Just dropping in real quick because I know how much y’all love a sale. I’ve teamed up with a site called Turnout HQ (their app is coming soon) and a sales list/coupon codes can be found on their site!
You do have to create an account to access their online community, but it’s free to join and we started a whole Equestrian Discounts group that will be an ongoing collection of codes and sales. Having people create an account to access the community is just a way to help keep out bots, spammers, and scammers! I’ve done two sale posts already, each with 24 sales listed, so there are quite a few already if you’re looking to stock up or treat yourself.
They’ve also got a Marketplace that is similar to Poshmark – I’ll be posting a lot of stuff on there in the coming days. Peruse the community and check it out, there are a lot of fun things coming from Turnout HQ. And if you want to be do a full membership (not just the free one) so you can post in the community and buy/sell via the Marketplace, it’s only $10 a year and half of that goes to a charity of your choice!
I won’t even bother with excuses because I know no one wants to hear them. It’s been almost 3 weeks since the last update and a lot has been going on, so let’s catch up!
He’s lucky he’s handsome
When we left off I said that I was pretty sure Rubes was brewing an abscess. Indeed that was true, but it was one of those that kept coming and going, and it’s just finally started to burst. It seems like it might be a pretty big one, so that’s super fun and neat. As of right now he’s shoe-less because it’s come out right at his toe, which would be under a shoe. We’ll re-assess next week and see if we feel like the abscess is resolved so that he can get a shoe back on. As of this point he’s been without for about 3 weeks so what’s another one, really. (if it sounds like I have given up, you would be correct)
His new custom-fitted loaner saddle did arrive from France though, so whenever he decides to get with the program and rejoin the riding squad, we’ll be in business.
Presto had a little bit of a light week after my two jump lessons at the end of July, mainly hacking and doing flatwork while my trainer was out of town. Then he was back to training rides to start to prepare for his two shows in August.
earning his keep
I will say that for as much as I really love riding him and reaaaaaaaaally am itching to have the ride back, this summer of basically full training has been really transformative for him. I think it’s also helped Trainer get to know him really really well, and find lots of little holes to fill. You just get a lot more information riding the horse multiple times a week and showing it vs watching someone else ride it or riding it every so often. She’s also been able to help him figure some things out way way faster than I would have. I think it’s been super good for him and a really worthwhile spend of time and money as far as his development and his future. He’s a little bit tricky in that he can be really emotional and dramatic and over-reactive (literally if I had a dollar for every time someone has called him “dramatic” in his life, he’d prob be pretty well funded), so we’re at the point where guiding him through his big feelings is the key. He needs for everything to be calm but very clear, very black and white, and confidence-building.
This past weekend he ran the Prelim with her at Ocala, and he was honestly pretty foot-perfect start to finish. No dramatics, no excuses, he just went and did his job like a wholeass grownup.
on his way to a 26
She thought there were a couple moments in showjumping where he could have been a touch more submissive (story of his life, is it not), but it’s for sure markedly better and continuing to improve.
the Prelim looks small after his 1.20m WEC adventure
We’ve backed him all the way down to a basic snaffle and taken the running martingale off. She felt like at the moment if he feels any kind of restriction he wants to fight it, which mostly just causes him to drop behind the leg a bit and hollow out behind the saddle. That’s the opposite of helpful really. There could be a time when we put it back on, but for now she thinks he needs to be a bit more rideable in general and better about staying genuinely between the leg and hand and thinking forward. He seems to be going just fine for both jumping phases in his very plain set-up. He’s the kind of horse where, if anything, he could be a little sharper off the aids (he’s def not a lazy kick ride but he’s also not really TAKING you places as much as he kinda needs to be at this point) so having him in a very simple setup does seem to make him more inclined.
cruisin.
He finished in third in a big competitive open Prelim division, adding some time to his dressage score. It was a very warm and humid day, he ran XC at noon, and he’s running again this weekend at Bouckaert, so speed was not a priority. Mostly we were looking for rideability, straightness, and him wanting to take her to the fences. She did ask him to pick it up a bit on a couple of the long stretches though, and he obliged. I think his gallop is getting better too – more balanced and carrying.
he was having fun I think
Another thing we’ve worked on over the past couple months is increasing his strength and fitness, which (while challenging to do in Florida in the summer) is starting to pay off I think. He was definitely hot when he was done, but he cooled down quickly and didn’t seem particularly tired afterward.
She was really happy with him in all three phases, he earned a gold star and lots of cookies for the weekend.
Presto had yesterday off and will hack today and tomorrow, then get a really light jump school on Thursday when I drop him off at Trainer’s barn. They’ll haul him up to Bouckaert on Friday and I’ll make a quick trip up there to see him go this weekend. We’re all hoping he’ll decide to be a well-behaved creature so that I can have the ride back as we head into fall. Fingers crossed he makes good choices… you just never really know with him sometimes.
I do think he’s looking REALLY incredible though, like the changes in his body and his strength and how he’s carrying himself over past year are pretty phenomenal. Heck, even over the past 6 months really. Is it the training program? The fact that he’s 8 now? Probably both. It takes such a long time for horses to build up their bodies and mature as they come up the levels, and he’s such a big horse. But man, he’s really starting to look like the real deal. It almost makes me wish I had Owner Money so we could find out what he was really capable of. Alas, I want the ride back. Gimme gimme.
In other news, things with the 2yos are getting pretty serious.
Andy
Rue
They’ve worn saddles a few times now, and Andy has done a little bit of very very light walk/trot lunging with his. Rue is a little bit behind him, so she’s mostly learning how to pay attention and be still (Andy LOVES being still, it’s his favorite) but they’ve both been champs about the saddle. Next will be bridles!
