Month: July 2024

Alright, alright, Rubert has really dominated the last couple weeks around here so I suppose I should talk about what else has been going on. But first, a couple more pics of Sir Rubes. Sorrynotsorry.

Okay, we can move on now, I swear.

I’ve had a couple more jump lessons in that time, one with Ellie and then one with her husband Alex. I like both of them, although they both teach differently. Ellie is a lot of fine minute detail and Alex is a lot of big picture. With Ellie we did a lot of grids and rideability type exercises, keeping it small and simple. In my last lesson with her I was definitely getting frustrated about my ankle… it’s just not functioning the same as, well, as before I broke the dang thing. To be expected, but still annoying. My base of support doesn’t feel the same, and the leg doesn’t lay quite the same. It’ll take time, I know, but ugh.

Ellie had me focus more on sinking into the right seat bone when I wanted to use that weaker leg, and it did seem to help. We also got sent home with an exercise to work on, something she does pretty much every time, which I love… yes, please gimme homework!

Last week I rode with Alex, and he started me out over some simple exercises back and forth, then sent us around a course at about Novice height. Legit my first actual course since the 1* in April. What I really appreciate about Alex is that he’s a nice balance to my brain that really thirsts for everything to be in great detail and control, because it can also get really micro-managey and over-thinky. Alex is just kinda like “go forward, jump the jumps, let him make mistakes, it’s not a big deal”. I need to hear that sometimes because I can get so stuck in my own head.

His feedback was basically that I’m trying to do too much (hm, never heard that before *insert heavy sarcasm*) and I needed to trust my training more. He said that the horse was obviously well-schooled on the flat, knew his job, and we were capable, so I needed to just… let him do it. He thought I should let Presto keep moving forward more down the lines so he could get deeper to the out and learn to make a better shape off the ground, and he said that my “whoa” should just be as small as moving my shoulders back a few inches. He was like the horse responds to that rebalancing aid perfectly well on the flat, so he can do it over fences too, and if he doesn’t, the consequences are on him – let him get too deep, it’s how he learns. “The rails here are free”, he said. Aka, let Presto make the mistakes at home, that’s part of the training process. That little quip has really really taken root in my head to represent the fact that I have to let the mistakes happen when they need to, and trust my training more.

After that he put the jumps up to Modified height and we did it again, with the advice of just moving my shoulders back as a rebalancing aid in the line. He also had me start out with a more forward canter keeping him in a rounder shape. It worked quite well, really. Presto ignored my rebalancing aid a bit in one line (expecting a stronger aid, probably) and ended up deep at an oxer, but didn’t make that mistake again. He was jumping great.

Overall it was nice to be back to jumping courses, as well as something with a little more height again. If only to remember that we can in fact still do it. It’s amazing how quickly you lose your mojo.

The weekend before last I also spent some time volunteering at a POP show. These schooling shows at Florida Horse Park are my favorite, I feel like they’re everything a schooling show should be. Good courses, great footing, professional staff, but also really laidback and casual and accommodating. Usually I’m there competing but I sat this one out, so I volunteered for XC instead. And they gave me a job I’ve never done before: chase cart.

Basically, the way they keep the number of required volunteers down to a minimum for these schooling shows is by eliminating the need for people actually sitting at the jumps out on the XC course. Instead they have a few people assigned to chase carts, aka UTVs, who act as starter, timer, and XC jump judges. There were 3 of us on the carts rotating through, so basically you nudge your cart up to the start box, count the rider down from 10 when they’re ready, hit your stopwatch when you get to zero, and then follow the rider around the course (from a safe distance obviously) in the UTV. Our courses here are pretty open, so it works to where you can see everything pretty easily and you just radio back to control if you have any issues. When the person crosses the finish you hit your watch again, go back to control and give them the jump penalties and the time, and then await your next starter.

It’s a simple job but it’s kinda fun, and does make the day go by pretty fast. You’re just… constantly trailing behind horses on XC in a motorized vehicle. I’ve had worse days.

