Okay, can we take a mid-week pause to talk about something that’s been driving me absolutely batty lately?

Yup, I want to rant. Specifically about when people deliberately tilt advertising photos to make a horse look more uphill (or it some cases, to just make it look balanced and level in general because it’s actually downhill or croup high).

To be fair, this particular thing has always driven me crazy, but I dunno if people have been doing it more and more often, or if I’m just noticing it more. Or maybe I’m just looking at more horse ads this year because what else does one do in 2020 with this extra time online? I’ve been seeing it EVERYWHERE. Sale ads on facebook, auction listings for foals, stallion ads, you name it. This isn’t a new phenomenon by any means, I used to make a game out of going through the COTH stallion editions (back when those were a thing that was really coveted every year) and tilting the magazine to level some of the stallions, but my god. It’s everywhere.

I didn’t want to throw any rando internet people under the bus so I tilted some of my own photos as examples of what I mean.

Gah. WHY. WHY DO PEOPLE DO THIS?

Sometimes it’s purely accidental, and I get that. Unless you’re using a tripod or are very careful/deliberate, humans tend to not take perfectly level photos. And some riding spaces are not perfectly level. But those instances tend to just be slightly unlevel, not massively so, and also… it’s just not that hard to level them. Especially when there’s a clear guide in the background like an arena fence, or if the horse is standing on a flat surface like a road. For the love of all that is holy, level the feet.

I spend a lot of time leveling Foal Friday photos, and my own photos, probably because I’m hyper-sensitive to this. When I actually sat here and thought about it, I came up with two reasons why:

1. It seems disingenuous. A little bit of wonkiness here and there in the photos… ok sure. I can write that off as accidental. But if I’m seeing photo after photo at all kinds of crazy angles where the only thing they have in common is making the horse look uphill, it makes me wonder what else that seller/owner isn’t being 100% honest about.
2. It makes me think that they think I’m stupid. Like… I have eyeballs. I can clearly see that the photo isn’t level. I guess they’re hoping that I’m just gonna look at the horse’s topline and not notice that the front and back feet aren’t anywhere near the same plane? It’s brazen and obvious, assuming or hoping that the person looking at the photo won’t notice.

At least that’s why I’m so deliberate with those Foal Friday photos. No those aren’t ads by any means, and yes all of this years foals are already spoken for anyway, but I’m aware that the farm is still a business and I don’t ever want anyone thinking that the mares or foals are being misrepresented online in any way, even in a very casual setting.

I think what really set me off lately was a couple of online foal auctions where almost every single photo had been tilted to varying degrees. I get it, foals can be butt-high a lot, but a) still not a good excuse to try to cover it up b) when your arena surface or background fence is tilted at damn near 40 degrees, it just looks insane. I’m not even exaggerating, there was one online sporthorse foal auction in Europe in particular where only 3 out of 24 photos had not been tilted at least 20 degrees. It was enough to give you vertigo. And then hot on the heels of that I saw several successive posts on a stallion group with a major tilt to them too. It’s become a second hobby of mine to screenshot the photo and level it to see what it is they’re trying to hide (just like when I see conformation photos of stallions where there’s always grass covering his feet – makes me go hmmm…).

I especially don’t understand it when we live in the age of online videos. Like why the heck did you bother tilting all your photos when I can go play a video that shows the real story? GAH. My favorite is when I see a screenshot that has been majorly tilted, and then see the exact spot on the video where the screenshot came from and it’s perfectly level. Makes me chuckle. Just level your damn advertising photos people! Or at least don’t deliberately tilt them at crazy angles. That’s all I ask.

Does anyone else notice this stuff? Does it drive you nuts too, or is it just me?

Remember how I’ve had a relatively shit last couple weeks, between the anniversary of my mom’s passing, and her birthday, and my grandma dying of covid on my mom’s birthday, etc etc? Yeah while, Friday it got just a wee bit worse. The cherry on top of my shit sundae, if you will.

I was on my way to the barn, on the highway, when the person in front of me slammed on their brakes (they didn’t know where they were going, apparently). I almost managed to stop in time, but not quite. I barely tapped them, not enough to set off the airbags or even jostle me more than a bump would, but their tailgate was down on their tiny little truck. So wham, that thing just stabbed right through my bumper. I pulled over onto the first cross street and saw fluid absolutely pouring from the bottom of my truck. Super. Awesome. Naturally, their tailgate had the world’s tiniest dent in it.

