Author: Amanda C

On Monday I’m driving into the barn and see 3 of the 4 boys grazing close together in one corner of the field. Mine was not among them, which was weird, so I start scanning the pasture and see him standing up by the mare’s paddock. As I get out of my truck I see that his sheet looks like it’s flipped up on his shoulders. As I start walking up the barn I realize “Oh shit, he’s actually tangled in it” and take off running.

I have no idea how he did this but he managed to flip the whole sheet upside down, got stuck in it, tore 3 different holes, ripped off all the straps, and got his hind foot wrapped up in the binding. He was standing in his pasture with his neck basically hogtied to his hind pastern.

Luckily he was standing very quietly and just looked at me like “HEEEELLLP!!!” as I tried to figure out the best way to free him. Once I got him untangled I could tell he was freaked out, but luckily he didn’t even leave a mark on himself and trotted out sound. Thank goodness he didn’t struggle. That could have ended really badly.

The trouble horses can get themselves into…

And yes, the sheet is definitely ruined beyond all reasonable repair, the entire back half is basically shredded. Add it to the list of items that are ding-dong-dead.

Last week while I was getting ready to leave the barn I pulled my phone out of my pocket and saw a missed call and voicemail from Sadie’s lessee, Michelle. Like most horse people, when I see a voicemail from someone who cares for one of my horses, my heart immediately skips a few beats.

I hit play and my ear was immediately assaulted by very very loud baby horse screams. Lots of them. Very high pitched. On and on and on. Then I hear Michelle’s voice say “Just thought I’d involve you in the weaning process…” and just about died. Most hilarious voice mail ever. Well, at least for someone who has been through the weaning process before and knows how annoying those sad baby horse screams can get. She also texted me this video of poor baby Merlin being Very Pissed Off about the loss of his milkbar. His new 2yo friend is a poor substitute, he says.

Ah, weaning. Fun times. But now that Merlin is officially weaned and Sadie is spending her evenings in the barn under lights, that means it’s almost time for the fun to begin. That’s right – breeding season is just around the corner. The idea is to start early because a) this will be the first time using frozen on Sadie so we want to make sure we have plenty of time for multiple attempts, if necessary b) it’s Texas, we can start early.

When Sadie’s dam was bred (in 2006… oh my god has it been 10 years of this already?) I picked out a name before Sadie was even conceived. Well, a registered name at least. She was Westbound before she even existed. I had the barn names narrowed down before she was born – Stella or Sadie for a filly, Bodie for a colt. I’m one of those super weird people that want the name to have something to do with at least one parent, and the barn name has to have some relevance to the registered name. Her sire was Westporte, she became Westbound, and the potential barn names all had something to do with the Wild West.

So of course it makes sense then that I’m getting pre-excited about the as yet non-existent Mighty Magic embryo. I’ve been jotting down potential registered names and barn names for months now, because what else does a crazy horse person daydream about?

               Mighty Love WTW 

               Magico WTW – barn name Mago (Mah-go).

               Magic Word WTW- barn name Presto, obviously!

               Magique WTW – barn name Magie (french word for magic, since Mighty Magic stands in                France. It’s pronounced like Majie. Yes I’m overthinking this.)

And then the Potter Nerd in me takes over and starts screaming things like Mighty Marauder! Malfoy!  McGonagall! Magic Quill! Mighty Gryffindor! Mighty Sirius (haha see what I did there?)!

It is surprisingly difficult to come up with an M name that I like. Granted, you can put Mighty in front of just about anything and make it work. Good thing I’ve got over a year to think about it.

 

On Saturday Bobby and I loaded up ‘da boys and headed to meet our trainer a couple hours away for an XC school.

With all the rain we’ve gotten lately we haven’t been able to ride much at home aside from road hacks, so I thought Henry might be a nut. Plus a cold front had just blown in. Plus we were supposed to school a lot of Training fences. I thought I might die. Or pee my pants a few times at the very least, because for some reason I think the Training ramp at this place looks freaking ginormous. I’m in this really weird stage where Novice looks tiny but some of Training still looks a little bit Kill-You-Dead.

Henry warmed up a little bit “full-on retard” but once we started jumping he was game on. I’m struggling with trusting him to the bigger fences and always want to override it the first time, which of course just messes up the distance. That was kind of the theme of the day… mess it up the first time, get it right the second time. We desperately need to school (or uh… just be able to ride, thankyouverymuch El Nino) more often. He’s super game, I just need to let him do his job. When I manage that, it all works out fine.

