Author: Amanda C

To fill the other day of our unexpectedly-empty-thanks-to-show-cancellation weekend, we had a jump lesson! Trainer is coming more regularly to a farm about an hour from us, which is logistically a lot easier than our normal 2 hours each way drive to get to her place. Anytime she comes that close, I will definitely make sure that I’m there. Jump lessons haven’t been a thing that happens very regularly for us in the past several years, but they really need to. Because, uh… Exhibit A:

Boy did Henry have a bit of a wild hair up his butt on Sunday. To be fair, he hadn’t jumped since our XC school a week and a half before, so he was still kind of in his ballsy swagger XC mode. Which, as evidenced above, does not work well when I ask him to get quietly to the base. It was also really cold, and he had a very easy day the day before. He was quite rude for his first few jumps, for Henry anyway. I tried last time to put my curb chain on the hackamore to give me a little more brakes than the plain leather strap I currently have, but the PS of Sweden hackamore shanks are so wide that I couldn’t find a chain that adjusted small enough to come anywhere near being workable. I ended up ordering a miniature horse size curb chain, which should be here this week. I think that one will fit. Hopefully.

Anyway, after annihilating a couple fences, one his fault, one very much my fault (heeeeey, pro tip, do not change your mind about the distance 45 times in the last 3 strides before a swedish oxer), we started to get our shit together a bit.

At this height, Henry has a bit of a hard time jumping clear. He doesn’t really give a shit if he hits a rail, and we’re nearing the top of his scope. Any little thing I do with my seat, hands, or especially my body has a big impact on whether or not he jumps cleanly. Seriously, even if I just soften my shoulders an INCH at the takeoff, it can mean a rail. On one hand, this is great. I rarely get away with mistakes, so I’m really accountable for them, and that’s how we learn. If you want to be a student of the horse, he’s a great teacher. On the other hand, do you have any idea how hard it is to try to be THAT GOOD all the time? It’s literally impossible. At least for this very amateur rider. And sometimes that’s frustrating.

When I start feeling like that, I try to remember that in a couple years I’ll be sitting a horse where just getting from one side of the fence to the other in a semi-straight line will be the banner accomplishment for the day. Henry is giving me a great gift right now by teaching me the importance of detail and finesse, and I have to appreciate it for what it is. I know without a doubt that’s he’s making me better. I’m accountable for everything I do, every little move I make, and I’m instantly aware when I make a mistake. Some days that just kind of ends up feeling like I make a hell of a lot of mistakes and I’m a walking disaster. Other days it feels like I can actually use those mistakes to make improvements and move forward.

I always struggle a bit with keeping my upper body back enough at the base to help Henry come off the ground, especially when we get a close distance. He’s a downhill horse, not particularly powerful, and he really does need me to do everything right in order for him to jump well out of a deep distance. That little teeny minuscule softening of the shoulder, dropping them just a hair, makes a big impact on his balance as he leaves the ground. Trainer made a new suggestion – instead of thinking “shoulders back” to the base, instead think of keeping my chin up all the way to and over and jump. Just that little movement raises my shoulders the 1″ that Henry needed in order to be able to get his front end out of the way, without changing what I’m doing with my seat.

It’s such a miniscule thing, such a teeny tiny ridiculous detail. Chin up at the base? Really? Yet it worked. When I actively thought about raising my chin, he was able to get his front end out of the way a lot more quickly and efficiently. Add that to the list of 1000 other things I’m trying to remember on course.

Riding is hard y’all, and it just keeps getting harder. I kinda live in a world where “the more you know, the more you don’t know” is my constant reality. It’s funny, because it’s so easy to look at riders showing at levels higher than you and think that they must have it all figured out. I remember when I was running BN and thinking those Training riders sure must be a hell of a lot better at all this than I was. And when I was running Training I was thinking that those Prelim riders for sure were several steps ahead of me, they must not make very many mistakes, right? Truth is, we’re all making mistakes constantly. Things get better with work and time, as they do of course, but at the end of the day we’re all in the same boat, just trying to learn and do the best we can.

