Category: Uncategorized

This week/weekend I’m working at WEC, but I wanted to be able to get a lesson in with Presto before that started. The winter season is very quickly approaching (closing date is next week for our first one!) and I thought it might be a good idea to go XC school a few questions that he maybe hadn’t seen yet. In particular, there’s a Weldon’s Wall at Training at a couple venues, and I am not the biggest fan of those, and Presto had never seen one.

Our favorite close venue happens to have a Weldon’s Wall on their Training course, which was tres convenient, and Steph had time on Tuesday to meet us, so we headed over there.

Aside from the Weldon’s wall I also wanted to school a drop into water, since we haven’t done that question very much either. Presto is bold, but he IS still green, and we’re still a relatively new partnership, so I’m definitely interested in doing the things that put deposits in the trust bank. It’s never the best feeling to get to a show and be like “hmm well we’ve never done anything quite like that before”. At least not for me.

So we started with a few simple warmup fences, then went over to the trakeners. He’s jumped the Novice one before and the Training one isn’t much bigger, so he didn’t even blink at that. He was far more interested in the horse at the top of the hill in the distance that was having some primo shenanigans.

What I have noticed about him now that we have a few XC runs under our belt is that there are 3 very distinct Presto modes while on course. For the first few jumps he’s almost a bit overly bold… super pumped to be there, not as responsive to my half-halts. After that he levels out and goes into cruising mode and is quite lovely and focused. That lasts for most of the course. And then by the last few he’s like “perhaps I have regrets about my earlier Fuckery” and can be a little slower off my leg. Three different horses that require three different rides within about 5 minutes.

Schooling is a bit of the same. In the beginning he’s like YEEEEEHAW and then levels out, which is helpful because we can at least practice the best way to ride/handle each of the modes.

After the trakehners we went over to the Weldon’s, which he gave less than zero shits about. I don’t think he even registered that the ditch existed.

Since that was super uneventful we went to the water next, jumping down the smaller bank (which was on the T course), then doing the whole T line (down bank into water, skinnyish ramp a couple strides out of the water), then the Prelim drop. The T line was no problem, but he did seem to quite enjoy launching himself into the water. Steph was very convinced that if we repeatedly just walked or quietly trotted off the drop, he would eventually jump down it normally.

Which would be sound logic, if Presto was normal. I’m not sure if y’all knew this, but Presto is NOT normal.

If this had been a cannonball competition, he’d have won hands down. You could practically hear his glee every time he leaped out into the water like he belonged at Sea World. His enthusiasm never once wavered, no matter how many times we went down it or how quietly he approached. He was having a grand time. My knees and spine were having a less fun time. Also, I was soaked. I got a face full of water on multiple occasions, like I went to the water park. I guess I did.

I mean, the good news is, he has no hesitation about dropping into water. You just… might not enjoy the style in which he does it. The joys of a young, exuberant horse.

After that we finished up by stringing together the coffin, a corner, and the big open MIM oxer, all of which he popped through easy peasy. He was a super good boy and it left me feeling a lot more confident about whatever we might see on the Training courses this season. Time to send in the first show entry of 2023!

And just like that, it’s 2023.

Please hold, when I typed that I just sat here and realized that I turn 40 this year. I thought I was 38. Gonna need a minute to process that. What the fu….

Anyway, we’ll deal with that particular existential crisis later, let’s talk about the fun stuff that happened last week instead.

First and foremost, I had a jump lesson on Presto. Specifically grid work, which was super good for him. We hadn’t jumped since the show like a week and a half before, and I’ve noticed that if we spend too long at home without going anywhere and challenging his brain with something beyond conditioning and flatwork, he starts to make up fun games. And when I say fun games, I mean fun for him. The day before the jump lesson he was playing a game of Corner Ballerina (you know, where you spin like a ballerina in every corner). He thinks that one is hilarious.

So off he went the next day for gymnastics, where he spent the first times through the line swearing that he was just way too tired to use his booty to push himself off the ground properly. That’s a lie. He is just a big young horse that would prefer to avoid using said booty because it’s hard. He got it by the end though. And then the next day he got a massage from his favorite bodyworker, because ya know… hard knock life. (lets ignore the fact that I’ve been unable to stand fully upright for like 2 weeks because I tweaked something in my back while I was SLEEPING. It’s fine.).

My Christmas present to myself arrived too…

If you said “Jesus, that’s shiny.” or “Good Lord”, or “You could see that thing from space”… yes. Yes you are correct. I dunno man, my helmets are coming up on their expiration and I’m having a real glossy moment right now and this one was on sale for like $100. Plus it fits me really well. So who am I to question the audaciousness of the glitter plus glossy combo? It is a whole-ass lot. I’m kind of obsessed with it.

