Boy oh boy was it insane to see how everything unfolded (or I guess… didn’t) with Pony Finals. That was a cluster of epic proportions.

I do feel a bit sorry for everyone that already spent a lot of time and money getting there, only to arrive and have it be canceled before it really even got started. Mostly I feel sorry for the ponies that spent days in a trailer and went through all the stress of traveling, for no reason, and for the kids who now have to learn a tough life lesson about disappointment. All because people (adults) seem incapable of making good decisions right now. And I’m not talking about USEF (although their timing was impeccably bad and it sounds like the situation left a lot to be desired with how it was handled, by case #4 they had no choice but to shut it down). Pony Finals was a terrible idea in the first place, on USEF’s part and for everyone that went.

At what point are people going to say “hmmm… maybe hauling out of state to go spend a few weeks at a horse show with other people also coming from all over the country, in a middle of a pandemic that has spiraled completely out of control, to a place that is also struggling to control the spread locally, is not a good idea“. Shit, people. I’ll say it: it’s selfish. Tell yourself what you want, bury it under all the excuses that you need to, but it’s totally selfish. Yet it also seems like as long as big horse shows are offered to people, they will come, no matter what.

Pony Finals in particular was only a victim of cancellation because of the two preceding weeks of horse shows with all the same people, which was just long enough to establish covid spread on site. If there hadn’t been those two weeks to establish undeniable spread, PF most likely would have happened and everyone would have gone on their merry way home again afterward, carrying said spread with them all along their route and back to their home areas, unknowingly (which, granted, is now happening as we speak anyway, but at least maybe without as many as infected children as there would have been otherwise). Or hell, maybe people are carrying it knowingly, since time and again people have had pending covid test results but insisted on going about their normal lives anyway until the test results come back, as several of these horse show cases have played out that way now.

What’s undeniable here in all of this mess is that you can, indeed, spread covid at horse shows, despite what a whole lot of people want to think. Despite the USEF protocols and guidelines, and despite some people following the rules to the letter. This is not the first big show to spawn more covid cases, and at this rate it’s unlikely to be the last. Yet what is the one major thing that all the top health officials are saying right now? Oh yeah – that we as a country must get a handle on this thing and get the numbers trending down now, or we’re in for a world of hurt. Continuing to hold big national level competitions helps do that… how, exactly?

A lot of the local, smaller, and one or two days shows seem to be faring much better, which makes total sense. Less mingling, less interaction, fewer people, shorter shows, generally staying within their home community. That makes a lot more sense. You could sell me on that. So at what point do the powers that be realize that “just because you can doesn’t mean you should” with these bigger national shows and events? This seems like total insanity to me at this point, to still be looking at things like AEC, TIP Championships, the National, Equitana, etc. No. Just… no. It’s not just a risk to our own horse community, it’s a risk to every community that people travel through along the way, as well as the destination community they end up in. People don’t just go to long horse shows and never leave the shows grounds. If you’re staying for a week you end up in grocery stores, or restaurants, or liquor stores (I know you people), or Walmart, or feed stores, or even local tourist spots, etc. Now you’re a problem to the community you just put yourself into, and they’re a problem to you as well. Not to mention that Kentucky has now advised (not required, therefore no one cares because clearly none of this applies to horse show folk, right?) a 14 day quarantine for people coming in from hot spot states. Think anyone going to these shows is actually doing that?

Anyone who’s entering these big shows right now should take a good hard look at how this Pony Finals situation unfolded. Are you prepared to get all the way to the show and have it be canceled last minute? It’s a very real possibility for any horse show right now. On one hand I’d like to say that I’m shocked that some of these big shows haven’t canceled yet of their own volition. On the other hand, knowing that PF likely would have gone on without those two weeks of shows preceding, and knowing that none of these other upcoming championships have that same situation at play… I can see why they’d still try. Even though the chance of someone having, spreading, or contracting covid at said events is undeniably real. By the time anyone found out for sure, the show would be over, so… no problem!

