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Remember how I said Henry was getting chonky?

He is really really chonky. Like… heckin chonker status. Or maybe even Oh lawd he comin. 

It’s been quite a while since he’s been this chonky. Not since I first got him and he was fresh off of one year of pasture rest. And, I mean, he’s still getting ridden 5 days a week, so it’s not due to lack of work. The rides are definitely not as hard as when he was Prelim fit, but it’s not like he’s totally idle or unfit. He’s eating less grain now than he ever has, which I’m pleased about (not just because his grain is $32 a bag but because the less grain I have to give them, the better). I think the real difference is the grass and the quality of his pasture. For July in Texas things are still very green, and I’m not sure that he’s ever had this much pasture that was this nice and this plentiful for such a good portion of the year. Good pasture isn’t that easy to come by in these parts. 

He also seems really happy with is life in general. He is spoiled, every single person in his life is wrapped around his little hoof, and he is 110% catered to. Just the way he likes it! There have still been absolutely zero signs of any ulcer symptoms in the 9+ months since he’s moved out to this barn, and I’m really hoping we’re done with that now. Even his annual “all of my hair is gonna fall off in the summer” thing isn’t nearly as bad as usual. 

He’s also just feeling really good in general. I think having a year off from competing and all that it entails (the extra fitness work, all the traveling, the mental pressure, etc) has been really good for him. He’s such a well behaved traveler that I think I do tend to forget how much he just internalizes that stress. 

The temperatures have also been a bit more mild than usual so far, we’re just now starting to hit the triple digits. He still has his heat intolerance issues that we have to contend with, but even on hot days it hasn’t been enough to take the extreme sass out of him. He turns into a dolphin at least once every single ride. Sometimes he even adds some squealing for dramatic effect. And on Saturday I rode him over to the big property across the street for a canter and He Was A Nut. Just about pulled my arms right out of their sockets. There’s no doubt that he feels really good, despite his chonk status, which is what led me to his new nickname – The Spicy Meata-ball. He earned it on Friday when he decided that morphing into a dolphin a few strides before a jump was a great idea (it was not, although he did still manage to make it over the jump just fine, albeit with me yelling “UM HELLO COULD YOU JUST NOT???”) and he couldn’t walk without jigging because OMGJOMPIES. 

I did body clip him to try to help him out with the heat a bit. I’ve gotten to where I do that every year, and it does seem to help. His coat isn’t particularly long but it’s dense, especially over his back/haunches where he already doesn’t sweat very well. I use a T-10 so it’s nice and short and that seems to get him through the summer. 

And I think, since he’s feeling so good and mentally fresh, it’s probably time that we start doing some dressage again. I mean, we’ve still been doing flatwork obviously, but not as often and 1) it had been 5 months since I sat in my dressage saddle 2) it had been just as long if not longer since he’d had an actual bit in his mouth. So last week I rode in my dressage saddle, which didn’t feel as bad/foreign as I thought it might. Probably since I’d ridden in my bareback pad the day before (I really love that thing).

Then yesterday I put his actual bridle/bit back on him. Which he wasn’t a fan of. He glared at me like he was being abused and proceeded to chomp and squeak the bit through our entire hack. That’s… typical for him though. I’ll give him a couple more rides to get used to wearing it again before we really go to work. I’m pretty sure he thought he was retired from all that dressage business. Can we just do bareback and bitless “dressage” forever please? We’d both prefer that.

But, ya know… other than this rekindled dressage bullshit, I think he’s the happiest he’s ever been. That makes me happy too.

Happy 4th of July from the babies of Willow Tree Warmbloods!

It’s hard to pass up a holiday edition of Foal Friday, especially when there are outfits and decorations involved. ALL the babies got into the holiday spirit.

Granted, one of them in particular was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more into playing dress-up than the others were. Any guesses as to who that might be?

 

Ollie absolutely LOVED it. Still though, fun and games were had by everyone.

Well ok maybe not Remi so much. He’s always worried about his street cred.

While it may seem a little bit silly, it’s also really good for the babies to see and be exposed to all this “scary” stuff in a playful, relaxed setting. They got braver and more confident about everything flapping around or making weird noises. Cute pictures AND good exposure… win-win.

And of course, there were plenty of outtakes too…

Happy Friday y’all, and have a great holiday weekend!

Look at me being so punctual with a vlog episode! Don’t get used to it. Although it IS a lot easier to motivate myself to make a vlog when I have some decent quality video footage (thanks Pivo – you may not be perfect but it’s a hell of a lot better). I held back on you guys in some of the regular Presto blog posts so I could save the footage for his monthly vlogs. June was a big month for him!

On this one I also answered a couple questions that people submitted after the last vlog, which I’m always happy to do. Just drop a question in the comments or if you’d rather send it to me privately, DM me on Insta or send me a message on my facebook. Hope you enjoy the June recap!

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.