Also, trainers and friends tend to ride along in the cart so they can watch and video, which is really nice. I tried to make sure those people got good shots and angles of everything, because ya know… sometimes we do it for the ‘gram. Oh, AND, such a weird and random blogosphere connection. At one point a guy was getting in the back of the cart for a ridealong and I kinda looked at him a second time going “that dude looks familiar… why do I know him”. Come to find out later that it was Olivia’s husband, who I have only ever seen in pics on her blog. And he lives in VERMONT. Turns out he was down here in Ocala trying horses and happened to be at the show that day to watch one go. I didn’t actually realize that’s who it was until I posted that pic on my story and Olivia was like wait I think my husband was just in the back of your cart. Small world, guys. Really small. Sorta felt bad that I told him he better hold on tight because if he fell out I wouldn’t go back for him. Jk I didn’t feel bad at all.

Lets see, what else…

OH! I got a new helmet! I’ve been mega-stalking the ARRO helmets since I first saw them at Kentucky a couple years ago and I finally got one. My XC helmet was up for replacement this year so I really dug into the comparison shopping again, and the ARRO was just such a clear winner for lots of reasons.

I’ll have more posts coming about these helmets and their safety ratings and testing and all that stuff, because it’s really a lot and SO interesting. I chatted on the phone with the founder of ARRO last week and spent a lot of time talking to the rep here when I was getting fitted, and they’re just super cool and backed by so much actual data, it’s definitely worth digging into. I don’t think anything else on the market compares, and we gotta talk about it. Y’all know I can’t resist a nerdy safety equipment deep dive.

Speaking of, I’m a few weeks into being back in the pool again and really loving it.

I’ve worked my way back up to a mile per swim, which was my goal from the start, so last week I swam a total of 3 miles. That’s what I’d like to maintain going forward. I’m not a super fast swimmer when I focus on my form, so It takes me about 40+ minutes to swim the mile, but man it’s been such a great workout. Head to toe, I feel it, but I also already feel stronger too. Plus it’s indoors and it’s not hot, so like… mega bonus for a Florida workout activity. But mostly I just love how peaceful and serene it is when I’m swimming. No phone, nothing else I have to be doing in the moment, stealing a little time away from the farm, with literally nothing to distract me. It’s just me alone with my thoughts, which is both terrifying and therapeutic at the same time. I forgot how much I love swimming.

In other non-horsey things, last week we also finally made it back to the Ocala Oddities Market, which is my favorite thing to do here. It’s a monthly market of just straight up weird art shit with a DJ that plays great music, and food trucks, and the best people-watching in town. I love everything about it. I usually try to buy at least one thing from one of the many local artists that sets up a table, but nothing grabbed me this time. They were giving away t-shirts though, so I snagged myself a true classic.

Small Rubert update: mostly he’s just been coming in to get groomed and work on whoa/staying out of my space when he’s leading. He thinks he’s got places to be, and to his chagrin, he does not. I just love how intelligent he is though, such a fast learner and always looking for the right answer, even if he’s got ants in his pants. I had two interviews about him last week – one zoom call for a Parx Racing show, and one for an article about him on PA Bred. It’s like a little Ruby Bleu press junket over here.

This week I’ve got another lesson with Ellie and then mostly just work stuff. I’m starting to ponder my plan of attack for the fall season, which will probably include doing something (no idea what yet, but something) at the next couple schooling shows so we can dip our toe back into things. We’ll see how the next few weeks go.

Y’all knew this was coming, right? I mean if I do a “Behind the Breeding” column for EN with top event horses, you can guarantee that I’m doing one for all my horses too. And Rubert is a really interesting one, I think!

First, the Ruby Bleu stats. He raced 100 times, hit the board 59 times, and won 23 times. He finished 3rd in 4 different stakes races: the Turning for Home Handicap and Roanoke Stakes when he was a 4yo, the Storm Cat Stakes when he was an 8yo, and the Washington Crossing Stakes when he was a 9 year old. All total he earned $939,169 and although he was claimed away from his breeder Donald Brown several times throughout his career (it’s hard to avoid claiming races when horses run out of conditions), Donnie always made it a point to go get the horse back. He raced very consistently year after year, with no long breaks in his schedule, and he just kept showing up. This horse ran and ran and ran and ran, with the kind of frequency and longevity you don’t see very often.

Anyway, on to the breeding. Let’s start with his sire!

Messner was, to be entirely fair, a flop as a racehorse. With his exceptional pedigree he sold for 160k at Keeneland as a yearling, but went on to only race twice and win a measly $809. As a 4 year old he ended up at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Mixed sale, where he sold to Rubert’s breeder/owner Donnie for $7500.

