We’re officially at that age and time of year when the babies are… well… they’re kinda boring. They eat more than they play, and it’s hot, so when they do play it doesn’t last for long. They’re starting to be more like horses than babies. Sad times.
Rihanna especially is looking like a whole-ass horse. She’s 6 months old now!
Mostly they do a lot of standing around. Which doesn’t exactly make for riveting photos.
Sometimes they stand by themselves.
Andrew my love
Sometimes they stand together.
But it’s just… a whole lot of standing. Or walking. Wow. So fun to watch and take pictures of.
at least Lucy does it in *strawberry*
I even try to go out at the coolest times of the day, closer to dawn or dusk, but no dice. They’re just hardcore existing right now, and I don’t have to heart to chase them around. The only one that seems particularly interested in my bullshit is Andy…
always the first to come say hi
But honestly I think he’s just using me for the butt scratches.
“yesssss, that’s the spot”
It won’t be long now until we’re in weaning territory, which will definitely shake things up a bit. Until then, I guess we should enjoy the boring stage.
My birthday was a busy day, y’all! I had to tell you about Strax first because he was a real highlight, but I did jump out of chronological order to do that. Let’s back up to earlier in the day, where we went to a horse show!
Presto was very convinced there was something in Joe Meyer or Clayton Fredericks’ trailers that he could fall in love with if only he screamed loud enough
This was our first time out since scratching at Stable View a couple months ago, and the lead up rides were not great. Our jump schools were just not in sync and my flat ride the day before was one of the worst I’ve had with him in a long time. Things just were not clicking, ya know? And I couldn’t really figure out what I was missing, so I was hella frustrated. Like wanted to scratch and hide in my house frustrated. But I knew I had to do the CT at Majestic, because the following weekend we were entered in the Modified at Ocala, and I sure didn’t want to go into a recognized HT off a lead-up like that with no smaller pre-outing to at least see where we were at.
To compound matters, when I got to the in-gate to check in, they said I was in ring 3. Which was fine except ring 3 was a short court, and the omnibus had definitely said we were doing Test C, which is in a long court. So I asked for clarification, and they said we were doing Test B. Which I have never done or learned. Super. So I start frantically trying to learn that during my warm-up time, and the first person in our division goes in. She is also very confused about what test she’s supposed to be doing, having learned C. As she was talking to the judge (who was also confused) another lady in our division trotted up and said she’d talked to someone at the office and we were supposed to be doing C, as listed in the omnibus, and they should move us over to the long court at Ring 4. This was a cluster of epic proportions. They did finally figure it all out and get the judge moved over to 4, but by then I’d learned most of Test B and my brain was exploding.
Casually about to turn up quarter line for an error, yay
So I went in with most of C still in my head, but bits of B kept popping up. I got to the 3rd movement where we were supposed to turn up centerline and leg yield, and turned up quarterline instead (like you do in test A and test B). I was mega freaking annoyed by that point. I’d learned C so thoroughly so I could ride everything well, and it all went caput. But once the judge rang the bell and got me back on track I remembered the rest of it just fine. Still. Annoying breach of focus.
We still got a 31 with the error to take the lead in the division. I just wanted some better scores on parts I know he can do well. But given how bad our flat ride had been the day before, a 31 was one of those “I’ll definitely take it” kind of things. Especially because last time this judge saw us she was not as generous with her marks or comments.
need more 8’s
After that we had about an hour to kill back at the trailer before showjumping. Which was basically just enough time to start drying all the sweat before we had to put the sweaty things back on again so we could go sweat some more. It was so hot already, even at 9am.
But since it was gonna be so hot they were eager to get rolling and started the SJ early. I got on early so I could try to get in there whenever they would let me. I ended up by myself in warmup, which was a treat. We kept it really minimal, jumped maybe 5 jumps and then headed over to the ring. Presto was feeling back to his normal dude self. I will say – he can be a real toolbag at home sometimes, but the horse has been mega-consistent and focused at shows. He knows and likes his job.
wheee
He went in and jumped a solid round and was super rideable. He had been not at all very rideable at home the last times we jumped, but I guess he decided that this was Serious Business so maybe he should pretend to be broke. Thanks buddy.
