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Yay, another new baby! I gave y’all a couple sneak peek pictures this week because he’s just too cute to keep under wraps for 5 whole days, but now he finally gets his official introductory post. Say hello to Patrick WTW!

If you didn’t squee at him already then you need to check yourself. This is high quality, top end squee material, this colt. Obviously he will go gray, and his little gray eyeliner and gray nose are just too much.

As a reminder in case it’s hard to keep track (because it is hard to keep track) this cutie is by Faustino de Tili (1.60m showjumper) out of Chanel Z (1.40m showjumper), and born to surrogate mare Lark. She’s settling into the mom life and doing a good job, and it’s exciting to have the first WTW embryo transfer foal on the ground. Patrick is definitely a stunning colt and looks like he’s going to grow into a really nice horse – he’s got a gorgeous face and now that he’s starting to unfold a bit you can tell that he’s nicely put together.

Patrick (who has already picked up the nickname Pattycakes) hasn’t been out in the big pasture yet (hopefully next week once the rain clears up!) but Michelle was at least able to snap some pics of him hanging out in his paddock before the rain hit so we could get a good look at him. He’s definitely not as next-level spunky as Pippa (few are), but as he’s gotten more comfortable with his legs and steadier on his feet he’s looking really athletic for sure. He’s got super quick reflexes and can already ping off the ground pretty well, even in this smaller space.

What he’s particularly good at so far, though, is posing. I think he’s going to be this foal crop’s supermodel – he really knows where the camera is and knows how to work it. It’s pretty clear that he’s fully aware of how cute he is and isn’t shy about making sure it’s well captured on film. He’s gotta make sure we get every angle, since they’re all adorable. I mean, he is REALLY cute, he’s not wrong.

He’s also already starting to show some of his personality. The foals really do hit the ground with their own distinct personalities, and they become even more apparent over the first few days. Where Pippa is fiery, confident, and independent, Patrick is a little more sweet and cuddly, although still pretty darn confident. He’s definitely more of a “dude”, pretty typical for the colts, with a little more goofiness showing.

Of course, since he’s a colt he will be available for sale. I think Michelle is really crossing her fingers that the full sibling (that Chanel is carrying) will be a filly. We’ll see in a couple weeks! They’ll be fun to compare, either way.

For those wondering what Pippa is up to, we’ll have more pics of her next week, but of course she did have to make her presence known while Patrick was having his first glamour shots taken. Michelle looked over her shoulder and saw this.

She’s hilarious. Never a dull moment with that little firecracker, that’s for sure. Can’t wait to see how the dynamic unfolds once Pippa and Patrick meet! I have a feeling he’ll have his little hooves full with that one…

I don’t even think I can express how excited I am to go to Ocala. Partly because I want to see Presto and partly because my ass just hasn’t been anywhere since August 2019 and I am legit dying for a change of scenery. The wanderlust is intense. It’s just Florida, but… I will 100% take what I can get.

Of course the big reason for Bobby coming along with me was so that he could try horses. He’s been shopping for a while, and after some vetting issues and just plain old mismatches, he wasn’t having a ton of luck locally. We found some promising looking horses in Ocala so we booked the trip accordingly, started making plans, and lining up horses to try. Then… a twist. He looked at a horse a few weeks ago locally, absolutely loved it, vetted it, and made an appropriate offer according to the results and how the vet felt about it. The owners declined the offer, which was a bummer but okay totally fair. Then last week they came back and accepted Bobby’s offer, to his great delight, and a few days later – tada new horse! And it does seem like the perfect horse for him, he loves him, they’re off to a promising start.

But now of course there’s no need to look at horses in Ocala, since he just got one (and for some reason refuses to buy me one with all the leftover budget he had? Rude AF.). Okay, let’s pivot. What he doesn’t have is a lot of equipment for the new horse, and while Ocala isn’t dripping with tack shops they certainly have more than we do (we’ve got… Dover. Period.) AND there’s a dressage show going on at WEC this weekend, which should draw some vendors too. We can get all the stuff he needs in one fell swoop and have more variety than we do here, so it works. Plus, like, if I have one single talent in the entire world, it’s spending other people’s money. I was born for this job.

And I needed to hit some tack shops too, because I’d really like to find a new girth for my jump saddle for Henry but I’m so picky that buying them online hasn’t worked well for me. I settled on a synthetic memory foam girth for him last year and felt really meh about it, and it’s already looking worn and frayed at the edges.

I’d really like to find him a good soft, well-padded leather one if I can. I’m also starting to think about things like show pads for Presto, so if I found any good deals I could go for those too. We shall see. I also really wanted to get my eyeballs and hands on the Ikonic saddles that Tack Shack is carrying now, since I’ve never seen one in person yet. They might be an option for Presto’s next saddle (probably next year) if I like them. So, now we have a big priority to hit any and all tack shops, which is not exactly a hardship for me.