And… surely I am not the only one that shrieked at the news that some of the big fall indoor shows (which cannot be held in their local communities due to covid restrictions) have simply found new venues in other states with fewer restrictions (ahem Florida, not like that’s a hot spot or anything…) so that they can hold the shows there instead. What. The. Actual. Fuck. People?

I get that everyone wants to go back to their normal lives. I get that trainers and braiders and organizers and vendors and horse show staff have to make money somehow. I get that sponsors still want things to happen. It’s just crazy to me that we’re pretty much the only sport that is going ahead with big, national events, despite the knowledge that it will inevitably be problematic somehow. Maybe by the time it infiltrates our community and kills/seriously harms someone big name, that’ll finally be enough? Beyond the comfortable walls of our little horse world, we have a greater responsibility to our community, and to our country, and I don’t think said horse world is fulfilling that responsibility right now. People keep saying “give us a choice about whether or not we want to stay and horse show and take the risk with covid, don’t cancel it!” but… newsflash people (and this may be hard for some people to hear) this isn’t about YOU. It’s about everyone else. The community at large. Your fellow American. The world. Choosing to knowingly put yourself in harms way has much greater repercussions beyond just you – that’s the entire problem.

In the end, this is temporary. It will pass eventually. Things will slowly return to normal. But the longer it takes to get control over the situation, the longer it will take for those things to happen. It sucks. We’re all well aware. I just don’t quite understand what makes the horse community feel like they’re exempt. That they can keep doing all the things they really want to do, damn the consequences. All we’ve really proven is that yup, we are indeed contributing to the spread with these big nationwide shows. No one will die because they miss a horse show, but people very well could die if we continue as-is.

The other thing is, I think there ARE (or could be) alternatives. Do things more locally or regionally to keep the travel to a minimum. Restrict entries. Stagger schedules so that fewer people are onsite at one time, and for fewer days. We’re seeing shows do things like that with success. Would it mean that the national championships can’t happen? Yes it would. But lets be honest – if we’re being responsible citizens, that ship has long since sailed. We’re clinging to something totally unrealistic. If we were smart, if we really wanted to hold on to some shred of being able to keep doing what we love throughout the entirety of this pandemic, even if on a smaller scale, we would stop being part of the problem.

I feel like a lot of my Monday “weekend summary” posts end up sounding kind of the same. “Rode both horses. Presto did cute things. I worship at the altar of Pivo. Everything is steady”. And that probably makes for relatively boring and monotonous blog content, but I have to say that I am not complaining one bit. I like it low drama (pleeeeaaaaase horse gods, keep the drama away).

Plus it’s the middle of summer, and covid, so… nothing special is really going on. No horse shows or lessons on the schedule. None of that bright shiny stuff that makes for good social media content. The most exciting thing I’ve won lately (which I’m actually pretty pumped about if I’m being honest) is a Wanker of the Week sparkly ribbon from the last Buck Off Banter podcast (episode 27, near the 1:06 mark – btw this is by far my favorite equestrian podcast, if you aren’t listening you’re missing out).

Things might seem monotonous on the surface, I suppose, but I’m kind of grateful for it right now. The stress from the tiny house purchase and life in 2020 in general is enough, thank you. The horses being that “steady” thing is very welcome. Plus, maybe I’m like the easiest to please, most pathetic and boring person in the world, but every little thing Presto does these days is thrilling enough to seem like a banner moment to me. It doesn’t feel like I’m lacking in excitement.

Plus I’m pretty thrilled that we’ve now edged our way into August and there’s still living grass, and the ground is still decent enough to jump. Usually by now it’s just crispy dead vegetation sticking up out of something akin to concrete. I know it’s coming, it’s an inevitability really, but it’s happening a lot later than usual so I will happily take it. It’s meant that the boys have nice grass to graze on, and it’s meant that I’ve been able to keep jumping Henry once a week.