Presto hopped around the Modified like it was easy peasy boring AF for a nice clear round, giving us the win for the combined test.
he was never worried
So ya know… was I having a complete existential crisis on Friday and then get a win on Saturday? Yes. Don’t mind me.
In reality I think he’s feeling really good and strong in his body and a bit bored in his work, and it’s coming out as him perhaps not being his best self at home. It’s time to step it up a notch and ask for a bit more again in all of his work. We’ve got some lessons this week and my trainer is going to sit on him too. Which honestly he’s probably long overdue for a trainer ride again, I don’t think she’s ridden him since last summer? He’s an entirely different animal now.
This weekend we’ve got Ocala, which I’m feeling much better about now after Majestic. Hopefully it won’t be so hot though!
I have a lot of stuff to update on, but today we’re gonna start with the most important… I got a corgi puppy for my birthday!
HE’S SO FLUFFY
It was kind of a big birthday – the four oh – and Rob and Michelle coordinated to get him for me as a surprise. I’ve been wanting another corgi since we lost Quinn a couple years ago, but the timing was never quite right.
his one floppy ear is hilarious
His original name was Chewbacca, but I have always said that I wanted my next corgi to be named Strax, after the potato-esque Doctor Who character. So here he is, Commander Strax at your service. If you’re not nerdy enough to have watched Doctor Who, here’s a summary of the character.
floppy AF
So far he’s settled in well. Mina still isn’t quite sure if she likes him or not… she plays tag with him outside but inside she’s a little less enthusiastic. He’s smart though, and doesn’t push her too far. I think he’ll be submissive to her, which is a good thing.
He’s met the horses but thinks they’re scary, which again… good thing. He seems pretty smart, so we’ll see how he figures things out as a farm dog. Right now he’s just stinkin cute. Like a rabbit and a bear had a bebe.
hewwo
He’s got kind of a partial tail, which is his natural tail. It’s almost exactly the same length Stewie’s was, so it seems like kismet. He is a chonky sturdy little boy, already 8 pounds. He’s gonna be hefty I think!
I absolutely love him. I mean how could you not? He’s adorable. Best birthday present ever!
Well, it is summer in Florida. Not summer but like… SUMMER. It’s hot. It’s sticky. It’s gross. Still not as gross as Texas (they’re having a real nasty summer) but it’s been worse this year than last year for sure.
Best post-bath rolls
Nevertheless, we chug along. We make sure to ride early, take more breaks, keep things lighter/easier, and make sure everyone is hydrated. Well… I’m never particularly hydrated, but the horses are.
We had another jump lesson last Thursday, which was considerably less feral than the one before. I also put Presto back in the Myler combo bit and he was considerably less fussy. I dunno why he loves that thing so much but ok, duly noted. I do like galloping him in the pelham, so I think we’ve got a little more experimentation to figure out. He was a lot more rideable for this lesson though, and settled right back into it.
We’ve got a schooling CT this weekend and then Ocala Summer HT next weekend. It’s supposed to stay hot so hopefully we get decent ride times, but I’m also more than happy to just lope around the XC and not go for time, too. He mostly just needs to get out and jump around a course again.
In other news his leg is continuing to heal nicely (knocking on all the wood) and isn’t requiring much extra care anymore. I did discover that the scar sits right under the edge of an open front boot, which is superb… he might have to end up either bootless forever for SJ or with sheepskin lined boots. He would, wouldn’t he?
His FEI passport got approved too, it’s on its way back to me as we speak. That’s one thing checked off the to do list.
I’m currently trying to shop for a good lower-budget (prob like entry level budget) mirrorless camera that does nice video for social media content, if anyone has suggestions. I’m still looking at/researching both cameras and lenses. Guidance and experiences appreciated.
BRC is also open for pedigree reports if anyone is looking to nab one! We’re now offering to do them in custom color schemes now too, if you’re into that kind of thing. Peep a Barbie themed one I did last week. It was fun!
Doing the reports keeps me inside out of the heat, so I’m more than happy to pile up the queue at the moment. 😅
breedrideevent.com 