To be fair his pedigree did make him a VERY interesting stallion prospect. Messner was a 3/4 brother to the phenomenal runner and sire Malibu Moon, who at the time stood in Kentucky for a $70,000 fee. Messner and Malibu Moon share the same dam, Macoumba, and Malibu Moon is by AP Indy whereas Messner is by AP Indy son Bernardini.

Messner stood for a fee of only $1500 while in PA but didn’t attract a huge number of mares. He stood in PA for 2013 and 2014 before being sold to Haras Las Trinitarias in Venezuela. Ruby Bleu was one of his first foals and remains by far the highest earner. However, many of Messner’s foals have had good longevity on the racetrack.

Bernardini, however, had quite a different experience as both a racehorse a sire. By the legendary AP Indy and out of grade 1 stakes winner Cara Rafaela, Bernardini was a multiple grade 1 winner, including a win in the Preakness, Travers, Jockey Club Gold Cup, and second in the Breeders Cup Classic. He also earned the champion 3-year-old male title in 2006 and earned over $3 million in his career. One article quotes Bernardini’s trainer as saying “He was one of those types that if he was a human, he would have been quarterback on the football team in high school with the GQ looks and incredible athletic ability. He would have been valedictorian, too, and then roll on to win a Nobel Peace Prize.”

Bernardini entered stud in Kentucky in 2007 and was shuttled between the US and Australia from 2008 to 2011. He was known for his kind temperament and was often used to teach new employees the ins and outs of a breeding farm. Bernardini sired 80 black-type winners that have earned around $100 million.

In addition to producing excellent racehorses, Bernardini has also made his mark on the sporthorse world, particularly when it comes to eventing. He’s the sire of 5* horse Humble Glory, 4* horse Global Victory, and 3* horse WE Empyrean. He also has two stallion sons in the US that have competed to the Prelim/2* level, Saketini (Fey’s sire) and Redtail Achiever.

Messner’s dam, Macoumba, raced in France, where she was a Grade 1 winner before being imported to the US to serve as a broodmare for Walmac International. Her dam, Maximova by Green Dancer, was a Grade 1 winner against the colts in France, and she also placed second in Ireland in the Irish One Thousand Guineas. Maximova produced five stakes winners: Septieme Ciel, Grade 1 winner by Seattle Slew; Macoumba; Maxigroom Grade 3 winner by Blushing Groom; Balchaia by Nureyev; and Manureva by Nureyev.

Whew. That was a lot and we’re only halfway through. Props if you’re still with me. Moving on to the dam’s side…

Ruby Bleu hails from Thoroughbred mare family 8-c, which is also home to some heavy hitters such racehorses Uncle Mo and Ruffian, Derby winners Fusaichi Pegasus and Orb, as well as steeplechasers Brave Inca, Kicking King, Roman Hackle, and Grand National winner Hedgehunter.

Ruby Bleu’s dam, Ruby Soul, was bred in Kentucky by Charles Fipke. She raced a grand total of one time and finished last… she was slow to break and never made much effort. As a 4 year old she sold at Fasig Tipton for $4k, and then was sold again at Keeneland (to Ruby Bleu’s breeder, Donnie) in 2013 for $4500 in foal to Super Saver. She produced a handful of foals in the US for Donnie, with Ruby Bleu being the most successful.

Ruby Soul’s sire was the Irish-bred stallion Perfect Soul, a Grade 1 winner of over $1.5 million who was the 2003 Champion Turf Horse in Canada. True to his pedigree, he raced exclusively on the turf. Also true to his pedigree, he produced some very successful steeplechase horses.

Perfect Soul’s sire, Sadler’s Wells, has left a huge legacy in both turf racing and steeplechase both directly and via his sons, particularly in Europe. This line is known for both jumping ability and longevity, and Sadler’s Wells also shows up in the pedigree of some top eventers, including as the damsire of 5* horse Just Kidding.

Perfect Soul’s dam is the famous Ball Chairman, a Secretariat mare that was an excellent producer for Fipke’s breeding program. And we all know about Secretariat, right?