Since I do get the feeling that our “good ground” days might be numbered, this past weekend I went ahead and jacked the jumps up a little bit and set up a grid. I’ve kept everything pretty much around 3′ all year, big enough to be of some substance but not so big that I’m pounding Henry’s feet or demanding much exertion on his part. And we never jump more than 2 courses anyway, or more than once a week. But still… actively trying not to use up the 13yo crooked-legged event horse over here. Not like we have any shows coming up (hahahahaha *crying*), just trying to keep the worst of the rust at bay.

But this weekend I put a couple of them up a bit higher, made a grid with a square oxer, and released the beast.

Been a while since either of us have jumped that height. Like… maybe almost a year. Time flies. He was quite proud of himself though. Except the first time through he did whack the oxer pretty good, and was Very Offended.

He’s cute when he’s mad. At least he picked up his feet a bit more the next time.

On Sunday we went for a canter out in the back field, where Henry proceeded to squeal and leap and buck dolphin like a total idiot. Whatever. If he’s happy, I’m happy, and he does seem to be plenty happy right now. Summer is a struggle for him, so keeping him happy is the goal.

Presto had a relatively easy weekend, since he did his ground pole ride last Wednesday. On Saturday we did a lunge in the field, and on Sunday I got on and hacked him all around the property. Henry’s field, the jump field, around the dressage arena, out into the hilly field behind the pond (and over the natural ditch, which he loves), then into the way back around the hacking path. He’s always got his ears on a swivel, taking everything in, but he really seems to enjoy getting out and exploring. Even when he can’t see any other horses and they’re all waaaaaaay up at the front of the property, he never worries about them or neighs or gets nappy. He does still want to trot down the hills though, so I’ve been asking him to halt or circle on them when I feel him start wanting to trot. At this point I’m pretty sure he knows he’s not actually supposed to, he just can’t help himself sometimes. Every time I bring him back to walk he’s like “UGHHHH DANGIIITTT FINE, but this is WAY less fun”.

This week it’s gonna be H-O-T so we’ll see what actually ends up happening riding wise. Might end up just being a lot more hacking. Such is life in Texas in August. I do have a plan for a fun little experiment with my Majyk Equipe ice boots though, and another Pivo tips post in the works since I’m still getting a lot of questions about that and I’ve learned a lot more myself. Plus Presto’s July training vlog, if I finish it. If there’s anything else you’d like to see around here to help spice up the otherwise semi-boring content a bit, drop me a note!

Guys, there’s no hiding it: Sadie birthed an actual giant this year. Ellie. Is. Hugenormous.

For reference, Daisy (the grulla) is 15.3h.

Despite being the youngest of the 2020 foal crop, at 2 1/2 months old now, she towers over the other foals. Which makes sense with Ollie (full pony) and Oakley (half pony), but she’s even got Remi beat, and Remi is a good size foal from good size parents, plus he’s the oldest. Theoretically he should be the biggest. He… is not. He’s normal sized. Ellie looks like she’s been mixing Miraclo Gro in her milk.

And naturally, her favorite method of play is to turn into a biped, which makes her look a little bit like Godzilla.

None of Sadie’s other foals have been as big as this filly. They all go through a chonky stage, like Ellie is currently in, but none have had her sheer size. She’s been a beast since she was in the womb (when Sadie was so big that Michelle and I were both a bit concerned that she was carrying twins that had been missed on ultrasound), and it looks like she has every intention of staying that way.

And, ya know, being that big is really exhausting. Which is why she’s taken to using round bales as her own personal bean bag chairs for naps.

Sadie is quite pleased with her creation though, which makes sense because 1) she’s a total mini-me, 2) Ellie is big enough to reach Sadie’s back so they can (and do) give each other fantastic back scratches. I suppose that’s Sadie’s reward for having to birth this thing.

Despite her size, Ellie is amazingly light on her feet and athletic. Girl can gallop, turn and burn, and contort herself into a pretzel when she feels like it. Her 68% TB might not be so evident when she’s standing around, but you can definitely see it when she’s in motion.

Thank goodness she’s sweet and well-behaved with humans.

It will be interesting to see how she grows over the next couple years… sometimes these giant foals end up being relatively normal size horses, and other times these giant foals end up being giant horses. Time will tell.

Happy Friday everyone!