The original reason for the Ocala trip was to see Presto of course, and get a bit more video for his May futurity vlog. Right now all we’ve got is the video from early March, before he left for Ocala, and the video from his XC school last week. Plus I obviously really want to see him, especially in a big boy environment like Ocala. We’ve got lots of Presto plans for Sunday, and I’m pumped. We’ve also got to sit down and iron out the plan for him as far as YEH and the Futurity and figure out some events he can do. The schedule is kind of shit (there is only one recognized event in Texas after he gets home, and then no more until September, and no more YEH classes within a 12 hour drive either. Don’t get me started on the YEH schedule, it’s a rant you really don’t want.) so it’s gonna depend on how we can work out the traveling and coordinate with her schedule for her other horses.

In a slight change of plan for him though – he’s going to Kentucky next wee!. Megan is showing her 4* horse at Kentucky, and rather than drive 12 hours up to Kentucky with him, be gone for a week, and then drive back to Ocala, load all the horses up, and drive 17 hours back to Texas, it makes more sense to just take them all (there’s only 3-4, not that many) to Kentucky and then make the drive back to Texas from there. He’ll be staying at a farm near the horse park for the week, and I’m happy for him to continue his world tour. It’s extremely good for him to learn how to travel well and unload in new places and be able to settle and work, so I think it’s good experience. Plus, like… who wouldn’t want to go to Kentucky at the end of April? I’m jealous.

We have a couple more exciting things in our plan for Ocala, and I think I’m weaseling in a trip to see a stallion and some babies (because I always try to squeeze that in wherever we go) so I don’t think we’ll be short on things to do even though we’re no longer horse shopping. I’m ready… someone let me on the plane.

Y’all, I have some very important breaking midweek news that I think you need to see ASAP.

Patrick (the newest foal) has a serious ear situation. (or maybe a sEARious situation? ba dum tss I’m here all week)

Look at those things. He could take flight. They need their own zip code. And better yet, they’re pretty darn floppy and set wide to the sides. Absolute masterpiece ears, if you ask me. You’ll see them in their full glory on Friday but man… I didn’t think the world could go another day without seeing these things. Big floppy ears are my favorite accessory.

In other news, I’ve ridden Henry twice now this week and he’s felt great both times. Like… really great. Like… too great. If you’re into dolphins, boy do I have the theme park experience for you. It’s hot and humid enough to take a tiny bit of the wind out of his sails so he hasn’t been super spooky, but as soon as we start cantering he plants his nose between his knees and away we go to the dolphin rodeo. I find it endlessly hilarious, although yesterday he came awfully close to an actual buck before he changed his mind and tried to run off with me instead. Bless his heart, none of it is particularly athletic but he gets an A for effort and bonus points for making me laugh so hard I can’t breathe.

I’m definitely glad that his owwie foot seems to be resolved, I missed riding this ridiculous animal every day. Two weeks was too long, although I was really worried that we’d have another 2 month situation like last time and that would have sucked a whole lot more. The rest of the horses will be back from their winter in Florida next week, which means I’ll be able to start taking Henry places again (with only 2 horses on the property right now, leaving one behind alone isn’t really feasible), although we’ve only got another month or so before it gets so hot that he’ll start struggling. Maybe we can fit a few fun things in before it gets too bad.

I did leave the Magic Cushion packed in there for a little extra protection, and the farrier comes tomorrow.

I will say that don’t think having two weeks off has done any favors for his fitness or his fatness. Once I handed Presto off to Megan I had more time to ride Henry, so he’d finally been getting back up to a more normal routine and a little more strength and conditioning before this happened. Two weeks seems to have definitely taken a few steps back on his progress. It also might be time to slightly cut his food back again. It’s funny because every single winter I had this horse at a boarding barn, no matter which barn it was, he got ulcery and lost a lot of weight every winter. Both of the winters he’s been out here, he’s gained weight and had zero ulcer issues. It’s kind of hammered into me from all those years of boarding to be a little leery of backing off his feed too much, lest he suddenly drop weight again, but… after all the time he’s spent here I think it’s safe to say that isn’t going to happen. Even when the pasture is dried up and crispy, he’s stayed round. When he moved here I cut his grain in half, and now I think we can back down a bit more. At least until some of his food baby is gone. You have to admit it does kind of complete his overall mare look though…

This is the time of year where Michelle and I are constantly researching stallions and offspring, watching videos, and debating which stallions would go best with which mare. After a while your brain starts to melt and your eyes start to cross, and you’re pretty sure no more information will actually fit in your brain. Granted, these are also some of my favorite discussions, bouncing ideas around together and digging into the nitty gritty of each stallion and mare.

This year seems more frustrating than most, with a lot of semen shipments held up, or behind schedule, or just not coming at all. A lot of the frozen semen brokers are out of stock with most of the stallions we want, so we’re having to dig deeper and think more creatively. We’ve finally got a tentative plan ironed out for most of them, although granted there’s always The Plan vs What Actually Happens. Shippers and mares and frozen semen inevitably never all actually read the playbook. But ya know… Plan A is in place finally so the gods of fate steer the ship from here.