The offset Training feeders were hard, because the footing was still deep and a little slick over there and the approach makes it hard to line them up. I always feel like Henry is going to fall on his head. Graceful and coordinated, he is not. After a couple of stupid rides on my part, we finally made it work. Mostly because he is Good Pony. The good news is, those feeders looked so big a few months ago, but not anymore.

Then we went to jump the same stupid ditch he’s jumped a thousand times and his brain fell apart until Halo finally led him over, so Henry sat out the next couple fences while the hamsters repaired his brain cells. Once he was re-brained we jumped the Training/Prelim tiki hut (which also used to look big to me and now looks just fine) to another weird massive ditchy thing that of course he didn’t even blink at, because why would he ever be logical? Those both rode great, as did the Training water.

Then we hopped up and down a bank, then down the double banks, then did a little Prelim skinny, all of which Henry was great about.

What I really took away from the day is that this horse is a lot more capable than I give him credit for. For some reason it’s in my head that he can’t make it over the bigger fences if I biff the distance, so then I inevitably override it and – of course – end up biffing the distance. But every time that happened, he had no problem making it over, so really, I learned that I can just stop worrying about it. Pony has enough hops for this, he just needs for me to stop riding him like a monkey. I like it when the mistakes end up being the most educational part… and I didn’t even pee my pants once.

 

It’s looking like I’ll be back at AETA again at the end of the month! I had tons of fun last year, fondling all the pretty things I can’t afford.

For those who don’t know, basically AETA’s trade show is where tons of vendors bring in their merchandise for retailers to come look at and order for their stores. Last year was pretty fun because I got to see a lot of the Spring and Fall collections well before they came out, not to mention being able to feel and touch (and sometimes try on, seriously I’m pretty sure I tried on everything Asmar makes) all the different products. It’s a dangerous place for a tack ho, but it’s also pretty heavenly.

Here’s the exhibitor list… if there’s anything in particular you want me to look at or look for, let me know and I’ll do my best to squeeze it in with my actual duties.

And Philly people, if you have any interest in a quick meet-up (maybe dinner or something?) let me know!

Unrelated side note: Hamer and Clay is now on Instagram! Go give her a follow.

 

That’s right, not even one week into the new year and I can already check off a goal – a truck has been purchased.

I really didn’t plan on buying one for another month or two, but on New Years Eve my Pontiac (the relic that she is) started making quite a magnificent sound. Imagine if a family of gnomes were trying desperately to claw their way out from under the hood… that’s the noise. The issue is basically catastrophic so the Pontiac has been sitting in my work parking lot ever since, and I went into emergency truck buying mode.

After a whirlwind of pre-approvals, internet scouring, approximately 5 bajillion phone calls, and running through Plans A, B, and C… here we are. Luckily I found a 2011 Titan in my price range with only 48k miles a mere 3 hours away in Houston. She is super super basic – her most noteworthy features are cupholders and a radio that works – but she’s in good shape, can get me around, and can very very easily pull my trailer.

First purchase for the truck? A new USEA magnet that isn’t all janky looking like my current one. It was $1.50 shipped and should be here in a few days. Big spender. Then she got some Husky all weather floor mats (because my life is muddy). Tomorrow she’s getting a new, beefier hitch installed. It’s not as exciting buying car stuff as it is buying horse stuff.

What I really want, eventually, is an air mattress and truck tent for the bed, so I can camp at shows instead of paying for hotel. As long as it’s not 40 degrees or 100 degrees, I’d be 100% down for that. Then I could park and sleep wherever I wanted!

The only thing I can’t settle on is a name, I’m still mulling that over. First I thought Freedom – because that’s exactly what she represents for me, but it’s a little cheesy. Then I thought Guinevere (which means “the white enchantress”) because that’s one of the first songs that came on the radio when I was driving her home. But then again, maybe I should stick with the Black Betty/Betty White theme and call her Bea. Or so I thought, until Google told me that Bea Arthur didn’t actually like Betty White and now I’m feeling all superstitious about it. So uh… maybe Rue?

Tough decisions, y’all… tough decisions. But I’m SO EXCITED to FINALLY have a truck!