping tabs, we’re now at 2 bay colts and 2 bay fillies! Can’t wait to see this last one, it’s probably the one I’ve been anticipating the most.

Happy Friday!

Welcome to what is always the best part. Settle in.

We are no strangers to Training at the Horse Park by now, with this being our 4th run at the venue. As usual the course was 100% entirely different from any other time before, and our goal here was to have an easy, boring round to put a nice little deposit in the confidence bank before we attempt to tackle Modified.

While the courses for Festival are listed as “Challenging”, I think pretty much every Training at FHP is on the challenging end of the scale. In truth, I thought this one was overall a little softer than a couple of the ones we’ve done here before. They gave you a lot of inviting single fences to get going before hitting you with the first combo (unlike last time where there was a pretty intense bank combo starting at fence 3) and there were several nice long gallop stretches to get into your flow or regroup in between things (unlike another previous time where it was jump turn jump turn jump).

That’s not to say that it was easy though, because it definitely wasn’t. It had pretty much everything you can possibly have on a Training course, including their trademark coffin, a jump in the water, skinnies, an ABCD sunken road combo that was pretty big, and two waters. Welcome to Ocala.

My concern for the first 5 jumps is that it wouldn’t be interesting enough to catch his attention and he would start looking for fun things to spook at. That’s one of his favorite pastimes. So we left the box with intention, and I asked him to really get out in front of my leg and pay attention, no sightseeing. He was great over 1, strongly considered pretending to spook at the videographer next to 2 (but didn’t), pretended to mini-spook at a big rock on the way to 3 (just like I knew he would when I saw it when we walked) and then made the turn to hop over the steeplechase at 4. All that was an easy peasy lope-over experience. He thinks he’s a big boy now.

Fence 5 was a cabin, after which we hung a hard right to our first combo, 6AB. This was a hanging log on the edge of the crater, 8 strides through the crater and out over a skinny wedge. Super good boy through here, very professional.

After that we had a nice gallop stretch to 7, a table, which he loped over so casually that it was honestly insulting. Then we made the right turn to the coffin at 8ABC – MIM rail, two strides to a ditch, 6 slightly bending strides to a corner that was snugged up to a tree. When we walked the course the afternoon before I didn’t think about how the sun would be in that combo the following morning… the shade from the tree put the entire corner in shadow. Presto really didn’t see it until the last stride, but he was a genuine boy there and went anyway.

After that we had another long gallop stretch to the first water. Here we had a steeplechase brush fence set about a stride before the water, with a slightly bending line to a skinny-ish rolltop. Some of you may remember that a couple of shows ago is where we encountered our first jump in the water, which Presto did not understand and we very nearly parted ways. We’ve since schooled those a couple times to make sure he got it, so it was a different story this time – he locked on and went straight to the rolltop with no problem.

Then we had another little short stretch, crossing back through the tree line and hanging a right over the MIM oxer, then a rollback left over another table. He’s to the point now where I really can just let him keep coming to these and not have to help him with his balance anymore. He’s matured so much in his strength and and his style since last fall.

After that it was another little gallop stretch across the field to the most challenging question on course – 13ABCD. It’s not often you see a D element on a Training course! This combo was a ramp, four strides to a pretty decent drop, 4 strides to an up bank, and then 3 strides to a slightly angled skinny table. Trainer’s instructions were to ride it like a gymnastic at home. My concern was that Presto might rocket launch himself off the bank and make the 4 strides to to upbank difficult to get. And while the 4 did ride slightly tight, he was quite mature here and didn’t do anything particularly extravagant. He marched through that combo straight as an arrow and looking for the flags.

Getting through that one felt a little bit like “home free” but there were still a few more left. Next up we came to the second water, which had a house a stride before the water and a skinny house out of the water. Presto is Pro at these by now, no problem. Then it was a nice ping over the wagon…

at which point I realized I had ample time left, so I just let him coast the rest of the way home and over the last jump.

Ultimately we came in 16 seconds under time, which I was happy with… Modified speed is about 40mpm above Training speed, so I wanted to open him up a bit more on this one and just let him flow more. And in reality, it didn’t feel fast in the slightest, or like I was having to push him. He’s much more balanced and confident jumping out of stride than he used to be, so less set-up time equals a faster round even when you aren’t actually adding much speed between the jumps. Just a few months ago I was still having to help him a lot and we’d have a couple time penalties but his last 3 rounds have been easily double clear, with time getting easier and easier to make. Every time out he’s shown improvement.

Our double clear helped move us back up the leaderboard to end up 5th on our 30.7 score, although if not for that stinkin rail we would have won. That was a little painful to realize. Still though, it was the quiet, chill horse show we were looking for in order to get the green light for Modified next month at Majestic!