On that same theme….

Sunday we had our barn holiday party at Steph’s, complete with a taco bar and a White Elephant gift exchange. As soon as Party Coordinator Libby (who is also a Steph student, a fantastic friend, a blog reader, a Patron, and the owner of Higher Standards Leather Care) said White Elephant, I knew exactly what I was going to bring. I did not pause for even a moment – I marched straight over to Amazon and got this glorious creature.

I mean. Come on. Who doesn’t need one of those? It got stolen the max number of times in the White Elephant, so we’ll call it a success. And I walked away with a Harry Potter sorting hat, so like… win/win on that one.

Libby also got me a Christmas present.

Here’s where I should preface and say that these people are Croc lovers. Like…. really into Crocs. Pretty much everyone at the barn has multiple pairs, they wear them all the time, are hardcore devotees. And I have nothing against that. You do you, bro. But I’m not wearing them.

Right?

RIGHT?

Libby rolled up in there with these black glitter crocs, complete with skull charms, all wrapped up in a unicorn gift bag. How thoughtfully manipulative, using all my favorite things to convert me. I stood no chance, really.

I put them on, flipped them into sport mode, and I’ve basically been wearing them ever since. Even into PUBLIC, and I didn’t give one flying fuck about who might have been judging me. You know why? First of all, look at them. Second of all, they’re stupid comfortable. I am shooketh. I don’t even know what happened.

If you don’t have friends that indoctrinate you into some weird shoe cult against your will, are you even living?

Boy… what a year, huh? Life doesn’t look the same in December as it did in January (for the better, I think)! Let’s take a very brief trip back through the months and look at the highlights of what all happened in my world this year.

January

We bought Gemma! Was it partially because I was having a complete mental breakdown about Presto’s mystery lameness? Perhaps. It’s fine.

A couple weeks later Presto got an MRI which showed us that he “just” had a bone bruise rather than the 9000 various career-ending soft tissue injuries that I had built up in my head over the preceding month.

At the end of the month Hillary took Henry to a jumper show and did the 1.10m, which was fucking adorable.

February

Hillary and I launched the Patreon, which… despite how skeptical I was about it in the beginning, it has been AMAZING and the community that it’s resulted in is one of my favorite things to come out of the entire year.

I got a new-to-me dressage saddle and gave it a very satisfying makeover. It’s been a great purchase.

Presto went out to West Texas to do some small paddock rest to heal from his bone bruise, where he proceeded to take a few years off Michelle’s life.

March

We did a quick trip out to Ocala to get the farm ready for the seasonal boarders.

Gemma got the all-clear from the vet to start back to work, and I discovered that she is a Very Fancy Good Girl.

Presto had a giraffe-themed 5th birthday party.

April

Gemma went on an outing to the local XC facility, where she jumped her first jumps.

I was off the rails busy trying to get everything ready to move to Florida, including the tiny house and the horses.

We had the most epic Lady’s Weekend trip to Kentucky, where we also got Pat Your Horse tattoos.

May

We moved to Florida! All 3 horses and all my shit driving halfway across the country ala Beverly Hillbillies.

I started Presto back under saddle after 7 months off.

Henry continued to prove that he is the OG for a reason, and brought some balance to my circus of greenies.

June

Got a new boss at work and things slowly but surely started to shift in a very bad and stressful direction.

I got my very first brand new custom saddle and it was delightful (still is).

Presto went on a couple outings just to hack around and was a terrorist.

July

Hopped Presto over some XC jumps for the first time and realized it was definitely time to get serious about finding a trainer because he wasn’t bad but also I may or may not have been in over my head.

A few days later I took my first lesson with Steph and was instantly like “yes. yes, this.”. We spent most of the month taking flat lessons and then toward the end of the month Steph started doing training rides.

I realized I was in a real shit pickle with my job and started trying to figure out just how much more I could take and WTF I was gonna do.

August

Presto continued his training rides for the first half of the month, and on August 21st I had my first jump lesson on him with Steph (second jump lesson on Presto ever… the first one was the previous September).

Gemma also went to her first couple lessons, one dressage and one jumping. She did not blink twice at the liverpool.

I took Henry XC schooling because he was feeling a bit left out and that’s the quickest way to make him happy.

I finally got covid, my company disrespected me so much that it was finally the straw that broke the camel’s back, and I rage quit. After 18 years in corporate. Cue extremely mixed feelings of terror and relief.

September

Presto became more and more civilized and rideable by the day. It made me deeply suspicious. We also went out XC schooling with Steph for the first time.

Gemma got inspected and approved for breeding by sBs.