Gosh the process is fun, though. Humbling, and frustrating sometimes, but fun none-the-less.

 

 

This past weekend was supposed to be our second Prelim, but some rain late in the week made the already saturated ground at the show venue pretty unrideable. They opted to cancel the show, which I was 100% ok with. I don’t want to tear up the footing at Pine Hill, nor do I want to try to run Prelim in the mud. But the cancellation left us with an unexpectedly open weekend, which translated to a lot of barn time.

While it was sunny, the weather was far from pleasant. There was a steady 20-30mph wind with gusts up to 40mph, not COLD but cold enough to make you question all your life choices as soon as you stepped outside and almost got bodyslammed into your house by the wind. Welcome to Texas winter. I knew there was no point in even trying to have a serious ride with Henry, so I opted to pony Presto and we went for a long walk in the fields instead.

Presto has kind of mastered the art of his sass at this point, and with all the wind on Saturday he was a little wild on top of it. He kept bouncing into Henry and trying to lick/bite him, earning himself a boot in the ribs and a couple whacks with the lead rope. Henry still wasn’t having it and took matters into his own hands (teeth?), putting the kibosh on the squirmy colt. Luckily for all of us it doesn’t take much to kill Presto’s hopes and dreams. He gives up pretty quickly once Henry decides he’s had enough.

Little colt is starting to look chunky again (for him anyway) so I’m relatively certain that he’s gearing up for another hideous growth spurt. Slow your roll, kid.

After a lap around the big hilly field, we went over to the other field where all the jumps are set up. Or rather… were set up. The wind had already knocked half of them down by that point, and now 2 of our 3 barrels are nestled up to a fenceline across the muddy bog of a corn field. But hey, where there were half-demolished jumps, there was also opportunity. I decided to test our ponying skills and see if I could get Presto over the little gate.

First time over, trotting:

And then cantering:

And then I decided to see what he thought of the tire tracks that were full of water. It was kinda like little ditches.

He already understands the “go over stuff” game pretty well, it’s kind of cute. I think he likes it. He’s starting to get more clever about where he puts his feet, too, and how to get across things.

Which… I was lunging him on Wednesday, working on his voice commands/transitions, and I stopped paying attention to him for like 2 seconds to talk to the barn worker. Damn horse veered out on his circle and jumped the mounting block! What the??? PRESTO! I’m infinitely sad that I didn’t get that on video though. The expression on the barn worker’s face was priceless, and soon we were both doubled over laughing. I guess he likes to jump?

After we came in from the field we decided to try turning Presto out with Dobby to see how they got along. Once Inca goes home and Presto is gelded, I’d like for these two dorks to be pasturemates. I think they’d get along well and have some fun, since they’re both young and silly. Presto is still VERY submissive to adult horses, and kind of a huge freaking wimp, honestly. He definitely wants to play, but as soon as they so much as look at him funny Presto crouches down, lowering his front end and making the chompy submissive baby face. He’s gotta get a little braver.

Dobby is usually turned out with Inca, who is the undisputed queen of their little hierarchy. As soon as we put him out with Presto he sensed that this one was an easy mark, and Dobby asserted himself as leader right off the bat, with just the simple pinning of his ears. That’s all it took for Presto to skitter away.

Presto never really got brave enough to play with him, he mostly just followed him around like a nerdy little kid trails their cool older brother. He wanted to do everything Dobby was doing, even though he wasn’t actually brave enough to get up there and interact with him. Hillary was playing with Dobby a bit, jogging around the arena with Dobby trotting behind her. Presto was always the caboose, trailing a bit behind. He wanted desperately to be a part of whatever Dobby was doing.

By the end of their “play date” he was brave enough to at least stand near Dobby without immediately offering a submissive pose, so that’s a step. I think once he gets used to him and turned out with him every day, he’ll get a little braver and start to play. Presto needs more horse interaction, after spending the last 10 months living with donkeys and otherwise really only experiencing Dictator Henry (Henry is not nice). Soon, kiddo, soon.