I will say though, my insurance company and technology made everything super easy. It’s been like 10-11 years since I had a vehicle issue that required insurance involvement/a tow (that time I ran over something that fell off a construction truck), and boy have things changed. Everything is on the app, and trackable, and happens much more quickly. I called and made the claim, I had a tow truck in about 20 minutes, they took me/my truck to a shop near my house while I ordered a rental on the insurance app, and the Hertz guy came and picked me up from the body shop within 15 minutes. Modern times. They are amazing.

Something related to the AC was destroyed, and possibly the radiator is cracked. They said 1.5-2 weeks to get it all fixed up. In the meantime I have a little Nissan Altima rental, which is fun in some ways (I forget how much manhandling my truck requires until I drive something that’s very light and responsive) but when all you’ve driven for 5 years is a truck or an SUV, it’s quite alarming to have your ass like 2 feet off the ground. Especially in Texas, where everyone drives a truck or SUV. I definitely miss my truck already. I was thinking of taking Presto on another adventure to Pine Hill this weekend but clearly that’s not happening now. Hopefully it gets fixed up quickly and well, and hopefully that was the 3rd shitty thing of “bad things happening in threes” because I am about at max freakin capacity.

In better news, the pressure washer came, and I got to play with it over the weekend. Gotta say, if you’re having a shit couple weeks, I highly recommend finding some things to pressure wash. It’s cathartic as hell.

I started with a couple saddle pads and a girth, then moved on to the deck, then the deck chairs, then the side of the house, then a planter and a pot… it was getting out of control. No one really told me how freaking fun and rewarding it is to literally watch the dirt just peel away from everything you point it at. It’s like a drug. Gimme more of that sweet sweet pressure wash.

Nothing is going to be safe around me ever again now that I know about this. My saddle pads look awesome, it got out some of that deep, set-in dirt that’s been stuck in there for a while. And my girth, omg. Just washing it, it still never quite comes out looking totally clean, and there’s always lots of hair stuck all in it. It blasted almost all of it right out, it looks practically brand new now. I think the horse’s boots will be my next victim. After that, maybe the trailer. The possibilities are endless…

How is it Monday again already? And how is it almost September? I feel like it was just August 1st a few days ago. Time is flying. Although I don’t really mind if summer wants to move along a little faster, it’s hot as shit and I’m over it. We didn’t get a drop of rain from that hurricane and the triple digit days are starting to wear on all of us I think. Except maybe Presto, who still naps in the sun even when he’s covered in sweat. Gotta solidify all that awesome sunbleaching I guess.

Since it’s hot and gross, Henry continues to have a light schedule. He went for a hack on Saturday, but I try to be careful not to make him too hot, especially when the “feels like” is gonna be 115 or some shit by later in the day. The mornings have been pretty humid too, so… he’s living the chill life at the moment. Such is the way for him every summer. I have literally no future plans in mind for him at the moment, so I don’t feel any need to push things or feel pressured about it. He’s happy and perky and always a little wild. I can’t complain.

Presto got a little bit of time “off” after that particularly wild ride on my birthday. He just wasn’t himself that day, and was suddenly worried/anxious/spooky about the wooded areas that he had never been concerned about before. I got on him the next week after that for a few minutes and just walked in the arena and he still felt very on edge and spent a lot of time staring off into the trees. Really out of character. I’m not sure what changed from his perspective but my gut told me to dial it back, so instead I just spent the last week and half handwalking him out there, letting him graze, and doing some groundwork until I felt like he understand he was safe and fine and no longer staring anxiously into the brush. He’s naturally quite a brave and bold and confident horse, so if/when he raises a concern like that it tends to be pretty genuine, and I felt like if I’d tried to force it he would have ended up losing confidence either in me or in himself or both. We’re in no hurry. He’s 3. We’re laying the bricks that have to sustain him forever, so if we have hiccups I’d rather take a step back and let him figure it out than try to force him. Trying to keep making deposits into the trust bank.

He seemed back to normal by the middle of last week, so on Sunday I got back on him out in the grass field (where the original meltdown took place) and he was super. Back to his normal self. I kept it very easy and light, about 15 minutes of walking and trotting on a loose rein. He was interested in what we were doing, but not in a tense or worried way, just happy to go forward and listen and stay relaxed. After we were done in there we walked down the fenceline next to the brushy area and then stopped and hung out and watched some fence construction (which had just started the day before). He was super chill about all of that, not worried in the least, so hopefully he’s over whatever set him off in the first place. I still have no idea what that was, but… horses. Sometimes they just need a minute to recalibrate. I get it, so do I.