Presto and I were back at it again last weekend (well really we went on Thursday and Friday, so last week)! Season is very much winding down to a close here in Florida, and Ocala International Festival of Eventing is basically considered the last event of the season. It’s also known for challenging courses and a lot more atmosphere, so we chose to do one more Training rather than make the move to Modified at this show. We’ve run several Training’s at the Florida Horse Park by now, so the goal was really to just have a very boring and ho-hum weekend. Spoiler alert: mission accomplished. Perhaps too thoroughly at times.

This show was set up different from every other one we’ve been to at the FHP. Our dressage was down on the polo field, and showjumping was up where the dressage rings normally are. I thought Presto might take exception to things being different, but really he didn’t care. Signs of maturity or is he lulling me into a false sense of security? Who knows with him, could be either really.

We were in the Training Horse division and our dressage was Thursday afternoon, so I braided him before lunch, stuck him on the trailer, and headed out. I put studs in him this time since we were on grass, and he had no trouble with the surface. He warmed up pretty well and then literally AS we were heading over to the ring he became convinced there was something in his ear and started shaking his head like crazy. He had a bonnet on, so I dunno if maybe he got some sweat in his ear or if he was just imagining things, but at that moment we couldn’t do much about it, so Steph just pulled his bonnet off and away we went with his wild mustang forelock leading the way.

He continued to slightly shake his head a few times through the test, which was frustrating and distracting, but it wasn’t too severe. Overall he was a little heavy/flat in the heat and I was slightly late with a couple of transitions. It wasn’t brilliant but it was decently good, and there were no yeehaws in the lengthenings, so I’ll take that. Boring… we like boring.

We scored a 26.7, which put us in second place only half a point behind the leader. As Presto’s breeder I will never not be proud of this horse finding his way to the top of the pro/horse divisions in Ocala… it’s literally all the good pros on their nice young horses, most of them imports, and he can hold his own even with an amateur on board.

After dressage we loaded up and headed back home where Presto was delighted to wallow in his sand pit that he’s created in the corner of his turnout.

Showjumping was early Friday morning, so were up early and at the Horse Park before 8. I was prepared for him to be a wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man, since SJ warmup is his most favorite place for those shenanigans, and I thought having a “new/different” warmup from the usual place was just begging for antics. Color me very shocked when he was The Most Civilized animal in warmup. Like… so quiet it was suspicious. But we did our w/t/c, hopped over a few jumps, and then there was an open gate, so we went in a little early.

He definitely lit up a bit when we went in the ring, mostly looking around the outside edges at the bleachers, photographers, ring crew, etc. Normally when he’s in there it’s dressage courts, so that’s fair. We picked up the canter, came around to the first one, saw a good distance, and I literally felt him go “yeah yeah there’s a jump, but WHO IS THAT GUY OVER THERE” as he left the ground, and he whacked the everloving shit out of the first jump. Presto. My friend. Pick up your feets, bro. He’s super duper not impressed by the 1m anymore and when he’s bored his focus tends to stray pretty easily.

After having the first fence down he decided maybe he should pay attention, and he jumped the rest super, even when I got him to a bad spot into the first two stride. He did a real Good Boy job there. Otherwise it was a nice, very normal round. So ultimately we had one rail, from him just not paying attention, although honestly I deserved a rail at the two stride and he kept that up, so… we’ll call it even.

The scores were tightly packed enough that a rail dropped us from 2nd to 7th. Ouch. It ain’t over til it’s over, though, and we still had cross country left! Stay tuned…

Well, y’all, it’s official… we’ve got the cutest foal ever created on planet earth. I might be a little biased, but… no I’m not.

On Monday Chanel had THE MOST ADORABLE colt I think I have ever seen in my life. It was a quick and easy entrance into the world and he was up and trotting around in no time. This guy… be still my heart.

He’s kind of an interestingly bred little dude… his sire is the French pony jumper stallion Usandro Tilia Derlenn, and then of course Chanel is a Zangersheide showjumper mare. Usandro is 1/4 welsh and the rest warmblood, standing at 14.2h. Chanel is 16.1h and by a 1.60m showjumper stallion out of a mare who is also by a 1.60m showjumper stallion. Chanel had two foals in Europe before she was imported, one that’s shown to 1.50m and the other 1.45m. Chanel herself jumped to 1.40m. That makes this colt 1/8 welsh and the rest warmblood, and bred to JUMP.

Obviously Chanel is a friggin nice mare who has produced some really exceptional foals. Crossing her to Usandro was a bit of a “well let’s just see what we get” kind of thing, and I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say it was a roaring success. Who wouldn’t want one of these?

