Alright, finally a catch-up post to cover the past couple weeks! The holidays are well and truly over now, so I’m out of excuses. I’m gonna summarize the happenings as best I can, otherwise this’ll be a novel and ain’t nobody got time for that.

First and foremost, Presto and Rubes both got a nice long chiro session from my vet. This is the first time this vet (I have a couple, and both do chiro) has worked on Presto, and the difference was noticeable. He’d been feeling stuck on his right side, particularly noticeable in canter, and she found several places where he was out. When I rode him a couple days later it was like night and day… like she fixed it entirely. Rubes felt good too, but he didn’t have anything specific to address and wasn’t quite as “out” as Presto was. Still, great and productive chiro session for both, even if my wallet was weeping (what else is new).

Rubes also went on his first off-property adventure. I loaded him up with Henry and me and a friend headed over to Naked Horse. He loaded well, but definitely got worked up in the trailer despite it being less than a 15 minute ride, pawing and sweating, and he never really wound his way back down. I lunged him a little when we got there, and did ground work with him to get his focus.

Truthfully Rubes just got mega overwhelmed looking at everything in the distance (horses doing things that def weren’t his business but he thought it was) and I could never really get him to take a deep breath. He’s such an anticipatory creature, he was constantly trying to figure out what I was going to ask him to do, to the point where he really lost his ability to just “be”. As soon as he started to click his brain in, he’d explode with anxiety again. I ended up not getting on him at all, we just meandered around the field, he jumped some logs and a ditch on the line, did lots of groundwork, and eventually worked our way back up to the trailer. To his credit he loaded back up in the trailer fine (I was concerned he might not) and we all made it home in one piece.

I learned some things about him from that little adventure and will take a slightly different approach next time, but we’ve definitely got a lot of work to do with getting him comfortable off property before we can really DO anything away from home. Duly noted.

At home, though, he’s been really good. He’s figuring out the lateral movements and is getting pretty consistent in the contact. He’s even starting to think about maybe trying to stretch a little bit… hasn’t actually done it yet, but he’s considering it. If I can get some of that tension out of his back I think we’ll really be cooking. His canter and transitions are improving too, and he’s mostly mastered the concept of a half halt. Well… all of the above hinges on when he’s paying attention, of course. He does have some focus issues and thinks a lot of things are exciting even if he’s not part of it.

The horse is not short of character or quirks, I’ll give him that. Never a dull moment with Rubes. But he tries hard and I think the job itself will be easy for him. We’ve just gotta wrangle those brain hamsters.

Last week was also the first week of the winter h/j series at WEC, which means the beginning of retail season for me.

I’m trying to pick up as many hours as I can this year, to help fluff the coffers a bit since this is also generally the most expensive time of year for me. Particularly because I’ve amped up our lessons/training rides schedule. Mama gots to make the chedda to pay for that.

But we’re on our second week in our new busier program and it’s going well so far (knock on wood). We’ve logged a dressage lesson (our first in forever), a jump lesson, a dressage training ride, and today we’re gonna do a quick XC school.

It’s been so long since I’ve been in a real program like this, right now it feels like an incredible luxury. I mean… I haven’t maybe ever been in a program like this, really. Closest I came was when I was a working student literally forever ago. It just wasn’t feasible in Texas where my trainer was 2 hours away, and it was difficult to get into a regular schedule with my prior trainer. I appreciate that when I brought the idea to Ellie she immediately made the space for me and has outlined a program, followed through 100%, and been fantastic about scheduling. No chasing or reminding required. It’s basically like we’re in a full training program but I’m just trailering in for everything vs being onsite. My work schedule makes things a bit tricky but we’re figuring it out.

Presto of course has had some training rides here and there over the past few years whenever I could fit them in, but nothing super consistent since he was a 4yo in training with Megan in Texas. They’re so beneficial for him, I really wanted to make that a priority too. He’s such a fast learner, but like all horses, it’s easier for him to learn when he’s being taught as clearly and concisely as possible. A better, more experienced rider is going to be able to do that. He and Ellie get along great and he already has had a couple lightbulb moments. Watching her ride him is super educational for me, too.

