Category: Uncategorized

Anyone who has ever spent any amount of time with Henry knows that he has a lot of opinions. About pretty much everything.

If you do something that displeases him, he will not hesitate to let you know. Granted, the list of things that displease him is quite long. Like dressage. Or Presto being in his personal space. Or Presto looking at him. Or me looking at Presto. Or taking too long to bring him dinner. Or using a brush he doesn’t like. Or touching his private areas. Or looking at him the wrong way. Or giving him cookies he doesn’t like. Or not giving him cookies. Or not paying attention to him. Or paying too much attention to him. Or giving him kisses or hugs in public. Or pointing at him aggressively because he’s being impatient and it’s rude AF.

You know… totally reasonable things like that.

He acts like such a grumpy little shit, but trust me when I say that it’s only skin-deep. Sometimes I catch him being really sweet when he thinks that no one is looking. He just doesn’t want to ruin his street cred.

He knows my truck, and usually meets me at the gate when he sees me coming (unless I did something the day before to displease him – see above list). I can see him watching me all the time, trying to be casual but still looking happy to see me. At least until he catches me looking, then he goes back to pretending like he doesn’t care. His big bad boy exterior is just an act, and I know it. He really reveals his true self under saddle, where (aside from wearing a decidedly displeased look and helicopter tail in dressage) he generally has a pretty darn happy expression and likes his job. This is especially true on cross country.

I feel like cross country photos are the only ones where his outsides truly match his insides. His fake grumpy gangsta facade is just too impossible for him to keep up with, and all you see is his sheer joy at being Henny. Which is why I have about a million pictures of him galloping around XC, looking blissed AF. I love it. That’s the true Henny, underneath his mareglare exterior.

Although he still gets a bit displeased when I try to offer such ridiculous assistance as “HENRY SLOW DOWN”. Which ironically is the same face he makes in dressage when I say “Henry get IN FRONT OF MY LEG”. Seriously horse, pick a viewpoint.

Despite his extraordinarily rude faces, he would never actually bite or kick or any of that. He knows I would end him. While that hard line does exist, I admit that I offer him a certain amount (ok a lot) of leeway that I don’t give Presto, when it comes to attitude. I guess because Henry has proven himself to be golden on the inside, when it matters. Also because I think he just kind of enjoys his grumpy persona. It’s the complete opposite of Presto, who has more of the “Oooo what are we doing? OMG, I LOVE THAT!!!” approach to pretty much everything. He is the Buddy the Elf to Henry’s Walter.

I’ve also caught him being awfully sweet to Presto sometimes too. I can tell he likes him, even if he would never ever ever ever ever admit it.

So yeah, it’s true that Henry has a tough guy exterior with a lot of opinions that are accompanied by his proverbial middle finger. But just between you and me… he’s a teddy bear on the inside.

Please don’t tell him I let his secret out of the bag.

I might only be in my mid-30’s, but I’m pretty sure I have the knees of a 65 year old. Last week at work I sat down briefly at my desk to write an email, perched with one leg bent under my butt, and when I went to stand up and walk away, the damn thing wouldn’t even straighten all the way. There’s no way I would pass a flexion. I’m like 5/5 lame. Almost 30 years of riding (and far more running that I ever intended for my life) have taken their toll on my joints.

Leg issues aren’t new to me. I have compartment syndrome too, which has always caused problems with my ankles. Wide footbed irons helped that a lot, even though I’m pretty sure it will never go away entirely. But over the past 6 months to a year, now that we’ve been jumping bigger fences on a regular basis, and I’m spending more time doing conditioning work (which equals more time spent in my jump saddle, with short stirrups, often in a half seat), my knees are starting to suffer. They’re definitely sore after jump schools especially, which makes me think that impact has something to do with it.

I’ve been using my Lorenzinis for a few years now with no complaints, but now, with my knees aching pretty regularly, I’m wondering if there’s something else out there that might help. Especially on the shock absorption front. Stirrup technology has come so far. Of course, there are also now approximately one million options to try to wade through. It’s a little overwhelming, trying to figure out which ones might work the best.