 

Well guys, things are getting pret-ty serious around here. Presto trotted his first course of poles yesterday.

I set up a very basic little course of four poles in the dressage arena (I have to be honest, I don’t always trust his steering well enough yet to be sure that I won’t be decapitated by a tree out in the jump field), two making an outside line and then two singles set diagonally. He also got the additional challenge of “skinnies” since one pole is 8′ long but the other poles were only 6′ long. It’s what I had as spares without taking poles off my jumps, so… it was fine. He may as well get used to that stuff from the beginning.

He was in rare Presto form while tacking up, really antsy and non-stop putting stuff in his mouth. Some days he’s not just 3, he’s like… extra 3. But I got on and he went right to “work” with no dramatics. We started out by walking over the poles, making a little course. I want him to learn that the game is to go to and over the sticks, so right away we just starting going from pole to pole. After he’d been around them all a few times at the walk, we picked up the trot.

We did a couple of simple courses to start with, then I dialed it up a little bit by angling some of the poles and making (generously sized) rollbacks. He thought that was great fun, and definitely seemed to understand that the objective was to go to the pole. He didn’t miss a single one, and the “harder” I made it, the more engaged he seemed to get. At one point he was so proud of himself he just needed to canter after one of them, and I briefly considered having him keep going and try to canter the poles, but for his first time I wanted to keep it super uncomplicated and easy. That’s a small ring for him to try to be cantering poles in, at this point in his training. Big horse, small space. No need to get greedy.

We only rode for about 15 minutes, but I think it was short and sweet and to the point. He understood, and he was willing, so… mission accomplished. It will be many months still before I actually start jumping him at all, but doing some work with poles like this is really good for him I think. Not only does it help his steering, but it’s also introducing the idea of skinnies and angles and lines and all that stuff that’ll be relevant once he starts jumping. Plus it’s something different and fun. I need to go pick up some flowers and brush and convert a few of my poles into flower/brush rails, to give them a little something more interesting. I’ve been meaning to do that for months.

So ya know, Presto is basically ready for Grand Prix, as long as someone can find me a GP at ground pole height. He’s could totally dominate the heck out of those up-down pony kids.

When we were walking out afterward he still kept homing in on the poles and walking over them, even on the buckle.

Smart kid. I like it. That’s what I’m after. Many pats and good boys for finding them on his own. Once we were done in the ring I walked him a lap around the outside, where he showed off his giraffe skills for the Pivo.

I swear, no tree is safe if it comes within 6′ of his face. Growing boys need their snacks I guess.

That was ride number 21, if we’re still counting. Go ahead and add Pole Trotting Champion to his resume. He catches on to things so quickly that I’m gonna have to start getting creative to keep his brain occupied with fun stuff. I do want to try to get him out on another trail ride soon, hopefully in the next couple weeks.

So far he’s really just a lot of fun to ride and train. I can’t complain about this one.

Presto is sooooooo close to being a big boy. Well… in stature he’s already got it covered, but I mean in age. Four years old is tantalizingly close. And while in the realm of the riding horse 4 years old is the babiest of babies, in the baby horse world, it’s graduation age. Like “welcome to real life, you’re an adult!”.  I’m trying not to get too excited about it because in reality he’s not even 3 1/2 yet and I know the next 7 months until he’s officially FOUR are going to drag, but still. 

And I will say this, if all the covidiots rambling about their freedumb end up ruining my horse’s 4yo year by getting everything cancelled again, I might consider a career change to assassin. If I don’t get me some Coconino next year, heads are gonna roll.

But I’m living in the land of happiness and denial, and pretending that 2021 will be totally fine, and Presto will get to go to some horse shows. Just… give me this. So when the video of Henry demolishing an oatmeal cream pie won an Instagram contest that garnered us a Halter Ego gift card, it took me about .5 seconds to decide what to get. 

Look, I gave away two other bridles, stop judging me. Also, it’s SO PRETTY.