I focused on expanding BreedRideCompete, took on more social media clients, and started writing more for Eventing Nation (like the Windfall piece, the Burghley article, the Pratoni breeding breakdown, and the Banzai du Loir spotlight).

Hurricane Ian pointed straight at us and made for some exciting hurricane prep, but mercifully turned away at the last minute.

October

More XC schooling, including Steph’s now famous commentary. I was told it was time to enter a show.

Spent a weekend at TerraNova covering the FEI divisions for EN and ate my weight in italian ice.

Did my first and second shows on Presto – Majestic Oaks in the Novice and the Halloween POP show in the Novice. The mohawk was rad and so was he.

November

Presto continued to really step it up in our jump lessons and Steph suggested we look at a Training move-up. I pondered whether or not she might have a crack habit, but she kept raising the jumps and the horse just got better.

I started picking up some part time work in the Luxe EQ mobile for the first time in like 5 years.

Presto and I did our first 1m classes at a jumper show, after he spent the entire morning screaming in my ear and making me question literally all of my life choices.

December

We were off to Rocking Horse for our first recognized event, where I mostly just wanted to not look like a total idiot. Presto showed up to party and won on his 23.6 dressage score.

Presto jumped 4′ in a lesson and it still barely even felt like he was trying.

We celebrated Henry’s 9th gotcha day with the sassiest road hack.

Presto and I completed his first Training and he was super!

So, ya know… what’s different? I live in a new state, I have a different job (ok jobs, now I have jobs), I officially launched my own business (complete with an LLC like an actual grown up), I have another horse, I found a trainer and barn family that I love, and am now not just riding Presto but competing him at Training level.

Whoa. What a difference a year makes. 2022 certainly was not all sunshine and roses… it might actually be the year that has taxed me the most and stressed me out more than any other. At times it just felt like one bullshit thing after the other. Changes are scary and hard, and I had many. But I also believe that change is an opportunity, and it’s up to me to make something positive out of it. The blog has certainly had to take a backseat during all of this, and honestly that’s likely just the new normal. Updating the Patreon group is a lot quicker and easier, and I feel like I’ve gotten at least a little bit of privacy back when it comes to having a smaller audience to share the more personal aspects of my life. But at the same time it’s sad to me that the blogging community has died out so much in the past couple years (man I miss the old days!), and I don’t want to be another casualty, so I have no plans to stop anytime soon. Plus like… how could we possibly live without Foal Fridays? Have no fear, BRE will keep on going, even if it too has had to undergo some changes along the way.

I am a little jealous of everyone that’s on vacation right now, or at least had a long weekend. That’s not how things worked around here in any capacity.

First and foremost, wtf with the weather, man. Yeah I know Florida barely got anything of note compared to… well… the rest of the country. But still, we’ve had 4 nights in a row of hard freezes. Ya know what’s not built for that? Florida. So I’ve spent a lot of time covering pipes and spigots and dripping things and unhooking things and breaking ice and soaking grain and tossing extra hay and making sure horses are drinking and that they’re not cold and doing constant wardrobe changes on mine. Winter is work. Every year I don’t understand how people do actual winter. Just a tiny tease of it is enough to make me want to go play in traffic. Makes my skin hurt. Is awful. Would 10/10 rather be sweating.

I also was extra busy because – surprise – I got a new job. It’s a very part-time consultant position, just enough to fill in the remaining gap (ok there was no remaining gap, but the theoretical remaining gap) in my work schedule. I was offered the right opportunity at the right time and the job is a perfect fit plus it’s for a company I love and believe in (Ride iQ) so that was a no-brainer. It did mean that I basically spent the weekend trying to clear a bunch of pedigree reports and breeding consultations off my plate to prepare for this first week, so… between that and the weather there was no relaxing holiday here. On Christmas I unwrapped my total of one present (the white breeches I asked for), I took a break for lunch to go get Chinese food (it’s tradition) and otherwise I was cranking out pedigree reports like it’s my damn job (it is).

Presto got an early Christmas present – a boat fender buoy. A buoy? Yes a buoy. It was an idea I’ve been bouncing around for a while, wondering if a buoy might be a better toy for him than those balls (which.. he destroyed the last ball in less than a day) since they’re a lot thicker and more rugged. I was really wanting something more like 36″ – he likes the bigger ones that he can lay on – but I found a really good deal on a 24″ that made it basically the same price as the horse ones. He won’t play with a Jolly Ball, I guess it’s too small or too heavy to be fun, but I was hoping this would work. I got it, inflated it, made him a rope handle with baling twine, and well… it’s been a huge hit.