At the end of the day my goal is to be a better rider and have a more well-trained, educated horse, and I’m dedicated to doing everything I can to help make that happen. We have some holes to fill in, but I think we’ve found our way to the right program, so we’ve committed 100% and we’ll see where that takes us. Here’s to hoping 2025 is the year of education and improvement.

We’ve got our first recognized event of the season this weekend, and it’s supposed to be cold and rainy. Superb. My favorite (inject heavy sarcasm). I fully expect it to be a bit wild and wooly, and Presto will probably be a hooligan, but we’ve gotta pull the bandaid off at some point and get cracking. If nothing else it’ll hopefully give us an idea of where we’re really at and what things we need to prioritize working on. Assuming I don’t freeze to death, of course.

Since I’ve managed to fit pics of 3 of the 4 horses into this post, why not make it 4 for 4 with a random pic of Fey.

She’s just hanging out waiting for breeding season to start… which is really just right around the corner. Guess I need to start getting my shit together for the 2025 Baby Bets contest.

Happy New Year, everyone!

It’s that time of year again where I pick my favorite gadget or equine item of the year! Usually it’s some kind of tech item or cool new innovation (except for the one year where it was my favorite hoof pick… I’ll still die on that hill…) but this year I was kind of stuck between two things, so I decided to do one of each rather than having to pick. I make the rules so I can do what I want.

First up: the techy item!

The title here goes to my $36 amazon waterproof bone conduction headphones. I originally got these so I can listen to music while I swim, but I find myself using them for other things too, particularly Ride iQ lessons or listening to music while I’m mowing. Can def attest to the waterproof part as they’ve been swimming with me for months now, and they’re super easy/basic to use.

They’re a lot more secure than airpods and they don’t actually go IN your ears (which I hate) so they’re great for anything active. And for $36, if you lose them you probably won’t cry about it. You can either listen via Bluetooth from your phone or you can upload music directly to them. I do both.

Moving on to the horsey item: it’s gotta be Bow Horse blankets. Not a gadget, but I feel like the design is innovative and leveled-up, therefore it totally counts. This company is newer to the US, but I have a fly sheet, blanket, and blanket liner from them so far and have been really impressed with the design and features. If you’re thinking “a blanket is a blanket”, nah fam… these are superior. If you like Rambos, you’ll love these.

Design features:

– every blanket is embroidered in multiple places with the model name and the weight. The neck cover AND the body. If you’re boarding or have staff (or if you’re me and need all the help you can get when it comes to making things idiotproof for yourself), it makes blanketing very straightforward and simple.

– the top of the neck cover is ruched so that it doesn’t bind across the mane/top of the neck.

– option to use the PVC-coated tail cord or regular leg straps

– every velcro strap has a little grip tab on the end for easy use even when you have gloves on

– lots of adjustability and plenty of shoulder room

– the liner has a split gusset at the shoulder so it won’t bind or rub

– you can fully remove the back clips/hardware on the liner to replace/customize or to wash the liner without the hardware banging around your machine.

These have been selling out fast every time they get a shipment, and for good reason. I’d say they run on the generous side – Presto is in an 81. Oh, and I do have a discount code – AMANDA15 bc I’m a lil obsessed with Bow Horse.

Here’s a little video tour of Presto’s blanket and liner if you want to see all the features.

Did you have a favorite gadget or item of the year? Drop it in the comments!

Happy Holidays everybody! I’ll be back to our regular updates next week, but until then, here are some pics from the last few days that I think really sum it all up. 👌🏼

Wasn’t it August like 2 days ago? How is it almost Christmas? I’m shooketh. I don’t understand how time just keeps moving faster and faster. Pause. Slow down. 2020 was like two years ago, how is it almost 2025? Is it just me??

This week snuck right on by me too, I truly thought it was Wednesday but turns out it’s Friday. My bad. Is time a social construct? Is it even real? As Billie Eilish said, when we all fall asleep where do we go? I have questions.

