Please enjoy your complimentary Panic at the Disco reference this morning. You’re welcome. (That reminds me, I heard a rumor that Spotify Wrapped is dropping tomorrow… everyone gird your loins)
So… how’d everyone make it out of the Black Friday *mumbles and waves hand at whatever that was*. Always a wild ride, is it not? For me anyway. I do mega greatly appreciate those of you that tossed a bit in the coffers on Buy Me a Coffee. Truth be told it has become harder and harder to justify spending the (massive amount of) time on that sales list because it takes time away from my actual paying jobs, so getting a little bit of something back in exchange for the time spent certainly helps to continue to make it a sustainable effort on my part. I salute you, my insatiable little money burners. You’re the reason it will return again in 2025.
As for the more fun part of our overt display of capitalism, what did everyone get? Any good deals? Stuff you needed practically or stuff you needed mentally? Say it with me… we listen and we don’t judge.
Not trying to brag but I got a gnarly chest cold.
Granted, that was free of charge. I did snag some actual purchases, too, and mostly practical ones I dare say?
First and foremost, I finally caved and ordered the Full Health Panel + Ancestry test from Etalon for Presto. 25% off is the best deal I’ve seen them do, and I’ve been hemming and hawing over wanting to have him done forever. Seemed like the right time. I’m mostly interested to see if he carries any elevated risk factors related to his health (like some horses have a much higher genetic susceptibility to West Nile, or uveitis, or PSSM) and to see what his actual blood percentage is compared to what it calculates to on paper. I’m endlessly fascinated by that.
On the educational side of things, I also went for the 50% off Noelle Floyd subscription. I’ve been really interested in some of their Masterclass series, and it seemed like a good deal. I haven’t had time to actually poke around and look at them yet, but we shall see. I think it’s still 40% off through this week?
As far as actual tangible items go, I nabbed a couple of sheepskin pads – dressage and jump – with correctional shims/pockets from Hufglocken. 30% off plus their lower prices on their house brand made it super cheap for two of them. Rubes fits pretty well into Presto’s saddles with just a shim at the front, so I got them for him. Now I can just have two pads designated for Rubes that keep a shim in them and not have to worry about switching stuff around or trying to rig something for him with my other pads (that don’t have shims/pockets). He loves his sheepskin.
The rest is entirely practical stuff – Farrier’s Formula, Effol, a gallon of fly spray, and a bunch of new underwear. I did need all that, and it was all 30-40% off, so thankyouverymuch.
In other news, we’ve also made it to December. RRP folks will understand the significance of this… we can finally get cracking on our Makeover hopefuls! I think Rubes will be absolutely delighted to go back to some kind of full work schedule. Every time I put Presto away he comes up to his gate just begging to be picked next. Boy is a work horse, he likes having a job. I’m happy to oblige him that one.
He’s feeling better after his injections for sure. He still feels weak behind, but more regular and even. He has lots and lots of pole work in his future to try to help improve his SI and stifles and topline.
He’s such a handsome dude though, and I think he’ll be a quick learner. Once he gets a little more regular ride time under his girth it’ll be time to start venturing off property. For now he’s working on slowing down his tempo, bending through his body, and learning half halt and leg yield. He thinks leg yield is fairly easy but isn’t convinced half halts are totally necessary. I have the feeling that once he’s getting ridden 5-6 days a week things will start coming along pretty quickly. He trotted a line of poles yesterday and a crossrail the day before that, so I guess you could say things are getting pret-ty serious.
I also got to go XC schooling again over the weekend!
We headed over to Jon Holling’s place this time, where Presto has actually never been before. I’d only been once, to film some content for Ride iQ, but didn’t get a super close look at the XC. There’s actually a good bit out there, and some bigger/harder/more technical stuff. It was great. Well, I mean, it was cold AF when we got there and Presto was WILD for the first few minutes, but I was actually pleased with how he settled down and got to business once we’d warmed up. We got to gallop some stuff, work on a few combinations, and practice that “keep coming forward to the base” xc ride that I really have to nail back into my brain.
This week I have a regular jump lesson and then it’s back to WEC for some retail work. Gotta pay for these animals somehow.
Hope everyone had a good holiday!
breedrideevent.com 
Thank you for putting the list together again, that is a LOT of information to gather! I didn’t get to partake in sales of any kind this yr (my sweet boy recently spent a week at the vet university hospital with peritonitis of unknown cause. Made a sort of miraculous recovery and is home! But goodbye money.) Presto looks amazing and I guess you are already aware of this but holy crap Rubes is looking gorgeous.
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Oh that was so much fun to read & watch! Horses doing their thing!
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Ugh. Boots. I bought boots. I didn’t mean to. It just happened.
I’m really excited about Rubes! He looks HUGE now that he’s all filled out.
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