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It’s been a long time (a year, to be precise) since I had Henry adjusted, so when another boarder was having the chiro out for her horses, I eagerly added Henry to the list. Last year the chiro really didn’t find much out of whack with Henry… his poll and neck were a little out, and a couple of ribs.

Henry has been a little reluctant to really give me his rib cage to the left, so I thought maybe he was out again in that area. Dr. Jack arrived, I pulled Henry out, and he looked at Dr. Jack like “Oh Jesus, not this guy again?”. Always a sweet, welcoming face from Henry *insert heavy sarcasm*.

After a general once-over, Dr. Jack started with his neck, with a couple of fairly impressive sounding pops. When he did the left side, which took a couple tries, Henry immediately started licking and chewing. Well, for like 5 seconds until Dr. Jack moved somewhere else and Henry went back to super suspicious.

He was a little bit out in the ribs again, and his poll, but the two biggest areas were his withers and his lower lumbar. The lower lumbar in particular took quite a bit of work on Dr. Jack’s part to get adjusted. Coincidence that 75% of our dressage lessons are spent trying to get Henry to release and supple his lower lumbar? Probably not. We spend a hell of a lot of time doing attempting haunches-in exercises. I’m interested to see if he feels any different now that it’s been adjusted.

Side note: dressage trainer called Henry “emotional” in our lesson last week and I still can’t quite get over how perfect that word is for him. Emotional. Hahahahaha.

 

Yep… it’s breeding season. I’m even more excited than usual because I actually have some personal investment in this particular season, with Sadie being bred to Mighty Magic for my future eventer. But besides Sadie, my friend Michelle at Willow Tree Farm has a few other really awesome pairings happening this year too. I’m playing the role of auntie, which I assigned to myself. Mostly because I just really really like baby horses. Sue me.

First – mine. I can pretty much guarantee that I’ll never ask it to jump the kinds of things that Mighty Magic has jumped, but if it has that kind of talent I wouldn’t mind. It’ll definitely be bay or brown since MM is homozygous, which makes me happy since dirt colored is my favorite. A little bit of face white would be nice too. I won’t even sit here and say whether or not I want a colt or a filly… whichever. I’ll be thrilled with anything as long as it’s healthy.

The Emerald x Lissa baby is probably the most exciting on paper. Lissa herself did the Grand Prix all the way through 1.50m, and of course Emerald is one of the best showjumpers in the world right now. Someone is going to get a ridiculously nice baby from these two; I’d be shocked if this one doesn’t sell in utero. Pretty good chance for bay with some chrome, too.

The Balou x Laken is pretty interesting too, being that Laken’s pedigree is so stacked with big name jumpers (Heartbreaker, Cassini, and Pikadero to name a few). Balou needs no introduction by now. Another bay with chrome maybe? Or chestnut. Or gray. Lots of possibilities with this one but 100% chance of cute and scope.

And last but not least: something more pint-sized. Penelope is hopefully getting a bit of a size upgrade with a dose of Carracci. Little mare can jump, so I would expect that someone will get a really nice little sportscar of a mount from this cross. And also probably dark coated with chrome.

Maybe Michelle will end up with a pasture full of chromey bay babies in 2017? The one with the least amount of chrome being mine, of course. A girl can dream. Which one do you want? All of them except Sadie’s will be for sale I believe.

Let breeding season begin!

 

 

Quinn doesn’t get to come to the barn with me a lot, mostly because a) he has no horse sense b) he’s deaf, so I get nervous with him out in wide open spaces. But on Saturday he gave me those big sad eyes as I was getting ready to leave, so I let him come. And thank goodness I did, because what a helper he is.

First he helped me put the new reflectors/decals on the trailer (you can tell since they’re crooked).

He made sure that the couple of stray rocks in the barn aisle were not, in fact, edible.

He looked at me like this when I gave Henry cookies.

And then Henry looked at me like this when I gave Quinn one of his cookies.

They told each other funny stories at my expense:

 

 

He guarded the gate…

while looking really adorable. Because that’s what corgis do.

When it was time to go home he gave me those sad, hopeful eyes again

and then sat on the couch like this for the rest of the afternoon.

Maybe he’ll get to come to the barn more often.

I love my helmet camera. Well… I love the video from my helmet camera at least. The camera itself is big, bulky, heavy, and sometimes a fairly large pain in the butt to wear and operate. I deal with it for the sake of having the videos, but it does leave a lot to be desired. So when I came across the Cambox ISIS, I was pretty excited.

This thing is genius. First, it’s designed specifically for a helmet. The Cambox has a flat profile to fit across the front of your helmet, under the brim. It can even flex to match the shape. It has a 170 degree lens and a 40 degree tilt so you can choose exactly what view you want. It only weighs 38 grams (just over an OUNCE). It even comes in colors and you can have your name 3D printed on it so it doesn’t get lost. Leave it to those Europeans.