See, I figured that most likely Presto will spend his first year doing the dressage in jump tack, because that tends to be easier, but all of my brown bridles are either bitless or figure 8’s or partly green or too small for this beast’s noggin. So I wanted to get him a pretty brown bridle. When I saw the Olympia, I knew it was the one. I loves me a chonky noseband with slightly darker padding. THIS was a big boy bridle, for sure.

I did take the standard browband (brown with clear crystals) off and put his spikey Dark Jewel Designs browband on it though. There is nothing that says PRESTO more than that browband and I’m just as obsessed with it as I was when I got it. I ordered the bridle with stainless hardware specifically so that it would match his spikes. It pleases me deeply. Gorgeous bridle, badass browband… it just works. I’ve decided that the overall look is called “Posh Punk”. Posh bridle, punk browband.

I’ll review the bridle at some point eventually. It occurs to me that I need to do like one big bridle review post because I don’t think I said much about most of them… at least not Presto’s QHP or Henry’s La Cense, the other two latest additions. I did take a picture of the Halter Ego bridle next to my PS of Sweden hackamore, so you could see color and leather comparison.

He will probably mostly wear his green QHP bridle at home though, that’s his designated schooling bridle, and we’ll keep the Halter Ego nice for special occasions. Presto tends to scratch or break anything you put on or near his head, and I’d hate to have to strangle him with his pretty new bridle.

While Presto has been getting fancy big boy things, I’ve remained unable to stop dyeing my riding clothes. There isn’t much left that I haven’t gotten to yet. But I did have a couple that I’d already done and wanted to change, one of which being the light blue shirt that I’d dyed with RIT. It was fine, but not as good as the ones I’d dyed with Jacquard (RIT’s pigmentation is weak sauce in comparison), and I kind of wanted to play around with some dye techniques. 

My original idea was to do an ombre, and I had a plan of action all figured out and everything. I wanted to go from a pale blue down to a deep, more french blue, so I bought some navy dye. I got my water ready, put just a little bit of the powder in to start with (like… not even half a tablespoon), and got ready to do the first dunk. The plan was to start with lighter colored dye water, dunk the whole thing, add a little more pigment to the dye water, dunk 2/3, add a little more pigment, dunk the bottom third. 

But as I was standing there, about to wet the shirt and then lower it into the pot, I was like… hmmm… I wonder…

Originally I would have loved to tie-dye one, but this fabric and the way it needs to be dyed doesn’t really lend itself well to that technique. But I wondered what would happen if I just balled the dang thing up, got it partially wet, and then dunked it quickly in the dye water. Would that give me the splotchy look?

Figured it was worth a try, if it didn’t work or I hated it, I could always go back to my original ombre idea. So I balled it up, ran it under the faucet, and then dropped it into the pot. I gave the ball of fabric one little swishy stir and then quickly fished it back out with my tongs. It was in there for all of maaaaybe 8 seconds at most. 

It has almost a stonewashed look, and I kinda dig it. It’s not tie-dye, but in the same realm. I think it’s neat, and unique anyway. You can buy an ombre shirt, but I haven’t seen one like this. I went ahead and washed it and waited for it to try before I decided for sure.

In the meantime, I still had a pot full of dye water that had been barely used. Seemed like kind of a waste. So off I went into my closet, looking for something else that might want to be blue. Then I spotted my Kerrit’s Ice Fill tights, which were “navy” but a brighter/lighter tone than I prefer. I checked the tag and they are indeed mostly nylon, so I went back to my pot, added a little more pigment, and in went the tights. I was hoping I could get them to a nice deep navy. Twenty minutes later I pulled them out, washed them, waited for them to dry, and voila!

It worked really well, they’re a much deeper navy now. Which is good to know, because I do like the Ice Fil tights, but Kerrit’s has some absolutely god awful heinous color choices. Turns out they can be quite easily changed.

I still have most of the jar of navy pigment left, plus most of the jar of the pink I used for the dusty pink shirt. And some green coming, so I can try to fix that hideous bright turquoise that I did and hate. But I’m out of riding clothes to dye at this point. Which is sad, because it’s kind of fun. Who knew this would be such a slippery slope…