Hellloooo out there. It feels like I have lived an entire lifetime since we last caught up. Where to begin?

Presto has been feeling great since Majestic. He had a couple days off after the show and some light hacking days before a training ride and then a dressage lesson and a jump lesson. We’re working on pieces of the Prelim A test, which we haven’t ridden yet (would you believe that all 3 of his Prelims so far have been the same test under the same judge?). The A test is quite different, with simple changes of lead and some shallow counter canter loops. Parts of it are easier for him, and other parts of it are harder for him, but he’s the type of horse where the more you practice the test pattern the better he gets (as opposed to Henry, who just got anticipatory and tense) so we’re chipping away at it.

We have to practice the A test because that’s the one they’re running for our last show for the spring season (so much for spring, it’s 95 here already) – which is Area 3 Championships. I strongly debated whether or not to enter the regular HT vs Champs. Both are running XC like midday for Prelim so there wasn’t a real advantage of one vs the other as far as heat goes. In the end I totally got peer pressured into entering Champs, both by the Patreon group and by the show organizer (who is a friend. and also a Patreon member, coincidentally). Bullies, I tell you, the lot of them. Truthfully I’m pretty sure I’ve never actually entered an Area Championship before despite being qualified lots of times on both Henry and Presto, and this year it’s convenient enough so why the f not.

Well, I almost didn’t enter because I have to braid for Champs. Gah the horrors. I might have to beg Kerri.

In our jump lessons we’ve worked more to solidify the fancy new lifting-yet-still-taking-me-forward half halt that we’ve found in his new bit and running martingale setup. I can actually land and push him forward and then do a little lifting half-halt into the corner, push him forward, and do another one out of the corner, and it’s kind of miraculous how well that works when he actually stays in my hand and isn’t either arguing about it or dropping behind the contact.

The more I got to thinking about the single joint bit and how much he seems to like jumping in it, the more convinced I was that I needed to try it on the flat too. Sometimes he does this thing with his tongue, and after thinking about it with the new context we have regarding how much he likes the new jump bit, I was like… I wonder if he just doesn’t really like the contact all the way across his tongue. So I flatted him in his jump bit and it did seem better. I ended up going and buying him the simplest single joint loose ring I could find (I wanted one that wasn’t too fat, since he doesn’t have a ton of room in his mouth for that) and he seems to LOVE it. Something about the shape and size of that bit in particular seems to just sit really perfectly in his mouth. It’s got a very slight curve to it to alleviate tongue pressure and seems to be just the ticket. I can’t even remember the last time I rode a horse in a single-jointed snaffle, and a lot of bit people will tell you they’re less comfortable for the horse because of the “nutcracker” effect of just one joint, but no one tell Presto that. The weird tongue thing is gone.

In Henny news, he is currently the most delighted animal because this past weekend he got to bop around some XC with my friend Lija. Florida Horse Park had an open schooling day and I like to share the Henny love, so Lija took him out and jumped a nice mix of novice and training fences. He’s just so happy out there in his element, galloping around and jumping stuff. It was the perfect Henny day. And I guess I just have gotten used to the constant underlying element of chaos that is Presto, because it was such a serene, calm, and quiet affair. Henny just… is. Presto NEVER just is. Bless him.

We’ve also bred several mares in the last couple weeks and confirmed some pregnancies for 2026, so breeding season is really chugging right along. We should have a really interesting mix of foals coming next year, from ponies to eventers to show jumpers. It’s nowhere near the end yet though, there’s still plenty mares left waiting to for their pregnancy checks, and some left to breed.

We only have two foals left from the 2025 crop that haven’t been sold yet, so if you can be tempted by a bebe horse, now is the time. Yes we do payments. 😉

Aside from all the normal horsey stuff, I did a very rare thing and took a little mini 24-hour vacay away from anything horse related and went to a music festival.

Ok, it was just one day of a four day festival, but listen I am 41 years old and I think 4 days would literally kill me. Anyway, my friend Lisa flew down from NC and we headed out to Daytona Beach for Welcome to Rockville. Two of my favorite bands were playing on Sunday (Bad Omens and Motionless in White) plus Korn was headlining, so it seemed worth the trip.

My top priority for the entire adventure was to get as close as possible to the rail for Bad Omens. They’re my absolute favorite band, and I saw them a couple years ago at the House of Blues in Orlando and it was the best concert I’d ever been to. I mainly stuck to the back of the crowd that time though, and this time I wanted to be close enough to have my soul vibrated by the bass and feel the heat blast from the pyrotechnics.

We started pushing our way to the front while the band before them was still playing (it was Mudvayne. I do not like Mudvayne. I endured three whole Mudvayne songs directly in front of a speaker, if that tells you anything about my dedication.) and by the time all was said and done we were positioned on the left side only 4 rows of people back from the rail. PERFECT spot. We were so close.

We had to wait an hour and half in a shoulder to shoulder crowd, and it was very sweaty and stagnant, and no one smelled great (god it was HOT), but it was totally worth it. Once again Bad Omens put on an amazing show, and this time I got roasted by fire and then doused with confetti at the end. Since we were covered in sweat, the confetti just ended up plastered to us like paper mâché. And since we were right in front of a huge speaker there was so much bass it was like an hour long Theraplate session, so clearly it counts as health and wellness. What more do you need? I am healed.

There were so many people crowdsurfing that we ended up having to shuffle quite a few of them over the top of us, and the girl next to me would just duck every time she saw one coming, so my upper body got a hell of a workout trying to hold up some big dudes with very little help. If you’re gonna be at the front of a metal show at a festival with 70,000ish people you really gotta be prepared to be 1) pushed around and 2) put your hands up for crowdsurfers. Luckily everyone was very polite as far as space goes and we didn’t get pushed like AT ALL, but come on. Hands up or move further back, because dropping someone on top of us sure ain’t great either.

Look at this view they got from the drone. I had no idea how many people were actually there until I saw this, it was impossible to see from where we were at the front. (also A+ to the drone operator because what an incredible shot when that thing flips over)

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Seriously though, it was a fantastic time. That confetti coming down on all of us will be a core memory forever. Motionless in White was REALLY good too, I’d like to see them again at an actual concert venue. Korn was okay. The crowd for them was very different and not so much my vibe but we did stay long enough for me to hear my favorite Korn song (Falling Away From Me).

Totally worth the day trip, we had a ton of fun. AND we were still in bed around midnight. You can’t beat that.

Hope everyone is having a great week, and if you’re starting to keep your eye on Memorial Day sales, don’t forget to check out Riding Warehouse!