I have to think that something like this would be safer in a fall than a larger Go Pro or even the mid-size cylindrical shaped cameras. There’s so little to it… much less to get in the way between your head and the ground. In fact, they have a whole page on their website dedicated to the safety aspect. I’ve never been thrilled with attaching a brick to the front of my helmet (which also makes my helmet more likely to slip down a bit in front).

But what’s the quality like? The description says “Produces a high definition image with 1,280 x 720 pixel resolution; captures 30 pictures per second;  video sensor with 5 million pixels; output in AVI format compatible with most software. HD microphone with integral filter captures even the smallest sounds. Integral lithium-ion battery offers 90-minute operating time and recharges with USB charger. Micro SD memory card slot supports memory card sizes from 4GB to 32 GB. 8GB memory card included.”

So, video quality-wise, it’s about the same as my Go Pro. The only thing I don’t love is the operating time: 90 minutes with a full charge isn’t that long. It would probably work for most uses though. The price tag is around $290, which puts it in the lower-mid end of the typical GoPro price range.

Needless to say, I’m super intrigued. I need this thing in my life, STAT. Ya know… whenever I have money to burn. It also seems like such a small, sleek design would open up the world of helmet cameras to more disciplines and make it easier/less hideous for most people to wear. What say you, public?

 

Every time I’m at any kind of horse show I find myself sitting there watching people get ready to compete and thinking about how absolutely insane eventing is. And not just because of the whole galloping-and-jumping-big-solid-fences thing, but mostly because of how we try to be good at three very different sports that are all really difficult in their own right. When you take a step back and really think about it, we’re all completely certifiable.

Sometimes I miss the days of Jumperland where I could wake up in the morning at a show and go “Okay self, today you are going to remember your course and sit up!”. Now I wake up in the morning at an event (assuming I ever slept at all) and am so overwhelmed with all the things I have to remember that my brain pretty much just immediately explodes, then in the ensuing post-brain-apocalypse silence I think “Shit. I have to get up and braid.”.

Getting ready for dressage is an art in itself. You want a relaxed, obedient test from what is, most likely, a fit and fairly “blooded” horse. No one but the person showing the horse is allowed to ride it on the grounds, so forget a trainer ride. If you want enough horse left by the time you get to show jumping, forget a lunge or a long warm-up. Dressage is already really really hard, and we’ve managed to make it even harder. We have to remember the dressage test and all the tiny little things to try to maximize our score. And for the love of god, open your shoulders, look up, and keep riding inside leg to outside rein. Oh, and try not to look like you’d rather be anywhere else than in that sandbox.

Then we get to XC, where we want a horse that is bold, quick with it’s feet, moves efficiently across the ground, gets across the fence without wasting energy, and is enough of a “thinker” to get itself out of trouble. Totally different from what we wanted in the dressage test. We also have to remember the XC course (which requires at least 3 walks on my part – one to learn my way, one to make a solid plan, and one to re-affirm said plan) and everything we’re supposed to do along the way. Meters per minute. Minute markers here, here, here, here. Start your turn for that combination at that tree. Land slightly left here so your line works out better. Jump the right fences. Don’t fall off. I mean really… brain goes poof again.

Then there’s stadium, if you’re lucky enough to have survived all that other business. Now you get to remember a stadium course and all the little nuances that go into riding that cleanly (no pressure). You need your horse to be rideable, respectful, and careful, with lots of lift and power. Different yet again. So really, not only does the horse have to essentially be three totally different things, we have to be three totally different riders. Each phase has it’s own unique demands and styles of riding and to be successful we have to somehow be good at all of those things, all at the same time. Does anyone besides Michael Jung ever do everything right from start to finish? If you want to constantly feel challenged (and/or you have a touch of ADD) eventing is definitely for you. This sport is stupid hard and complicated and we are all 100% crazy for even trying to master it. And the fact that we do all of this while wearing head-to-toe white is all the proof you need of just how idiotic we really are.

We won’t even talk about all the different rules for each phase. Or all the tack. Or all the clothes. Alright.. admittedly I don’t mind all the tack and clothes, but packing for a show looks more like you’re just plain moving out.

All of these things combined are probably why most eventers travel with at least one kind of alcohol. On some level I think we are all overwhelmed, whether it be just 1% (oh, if we could all be Buck) or 101% (I’m looking at you, lady that looks like she’s going to throw up before she goes in the start box. High five girl, you’ve got lady balls!).

But this is also probably why we are all generally so helpful and supportive of each other. I’ve never felt more “at home” in any discipline. Everyone is welcome and everyone gets support from their fellow competitors. We’re all in the same big stupid boat together, just trying to survive through the end of the day and finish with a number, not a letter (because – minor detail – if you fall off or go off course, you’re out. Done-zo. Finished. There is no coming back later for another class, you have to pack your toys and go home. No refunds, but enjoy trying to get those mud stains out of your whites!).

There’s no doubt that nary a one of us has even a lick of common sense. No one in their right mind would do this, much less pay boatloads of money for the privilege. I’m pretty sure I live in a perpetual state of brain overload. But it’s a hell of a lot of fun, and I wouldn’t want to be any other kind of insane with any other kind of lunatics.