But anyway, it’s been more of the usual around here really. More rides on Rubes, who is so smart and catching on to this sporthorse thing more and more every day. I posted a vlog of him on the Patreon dashboard with w/t/c video and his first time cantering a jump, and for less than 3 weeks of re-training I’m super happy with how he’s improving. Literally from one ride to the next, and you can feel his gears constantly turning. It’s no small thing to go from 10 years as a racehorse to an entirely new life and new style of riding, but you have to love the heart and willingness of a Thoroughbred. He just tries his best to figure out what I’m asking.

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I love this stage of training too, where they’re just like little sponges in the beginning and there are so many small “aha” moments. It’s really fun. And now that I’m riding him pretty much every day, more and more of his personality is starting to come out, too. He’s such a quirky little weirdo, I love it. Wouldn’t be a horse of mine if he was normal, right?

I had a lesson this week but have zero media from it. Your standard jump lesson, working on nailing down the same concepts we’ve been working on. There’s incrimental improvement, and Presto was considerably less spooky this week than last week despite the presence of the pig, so we’ll mark that as a win. We’re signed up for a schooling show this weekend (I’m so not in the mood to horse show but we need to go knock some rust off, so we’re gonna), and then next week Ellie is out of town, and then it’s January. You know what January is? The beginning of season in Ocala. ALREADY! What was once on the horizon is now suddenly staring us directly in the face.

We did make a plan for a more amped-up training schedule starting in January, adding in more lessons and probably some training rides. I’m mega tired of feeling a bit stagnant, so I’m going as all-in on the education aspect as I can afford. Now if we could make it through a whole season without one of us hurting ourselves, THAT WOULD BE GREAT (knocking on every speck of wood in my house). I also need to start drafting my RRP application stuff for Rubes in the next couple weeks, but my brain can’t even cope with that yet. One thing at a time.

In other fun news, this is the time of year where the mail gets exciting, both with things I knew were coming and things I didn’t. One such surprise:

Natalie came out to the farm to film social media content during the summer, and Presto got to be the background horse. We love Natalie, she’s the coolest. If you haven’t read any of her books, you should… it’s so rare that horse books are written well, and hers are among the best. It was super fun to get this package and find books inside. Always a win.

The FLAIR ambassador jackets came and I’m also obsessed.

The FLAIR strip on the back is just chef’s kiss, and it’s actually a really nice lightweight jacket. I needed one, so it’s an exceptional score. We love our FLAIR strips.

And then one thing I knew was coming: the Correct Connect thumb grip reins. I got these for Rubes’ bridle because he had some old half-melted rubber reins on his, and I really like them so far. There’s something about the weight and shape of them that sits really nicely in my hand.

I also need to write a separate review post for the shop I got them from, because they were so helpful and above-and-beyond, they deserve a proper shout.

My saddle is stuck in customs at the moment thanks to UPS so I’m having some sads about that, but I can’t do anything about it so I’m trying to forget. Thus, I ordered myself some frozen jizzlets for Christmas. From this dude, who I am obsessed with:

He was only 3 in that video

He’s sooooo my type. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him since I saw him, and the deadline for ordering the frozen from Germany was quickly approaching, so I filled out my paperwork and sent the deposit yesterday. I just love him, must have. He’s fairly young and the oldest offspring are only 5, but I went down a rabbit hole looking at videos of them and quite like them all. Lots of praise for temperament and rideability. Plus his pedigree is super. Done deal. Sign me up. Merry Christmas to me, bc what better gift is there than frozen horse jizzlets?

Gosh you guys. Can we talk about this horse for minute? I am wrapped around his little hoofie.

Now that we’re almost two weeks into his official re-training, I’m loving him more and more. He’s got every quality that makes so many people love Thoroughbreds: he’s intelligent, forward-thinking, willing to work, and has a strong desire to please. I can’t imagine what it must be like to live the first 10 years of your life knowing only one job, one place, one set of rules, one way of doing things, and then suddenly be dropped into an entirely different world. Top to bottom, nothing is the same. I have to give him so much credit for handling it the way he has.

It’s just so cool what these horses can do and how they show up every day wanting to learn how to do whatever it is you’re asking. I bought him hoping he could be an ambassador to the breed, and to the older warhorse in particular, and so far Rubes is exactly that. Granted, he is also a little quirky, but we wouldn’t expect anything less from a horse I love, would we?