Presto’s snip-snip appointment is scheduled for Thursday. The weather isn’t quite what I was hoping to get, with rain predicted on Saturday and highs in the low 60’s, but at this point I think it’s the best we can do and I don’t want to delay it any longer. Hopefully the rain/mud stays away and the bugs aren’t too bad. I’m nervous about the whole thing, honestly.  I have a lot of emotional baggage with this horse and medical-related things, given his history. Hopefully everything goes well, and in a few weeks he can start going out with his new BFF Dobby!

No, I didn’t buy a new horse. I’m too broke for that. But Bobby has been looking for a few months now for his next “forever” horse, the one that will eventually step up and fill Halo’s shoes. It was a tough one, because Bobby and Halo have been a team for over a decade. He molded the horse from a wee baby OTTB to an AEC Champion, and in that time he hasn’t ridden many other horses, bought any others, or even been a close spectator to very many sales. He is, understandably, very comfortable with Halo, and the idea of buying and owning something different was daunting.

But Halo is now in his late teens, and it’s getting to be time to add a baby brother into the mix. Bobby tried several horses, some which he loved, some which he liked, some which he hated. For various reasons, none of them were The One. Still, Hillary and I talked him into going to sit on anything that was nearby that sounded even remotely promising, because I felt like the more horses he sat on, the more he’d get a very clear idea of exactly what he wanted and needed. He started out thinking he needed one thing, but after a few rides it became clear that maybe he really wanted/needed something a little different. What he flat out refused to do, very adamantly, was consider buying one sight unseen. He wants to feel a connection with whatever he buys, which I get, but… Texas isn’t exactly a land overflowing with tons of promising young event prospects. It’s a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack, especially if you want one that’s sound and has a great brain.

So we looked, and we rode, and we looked some more. When Hillary and I were in Dallas for the Phillip Dutton clinic we went up and I tried another one for him, nixing it immediately. The problem with a lot of the restarted OTTB’s that we were looking at was that some of them were not restarted in a way that was beneficial to Bobby’s end goal. Some had gaping holes that would take a long time to go back and fix. We kept combing the ads, messaging sellers, and asking questions. I love Bobby and I want him to have a horse that he loves and that he can have fun with, but one that is also talented enough to do whatever he wants it to do. He doesn’t need a plodder, he just needs something with a good brain.

And then Jess Redman posted the perfect candidate.

For those who don’t know Jess Redman, she’s an OTTB reseller. She sells a ton of nice horses every year, and I know several people that have purchased from her. She has a good eye for a prospect and is honest about their strengths/weaknesses, so for someone who isn’t comfortable buying straight from the track or doesn’t have an “in” to that world, she’s a great source. You get to see what the horses are like away from the track, see them ridden w/t/c and even over their first few jumps. She takes tons of pictures and videos. She’s able to assess their temperament and get an idea of what they’d be good at. For Bobby, all of that is really important, and why he didn’t want to buy one directly off the track.

Only problem? She’s in freaking Delaware. 1,600 miles away.

Extra complication on that problem? She sells the good ones so fast, you’re unlikely to have time to arrange a trip up there to try one in person without it getting sold before you arrive.

There was no freaking way we were going to talk Bobby into this horse, right? And then Jess posted an update on her facebook.

I admit, as soon as she described him as a “gate licker” (her term for that derpy quiet amateur type horse who is probably standing there licking the gate while the rest of his idiot friends are running laps in the field), I was sold. As the owner of a couple Gate Lickers myself, I appreciate that kind of brain. Then I opened the video and watched as she flopped around on him, waving her hands around in the air, and he just kept on trotting like “well that’s an odd way to ride, but ok”. On his 3rd ride post track. In the freezing cold. After a week off.

THIS was Bobby’s horse.