It’s also possible that I totally stalker/fangirled with Will Faudree over Mama’s Magic Way (Mason). The more I found of that horse the more and more he seemed identical to Presto, so I’ve become I wee bit fascinated. I found baby pictures and omg.

I was curious about his personality though, so I couldn’t resist, I had to ask Will. And the response was legit spooky. I’m relatively certain they’re the same horse. Will said “I describe him to people as a 5 year old little boy on a sugar high in a toy store. He is the biggest character and comedian.”. Sounds familiar. Very accurate description of Presto. He also sent me a video of Mason being Mason, and I had to laugh because I had a really similar one of Presto, which I sent back. He agreed, they’re basically the same.

• 

• 

Thanks for humoring me Will. God, can you imagine two Presto’s in the same place at the same time?

But if he’d like to take after Mason in other respects I wouldn’t really mind. Just saying.

Now I have a new “brother from another mother” to watch for sure. I see resemblances between almost all the MM’s, I can pick the majority of them out of a crowd, but I’ve never seen one that was such a carbon copy of Presto as Mason is. They have similar dams too, half TB half Hanoverian. How could I could I not take a shine to Mason? New favorite upper level horse.

I did stalk a couple more MM’s this weekend too on the live feed from Strzegom in Poland. There was one on the *4 Nations Cup team for Germany

and one in the 2*.

Thank you live streams for enabling me to be creepy AF worldwide. It occurred to me as I was sitting there at 5am on a Sunday watching the 2* that there might be something wrong with me. I’ve accepted it though, please don’t stage an intervention. It’s become a serious hobby and I don’t want to be helped.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

So I’m sure anyone that’s been reading this blog for very long can vividly remember the story of that time Michelle thought Manny was a Maddy. In her excitement after his birth she didn’t get a very good look under the tail and he was a very pretty foal, so it took a few days for her to notice he had a ween. Hence the story that she will never live down (not as long as I have a say in it, anyway) and the occasional nickname of “Two Holes”. Because ya know… you gotta count the holes under the tail. Colts = one. Fillies = two. She’s been an exceptionally good sport about it all.

But anyway, she’s been waiting for a filly out of Stormie in particular. Last year’s foal was a colt, and obviously Ollie this year is also a colt (and he’s been dangling his bits since day 1, so there’s no room for doubt on that one). She was a bit bummed about that, because she was reaaaaaally wanting a grulla filly by Usandro out of Stormie, and she got SO close. And despite her extreme love for and devotion to Ollie, I think he must have sensed the minor twinge of disappointment somehow, because he did a thing. A real yucky thing.

No one is totally sure what he did or how (best guess maybe he was rubbing his butt on the fence or something and ended up with a poorly placed splinter? Who knows. Babies.) but he came in one day with a really really swollen… uh… under-the-tail region. Like at first it looked like a super big bad impaction trying to force it’s way out.

Here’s where you stop scrolling if you don’t want to see horse bumholes.

There is literally nothing cute happening in the rest of this post.

It starts out cringey and quickly devolves into horror movie status.

You were warned.

I’m not kidding.

Ok you asked for it.

Obviously that’s horrifying. Cue panic. Immediate veterinary assistance.

It took a little time to determine that it was actually an abscess. A really really big disgusting deep one, right under his tail. It must have been seriously painful, but Ollie was tolerant of all the poking and prodding and attention. And finally, they got it to open up to drain. And it was NASTY.

Look I already warned you to stop scrolling.

You should be questioning all your life choices right now, you sicko.

Ok fine here it comes.

And once there was a drain hole, drain is indeed what it did. It just kept going and going and going and going.

Clearly it was extremely important to keep it open and draining but also keep it clean, so Ollie had to go stay at the vet’s. This was just too big of a job, and closely monitoring that extra hole was going to be very important. So Ollie has been gone, hence why there isn’t a better, cuter, tremendously less traumatizing Foal Friday to share with you this week. Without Ollie, things are a little dull.

But anyway, as most disgusting drainage abscess holes do, it got worse before it got better. Like… so much worse. But all the puss that was stuck deep down in there finally made it’s way out and holy crap it was like Dr. Pimple Popper on steroids.

I seriously implore you to NOT continue scrolling.

Like you might not ever come back from this.