Here’s what I need:

• Wide footbed
• Extremely grippy. Like… for as decently grippy as the Lorenzini’s cheesegrater footbed is, I want something grippier than that.
• Whatever will help my knees. Guessing some shock absorption maybe?

Here’s what I want:

• Navy. Like for real everything should come in navy. I can live without it, but big bonus points if they’re navy.
• Some kind of safety feature. Not a must have, but it would be nice.

I’ve already tried MDC, Jin, and Royal Rider. They were all fine, but I like the Lorenzinis more than any of those. Right now I’m most intrigued by a few in particular…

Tech Stirrups Venice

Big perk about these is that I can buy them from Riding Warehouse. I always prefer to buy stuff from them whenever possible. They are stupid expensive though, and don’t come in navy (big sads). They seem to get really good reviews though, from what I’ve seen.

Freejump Classic

I was not the biggest fan of the design of Freejump’s SoftUp Pro model, but this Classic model seems more my style. I’m definitely intrigued by the studded footbed. I can’t really find anyone that’s using them yet though, and again they’re pretty expensive. But they do come in navy AND I can also buy them from Riding Warehouse.

Flex-On

The eventer in me is screeching in delight at all the options you can get with these things (whoever decided to put a configurator on the website, they need a hefty raise). You can pick your colors, you can pick your grips, and you can pick whether you want a flat or inclined footbed. The shock absorption is supposed to be excellent. In theory, I love these. They would also be the cheapest of these three options. But I don’t really know very many people using them yet, nor have I seen them in person, nor can I really find any reviews of them, so they remain a bit of an enigma. They also don’t have the added safety features of the first two.

These definitely aren’t the only 3 options I’m looking at… I’m still perusing what’s out there, keeping my eyes peeled. These are the 3 leaders at the moment though. Does anyone have any of these? Or is there something else you can recommend for me to check out? My knees thank you.

I know, I was just ranting on the topic of buying US-bred horses a couple weeks ago, but a few people requested that I post a comment I made on facebook over here as well, to make it more easily shareable. Since it’s a topic I’m pretty passionate about, I won’t hesitate to use whatever little platform I have to shout about it from the rooftops one more time. I’m desperate to have these conversations, and when they actually happen I get excited.

Pre-story: last week Eventing Nation posted about who bought what at the Monart sale in Ireland, not long after the email blast about the Goresbridge auction that spurred my post a couple weeks ago. I typically don’t comment on articles on facebook, but I have to admit that on this day I was feeling weary and I couldn’t help but comment: “I wish we got as excited about people buying horses from American breeders as we do about imports.“. I thought it would be an unpopular statement but I was surprised (and excited, honestly) by how many people whole-heartedly agreed. And not just breeders, but riders too.

The comment led to some follow-up discussion, including a long, more detailed comment from me in response to others, which is what someone asked that I share here:

Yes, it’s harder to find horses here. America is a big country. But imagine if the American equestrian media would spotlight the breeding programs and young horse producers in this country on a regular basis, how much would that help people find them? This is the second thing from EN in less than two weeks about sales overseas. Why not a regular series about who is producing horses HERE? Why not talk about horse sales HERE (many have happened in the past, and for the most part have not even been mentioned by the media)? 

And yes, horses can be more expensive here, often because it’s so much more expensive to raise them and produce them that they have to cost more or someone along the way is losing their shirt in a big way. But also because why SHOULDN’T a really nice domestically-produced young horse cost as much as the Cooley or Fernhill that people are ever-so-willing to fork over $$$ for? And why not have frank discussions (which could lead to possible solutions) about why it’s so much more expensive to produce horses here, rather than just shrug, point people to Europe, and turn them loose with their wallets? 