My brain melts over this every year, because there are a lot of options and my opinion on what crosses best with the mare can morph a little after every foal, not to mention what the actual end goal is (top level performance horse? amateur horse? it makes a difference). Still though, looking at stallions and matching them with mares and having these conversations and doing this research… it’s super fun for me. It’s just basically playing matchmaker with horses.

While my own choices and opinions are very much influenced by the type of horse that I tend to like most, I’m always interested to see what other people would choose and why. So: Tuesday fun time. Pick any WTW mare and any stallion – what would you breed for yourself? If you’re feeling frisky, give me a more conventional choice and then an unconventional one.

Like for instance, if I was making something for myself personally to keep, I would pick Tullabeg Fusion for Grace as my conventional choice (granted he’s not actually available in the US so if that doesn’t count then I’d pick Mighty Magic or Connect to Grace), or Innenminister xx to Lissa. No I cannot narrow it down to one, please don’t make me, y’all know how hard it was just to get it down that far? For my unconventional off-the-wall pick I’d do morgan stallion Spring Hollow Statesman to Peyton. Y’all know I like morgans, we’ve talked about this before, and I really like how sporty that one looks. I was gonna pick a connemara or french AA but that didn’t seem “out there” enough. Be bold.

So here are the mares to choose from:

Lissa – competed to 1.50m grand prix. Bold, quick, long-lined and tall, very rectangular shape. Definitely a German type of horse.

Chanel – competed to 1.40m GP. Shorter, more compact, very careful, sensitive. Extremely well bred from Dutch and Holsteiner lines and the most proven of the bunch as far as offspring go – she had two in Europe and one is competing 1.45m with the other at 1.40m.

Sadie (Presto’s dam) – big trot, very tall, easy to ride and good work ethic. By a hunter stallion (from dressage lines) out of a TB mare.

Grace – Irish mare, cute mover, sweet temperament, genuine, good jump technique, was an amateur event horse. I kinda think this one could have moonlighted in the hunter derbies. A little on the smaller side of average.

Inca – little black horse with a big jump. She’s got some get up and go and is definitely careful but also very sweet and kind. Huge canter.

Vee – good mid-size TB mare with lots of bone and substance, more compact. Turf pedigree.

Peyton – tall TB mare, more refined and leggy with great natural balance. Turf pedigree.

Stormie – pocket rocket sportpony deluxe. Big mover with a big jump, quick and catty and athletic and brave. A little spicy but also kind with a super work ethic and tons of personality.

Daisy – breeding stock paint (so basically QH), homozygous dun. Extremely good hunter mover with a lot of elasticity and a huge step, believe it or not. A little smaller than average.

I think there’s literally something for just about anyone here, regardless of discipline or personal preference. Get your thinking caps on, pick a mare or two, and tell me who your fantasy baby daddy (or daddies) would be!

Someone is getting more and more wild as his time off for his owwie footie has been extended. This same someone may have come spinning and squealing out of his stall this morning like he was putting on a one-horse rodeo.

The good news is that Henry looks pretty much sound again as he goes streaking and prancing around the pasture, so today his 2 week vacation is coming to an end. Of course the tractor tire is dead so I haven’t been able to drag the ring, thus it’s concrete, and the ground elsewhere is getting really hard right now too (I’m getting concerned at how dry this winter and spring have been overall), so I’ll ease him back into things out on the hacking path in the back, where there’s plenty of cushion. I might get murdered, because he also loves to spook at literally everything back there, so ya know… pray for me y’all. He really needs to get back to work though before the hamster in his brain flies completely off it’s wheel.

While there was no riding this weekend, I did get one major thing accomplished – my second covid shot! I’m officially fully vaccinated, and it feels great. After the first shot my arm was pretty sore for a couple days afterward, and I fully expected to have some flu-like symptoms after the second shot since pretty much everyone I know has gotten some degree of sick after one of their shots. I was fully prepared to feel like crap on Sunday, I had some soup and some OJ and some Tylenol on stand-by, my schedule was clear… and I felt literally nothing. My arm was lightly sore for about 12 hours, otherwise nada. I actually felt weirdly good yesterday morning, like my body was saying GIMME MORE OF THAT SWEET SWEET RONA. So… ok then. I’m not complaining at all and ended up using yesterday to run some errands instead. I’m tired today but I have a feeling that’s got more to do with the fact that the dogs woke me up twice in the middle of the night to go outside and then I got an early morning wakeup call (okay I was pretty much already awake, but I was definitely awake after that).

Why did I get an early morning wakeup call? THE BEST POSSIBLE REASON OF COURSE. Lark had her baby this morning around 4:50.

It’s a handsome bay colt with a star and two socks who will definitely turn gray and he’s got some big ol’ knees and hocks on him – looks like he’s gonna be a thicc boi like his daddy. He seems very sweet and affable so far, which mostly just prompted us to be like “Pippa is gonna eat him alive…”. HA. He’s a stout little dude though and Lark had to push pretty hard, even with assistance, but they both seem okay so far, knock on wood.

And just like that, we’ve got two foals on the ground! It’ll probably be two or three weeks until we get to see the next one, which will be fun since that’s the full sibling to this guy.