I do think he would definitely prefer a bigger one, so I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled for that (if you know where I can get big buoys for cheap, hit me up) but for now this one is an absolute champ. He has stomped it, thrown it, body-slammed it, and attacked it Jaws-style so many times, but it’s still kicking. Presto did dislodge the original stopper, but it came with a backup, so we just blew it back up and put a new stopper in it. He’s had hours and hours of fun.

Maybe I need to start my own horse ball company using buoy material instead. Granted, I think most horses don’t destroy them at the astonishing rate Presto did.

I gave him the two super cold days off because I neither want to freeze to death or get murdered, but we were back at it yesterday. He’s looking like quite the snack these days, I gotta say. What happened to that mega awkward kiddo that we all looked at for 4 straight years?

I have a lot of grown up stuff on my plate this week so I’m not sure yet how the horse parts will play out, but we’ll see. How is it almost 2023 already?

Anxiety at A posted this blog hop and I thought it was a superb way to do a bit of a year-end recap, so I’m hopping on the train.

What is your favorite accomplishment in 2022?

Horse-related: feeling like I’ve finally formed a partnership with Presto. When I started legging him back up in May it was not an instant click, it’s taken a lot of work and time and effort to get us on the same page. At one point I wasn’t sure that it was going to happen at all, but now we’ve got it together and we’re on the right track.

Was there an item purchased was the best thing you bought all year for yourself or your horse?

My Arion saddle, for sure. I really love it, Presto loves it, it’s helped put me in better balance with him, it’s pretty… what’s not to like? Ok the price, but ya know… it was the first custom saddle (or even NEW saddle) I have ever purchased in my life, and it was 100% worth it. 10/10 recommend

Favorite memory from the year?

The gorgeous Ocala mornings are hard to beat, especially in the summer. I am convinced there’s something magical about this place, especially at that time of day when the sunlight is just coming up through all the Spanish Moss on the trees. There are only a few places in the world where I’ve felt like it really connected straight to my soul, and this is one of them. Living here is amazing, and I hope I never stop being blown away by how gorgeous it is.

Worst moment?

Probably the day I realized my 18-year corporate career was falling to shambles around me. Panic attack doesn’t quite begin to describe it. It was one of those moments where you realize you have two choices: roll over and take it, or be bold and take charge of your own destiny. Let me tell you how positively terrifying it is to tell a company to shove it when it’s been the cornerstone of your entire adult life. But – that worst moment, which was also the hardest moment, also ended up being the catalyst for something great and ultimately it’s changed my life for the better. No regrets.

Do you have a favorite photo from this year?

One is not possible.

Was there something (podcast, book, quote, post, blog, etc.) that impacted you this year?

I first talked about enneagram stuff on here back in 2020, but it’s kind of returned front and center to my way of thinking now that I spend more time chatting with Libby and Steph, who are also enthusiasts. Learning more about yourself is pretty helpful in all walks of life (as Steph likes to say, if you know how you do be, you can actually grow and try to improve some of the not so great parts of how you do be rather than just saying “that’s how I do be”) but particularly in my interpersonal relationships as well as my riding and mindset. Having people that’ll be like “you’re doing that 5 thing right now” really help with the self-awareness, and having a coach that really understands how I learn/think/react has been pretty revolutionary. Steph did a great session with the Ride iQ ladies about enneagram and how it can be applied to coaching, learning, etc… highly recommend watching! I’ve also fallen face first into an enneagram 5 podcast that has blown my mind a few times. It’s amazing how helpful it is to fully understand how your brain works, especially in comparison to other people.

Most chaotic moment?

That’s a real tie between the Texas to Florida move (or the lead up to it, really) and those two weeks when my corporate life was rapidly devolving. Granted, every day with Presto is a microdose of chaos.

Is there something you wanted to do this year that didn’t happen?

I feel like a Europe trip is always on my list of things I want to do and every year that it doesn’t happen is kind of sad. Even though I knew this year was extremely unlikely, with everything else going on. I’d also really really really like to find someone local for Henry… he would greatly enjoy having someone to take around the lower levels and boss around. Was hoping that might happen this year but it got back-burnered.

Did you accomplish any of the goals set for the year?

Did I actually set any goals this year besides getting Presto rehabbed/legged back up and moving to FL? I don’t even remember. Probably not, setting goals really isn’t my jam.

Do you have any major goals for 2023?

See above, not my jam. I really just want to keep my horses happy and healthy and for us to keep learning and growing, whatever that may look like.

Are there any major plans or purchases already in mind for 2023?

We must do a Kentucky 5* trip again this year, because it was really one of the big highlights for 2022 for me. Otherwise, no plans yet! I feel like things have a way of finding me, though…