I would love to see us stop glamourizing the idea of importing, and instead realize that really we have a disconnect in this country with buying domestic and supporting our own breeders and young horse producers. There are a lot of factors contributing to the problem and you never see anyone but breeders talking about it, usually because they can’t sell even their nicest foals for any kind of profit. But these are the things that make fewer people able/willing to breed and raise nice young eventers here, since it often means either higher prices or selling for less than what you’ve spent to produce the horse. Which leads to fewer people doing it. Which leads to fewer quality horses. Which leads to people going overseas and picking from whatever they’ve got left. 

It’s in our best interest to figure out how we can do a better job of supporting our own and making our system work for us. Articles about “who bought what from Europe, ooo fancy” are fun to read and all I guess, but when are we going to balance that with a spotlight on what people are producing and can be purchased right here in the US? We’re not doing ourselves any favors.

I’m happy to report that there are some things in the works as a result of this. EN was receptive to the idea of articles spotlighting American breeders, which is a starting point. We have to help ourselves a little bit here. If you know of an eventing breeding program or someone who specializes in producing young horses here in the US that would make a good spotlight, let me know. If people don’t know about them, they can’t buy horses from them.

I also hope that we can be more mindful of how we, all of us (myself included), speak and write about imports. The US equestrian industry, at least within eventing, h/j, and dressage, has some sort of default mentality where we think that anything imported must automatically be better, fancier, and worth more… that’s just not true. Surely we can get behind our own horses a little more than that, and be proud of what we have available here now as well as what breeders are working so hard to produce. The quality of US-bred horses has gotten better and better, and IMO it’s important to recognize that.

And breeders – we have to support the programs that are being put in place, if we want them to work. FEH, YEH, the Young Horse Series… they will help the cause, but only if we participate.

There’s also another program in the works for 2019 that is pretty exciting – The US Event Horse Futurity. Specific details are still being ironed out, but if you have a young event horse or know someone who does, OR if you know of an up and coming rider that specializes in bringing up babies, please go like the Futurity’s facebook page! This will be a really cool program for both breeders and riders alike.

What else do you think we can do to help promote US breeders and US-bred horses? To help connect the right riders with these horses? To help change the mentality that imports are better? I’m all ears!

Do you ever look at your horses, both doing something super weird at the same time, and think “Is it me? Do I have this effect on my animals? Am I a derp too?”?

It’s been stupid cold here for the past few days (for TEXAS in NOVEMBER anyway). Monday was dreary with a high near 40 degrees and a wind so strong it almost blew me over getting out of my truck. Normally the day after a show is a long walk hack for Henry plus pony for Presto, but I just could not even bring myself to take their blankets off. They got treats and extra hay and then I hastily retreated to the indoors.

Tuesday was slightly better. Sunny at least, and the wind was less disgusting. But Henry had a vet appointment to get his teeth done, and he’s such a cheap date that the drugs just about knocked him on his literal ass. There was much swaying, and no pinned ears (that’s how you know he’s REALLY gone, when he loses his ability to pin his ears). But his teeth looked surprisingly decent aside from a couple of sharpish points and small hooks. His jaw doesn’t quite line up so normally his teeth look worse even when I get them done every 6 months. The vet even said they weren’t that bad this time (this is the same horse who once had a team of vets gathered around him taking pictures of the inside of his mouth due to how freaking weird it is) so that’s a win.

After Henry was done I grabbed Presto so the vet could feel up his little baby jewels and see if he felt like they were ready to come off. Many jokes about Presto’s teeny tiny nuts later (they really are so small though), the vet declared that they are indeed ready, so now I’m watching the weather and waiting for just the right time. While the vet was packing his stuff I tied Presto by Henry’s stall and it took him all of 2 seconds before he pulled Henry’s blanket off the rack and tried to stomp it to death.

Clearly baby horse had some pent up cold weather energy, so I decided to toss him out in the arena to let him play a bit before I put him up. He did not disappoint. Although I’m still not quite sure what gait this is. I think it’s all of them combined.

