I sat down to try to write my weekly catch-up post yesterday and realized I have basically no media from any of it despite there actually being a lot going on at the moment. So… enjoy mostly filler photos.

Last week I went to jumper rounds at Majestic, just hopping around one 1.05m. It was relatively straightforward and uneventful, but there wasn’t a photographer there so ya know… take my word for it. We also did another brief XC school with Megan, kind of reaffirming some of the things (holes, they’re really holes in the education) we worked on the first time. She’s changed the way I’m sitting ever so slightly, and trying to confirm something new into muscle memory takes time.

Argo also jumped down his first line, just a couple crossrails with flower boxes. This was because a friend of a friend is coming to try him next week and asked for video of him jumping a line.

I really had no intention of selling him, but I’ve had several people ask me if I’d be willing to part with him sooner rather than later. I had to think about it for a bit, but I came to the conclusion that if the perfect person comes along and wants to buy him within the next month or so, that still gives me enough time to start over with a new horse for RRP. Do I need to sell him? Nope. But if a super awesome situation comes along sooner rather than later, am I open to it? Yep.

The truth of the matter is that he’s a superb boy, simple and kind in every way, but he’s not an upper level athlete or the type of horse I would keep long term. Because, you know, I’m not right in the head and like them a little bit more… MORE. Know what I mean? See Presto as Exhibit A.

Meanwhile, Argo would love nothing more than to plod around the 3′ and under for the rest of his days, getting treats and face snuggles and having the most predictable and simple life. It’s a fantastic quality in a horse, and one that’s hard to find in something relatively young and fresh off the track. So if his perfect match comes along soon, I’m open to it.

In other news, Presto had his re-check appointment last Friday to look at his stomach and ulcer situation again.

The good news is that the original ulcers that were all along the very top of his stomach are healed. I suspected as much, because he’s been back to normal about jumping ditches and banks. However, something told me that we haven’t solved the problem entirely, and unfortunately I was right. He had some new areas of ulceration a bit lower in his stomach.

There were a couple good things we found, though: 1) his pylorus (we weren’t able to see it last time but this time we got a good view) looks great, and 2) the new ulcers are below the area where food would be, so as long as he’s got forage in him all the time, there shouldn’t really be an issue of discomfort from acid splash like we were having with the original ones.

The bad news is that in my vet’s opinion, this means that ulcers are likely to just be an ongoing issue with this horse. We did learn that his particular ulcer drug of choice seems to be omeprazole and not sucralfate… the sucralfate appears to have done next to nothing for him. She feels like he might be one that does well staying on Nexium, so now we’re trying that along with Platinum GI and Alimend. Which is probably overdoing it but hi hello now I’m paranoid AF.

He could honestly just be that type of horse that requires a round of ulcer meds annually (love that for my wallet) in addition to daily preventatives. All in all I’m extremely glad we’ve scoped him both times, even if my wallet is crying. We’ve learned a lot, and have a much more solid plan because of it.

In more fun news, on Monday I took Presto over to Sweet Dixie mostly just to hop over some bigger stuff, since it’s been a while since we’ve galloped at big tables. We jumped a couple of their P ones and then I schooled their coffin and their new sunken road complex. I jumped maybe 15 jumps total, just mostly wanted to practice the new tweaks a little bit more and at bigger things.

Yesterday I went and had a showjump lesson with Megan and she only really changed one thing but blew my mind entirely in the process. I’ve been having a bit of an ongoing issue lately with riding a little past my distance, especially to oxers. I did it a couple times and she said “so when you come out of the turn to a jump, where are you looking?” and I said top rail, which is what I’ve pretty much always been taught. She said ok this might sound weird, but when you come out of the turn try looking at the exact spot where you want the horse’s feet to be at takeoff, and then once you’re a couple strides out you can lift your eye again.

And I’ll be damned bro, it worked a lot better. There were sparks coming from my brain. But the concept makes tremendous sense when you think about it. It’s yet another re-wiring that I’ll have to do, so right now I really have to concentrate to make my eyes look at the takeoff spot everywhere, but it does seem to help me and my depth perception tremendously. She made a few other small tweaks, but we didn’t jump much since it’s hot and Presto’s got a lot to do this week.

Anyway, I have no media from any of these rides since I went by myself, so… you’ll have to take my word for it I guess. I think having a couple different sets of eyes (Megan and Peter) these past few weeks has been really great, but I’m also now on a big time learning curve trying to enforce some new habits and fill some holes. This is what I’m here for though, so I’m loving it!