Hillary and I had to work a little bit (and trust me we are zero percent subtle) to sell the idea to Bobby. After all, it would mean buying him sight unseen. Jess’s post and video were quickly spreading across facebook, and it seemed like everyone was quickly falling in love with this horse. I had no doubt in my mind that he would definitely sell within the next 24 hours. We convinced Bobby to watch the video, and then watch it again, and then read everything in the description carefully. There was no doubt that this one seemed absolutely perfect. Even Bobby couldn’t deny that this was by far the most promising one we’d seen. So he called Jess and talked to her more about him, and next thing you knew he had a PPE scheduled for the next day. I think we all felt that this one was special… including the huge wait list of people that were next in line if Bobby decided to pass.

The vetting was stressful, as all vettings are.

Ultimately though, Cannavaro looked really good for a horse that was just a few weeks off the track. We all talked about the results amongst ourselves, and with Trainer, and Bobby talked with the vet. Cannavaro would benefit from a couple months to chill and let his body heal from the stresses of the track, as they all do, but there was definitely nothing major or show-stopping. He was good to go for his next career.

I won’t lie, there was a lot of hyperventilating in our group chat that day. Ultimately though, Bobby’s gut told him that this horse was the one, and he took a leap of faith.

That’s really adorable, admit it. I think we’re all excited about this one. Also, this is a genius way to rack up those AmEx points. Buy the horse, pay it off immediately, cash in the points… genius.

Jess was super efficient and had the shipper booked immediately, lucking into an already scheduled load that was headed south. So on Wednesday we sent the horse’s ad to Bobby, on Thursday he was PPE’d, and on Friday the shipper picked him up. That’s how you do it, folks!

The shipper’s experience with the horse so far has totally meshed with Jess’s assessment:

So hopefully Cannavaro will get here by tomorrow, and Bobby will get to meet his new baby, Halo’s “little brother”. And yes, they even do share a little bit in common pedigree wise, both being Seattle Slew descendants – Cannavaro via his sire First Defence, and Halo via his damsire Tsunami Slew.

In the mean time Bobby has been doing what one does upon buying a new horse, and geeking out about all the things he’ll need when he gets here. I went searching and found the video of Cannavaro’s only win, in a Maiden Claimer last November. He wasn’t much of a racehorse overall, but hey… he did win once!

I’m over here feeling like the excited but nervous Auntie, waiting for him to arrive so Bobby can get to know him. I can’t wait to see Cannavaro figure out his new life, and blossom, and learn what eventing is all about. I LOVE this part of OTTB’s… they’re little sponges in that first 6-12 months post-track, and it’s so rewarding to see them change physically and mentally as they settle into their new life. Bobby is a great rider, so it will be really fun to see their relationship form and get to watch him bring along his next horse. I think we finally found one worthy of filling Halo’s shoes (and, uh, maybe being a little less spooky in the process!).

So to celebrate, I thought we should have a little “Welcome to the Family” contest.

As I mentioned above, the process of this horse’s purchase was mostly hashed out via a group chat. And as you can also see from the above sample, Bobby REALLY likes exclamation marks. Especially when you get him amped up. So I threw together a little prize package and decided to make this really simple:

Guess how many exclamation marks Bobby used in our group chat in the 24-ish hour period between when I first sent him the horse’s ad and when he actually purchased the horse? 

Easy peasy! If no one guesses the exact number, I will go with whoever is closest. In the event of a tiebreaker I might ask you to also guess how many expletives were used by Bobby in that same time period. I doubt it’ll come to that though. As usual, please remember to leave your full name and/or blog link and/or email with your comment so that I know who to contact if you win.

Here’s the prize package! The black polka dot stock tie (from Sweet Iron Co, an Australian brand) is to represent the dot on Bobby’s aforementioned never-ending exclamation marks. The Likit is a nod to Cannavaro’s “Gate Licker” reputation. The Impossipuzzle (unicorn, space, and donut themed, naturally) is because that’s exactly what finding a new horse for Bobby felt like sometimes… an impossible puzzle. And the Unicorn Popper, because duh, Cannavaro is a unicorn.

Good luck with your guesses and welcome to the family Cannavaro!

