Month: December 2023

10 years ago today I bought a $900 “project horse” off of Facebook sight unseen. At that time Henry was a green OTTB that’d had some things go a bit sideways in his training, but I thought I could fix it and sell him on. We mostly succeeded in the fixing it part, although it took time, but I never did make it to the selling him part.

Instead, over the past decade he’s pulled me solidly out of the h/j world and into eventing, we’ve gone for a victory gallop at AEC’s, he’s taken me up to Preliminary level, competed all across the southern half of the US, made my old dreams come true and inspired entirely new ones, taught Presto a whole lot about life (usually with his teeth), been the Steady Eddie babysitter for all the greenies, carried friends around XC, and put me in my place more times than I can count. He’s even the entire reason I started this blog all those years ago, to catalog his journey. There are so many things that never would have happened if not for Henry.

Like all the great ones do, he’s taught me a lot about myself, horses, and life in general. I suspect he’s been a grumpy old man since the day he was born, but I think it’s just part of his charm. He’s not fancy or particularly athletic and his X-rays are shit, but in my eyes Henry is and will always be a legend. He’s stuck with me forever, so hopefully he deems me worthy enough.

This morning we celebrated our decade-long partnership by going for a ride during which he dolphined from one end of the field to the other and strongly considered running away with me after jumping a brush box. He’s still got all the jokes. Never change, Henny, you absolute king.

Thanks to all of you for being part of our journey. Here’s to hoping we’ve got many more years ahead of being sassed by this opinionated dad bod.

It might be the holidays, but somebody lost his jingle bells.

I will not apologize for the lameness of that opening line.

Anyway, Strax got neutered last week. So far, knock on wood, he looks fantastic. The hardest part was getting him out of the vet clinic with the cone on his head – it took him 7 tries to make it out of the door successfully, while the entire waiting room laughed at his misfortune. Bless him, he really couldn’t master that thing. I ended up getting him one of those inflatable donut things instead, which has worked way better. Trazadone is a joke though, he’s been parkouring like a lunatic. Luckily his incision looks fantastic, and it was tiny, and he’s shown zero inclination to mess with it, so… fingers crossed it really did go that smoothly.

It’s also very nearly season here in Ocala, which means we’re basically in pre-season mode. The h/j pre-circuit shows have already started at WEC, and Luxe EQ is already here.

Which means I’ve been logging a few hours here and there, either doing inventory or actual retail. It’s a nice supplement to my income and between me and the two other workers we’ve made the hours quite flexible, so it’s definitely not a bad gig. I like all the pretty things and the WEC hot chocolate.

I also got a couple lessons with Presto last week, trying our best to get back into a regular swing of things. On Monday we had a jump lesson, and he was really really good. Trainer had set up a course in the arena that also has a couple bounces on the short sides that can be either ridden alone as a circle or sprinkled into the courses, which she also had set up last year. And last year, the exercises were a lot more difficult for us. This year you can see a marked difference in his rideability and his power… it felt pretty easy and I was really pleased with him. We didn’t get video though, which was a bummer.

Argo is continuing along on his schedule, still working on the basics. The progress remains incremental… a little more swing through his back, a little more steadiness in the connection, a little more desire to stretch over his topline. Just like 1% every day, but it adds up. So far he’s proving relatively simple, if a bit lazy.

On Friday Presto and I had a dressage lesson, our first in like 3 months. I do a lot of flatwork with him at home, pretty intense and demanding and structured, but lord above we did a lot of canter work in the lesson and my abs were SCREAMING.

He’s just really big and a lot of horse to ride as far as general mass goes. He’s long. He’s big. He’s thicc now too. If he was in Europe he’d probably be described as a “man’s horse”. And he has a lot of power but generally kind of wants to offer about 80%, so it’s still an effort to coax 100% out of him. You can see the change in him even from the spring/early summer as far as his balance and his ability to carry/sit but we’ve still got to work a lot on keeping him in front of the leg. He’s fun to ride though, even if I sometimes feel like I got hit by a Presto-sized bus.

On Saturday Holly came over to take Argo for a spin.