Ruby Soul’s dam, Ruby City, raced only as a 2yo, making six starts, winning once, and earning a total 35k. Her value really was mostly in her pedigree. Her dam, Island Kitten, was a stakes-placed racehorse and an excellent producer. Island Kitten’s most famous offspring was the Grade 1 winner and prolific sire Hennessy, and she also produced three other stakes winners: Shy Tom, Wild Kitty, and Pearl City. Island Kitten’s dam was the Reines-de-Course mare T.C. Kitten, who produced Grade 1 winner Field Cat as well as the mare Beware of the Cat, dam of Editor’s Note and Hold That Tiger. It’s a really nice line of race mares! Which is how Ruby City found herself selling for $200k at a Keeneland sale when she was 10yo in foal to Stephen Got Even.

Ruby City proved to be a pretty decent broodmare herself, producing 6 winners as well as one stakes winner, Tale for Ruby.

Ruby City’s sire was stakes winner Carson City, who is known in sporthorse circles for producing horses with good temperaments and longevity.

Ruby City’s damsire was the South-African bred Hawaii, who was an excellent racehorse known for his intelligence and soundness. Although a flat runner himself, he produced a high number of timber racing horses, and many also made it over into the sporthorse world. His best-known offspring is probably 5* eventer and Eventing Hall of Famer Molokai who completed Badminton, Burghley, and Kentucky.

Hawaii is also the sire of the phenomenal sport stallion Porter Rhodes, sire of 5* horses Majas Hope and Spring Panorama, 1.50m showjumper Newtown Jumping Jack, and 4* horses Kiltealy Rogers, Porters Hill, Stellor Rhodes, and Diesel Green.

As you can see, I think Ruby Bleu lives up to his pedigree. There are a lot of horses on his page that are known for their longevity and intelligence, and he certainly has the Bernardini phenotype. There’s also a lot of proven jumping blood in his pedigree… I’m excited to get him going and see what he can do beyond the racetrack!

Y’all know that viral TikTok sound that’s like

“Look at this”

*GASP*

“PERFECT!”

“Oh my god!”

“Isn’t it great?”

That’s me with Sir Rubert on the daily. I’m obsessed. (Fair warning, throughout this post I will refer to Ruby Bleu solely by different nicknames that he’s garnered already, without ever repeating the same one twice. Do try to keep up.)

As you know, he got here to Ocala last Tuesday. He looked cute in his pictures but in person he’s just wow. It’s one of those horses that just oozes class. He’s super intelligent with a big swinging walk and is every inch an athlete.

Of course, the first few days of a horse coming off the track can be a little nerve-wracking sometimes. It’s a BIG lifestyle change, and they’re always unsettled at first… the only real question is how unsettled they’re gonna be. Since Rubes spent 7 years racing so consistently that his longest gap was 4 months, and he’s a 10yo, I thought for sure he might take a week or two. To his immense credit, he did not.

The first day he was here I gave him a teeny bit of dorm and turned him out for a few hours in the evening. He powerwalked the fence line, stared at cows across the street, trotted a few laps and cantered one or two, but didn’t do anything that made me worried for his safety. A lot of times that first turnout is kinda like “Please don’t hit the fence. Please don’t pull all your shoes off.” even with a little bit of sleepy juice. You could see him thinking about everything rather than reacting or getting spun up, even if he was a little excited.

The next day, Wednesday, he went out for about 5 hours in the morning, and then again for about 3 hours in the evening. That day I just gave him a little bit of trazodone, which mostly just takes the edge off of anxiety or stress. Again, he was well-behaved, and with less fence-walking. He did seem a little confused about exactly what he was supposed to DO out there. He just kept staring across the fence at Henry like “Psssst. What do we do?” and Henry was like “Eat. Sleep. Scratch your ass on a tree. Whatever you want, man”. RuTube was most puzzled.

Funnily enough, he really couldn’t figure out the grazing-on-his-own thing at first. If I went out there and clipped the leadrope on, he would immediately start handgrazing. As soon as I took it off he was like “well now what?”. I hung a haynet out there for him so he could realize that outside is where we eat things, and after a day or so of the haynet he transitioned to grazing on his own.