After Henry and I finished our first Prelim, someone commented that it must feel even sweeter since I was on a self-made horse. At first I was like “Yeah you’re so right” and then I kind of fell down the rabbit hole of overthinking, as one does, and realized it’s not really that simple. What does “self-made” mean, really? And does it matter? Is there really a greater sense of pride to be found in making up your own horse versus buying one that is already going?

First I would argue that to some people, Henry is not self-made. It depends on what your definition is. By the time I came upon him he was a brain-fried pasture puff, sure, but he had jumped before I bought him. And while yes I have taken him up the levels from BN to Prelim, my Trainer has ridden him some too. She’s probably got a cumulative 20 rides on him over the last 4 years, and she ran him in his first two Training level events because I really wanted him to have positive experiences. Those were the right things for him and I regret none of it. It’s true that I’ve put 99.9% of the work into him myself, but still – I’ve had help. To some people that means he isn’t self-made, and honestly the term kind of makes me feel like it doesn’t give credit to all the support and help that I’ve had. Success doesn’t happen on your own, it takes a village, and I think it’s important to acknowledge that. There is no “self” when it comes to producing a good horse.

Secondly – what is the value in “self-made”, if any? Does that make one person’s accomplishment more or better than someone else’s? To me – hell freaking no! To be totally honest I’m much more comfortable with the idea of buying a green horse and bringing it up through the levels than I am with buying a nice upper level horse that someone else has produced. To me that sounds daunting, and seems like a lot of pressure learning to ride a horse like that, trying to do it justice. I think I’d constantly be worried about breaking it, or doing a really crappy job compared to the rider it had before. I would probably be mortified by any mistakes. Many props to the riders that can do that, because it seems incredibly intimidating. For me personally it’s less pressure and more fun to bring up a greener one, where there are no expectations floating around. I enjoy the process, to which there are pros and cons. At the same time I don’t blame someone for wanting to take a different approach. Having a more educated horse to show you the way can be completely invaluable when it comes to learning and bettering ones skills as a rider, and that’s an opportunity that shouldn’t be passed by.

I don’t think that accomplishments on self-made horses are any less than accomplishments on purchased horses. I think they’re two roads, both full of potholes and roundabouts and construction zones, coming from different directions but ultimately ending up in the same place. I know how hard Prelim is for the average amateur, no matter what you’re sitting on, and I would feel like a real asshole if I tried to belittle someone else’s success just because they got there a different way than I did. It’s a lot of work, no matter what road you take to get there.

I think what makes me most uncomfortable with the term “self-made” is that it denotes a sense of pride. Pride is a really dangerous thing when it comes to horses. A healthy amount of pride is fine, I think… like I am insanely proud of Henry and what a good boy he is. But too much pride can quickly bleed over into selfishness and egotism, and IMO that’s where people get into trouble. We’ve all seen it; people that are too protective of their egos to ask for help when they need it, or to do what’s best for the horse. That’s where people get hurt and/or ruin good horses. To me the most valuable quality in an equestrian is the ability to do what they feel is right for their horses, regardless of ego, pride, or the opinions of others. That’s a true horseman, whether it means they’re self-made or not.

How many times have we seen people’s accomplishments belittled because they buy a “made” horse? How many times have we seen people judged because they choose to send their talented young horse to a professional for a while? I’ve been guilty of it at times too. The more I see and experience though, the more I realize that not all of us take the same path, and that’s okay. In fact, I would argue that it takes more selflessness, more courage, and more intelligence to admit when you need/want help, or that someone else could do a better job than you could, or to take on a horse that comes with high expectations.

I’m convinced that there is no one right way, or best way. The way I’ve done things doesn’t make me better or my accomplishments more. They are horses, after all, and we are human, and we’re all on the same journey. What matters most in the end is being honest with yourself, doing what’s best for your horse, and what makes the most sense for your current situation as well as for your future. If you’ve done that, in my book you’re successful by default. The rest, as I see it, is just noise.

What do you think?