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Well guys, shocker of all shockers, Texas is not doing so well with this whole covid thing. We have massively bombed that particular test, and I doubt anyone is surprised.

Our city isn’t looking great either.

I kind of figured this would happen once restrictions were lifted, which is why I’ve changed basically nothing about my own behavior. A few horse shows have taken place but I’ve not heard particularly promising reports/seen particularly promising pictures from most of them with regards to compliance with the covid guidelines. Down here in the land of extreme freedumb people don’t like being told to wear masks or not congregate in groups. And they can be reaaaaaaal vehement about it. I have friends that are organizers and volunteers and show staff and the common observation among them is that telling people to put a mask on (and keep a mask on) is now a full time and very controversial job at horse shows.

Of course, I have taken Presto on a couple outings. Ones that were chosen quite judiciously and with an abundance of caution. For both of his trips off property we worked completely out of the trailer, and didn’t have close contact with any other people (except for Hillary for our trail ride, and she’s been largely self-quarantined herself). I wear my mask if I have to go inside anywhere or if I think I might come in contact with other people, and I wipe down the gas pump and keypad before and after I use it. Naturally, this behavior earned me the comment of “fuckin’ libtard” at a gas station in one particularly delightful small town this past weekend. Sigh.

Some of the horse facilities are handling things pretty well though. The place we went XC schooling is limited to small groups and there is no actual contact or interaction required. I’ve never been there before when there were so few people. But outings like that, I’m pretty comfortable with right now. Since I’m not actually coming into contact with people and it’s an outside activity of an hour or so max… I feel like the risk is extremely low. I greatly appreciate the facilities that are being smart with their restrictions.

I’m glad I decided to wait and see how things went with the reopening and with shows, because to me… they’re not going well. I think it’s safe to say that horse shows are off the table for a while. This whole thing feels like a boulder barreling downhill. And since all the governor has done is roll back a few restrictions (inside seating at restaurants went from 75% capacity to 50% capacity. wow.) and encourage people to stay home when they can (that’s clearly working), I don’t see this improving significantly anytime soon. The numbers are bonkers. And that’s with many testing sites still turning away asymptomatic people due to a shortage of tests. Plus there are different restrictions and mandates and closures, city by city and county by county that generally just makes things feel really confusing and chaotic.

Luckily everyone in my particular little sphere is handling it responsibly and taking smart precautions. My office was supposed to start bringing some work from home people back in starting in July, but that’s been pushed to mid-August now at the earliest. I’m grateful for that, for sure. Even if I kind of hate being at my house. Being stuck on the farm was awesome. Dream life. Being stuck in a house in the city is kind of my worst nightmare, I never actually realized how much I hate living here until now. It’s loud, it’s annoying, and there are way too many people outside all the time. But it’s still better than having to go into the office and increase the risk by being around lots of people in a small space, and I’m still getting out to the barn 5 days a week, so… everything could definitely be a lot worse.

For now I’m just gonna keep staying hunkered down and waiting it out. It doesn’t look like things will be getting much better anytime soon. How is all the covid stuff going in your neck of the woods? Anyone been to any shows?

 

As we talked about a few months ago, there aren’t too many things I’m superstitious about. I’m not one of those people that always has to put my left boot on first or thinks it’s bad luck to change a horse’s name. But if there’s one thing I do firmly believe in when it comes to riding “luck”, and that’s the importance of the right socks, particularly for XC. I swear they carry at least a little bit of juju.

Like with Henry for instance. First we had “Carpe the Fuck out of this Diem” socks, which were perfect for those years when we were going like gangbusters trying to qualify for championships and awards and stuff. And then during the move-up year to Training I replaced them with “Thou Hast Balls” socks, to supplement my courage. And then I bought the custom ones with his crazy XC face on it, which have been my go-to ever since. They’re a great reminder that the horse loves his job, I just have to trust him and let him do it.

Ok yes maybe I’m reading way too much into a pair of socks. But it’s my thing and I like my mystical sock juju, so… that’s just how it is. Don’t try to deny me this.

So naturally, I’ve kind of had an eye out for some Presto socks. He’s a long way from leaving the start box, but 1) it’s always good to be prepared 2) lucky XC sock juju carries good juju for other occasions too. It’s never too early for good juju socks. I wasn’t really sure what kind of socks I wanted for him though. Magic themed? Buddy the Elf? Something cheeky? Perhaps motivational? I’m still learning what he’s like under saddle. But I’ve kept one eye open, figuring something would come along.