If you’ve eaten anything recently you should stop right here.

This image will be seared into your brain forever.

I might need you to sign a release.

Wow you’re disgusting, you know that right?

I KNOW.

I KNOW.

IT IS EQUAL PARTS HORRENDOUS AND AMAZING.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Poor Ollie, you know that thing really has GOT to hurt, especially being right under his tail. That drainage hole is like the same size as his little pony baby bumhole. He’s been a super good patient though, which says a lot about his character. He’s charmed his caretakers and added to his already large fan club.

And luckily, things are going well. The drainage looks to be pretty much finished now, and the hole is starting to close up now from the inside out. It seems much less painful for him, too.

He’s been given the all clear to come home, so that’s a huge sigh of relief. He’ll be happy to get back to his friends, I’m sure. Being stuck by himself is no fun, especially for his poor mother.

Hopefully it continues to heal well and poor Ollie can keep himself out of trouble. Valiant effort on his part to appease Michelle and convert himself to a Two Holes, but that just didn’t really quite work out.

For everyone who’s made it all the way to the bottom of this post, I’m not sure if I should commend you or be concerned about you. Probably both. But um… happy Friday? If that’s even possible anymore…

The only bad thing about buying a saddle from overseas is that crossing the pond isn’t always the fastest, and I’m an instant gratification kind of girl. Patience is not my strong suit when it comes to pretty things and the mail. It’s been 2 days and it feels like a week.

Also perhaps I’m weird (I am indeed) but the part I’m looking forward to most is giving the saddle a bit of a makeover. It’s got a two-tone look so I’m thinking it wants to be re-dyed to a nice even chocolate brown. And maybe this time I’ll play with a beeswax finish. It’s been a few years since I’ve dyed a saddle and I don’t want to admit this in from of witnesses but I find it really fun and gratifying. Crafting in general is not my favorite thing at all, but sign me up for some tack rehab. It’s possible that I grabbed all the necessary supplies already. Don’t judge me, it’s 2020 and I’ll get joy wherever I can.

I’m kind of hoping it won’t take that long to get here though. In all fairness the last two things I got – a rubber chicken from a place in NY state and a blanket from the UK – were interesting examples. The rubber chicken took 3 weeks and the blanket took 2 days.

The rubber chicken was highly amusing though. I figured if I was going to order a ridiculous toy for Presto, I may as well spring for the biggest one I could find, which was a 29-incher. When I pulled it out of the parcel locker the other day, I was cracking up. They had shipped it just in a bag, with it’s feet sticking out of the corner, which was hilarious in and of itself. It was basically folded in half to fit in the locker (thanks mailman!). It’s noise maker thingy is very sensitive, so any little bit of touch or jostling sets it off. And it doesn’t squeak, it MOANS like a dying cow. A very very loud one. Just walking back from the mailbox to the house, it was moaning constantly. I can only imagine it’s journey across the country to get here, with every truck driver, mail carrier, or sorter. Just stuffing it into the parcel locker must have been a sight (and sound) to behold. I was absolutely dying by the time I got home, tears of laughter streaming down my face, since it moaned loudly the whole way.

So far Presto seems pretty unimpressed by it (Henry is terrified) but hopefully it’ll grow on him. It’s a lot heavier than I was expecting and I think that makes it a little less fun for him to play with.

I also got a super sweet surprise in the mail from Michelle – a custom HERS Equine journal with baby Presto painted on the front!

HERS Equine does all kind of custom horse painting, on everything from decor to clothing. Not gonna lie, I kind of want a jacket with a jumping Henry on the back. Katie did a great job painting baby Presto, it looks JUST like him. Still hits me right in the feels to remember him as a foal. And what a great idea for a gift, who doesn’t like stuff with their horse painted on it? Now I just have to figure out what I want to use the journal for, because obviously I’ll want to keep it forever.

On the subject of Mighty Magic babies, I totally meant to post this the other day and forgot…. because I’m the ultimate stalker, I made a little compilation video of the ones that were at Grand Meadow. There were 2 in the 4* and one in the 3*, and all 3 were clear XC.

There were also some MM’s stretching their legs at Arville in Belgium last weekend – there were FOUR MM’s in the top 16 in the 2*. There wasn’t a live stream though, which was sad, but Figaro’s owner posted some video of him… he’s competed through 4* but hasn’t been out in a while, and it looks like he had lots of fun.

One of them in particular reminds me a lot of Presto. Which one do you think it is?