He also does a pretty magnificent arabian impression. Hillary was watching and said “He looks a little arabian-esque today”. I was like “Hmmm… nope, I just don’t see it…”.

In his defense he did have some cute moments amid all the weird-gait, snorting, flailing, arabian-impressions.

He’s starting to look so much like a horse now. By spring he might not even look like a baby anymore at all, aside from just being generally awkward. This is both exciting and kind of sad. He definitely still ACTS like a weirdo baby though, so there’s always that. I did notice yesterday that both of my horses have weird things they do with their tongues, albeit slightly different. Henry flops his out the side and plays with it, whereas Presto curls his up in his mouth. Both of them do it when they’re bored. I must be really boring.

I also realized yesterday when I was getting them ready for a their hack that it’s getting harder and harder to see Henry over the top of Presto anymore. Should we take bets on when Presto catches up to him, size wise?

Couple of weirdos these two are, but I’m pretty weird too so I guess it works out. Maybe I DID make them derpy. Either way, I love them both to bits.

Last phase, best phase! If you haven’t seen the recaps from dressage and stadium yet, go check those out first to see my new format.

What went well?

Everything felt pretty easy and small, and nothing was particularly intimidating. That’s always a good feeling. My big goals for this course were a) smooth out the whole ride b) have a good jump at the trakehner. Aside from a random bobble (more on that in a bit) everything did come up really well out of stride and rode very smooth, plus the trakehner rode PERFECTLY. I’ve freakin buried him at a trakehner at the last 3 shows we’ve been to, so I was glad to finally break that stupid streak. Sorry Henny, thanks for your patience as you endure the life of an amateur horse.

I also was able to get a little redemption at the Weldon’s Wall, which we jumped on course here in the spring but it was not particularly pretty. They have a bunch of people and the ambulance parked near it and you have to pass all that stuff to get to the Weldon’s, which itself has a big downhill landing that makes it look like you’re jumping off into the abyss. Last time Henry was pretty spooky here and I had to growl at him a bit, but this time he was laser-focused and jumped the absolute shit out of that thing.

Henry also crossed the finish line with his ears pricked, barely so much as an elevated respiratory rate, and I’m pretty sure he could have quite easily gone around again. He’s really fit and strong, and that makes me happy.

What could have gone better?

First of all, there was a lot of confusion about what course my PT division was supposed to be doing – the regular Training course or the Championship course. It made more sense for us to do the Championship course, but nothing was posted or said about it anywhere, so several riders had to go track down the TD and ask. I didn’t find out that they just assumed we were going to do the Championship course until I was in the warmup, which was a little frustrating on several levels. Luckily there were only a couple things that were different between the courses, and I had seen them even if I hadn’t walked them.

But anyway, we had kind of a sad and tragic “shit happens” incident when Henry almost busted ass galloping through a patch of longer grass/chewed up sand going up a steep hill right before the C element of the coffin. We were only a couple strides out at that point and there was just no way we were going to make it safely over the corner while he was still trying to get his feet back under him, so I had to circle, picking up a 20. It was a major bummer, but not a genuine refusal, so… just one of those things that can go wrong when you ride over terrain, I suppose.

What can we work on to improve things next time?

Clearly I should be more aware of slight footing changes, even if they seem relatively minor to me. Henry does have a tendency to trip easily, so I maybe should have tried to do more to help him there. Lesson learned.

Otherwise he was pretty foot perfect and everything felt good, but if I’m nit-picking I do think that I was a little bit less forward and positive to the first few jumps than I normally am, and it felt like he didn’t really get settled into his gallop until after the first water. Granted, the course was really twisty and turny and did not make for a good flow at all. I wasn’t a fan.

In general though it was a good show, with LOTS of learning moments, some big triumphs, and plenty that we can build on going forward. It was a major confidence boost for me, and I’m looking forward to Pine Hill in a couple weeks to close out our year!