I was kind of curious to see how he’d go for someone else. He’s still not that many rides in – maybe 15? But he will be intended to be a sale horse eventually, so I think having other people get on him regularly will be a good thing for him. Plus it helps me see how he goes for other people and if I need to re-install or move any of the buttons I’m putting on him.

He was really good for Holly, but really spectacularly lazy that day. Argo is snoozy by nature, and I don’t necessarily want to take that quality away completely because I think it’s a benefit to his marketability, BUT he does still need to go forward when asked the first time. Holly doesn’t have as much leg as I do to be able to wrap ’em around, plus I think he was kinda like “I don’t know her, maybe she doesn’t know how to find the go button” and proceeded to feign a bit of ignorance. She did find the go button eventually but it took some doing. She rode him well though (especially considering she’s used to riding an actual pony!), and he was very well-behaved, so I was happy with that.

On Sunday I took Presto down to Three Lakes for their pre-season XC Open Schooling day. They host two shows every spring but I have never been there, so it was new for me. It was a little bit Stable View-esque with the wooded areas, and the rest was open and next to, as the name would imply, lakes. Presto was a little wide-eyed about the giant bodies of water at first, but was actually quite well behaved.

I think part of that was because when we got there, it was already a scene. I had come by myself, with Hillary as my ground person (bless her, she did so much walking) but there were several larger groups there with trainers. In the first 5 minutes we were there, two people fell off right by us. There were a lot of questionable things happening. Presto was like “well since the scene is already here, I guess I don’t have to be one” and proceeded to be one of the most level-headed animals on the property.

Mostly I had just wanted to get him out somewhere new, school the ditches and water, and knock more rust off. He was really exceptional, jumped all the ditches like a good boy (and even served as a lead for another horse that was having a problem), did both waters, and jumped some other stuff along the way like an angled brush and a combo of corners. It was a good day, even if driving an hour and a half each way to an XC schooling felt very far and ridiculous (yeah I know, Texas Me hates Ocala Me).

Tonight we’ve got a special equine genetics webinar for our Patreon group (members, the link to join is on your dashboard!) and then my days are mostly filled with various work projects and a couple more Presto lessons this week. This weekend we’ve got more XC schooling and then I’m gonna take him around a Training XC round at the schooling show on Sunday. Chipping away at the rust before season starts for real!

Somehow I’ve managed to fill up December with article assignments, copywriting gigs, tack shop inventory, and retail commitments. Tis the season. But I’m exceptionally grateful for the freedom to (for the most part) make my own schedule, since I’ve now got 3 riding horses. Just FYI horse gods, that is not a complaint, I am enjoying having 3 in the rotation, please don’t curse me. I ordered a calendar white board to help me keep everything straight so I’m basically just waiting to be smited at this point.

Presto is back to his full-time schedule now. I need to find a day this week to get him out to gallop, but we’ve got a jump lesson today and he’s been giving me some REALLY good work on the flat. I’ve been trying to ask him for more – more quality in the gaits, more prompt responses to aids, harder movements, more accuracy. He is, after all, about to be 7, and he’s feeling so incredibly strong now. The difference in his physical maturity over the last year is just incredible. Now my job is 1) keep it up 2) make sure to keep directing all of that ability into something good. That horse is clever, and juuuust lazy enough to where he’d easily become a large, heavy, dull, gallump of a horse if I didn’t always hold him to a high standard. He requires a lot of mental and physical strength on my part, but he remains one of the most rewarding horses I’ve ever ridden. When I raise the bar, he meets it. I’ve never had one quite as capable as he is. It’s fun. It’s work, but it’s fun.

Soon we’ll start looking at some jumper rounds for him and get back out to XC schooling. We had a nice little break, but it’s time to crack on.

I’m also really enjoying getting to know Argo. He’s a genuine, sweet, good boy. Lazy, yes. Not always the sharpest tool in the shed, perhaps. But he’s just an easy horse to have around, he catches on fast, and he’s low drama. For a 1k facebook purchase, I’m really pleased with him.

We hit the December 1st RRP mark (horses aimed for 2024 RRP can’t have had more than 15 rides before December 1) with 9 rides under his girth, and it really just gave me a good idea of what we’ll need to work on and what he might be best at. Those rides mostly helped me make a plan for him, and now we can hit the ground running, so to speak.