Next week Studbook sBs will be here inspecting the 2025 babies, and then after that we’re already getting close to weaning time.
Lily ❤
Hopefully we’ll get some good pics of the foals to share before they start getting into that weird growth stage and aren’t cute again for possibly years.
Fingers crossed Bouckaert goes well this weekend, and I hope everyone is surviving the swampass part of summer!
Posting on a Friday night feels like a real Better Late Than Never situation, but ya know… better late than never?
has never been late, because the party doesn’t start until he walks in (Kesha reference)
When I last posted, Presto had completed his first week of showing at WEC and was gearing up for his second (and Praise Be for my wallet – final) week. Originally we’d discussed me showing him the second week in the 1.10m and 1.15, but 1) I hadn’t actually jumped him since the first week of June, 2) there were still some things to work on and play with. So for week 2 he was entered with Ellie for the 1.15m on Thursday and the 1.20m on Friday.
Yup, you’re reading that right – the 1.20m. Had he ever jumped a full course that big before? Def not at a show. I don’t really think at home either. But meh. She had two more horses in the class and he certainly wasn’t challenged at 1.15m, so why not (very easy to say when it wasn’t me riding – I would’ve shat my tan knee patch Jumperland breeches). For anyone keeping track, 1.10m is Prelim SJ height, 1.15m is Intermediate height, and 1.20m is Advanced height. I was kind of excited to see him jump around some bigger jumps since he’s literally never looked challenged at anything he’s met so far in his entire life.
Casual McBoy
Thursday’s class was the 1.15m power and speed, where he jumped clear. He was def more opinionated and cocky in the warmup than he’d been Week 1 (I kinda figured he might be, sometimes when things are new he’s sufficiently intimidated enough to tone it down, and then once he’s comfortable he ramps back up to full-on Presto) but he went in the ring and was quite reasonable. She rode him more forward this week, and while our event horses will never go in there and gallop and turn and slice and dice the way the real Jumperland people do, he still managed a 7th place ribbon by the time all was said and done. You can bet I made a point to grab that ribbon too, it was expensive AF. I will be taking that, thank you.
On Friday the 1.20m didn’t go until the afternoon and it was HOT. The indoors have A/C, but lemme tell ya… the giant paved parking lot that is ship-in parking and the long walk on pavement all the way back to Indoor 6 was an absolute Roast Fest. Presto had to stand and wait a little while for Ellie to be done with her first horse before she got on him, but he was content to watch the horses in the ring and only tried to pull down the plastic barricade with his teeth twice.
He warmed up alright despite almost getting absolutely run over a couple different times, which he very much is not a fan of. He looked a little bit quieter in general than he had the day before, but jazzed right up as soon as he went in the ring. We’d taken off the running martingale this week, so he was just in a single joint loose ring, and he was definitely taking her more forward (in a good way).
dare i say he… was trying? a little?
He was actually super in the ring. Slightly less rideable, she said, but he was going forward and he was committed. And for the first time ever in his life, I think he had to give a little bit of effort. We both agreed it still wasn’t a lot of effort on his part, but it was SOME. He did have a rail at a vertical about halfway through, he just wasn’t careful enough with a front toe, and then he got slightly distracted by the jump crew on the way to the one stride which resulted in him cramming two strides in. Honestly I was kind of delighted by that, because even when that happened he never stopped going forward. I feel like he learns more from stuff like that than when it all just goes perfectly. I am literally never going to ride him perfectly.
by this point he was back to sort-of trying
I was really hoping the show photographer would get a good pic or two but alas I didn’t think any of them were good enough to spend $60 on. I did spend the $20 on the video from the 1.20m class though, which is up on the Patreon member dashboard.
Overall we thought it was a really productive couple of weeks for Presto. Ellie got to experiment with a few little tweaks for how to ride courses on him, and came away with good feedback for me, which we started implementing this week in my lessons. And he feels more educated, more confident, and like he just kinda… grew up a little bit. An expensive two weeks but I think we got exactly what we were hoping for out of it.
ilysm
I had two jump lessons on him this week and then next week he’ll resume some training rides in prep for Ellie to take him to Ocala and Bouckaert in August.
In Rubes news, he was going really well, and even jumped his first little 2’6″ line.
was losing my phone down into my crotch
Buuuuuut now I think he’s trying to brew an abscess. SIGH. His feet and Florida are not a match made in heaven. But I did tag along with a friend to her lesson last weekend and let Rubes just loiter and see the sights. He was really good actually, and kept it together. That’s something productive at least.
his first mirror selfie
Hopefully we can fix the latest footie owwie soon and get him going yet again. It’s been a little bit of two steps forward, three steps back with his progress, and through no real fault of his own.
Henry’s also been having a little bit of downtime because it was legitimately just HOT AS ACTUAL HELL here last week and for most of this week. He doesn’t sweat well and I always hesitate to ride him on the super hot days because I don’t want to essentially “pre-heat” him for the day ahead. It’s hard enough to keep him comfortable in the afternoon. Although he got a new misting fan and has been considerably more comfortable with that. It makes a swampy mess, but he’s happy, so…
delighted dolphin
I think it might be cool enough over the next few mornings to ride him at least lightly. We’ll see.
Last but not least, I did a little bit of a rebranding for my business. The past couple years have kind of taken me more away from the data side of things and into the writing side, so I thought it was time to recalibrate and refresh to put it more in alignment with what I spend most of my time doing these days. New name, new logo, new focus.
The website is up at theriddenword.com and Instagram is riddenwordmedia. Still working on setting up the facebook page, but otherwise it’s done. There’s lots of stuff on the portfolio page if you know anyone or a business that might be in need of my services! (we gotta pay these show bills somehow and I’m definitely too old for OnlyFans)
breedrideevent.com 