Oh, and… he’s hopped over a few little jumps now and omg. He is the cutest.

Ok to be fair he’s jumped twice, maybe 12 cross rails total between both sessions, and after the first one of the day he literally just trots over them like a glorified cavaletti. He’s not that impressed.

But he seems to like and understand the game. We do a lot of poles (so many poles) and he’s really starting to figure out his footwork. Single poles, poles on an angle, skinny poles, raised walk poles, and sets of trot poles. He’s got the 3 trot poles pretty much down pat so the next step will be 5 poles, and then after that we’ll do a set of 5 where 3 of them are raised. We’re working hard on strengthening that hind end and developing the muscles he’ll need so that he can push his body up rather than pull it forward.

Again, we’re taking 10 years of biomechanics and suddenly trying to change it. That’s not a quick and easy feat, and it’ll take time for his body to lay down the different muscling. But brick by brick we do the daily work, and he’s been very willing to figure it out.

Michelle was here earlier this week and was kind enough to snap these photos for me on Tuesday morning when I rode him. He’s definitely a photogenic kind of guy (we all found that out from his first Riding Warehouse x LeMieux photo shoot, did we not?) and looks really at home in his new sporthorse job.

He also is really glad to be back in consistent work. One thing about him is that he thrives on a routine, and he wants/expects to come out and do something every day. Right now I’m aiming for about 5 rides a week, trying to give him the downtime to make sure all his newly-found muscles have some R&R, but also doing enough with him that he feels satisfied mentally. He’s figured out that I ride him after I ride Presto, so he always comes into his stall and waits for me when he sees me bring Presto back out. And if I don’t get Rubes out next, sometimes he gets big mad and has a gallopy little tantrum around his turnout. It’s not the worst problem to have, a horse that wants to come to work so badly, but thoughts and prayers for his shoes every time he does that.

On the Presto side of things, we’ve had a couple jump lessons since I checked in last week. It was cold AF last week (for me, the Floridian who excels at being warm and sticky)… I dunno how you northern people do this for months on end. It was 40 degrees and I couldn’t feel my toes like all damn day. Granted, I have a closet full of clothes meant to keep you cool and very very few items that are meant to keep you warm.

Either way, Presto was jumping great. Granted, he did finally come up and close and personal with the barn’s pig that day, and spent most of his lesson trying to crane his head around to look for it.

Presto really is terrified of that moving boulder. He knew rocks shouldn’t be trusted and this just proves him right (I fear we may never go past a rock without spooking again). Special shoutout to Kathleen tho for getting pics of him and the horribly scary pig (as we both laughed hysterically at all the snorting).

Either way, Presto eventually was able to focus enough to be good for the lesson. Today’s on the other hand… lord. We ended up moving my lesson time forward because a line of storms was set to blow in ahead of a cold front (*cries in why-tho-it’s-finally-75-again*) and Presto was one big spook machine the entire time. It was windy and sprinkly and ominous looking, and he came off the trailer looking for the pig, found the pig, spooked at it, and proceeded to spook at every leaf, bush, jump filler, chair, pole, etc that crossed his path. Do love trying to lesson on this animal as a cold front blows in.

Which isn’t to say that he was bad. He was actually quite good at all the jumps. In between was a little bit of a rodeo, but ya know. Ellie ended up making the exercise harder in an effort to get him to focus, and that worked. That’s the tactic that always works with him… gotta make it hard enough to where he actually has to pay attention. The trials and tribulations of a wicked smart horse with way more ability than his job actually requires.

Last but not least, I hope everyone had a very happy Wrapped Day last week. What a fantastic holiday, even if Spotify did disappoint greatly with a half-ass Wrapped this year. Still, it’s a fun time of unity across the land.

Patreon folks, if you haven’t checked your dashboard lately you have lesson video from last week and a full album of Rubes pics plus a Hack Yak waiting for you! It seems like a lot of people’s notifications are going to spam folders now so make sure you’re checking for new content.