Trying to pick out socks for his first XC adventure this past weekend was embarrassingly difficult. He couldn’t wear Henry’s XC socks, those are Henry’s juju. I went back and forth between the Bob Ross Happy Clouds socks, a pair with anchors, and my french socks that I got in France. Eventually I decided on the French ones in an attempt to channel his dad’s boldness and badassery, but whew… it was a tough decision. When I got home I decided to get a little bit more serious about looking for some lucky/XC socks to wear for those kinds of occasions.

I scrolled for a while, especially after I fell deep down a rabbit hole looking at magic-themed socks. Nothing really jumped out and grabbed me. Then on a whim I googled “Presto socks”.

Y’all. I did not know that there is an Australian brand of cycling apparel called Presto. And I certainly did not know that they made socks.

The fact that some of them say “hey presto” also makes me laugh, because HEY is probably the word I say to Presto the most. Like “HEY quit it!” or “HEY let go!” or “HEY pay attention!”. That’s just kind of how it goes when you’ve got a 16.2h baby labrador with ADHD.

I like that they’re crew height, which is my preference, and they’re that nice lightweight knit with meshy parts for breathability. Normally I don’t really even take sock quality into account when it comes to my lucky socks, but… it certainly is a perk. Of course, the company is also in Australia (NATURALLY) so if I was going to order socks, I figured I might as well make it worth my while. In for a penny, in for a pound? So I got 3.

Technically justifiable, I threw away a whole bunch of sad and semi-holy socks a couple weeks ago. And these literally say Presto on them so I don’t really feel like I really have to explain myself.

Plus I got a chuckle out of the confirmation email.

I did try to order a shirt too but they were out of my size. Sadness. It’s a good thing I’m not really cycling so much anymore or I probably would have also been buying a new kit. Their logo is cute, you have to admit. The lightning bolt is like BAM, PRESTO IN DA HOUSE.

These will fit the bill perfectly until he’s older and earns his way into a more unique pair of socks befitting his XC personality, whatever that may be. I never in a million years thought that socks existed with his name on them. Now I can appropriately label my feet every time I ride him (here’s where I admit that I never wear my “Ringmaster of the Shitshow” or “This meeting is bullshit” socks when I ride him, lest he live up to that particular juju).

So really, if you do nothing else today, I urge you to google “your horse’s name socks”. You never know what you might find if you’re prepared to do some digging.

 

I definitely can’t call this a “xc school” because, ya know… Presto is 3 and didn’t actually jump anything. But it was his very first time being ridden at a XC facility, so we’ll go with “adventure”. He’s been to Pine Hill a couple times before – once ponying with Henry and once just me leading him around. I figured it would be a good place for his next off property ride, and since Trainer only had a couple other folks meeting there for a quick school, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to join.

This was a little bit different than his trail ride outing a few weeks ago in that this time he was flying solo, we weren’t picking up a buddy along the way. Once again he made life easy though – I got to the barn, loaded up my tack, pulled him out of his pasture, and put him right in the trailer by myself. That’s what I was working towards by taking him places those first couple years so I’m delighted that so far, so good. As someone who often goes places alone, I can’t appreciate that quality about him enough.

When we got there and unloaded he definitely perked up and was wide-eyed taking it all in. Not in a nervous way, but in a baby horse “OOOO THERE IS STIMULUS AND I AM THREE DID YOU KNOW I’M THREE?” kind of way. The facility was emptier and quieter than I’ve ever seen it (thanks covid restrictions!) which I figured could also work in our favor. Less to gawk at.

I opted to just tack him up and lead him down to the XC field to mount up along with the other two folks. Sure he hadn’t been ridden in a week and sure he’s 3 and sure we walked out into a great expanse of open space, but… I didn’t want to lunge him unless I absolutely had to. 1) all lunging really does is warm him up (like I use lunging at home to make him think more forward/sharp/focused) 2) I honest to god HATE having to “lunge them down” any time they think something is exciting or new, so I don’t want him thinking that’s a thing he gets to/has to do when he goes places. I want him to be able to do his job like a Big Horse, so I’m going to treat him like one unless there’s an actual safety issue that prevents it.

I mounted up with no problem and we stood for a few minutes waiting for the others. He was a bit wiggly, but mostly he was interested in meeting the other two horses and telling them his life story. He likes to just march right up into their personal space like “HI I’M PRESTO I’M THREE THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE WHO ARE YOU ARE WE BESS FRIENDS WHATS THAT”. You could pretty much see the older, more mature horses like “oh jesus, can someone get this kid a Ritalin?”.  But once the introductions were made we headed out, with Presto leading the charge.