Priority number one is to really continue to focus on resolving all the body tightness he came with from the track. Racing consistently for 5 years will take some kind of toll on even the most sound horses, and with him it shows up in his musculature. When he came he could barely bend his neck around to touch his sides, and his walk step was very short. His neck, shoulders, and lower lumbar were just absolutely rock hard. Between the chiro and the bodywork and daily stretching and riding him in a purposeful, targeted way, there has already been a ton of improvement. He can now reach around and touch his stifles easily and I’m seeing an increased range of motion in his shoulders. Every time I get on him I feel a liiiitttle bit more swing and suppleness in his body. Slowly but surely making progress, and it’s fun to tailor his schedule and rides around goals like that… seeing and feeling the progress is always rewarding.

I’ve also been making sure to ride Henry every other day, with the goal of keeping him loose and strong. Kind of a mixture between Presto and Argo. He does lots of lateral work, transitions, and long and low, and he’s been feeling really good.

I’ve also been working a bit with Michelle’s 2yo filly Pippa, just doing some Baby School basics with voice commands, intro to lunging, and some basic desensitizing. She’ll learn to wear tack and then go back out for winter, but so far she’s been really good.

Some of the fun Black Friday spoils started to arrive too, including new sheepskin girths from Engel. Well… I ordered the black one, and Hillary ordered the brown one, but I like them so much that I’m gonna order a brown one for myself too. They have a sale all the way through December that makes them only $100, which I think is a steal. They’re really similar to the Mattes but significantly cheaper and the horses all seem to love them. Y’all know I’m a sheepskin fan. Cover everything in it, let’s go.

I noticed too that Presto and I managed to cling to the USEA leaderboards for Training and Modified, despite a) not having run Training since April, b) missing the fall season. We only ran 4 Modifieds. There are perks to being in the old lady “Master” division I suppose, even though I feel like that’s rude to do to someone at age 39. I am the Master of nothing. I’m not even a real adult most days.

But hey, I’ve never found myself on a year end USEA leaderboard before, so I’ll take it. Thanks Presto, you’re the sauce.

Before we get started it’s important to note that, despite the volume of product I own, I am not in fact sponsored by Arion. It would be a lot cooler if I was, alas I am not anyone important, I’m just an enthusiast.

I still get very regular emails from people asking me about my Arion, if I like it, how the ordering process went, etc etc etc. Lately I’ve also been getting people asking if I know anything about their accessories too, so I figured – ya know what, let’s put everything I know into one post. That way it’s searchable and easier for everyone, plus there are quite a few things I have that I’ve not actually mentioned or talked about before.

Let’s start with the biggest thing.

I have a 17.5″ monoflap cross country saddle with a forward, regular length flap in brown buffalo leather with black glitter piping around the back. Some of you may remember that this is not my original saddle – the first one had a very small, minor flaw at the bottom of one flap, and Arion re-made my entire saddle. Not only remade it, but the rep came out to check the fit (it had been almost a year and Presto is young, so she wanted to make sure that the specs were still right) and decided to order the new one with a slightly different panel because he’d packed on so much topline. So basically, they remade me an entirely new and updated saddle a year after my original purchase (and didn’t take the old one back until after my new one came, so I was never saddleless) and that’s my current saddle, which I’ve been riding in since this spring.

Here’s where I have to back up a step and say that when I was choosing a brand to order my very first brand new saddle from, customer service (or lack thereof) was the reason that multiple brands didn’t make the cut. I’d seen too many firsthand horror stories of disappearing reps, saddles that didn’t fit, brands that blamed the client or the horse, big restocking and repaneling fees, etc etc. It’s nightmare central out there. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to try to order a new saddle when I was shopping because it made me so nervous.

I had it narrowed down to a couple brand options when we went to Kentucky in 2022, but I wanted to talk to them and get a feel for their vibes. You know what I mean, right? The vibes gotta be good. Not snooty, not aloof, not cagey, not condescending, not dismissive. Anyone who has shopped for saddles before, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. I also wanted to check out Arion HST, a relatively new-to-the-US brand that I’d heard about but hadn’t seen in person yet.