On Thursday it wasn’t too unbearably hot, so he stayed out all day and I didn’t give him any kind of pharmaceutical help this time. He didn’t need it, he was super. I also knew him well enough by then to know that even if he did get jazzed, he wasn’t the type to do anything too stupid. This was also the day he decided he simply could not with the gnats and started shaking his head so much I thought he was gonna scramble his brains, so I went and scrounged him up a hand-me-down fly mask and fly sheet to wear until his (which I ordered just for him, naturally) arrive. He’s got a whole outfit, it’s a vibe.

Thursday night he was the saddest Ruberto because he had to fast ahead of his gastroscope on Friday morning. He is a good boy but he is go-go-go, so I had a feeling we might find something in his tummy and I was right. It’s nothing terrible by any means, but he has a few grade 2-3 ulcers, both glandular and squamous.

And this, friends, is exactly why we scope before we treat. Gastrogard is the drug of choice for the glandular ulcers, but it won’t get the squamous ones. For that we’ve also added misoprostil, which is a longer treatment period, and my vet advises continuing a lower dose of GG the whole time they’re on miso. So, it’s a total of 60 days of both drugs, with step-down dosages of the GG along the way. Luckily I already had 20 tubes, so it’s not quite as much that I have to buy, and the miso isn’t too crazy expensive. We’ll rescope him again around the 50-55 day mark to see how things are looking.

By Friday he had officially garnered a high enough level of trust to graduate to what is my normal summer turnout schedule for my guys: inside from noonish until 7ish pm, outside the rest of the time. There are only two types of Florida afternoons: nasty thunderstorms or mega heat. My spoiled boys all come inside and eat hay in front of their fans and take a good nap at that time of day instead.

And that’s been Bleubert’s schedule the past several days now. He’s settled in, he knows the routine, and he’s starting to come around to my insistence that he cannot actually walk everywhere at Mach 10 while dragging me behind him. He finds me terribly geriatric, I’m sure.

Henry has been the absolute best little emotional support animal through Sir Snausage’s transition. RubyDoobyDoo has spent a ton of time just watching Henry and copying whatever he does, it’s actually both cute and hilarious. Henry of course has taken this as yet another feather in his cap… like obviously he’s the gold standard example. Duh.

Presto wasn’t particularly sold on him in the beginning (he thought Bleuberry stole his BFF, and he’s not wrong) but now he’s come around. Mostly because they both really like to do mutual groomies over the fence, and that’s all it really takes to win Presto over, let’s be honest.

Overall, Rhubarb gets a 10/10 for his first week here. I’m just so freakin smitten with him. And I have to give major props to his racing connections – never in my life have I gotten a horse off the track that was in this good of condition. His muscling is even, he’s not sore anywhere, his coat is super shiny, he’s in good weight, even the angles of his feet are pretty good. It would be impressive for a horse of any age, but for one that’s 10 years old and raced as much and as often as he has, it’s really noteworthy.

Cheers to the good ones.

Ya know how you try to plan things out very deliberately and life is like lols surprise? And sometimes its a bad surprise but sometimes it a good surprise? Or maybe sometimes an opportunity comes up and your gut is just like “maybe this is for you, be bold and see what happens”? I made it one of my personal missions this year to have a little more… audacity. To put myself out there more, to ask for things, to offer things to people, to make my presence more known. To kinda live more by the “the worst thing they can say is no” or the “but what if it goes right” mottos. I swear having a little bit of audacity goes a long way. It doesn’t come naturally to me, but I’m making attempts to cultivate it.

Anyway, that’s how this whole thing started, really. A little bit of audacity and a whole lot of luck. Or maybe fate, if you believe in that kind of thing.

See, what had happened was (I’d love to know how many of my posts over the last 10 years have this phrase in it).

One of the OTTB sellers that I follow in facebook (everybody follows these pages right? for like… science… or whatever.) posted a horse last week that just really grabbed me. Ten years old, raced a whopping 100 times, won 23% of them and placed in 59%, and won almost $940k. He was still owned by his breeder, and was very well-known and well-loved on the Pennsylvania racing circuit. Like, there were youtube videos about him and everything.

His ad also felt like it was targeting me specifically. The connections were being very selective about who he went to. They wanted him to have his own social media (since he comes with a built-in fan club already), they wanted lots and lots of updates, required references, someone with OTTB experience, and had a preference for RRP approved people. I mean for real. Did you write the ad for me? I read it, read it again, and had to chuckle to myself a bit.