He’s got THE CUTEST FACE, and he’s so correct and nicely put together. Like… wow. So much quality in this guy. He’s a super mover, really athletic, and bold. He ticks all the boxes (except Michelle’s, where she wants them to be fillies so she can keep them).

He’s bigger than I expected, I’m guessing he’ll probably be somewhere around the 15.2h mark – perfect hony size. He’s is gonna be a hell of a little sportscar athlete, that’s for sure.

He was sold within two days, without advertising him at all. Because again: LOOK AT HIM. His name is Rhetorical WTW, barn name most likely Rhett. Welcome to the fam, little dude!

We also had another one join us late this week, but I’m gonna wait to formally introduce him until next week once we get some photos of him outside. Until then:

Yes hi hello, my presence is very spotty right now because it’s almost Kentucky week (and then Badminton) and I’ve had about 9000 writing assignments and spreadsheets and the like. I think this is the busiest time of year to be involved in equestrian media. I’m definitely not upset about it, but I’ve been typing my little fingers off. That’s a lie, they’re not little, I wear a size 8.5 glove.

Anyway, things are speeding right along around here. Last Wednesday Presto and I were entered in our first Modified CT. The dressage went okay… he got a little bit riled about some imaginary monsters in the trees while we were warming up and had to opine about it. For the test he had moments of brilliance (got an 8 for one of the leg yields!) but also decided to yeehaw through one of the canter lengthenings (STOP DOING THAT, IT’S ONLY PARTIALLY FUNNY) so we ended up with a 31.

It was Modified Test B and I actually REALLY like that test for him, it’s my favorite we’ve done so far. There’s a lot to do in there and things go rapid fire, especially with turns and transitions, but I think for Presto there’s actually enough to keep him busy and the way it flows plays to his strengths. Looking forward to taking another stab at that one after we’ve actually had a chance to work on parts of it in a lesson… the show was my first time riding it all the way through. Still, we were sitting in 2nd after dressage.

I ended up scratching before SJ (which wasn’t until almost 5:30) because after spending all day walking around the show my ankle was starting to get mad. Steph wrapped it up in KT tape but she and Hillary both said it looked like a zombie foot (they’re not wrong, it had a greenish pallor). We were supposed to go XC schooling the next day, which was higher up on my list of priorities than a showjump round, so it seemed prudent to not jump around a 3’5″ course on an extravagant young horse if I wanted my ankle to actually be useable the next morning. I hate scratching and I really wanted to jump the course because it looked super and so completely in our wheelhouse, but… I’m trying to do a better job of taking care of myself.

Scratching was definitely the right decision, because even though my ankle felt a lot better the next morning, by the end of XC schooling it was starting to get irritated. I don’t think I would have had many jumps in me at all if I’d done the showjump round the evening before. I mean I’m still annoyed about having to scratch, but it was the right call, as grumpy as it made me.

Anyway, we went to Rocking Horse to school, because 1) they’re never open to the public for schooling and they made it available by appointment only for just a few days last week 2) they have so many recognized shows there during the winter and still had all the courses up from their last show 3) the Modified at Rocking Horse has a ditch wall that I hate because I made the mistake of walking up to it on foot once and seeing how deep it was and made direct eye contact with the big gouge marks down the front that made it look like someone definitely met their death inside of it.

Don’t make me explain why I hate ditch walls so much, there’s not really a rhyme or reason, I just do. I’d rather jump pretty much anything else.

The cool thing though, is that Presto literally gives no fucks. I think you could put the Grand Canyon underneath a jump and set it on fire and he’d be like WOW COOL. He’s just brave as hell and this is all a fun game to him. It gives you a lot of confidence to be sat on a horse like that. Henry was the goodest egg but didn’t have a huge depth of talent… this horse has the most talent of anything I’ve ever personally sat on. It’s just so easy for him, he’s not even having to try or think that hard yet. Steph thinks he could be an Advanced horse and she might be right. The rideability is the part that takes more work with him.

I mean, I did think I was gonna die there for a second when a cow made an appearance in the pasture next door, but… details. We jumped a bunch of Modified stuff including the skinny brush wedge to corner combo, the skinny wedges combo, the water to water combo (there are two waters right next to each other a couple strides apart, so the first water had a rolltop in the water, then you cantered out and dropped down into the second water, with a skinny just on the other side), the coffin, the trakehner, and a few other randoms. He was exceptional. Sometimes he thinks he knows best, which is where his age and inexperience shows, but it’s all just so ho-hum for him. It makes him really freakin fun.

This week we’ve got Ocala International, running the Training again, and we’ll see how that goes before we determine the next move!

Oh, also, my purple coat came in.

The color is very pleasing. It might be too hot here this week to wear it, but we’ll see…