And y’all… while the other brand’s vibes were somewhere between sketchy and meh, the Arion vibes were immaculate. Everyone was very helpful, very knowledgeable, and the saddles were beautiful. To add further incentive, their turnaround time for custom was 1/2 to 1/3 what a lot of these other brands were quoting, and the price was lower too. I got hooked up with a rep and within a couple months had tried some saddles and ordered one for myself. Did it feel a bit risky going with a lesser-known brand? At the time, maybe, but I was hoping that my gut instinct was right. Clearly it was, because here we are a year and half later and I’m a big Arion fan. The vibes were correct.

Aside from their dedication to customer service and making sure that everyone is happy, the saddles are just really freakin nice. I find it a lot more comfortable (for the horses and myself) than my Devoucoux and I think the balance is considerably better than the Voltaires I sat in. Hillary, who’d had a Voltaire before, borrowed my Arion one day and soon after ordered one for herself. They’re just really lovely saddles, and I feel much closer to the horse in the Arion than I did in anything else.

Presto loves their shoulder-free panel design, there was an instant difference in how he moved, and he’s always looked and felt great in his saddles. Y’all know he gets chiro and bodywork regularly as part of his general sporthorse maintenance, and he’s never been even a hint of backsore (knock on wood) plus he packed on an insane amount of topline after getting this saddle. It’s why we had to change the panel, but it’s a good sign that the tack is right!

When I got my saddle, I also nabbed some accessories, namely a saddle pad (which is well-loved, much-washed, has seen a lot of Florida sun, and is therefore a bit faded by this point, but still in great condition otherwise) and some stirrup leathers. I’ve been really happy with both. The saddle pad has a nice waffle lining that seems to be comfortable for the horses. Also, can we take a minute to appreciate the fact that Arion’s colors are navy and white, not like… green and yellow or brown and teal or red and black or whatever else is trying to assault my eyeballs. Just a nice navy. My retinas thank them greatly for that.

My leathers still look brand spankin’ new, too, hardly any wear at all, which is fantastic considering how soft and lovely they are. They’re lined calf, so no stretching, and nice and soft so they don’t rub or damage my saddle. I mean yeah, I got a buffalo saddle so that it would be more resilient (and so far it definitely has worn like iron) but still… she deserves some nice soft leathers. She bougie.

In all seriousness, it’s because this is my very first brand new saddle and I want to do my best to take care of her so that she lasts a long time.

Hillary has some of their stirrup leathers too, but she got the wide stability ones. I haven’t tried that style yet but I know she’s been really happy with hers too.

Since then I’ve added a couple other Arion accessories to the line-up. Last winter we got one of their figure 8 bridles, which I really like. The leather is soft, the crown is nicely padded, and the nose floof is the floofiest. All very important requirements.

Their sizing runs a bit generous I think (pretty common for French strapgoods) but it works on Presto, and it’s held up nicely. The leather is soft, but not so soft that it feels oversaturated or mega-floppy, and so far it hasn’t stretched, which is a common problem with some brands.

I also picked up a set of their training boots when I was at Kentucky this year. They’re really lightweight with a mesh lining, and a really simple design. the elastic straps are very light and thin but strong, and they velcro onto any spot on the outside section of the boots. They’re definitely the quickest and easiest boots in my collection to put on, and they wash up really well. Granted, Presto the boot destroyer did reach down and rip one of the straps off on like his second time wearing them. I wish I could say he’s never done that before, but uh… he has. He’s a serial boot killer. I got the strap sewn back on and they’ve been doing a-ok since then, under close protection from Presto’s mouth.

I have yet to get something from Arion that I haven’t liked. I almost bought dressage leathers at Kentucky too but my budget was like “hahaha no”, and I’ve had my eye on a stud girth for quite a while (I do legitimately need one now), which might be the next addition. I don’t even want to THINK about having to replace my old dressage saddle yet, but I know that’s probably coming within the next couple years… when it’s time, Arion will be first on my list to try.

And a perk of buying anything from them is that I know without a doubt that if I had an issue with anything, I believe 100% that they’d fix it or replace it. Having talked to and interacted with so many of the reps, as well as the owner of the company, they’re just really dedicated to getting it right… something that has become a rare quality in this industry, especially with the French brands. With big purchases like these, having confidence in the brand is a major selling point.