Of course I was most certainly not looking to buy and even if I was he was a bit over budget before you even got to the fact that he was over 1000 miles away, so I kept scrolling down my feed. Then I was like “ya know what… I’m just gonna use a little bit of audacity, leave a comment, and put my interest out there in the universe. What’s the worst that can happen?”. Normally I wouldn’t even comment, but for whatever reason I felt the need. So I just left a comment about how I felt targeted and I wished he was closer to Ocala, and that whoever got him was going to get a super cool horse. All true.

The horse, named Ruby Bleu, was absolutely dreamy. Henny colored and so elegant and classy and well put together, with lovely clean legs. Ruby Bleu was, to be quite frank, exactly what I had been dreaming about last fall when I started looking for an RRP horse, but couldn’t find. He’s an older war horse, he comes from great connections that really care about him and want to keep up with him, he’s a great sporthorse type, and he’s got a cool story behind him. I kinda feel like, if I’m gonna have one, I want one that’s really an ambassador for how cool OTTBs really are. He’s exactly that.

Anyway, I left my comment, drooled a bit, stalked his previous races and drooled some more, and then moved on, figuring that was the beginning and end of it. A couple people liked my comment and friend requested me, which I didn’t really think much of…. I didn’t go look them up or anything. Just hit accept and moved along with whatever I was doing.

The person that ran the facebook page sent me a message and asked me to send her a little “about me” that she could pass along to the connections, as well as my budget, so I wrote her some bullet points and gave her some info. There was no response, and a few days went by, so I figured he must have sold and was honestly a little bit disappointed but not surprised. A lot of people had commented on him and showed interest, so I just assumed someone else had seemed like a more interesting prospect than me, and/or had a better budget. Then randomly on Sunday morning I got a message from one of the people who had friended me from the comment. Turns out it was Ruby Bleu’s trainer, and she asked if she could call me.

The person that ran the facebook page had sent her my info, and the trainer had spent some time scoping me out. We ended up spending an hour and a half chatting about all kinds of things. Horses, racing, Ocala vs PA, Ruby Bleu, the cost of hay, (and hence) ramen recipes, philosophies on horse keeping… we had quite a chat. She was getting a feel for me, kinda like an interview basically, but it was easy conversation. As we wrapped up our chat she said “I think we’ve found a great match, we’d love to offer Ruby Bleu to you”.

Knock me the eff over with an effin feather, y’all. I was not expecting that.

We talked budget (mine was low) and she said they were more concerned with the right home than with getting as much money as they could, so they could work with it. She then said she had a hauler friend who was headed back down to Ocala from PA the NEXT DAY and she could chat to him about sponsoring Ruby Bleu’s “freedom ride”. Like what. What what what. What is happening.

Things moved really quickly from there. I called Ruby Bleu’s owner and chatted with him (super super nice guy, and small world he owns Freya’s sire), sent him the venmo, his trainer set up the hauler, and holy shit. I… had another horse? Not just another horse, but RUBY BLEU. This horse gives me heart eyes in such a big way, something about him just speaks to me. Clearly the universe agreed, because how the hell does a horse purchase ever go down like that. What a weird Sunday morning.

But, um… that did leave me with a little bit of a problem. Mostly that I really can’t afford to keep, do the proper aftercare for, and bring two OTTB’s up at the same time and through RRP. I sat there for quite a while trying to make the math actually math, and it just DIDN’T. Sad truth, if I wanted to be able to do it right, I was gonna have to sell Lottie. I love her, she’s a super sweet girl and going to make a super nice horse, but she doesn’t make me tingly the way Ruby Bleu does.

So I went ahead and listed her on a couple OTTB groups on Sunday night, figuring it might take a while to find her person. The middle of the summer is never the best time to sell a not-yet-restarted OTTB. I wanted to make sure it was a good match, because I do quite care about her and I freakin hate selling horses. It makes me feel sick. But lo and behold, the universe once again showed it’s approval for the proceedings, because she sold literally the very next morning, 12 hours later, to the absolute PERFECT person. Lottie looks almost identical to the gelding she just lost (they have similar breeding) and she’s just so excited about having another one like him. Seriously, couldn’t have hand-picked a better match. I’m delighted for her and will get to watch her progress on social media. And it ended up being a financial wash, so truly a win-win.