We pretty much just stood around or walked circles while the other horses warmed up. I mostly wanted him to stand on a loose rein, but if he just couldn’t keep his feet still, that was fine, we’d walk for a couple minutes and then I’d ask him to stand again. And largely, he just stood. We did go trot a few circles away from the group, because I wanted to see what he’d do if I asked him to go away from them. He went just fine so we came back and resumed our standing. Presto took an instant shine to the thoroughbred in the group, and was REALLY INTENT on watching him jump. Presto was very impressed by his athletic prowess.

We tagged along around the course while the others jumped. The group worked our way through the front field and into the woods, around the back to where the big mound is. I had him climb up it and watch from higher up, which he wasn’t super impressed by. Mostly I was just glad he stayed on his feet, because, ya know… baby horse. I’m not always convinced that he’s going to stay upright.

He was really good back in the woods (better than Henry, who does not like the woods and is pretty convinced he’s gonna get murdered back there some day) although he was a little bit looky about sudden footing changes. I thought that was kind of funny, because never before in his life has he noticed or cared about random sandy or dark spots on the ground. If that was his version of being spooky or wild then… ok. He still went, he just peeked at them first, so no harm no foul.

Mostly though, we alternated between walking to the next jump and standing there looking bored.

It was relatively uneventful until we got to everyone’s favorite: the water. Yaaaasssssss. This is why we came. We can’t really do anything else very interesting at this point, but he can DEFINITELY go in the water. And go in he did. We walked back and forth across the shorter way a couple times, then (once I was sure he wasn’t going to try to lay down in it) we walked back and forth across the long way too.

Once we conquered that, I wanted to trot across it. Because now that he was confident about where his feet were going, I wanted him to go forward across it rather than stare down into it.

And because splashing is fun. I’m an eventer, after all.

He trotted right across, although it took him the whole first pass to figure out how to trot through it well. I don’t think he was expecting all the resistance from the water, so his first attempt was a little stuttery and awkward. Heading back across the second time was better. You could almost hear him thinking “whew dat was harder than I thought it would be!” as he came out the second time. For instant butt workout, just add water jump.

After a little bit more ambling through the woods (well… the others jumped, I ambled) we all called it a day. He was still bright and interested but he had definitely settled more as we went around. And he never did anything dumb or bad.

I thought he might have a little bit of a meltdown when we “ungrouped” and went our separate ways to our trailers. And he did neigh a couple times, and wiggle around looking for his new BFF, but he didn’t get belligerent about it. I untacked him, took him to the washrack to hose him off, let him graze for a few minutes, then loaded him up and off we went back home. He slept most of the way.

Overall it was another successful outing. His first time getting ridden off property without having brought a buddy with him, and he handled it really well. For anyone who’s still keeping track, that was ride #16. Now we just have to decide where we’re gonna go next!

Maybe I’m just feeling a bit musical these days with Skee-Lo last week and Beyonce this week, but… the foals pick the themes, I just write the posts.

Both of the girls have been really big into showing off these days, although in different ways. Ellie’s finally found her legs and has no problem going toe-to-toe with Ollie’s zoomies and prancing.

Oakley has taken a different approach and really thrown all of her effort into beating Remi at his modeling game. And I gotta say… I think she’s nailing it.

I think Remi’s perilously close to getting dethroned from his position as WTW’s Next Top Model.

Which, poor Remi, he’s also not always having such great luck charming the ladies as of late.

One time he even got summarily rejected by both girls within one minute.

But he’s not alone, Ollie’s been dominated at every turn as well.

Luckily it has provided Remi and Ollie with a little bit of bro bonding time, as they commiserate together over their female woes.

And it still hasn’t stopped Remi from being any less whipped.

Clearly it’s the queens, both big and small, that are running this particular kingdom (queendom?). I guess it’s a good thing that Remi and Ollie are learning this life lesson early on.

And in case you find yourself feeling a little sorry for Remi… don’t. Oakley still throws him a bone every once in a while – on her terms, of course.

Happy Friday everyone!

So, uh, it’s possible that I procrastinated a little bit with this one. I would like to say that it won’t happen again but we all know that’s probably a lie. A lot of little milestones happened in those two months, though… the beginning is always a little bit more exciting because everything is new and seems to happen quickly. We started April at ride #5 and finished May at ride #12, plus he ventured outside of the arena for the first time. Obviously since I’m riding him so infrequently the progress is slow, but… I think you can see it?

The good news is, this one’s not as long as the other two! I’m slowly figuring out this vlog thing… hopefully now with the Pivo I’ll actually have decent video for the next one.

Let me know if there are any questions you want me to answer in June’s vlog or if there’s anything else you want to see!