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Normally barnsitting is a pretty sedate gig. Small barn, out in the country, well behaved horses that are used to their routine. Not much to it. Things kinda just flow and there are rarely any hiccups or surprises. This time though… this time was just weird.

It started almost immediately, with a possum drowning in the water trough. Luckily the girl that cleans the stalls found that one, because giant rodents aren’t really my thing and EW.

Then Texas got a super weird cold front that dropped the temperature almost 30 degrees. This made the horses a little… uh… frisky. The stallion in particular, who is normally impeccably behaved and a total puppy dog, spent one entire evening thinking it was breeding season and he had business to attend to right now. If you know what I mean. It took a good hour of “discussions” to get his brain plugged back in and settle him back down. He never acts particularly studdish, so that was totally strange. He was back to his normal sedate self the next day.

 

Then another night I walked into the tack room to get cookies for the horses, and when I flipped on the light I saw a snake. A snake that was in the middle of devouring a rat. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TACK ROOM. Have you no decency sir? Not gonna lie, I screamed and leapt back out the door, just about crapping myself in the process. Then I realized I really had to make sure that the snake wasn’t poisonous. I very slowly crept back in, an inch at a time, verified that it wasn’t an extra scary snake (just a regularly scary snake), apologized to him for interrupting his dinner, turned the light back off, and shut the tack room door. I was very careful entering the tack room every time after that.

Also, why was it suddenly monsoon season in Texas? In August? We got 10″ of rain in the past week!

So then it kind of makes sense that one morning I found a frog sitting on my boot. That was the same morning that I opened the back door and a spider, a BIG spider, fell mere inches from my head. I’m glad he didn’t actually make contact, I would’ve hated to have to burn down the newly renovated house.

Another morning I was filling water buckets before I left for the day and found a rat drowning in one. Like literally he was on his tiptoes and just his little nose was sticking out. He kept trying to jump but wasn’t having any luck. I pulled the whole bucket down and tossed it out, and the poor rat (I know they’re gross rodents but still, poor drowning rat) took a little while to get moving before scampering off. As I was scrubbing the bucket all I could think was that I better not find a damn snake eating that damn rat later…

The wildlife, man. What the hell?

 

I haven’t given much update on The Saddle Quest, mostly because I was pouting. The first saddle finally arrived from Devoucoux, and while it fit Henry great…

unfortunately my concerns about the 17.5″ were legit. The seat was ok, but my knee hung over the front block in a really awkward way. Definitely too small.

Considering how Trainer’s 18″ fit (borderline roomy), I was kind of surprised at how tiny the 17.5″ both looked and felt. I checked the stamp twice to make sure I wasn’t crazy. They’re very very different for what’s only supposed to be 1/2″.

So, reluctantly, I boxed the 17.5″ back up and shipped it back to Devoucoux. It was in my possession for less than 24 hours. However, I think the universe must REALLY want me to have my Unicorn, because it just so happened that an 18″ popped up too. For $200 cheaper than the other one. And it was newer.

I had to wait for the refund to go through from the first saddle, which made me really nervous, hoping no one bought the 18″ out from under me while I waited. Pretty much the second it hit, the new one was purchased. Say hello to Unicorn 2.0…

which arrived literally 10 minutes after I dropped Henry off at Trainer’s for the week. Sigh. So now here it sits, looking beautiful and smelling amazing, until this weekend when I can finally try it. Maybe second try is the charm?

My mom passed away one year ago today.

I’ve never lost anyone that close to me before, and coping with it has been, well, weird. Sometimes I forget she’s even gone, usually when I find myself having the urge to call or text her about certain things before remembering she’s not there. Reality hits hard every time. Like during breeding season – my first reaction to every ultrasound was to send a picture to my mom. She would have been super excited about another baby horse.

Flagstaff was also one of her favorite places, and while we were there I thought about her a lot. There’s no doubt she would have thought that was one of the coolest trips ever, except for maybe the 10 days of camping part.

At her funeral we handed out CD’s with Love Shack on it… that CD lives in my CD player in my truck. If I find myself thinking of her and need a pick-me-up, I play it. Two button pushes and there she is, personified in a song. Works every time.

And yes, I still put a purple rubber band in one of Henry’s braids on show jumping day, in honor of her. Ok, she would probably prefer head-to-toe purple and lime green, but she’s gonna have to settle for a purple braid. I think she’d be ok with that compromise.

I’m in the middle of a 10 day barnsitting stint, and while barnsitting is absolutely my favorite way to make a some extra cash to add to my budget, regular work hours plus barnsitting duties make it difficult for me to have time to ride Henry. Instead of giving him another week off, since he just came back from vacation, I decided to send him down to Trainer for the week.

This actually worked out pretty well (for once) since apparently it’s suddenly monsoon season in Texas. It’s been raining like crazy, which has turned our pastures to mud pits and our arena into a lake. Trainer’s place is a couple hours away, on really nice sandy soil, so even with tons of water it stays rideable. If Henry was at home he’d just be standing in his stall anyway, so – perfect timing.

He’s been a bit frustrating on the flat lately (not bad, just really “lit”) so I’m not gonna lie, this is a little fun for me. Yesterday I took the day off from work (how do I still have 19 vacation days left???), packed his bridles and his food/supplements, loaded him up, and drove him down to Trainer’s.

I kind of understand how parents feel now when they drop kids off at camp. On one hand you love them and miss them as soon as you start to pull out, but on the other hand you just can’t seem to press down on that accelerator fast enough.

The first update, from yesterday’s ride, was pretty entertaining – “I didn’t die today, but… it was touch and go for a few minutes.”. 30 degree drop in temperature plus a very fit Henry… yep, this is gonna be a fantastic week. Mostly for me, since all I have to do is write the check. Money well spent.

I dunno how closely any of you have been following the Olympic updates on social media, but two sources have really stood out to me over the past week. Mostly because they really aren’t afraid to say what they think, and I’m always 110% behind that.

The Horse Magazine

THM is an Australian based publication that has been posting real time updates from Rio on their facebook page plus end-of-day wrap posts on their website. With such gems as:

Yes, Rebecca, it is better to watch a not so talented horse ridden beautifully than a brilliant horse ridden by a terrorist.

Just a wonderful test from Spencer Wilton – the new style of British dressage, soft, rhythmic, beautiful. But the toads in the judges boxes know they have to keep the big marks for later in the day.

Just accepted very lame Japanese horse, oh well, it’s a long way from his heart.

Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice home just 3.2 but the US only has two riders left in the field (er, both of them Australians).

Yeah I am sure the Dutch spin doctors will come up with a story, but the truth is an old gelding, with his best a long long time ago, should never have been brought here. Now they are in a right pickle of their own making.

… how do you not love it? Agree with them or not, it’s pretty refreshing to see a journalist tied to a major publication that isn’t afraid to put forth a REAL and HONEST opinion. Plus they used the phrase “in a right pickle”.

 

The Sort of OK Show About Horses

Sorry Buck, I love you, but Kyle is the real star of this masterpiece. For those who haven’t seen it – before and after a lot of major events, Buck and Kyle do a little “show” where they talk about what they think is going to happen, who they think will do well, then what actually happened, and their impressions of such.

In a world where most high profile pro riders are SO afraid to say what they really think, I absolutely love seeing Kyle be completely candid. He never hesitates to really lay it all out there, even if it’s critical of a horse, a rider, or a program. He’s not mean about it, but he’s honest. His assessment of what happened with the US team on XC was exactly spot on with what I was thinking too (commentary on the US team starts around the 26:19 minute mark, which I’ve linked to above). Thank you Kyle for having the cojones to say what you’re really thinking!