And in the meantime, Ruby Bleu boarded a trailer out of Erie, PA on Monday afternoon and arrived in Ocala on Tuesday afternoon. And man… he’s even better looking than his ad pics made him look. His legs are pristine, I would never in a million years guess that horse had raced 100 times. He’s in amazing condition with a big beautiful athletic walk and a shoulder and neck to die for. This horse, he is an ATHLETE. I’m just wowed by him. I see you, universe. Good looking out.

So… yeah. Uhhh. That’s the story of how I bought one horse and sold another all within 24 hours, without having any prior intention to do so. Talk about Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

I guess the moral of this story is… leave the comment? Even if it seems like the most unlikely or impossible thing, you never know what could come of it. I continue to believe in the power of putting things out into the universe. I feel so honored that they picked me, and I hope I can do him justice.

More to come about Ruby Bleu (he does already have his own facebook page, if you want some sneak peeks) and his background and pedigree. The great thing about him still being owned by his breeder after all those years is that I know A LOT about him, and he’s got a really cool story. I even have a baby pic! Stay tuned.

Welcome home, Ruby Bleu, aka Rubert aka Sir Rubert the Bleu aka Bloobert aka RubyDoobyDoo. Yeah he’s got lots of nicknames already.

Helllooooo again. I hope everyone survived the BoomBoom holiday with little to no emotional or physical damage. It was actually pretty calm here… definitely some loud booms but the rednecks were oddly less excited about the fourth than they’ve been about New Years. I was probably the most anxious animal on the farm, but kept my pacing to a minimum.

Aside from that, Presto and I also had a jump lesson last week. Finally! FINALLY! First jump lesson since right before International (so like two and a half months but who’s counting ya know?) and our first jump lesson ever with Ellie.

We kept things small and simple for both my sake and his. I thought Presto was gonna be wild, and to be fair I think he really WANTED to be, but the heat and humidity zapped all the yeehaw right out of him pretty quickly. He definitely lost some fitness while I was laid up but it might be working in my favor at the moment.

We started over a half circle of death with some small cavalettis, working on using the outside aids in particular. To be honest my ankle just feels weird now. It doesn’t hurt necessarily but it’s tight and it just doesn’t hang the same way, so learning how to use it again with some new limitations is a work in progress. It improves slowly week by week but I think it’s just gonna take time for it to be back to normal. In the meantime, I have to learn to cope with the new normal and not feel lopsided.

Anyway. After our warmup we moved on to jumping into a line, making a big circle, and then jumping out of the line. She wanted me to focus again on my outside aids (particularly leg, particularly when it was the right one) and not letting him get overbent in neck thus ending up crooked. We ended the lesson by hopping through a teeny grid a few times to get Presto’s feet moving quicker. All in all it was a great first lesson back, and a relief to know that I haven’t forgotten how to jump after all that time off.

In other exciting news, Fey’s papers arrived from Belgium. She’s officially registered and DNA verified, with a fancy Belgian passport and everything.

Big thanks to Studbook sBs for helping make this possible for me. Her dam is registered and approved Hanoverian but her TB sire hasn’t been presented for approval to the warmblood books, so they had to grant special permission based on his pedigree and performance history. It took over a year all total to get everything done, from the microchip to the DNA for both parents and for her, to the approval of the sire, to the issuance of the passport. A lot of people were involved and it’s much appreciated, because now she’s official! Her future foals will be eligible for full papers and registration.

I rode Wally quite a bit last week too, although this week his mom is back in town so he’s off the hook with me. It was cool riding something different for a while though. I got more swims in at the gym too, and I really really love being back in the pool. It’s not the most convenient thing but it’s worth it.

For all the other nerds out there, we had our FLAIR Strips webinar last night and it was really sciencey and cool. Science. Research papers. Proof. We love it. There was lots of stuff in there I actually didn’t know, particularly in relation to EIPH.

As a follow-up I looked up some of the studies, so now if nothing else I feel qualified to answer questions. I do still have a couple samples too, so if you’re interested hit me up.

Last but not least, I do have some really big (good) news to share. It was very random and happened really fast, and it was a little bit like being on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride for like 24 hours. I think I said “wtf is even happening” like 50 times. However, it’s also a long story (at least if I’m the one telling it) and it really deserves it’s own post. So for now, here’s a teaser.