God, what a time to be alive guys. 2020 has been a flurry of emotions to the point where I don’t really even know how to accurately identify what I’m feeling anymore. The past week especially has weighed heavily, and it can’t help but feel like things are coming to a head. I haven’t said much because, quite frankly, I simply don’t feel that I can do the topic any justice.

But I have been reading, and watching, and paying close attention. This is an important moment in history for all of us. What we do right now, every single one of us… it matters.

While I still don’t think that I can do the topic any justice whatsoever, I have enjoyed reading what everyone else has to say, both inside and outside of the equestrian realm. A few bloggers have tackled the issue well, and I particularly enjoyed Nadia’s perspective. The Chronicle published an column on white privilege, which I thought had some good thinking points. Eventing Nation made a light mention yesterday of the existing racial divide by linking to a piece published by Heels Down back in April. But what really got to me was reading the facebook comments to these articles, particularly the COTH one… it was enough to make me want to walk away from social media for a while, to be honest. It proved just how deep the problem really goes, and just how alive and well racism really is even in the horse world. It’s ugly when you peel back the curtain. What people were saying made me feel a strange (to me) combination of outrage, devastation, and extreme discomfort.

But that’s part of the point isn’t it? We SHOULD be feeling all those things. Our society is broken and what we’re seeing now is the result. It is upsetting, and it is uncomfortable. Many of us, like myself, are privileged enough to where we don’t have to sit with that discomfort 24/7. We have the option to put down our phones, log off of our computers, and ta-da it pretty much ceases to exist. If that’s not the very definition of privilege, I’m not sure what is. Large groups of people never get to turn those feelings off.

So what have I learned so far in these past few days?

I’ve learned that there are A LOT of people (particularly horse people, it seems) who don’t understand the difference between financial privilege and racial privilege. And to those who say “anyone could work hard and do what I did” – clearly you are not paying attention to the myriad ways that our society has been designed to suppress and exclude minorities.

I’ve learned that what I was taught in school about our history, particularly during the Civil Rights movement, was incomplete at best. Boy did they conveniently leave some things out of our curriculum. Boy did they sugarcoat and idealize a whole lot.

I’ve learned that 1) you should never haul anywhere without Waze on, particularly during a period of civil unrest, so you can avoid putting yourself or your horses in a bad situation, but 2) if you do happen to find yourself stuck with a trailer in the middle of a crowd of devastated, outraged people, perhaps brandishing a firearm and trying to force your way through should be your LAST resort. We really should be taught as a society how to deescalate situations… the American way seems to be brute force and a bigger gun, and clearly that ain’t working very well for any of us. (tends to be true with horses too, perhaps we are more like them than we think)

I’ve learned that a surprising number of people didn’t have a word to say about the murder of yet another black man, but have a lot to say about protesting.

I’ve learned that for as much as I want to unfriend or unfollow people who don’t see things my way, it’s important (to me anyway) to not just shut myself off from those who think differently than I do. I need to understand why they feel the way they do, because I think the only way forward is to understand how we got here in the first place. Where have we gone wrong? How do we fix this, once and for all? Granted, I admit that I have a limit. If you say “black people get killed by other black people more than they do by white people” or “if they weren’t so lazy they could have what I have” I just freaking cannot and yes I’ve unfollowed a few people because of those exact statements. Point of view is one thing, morality is another.

But at the end of the day most of my social media friends are equestrians, and I’ve learned just how damn out of touch many of us really are, myself included, likely because of our privilege. Most of us live in a different world, and it shows.

The real question is what do we do now? Truthfully I don’t know. I think this looks different for everyone. Some people may be out there on the front lines of the protests. Some people might be donating to worthy causes. Some people might be sharing their experiences. Some people are standing in virtual solidarity and anxiously awaiting election day. Some are doing all of the above. I don’t think there’s a wrong approach, as long as you’re doing something.

For as tempting as it was yesterday for me to just put all my devices away and hide from everything for a while, I’ve forced myself to stay with it. I’ve forced myself to keep scrolling and reading and watching. It’s important, to me, to bear witness. It’s important, to me, to understand as fully as I can. It’s important, to me, to acknowledge my privilege and figure out what I can do with it. It’s important, to me, to be uncomfortable and upset and outraged and to sit in all those feelings. I don’t have the answers, but I’m here to learn. I don’t know what to say, but I know that it feels wrong to say nothing at all.

If you have any good links or causes (or books or documentaries or podcasts – anything) that you’d like to share, please drop them in the comments, I would love to see them and have a collection of resources in one place.

Henry is enjoying a bit of a more “feral” life these days. Well, I mean, he still gets ridden 5 days a week and has a beautiful turnout space and luxury stall accommodations and human slaves to do his bidding (because ROTTEN ANIMAL), but he’s not in the prime event horse shape he’s been for most of the last 4 or so years. 

Because of his heat intolerance, Henry’s real “show season” is November-April. But he had the foot bruise from hell that took him out of commission for November/December, and then right when we were starting to get back in the groove, covid happened. So, ya know… we lost his whole season, really. Which I waited to feel sad about but really didn’t, because truth be told we were dialed up to 110% for the past couple years to make it to Prelim, and we did it, so stepping back and taking a bit of a deep breath was welcome for me. 

Like I said, he’s still getting ridden but only about 5 days a week instead of 6 or 7 like before. And the conditioning rides are MUCH shorter/less structured. He’s also only been on a trailer twice so far this year, which is kind of unheard of for us. Usually we’re traveling at least 2-3 weekends a month during the cooler season. He’s fat and he’s sassy and he seems totally content with his current more relaxed lifestyle.

This is the first winter/spring since I’ve owned him where he didn’t do his ulcery gas colic thing a few times. This is also the first winter/spring since I’ve owned him where he easily kept his weight. In fact, I actually CUT BACK on his food over the winter. He’s eating less grain now than he ever has, and he’s still a little chonky. Clearly I think the break has done us both some good. It’s nice to exist in a pressure-free state for once.

Aside from his incredibly rockin’ dad bod, you can also see that his clipped “eventer tail” is pretty much all grown out. It’s also really sunbleached. This is the true sign that he’s on a break, because his tail hasn’t looked that feral since I got him. He’s wearing it like a symbol, and I’m content to let it be for now. There will be no two-week getaway to Coconino this summer (which is I think the only thing I’m really mourning about this lost season) so he won’t be setting foot in a show ring for a while still. I’m keeping his mane short though, because a ranch horse mane would be a step too far. Can’t have him thinking he’s retired or something.

The mowers came last week, so this past weekend I got back out in our jump field and set a course back up. We hadn’t jumped a course since… March? I thought the ground up there was still a teeny bit too soft on Saturday to jump, so after I set everything (which took me like 2 hours – setting jumps is stupid) I took Henry out back to let him gallop a bit instead. Which, I love Henry to bits but when he flips on his racehorse mode it’s SO funny. He legit gallops like a QH, kind of high-headed and belly low to the ground with really quick, relatively short strides. It’s a lot of flying legs. Bless him, he tries. He was absolutely delighted to gallop a little though, and I had to stop him before he was really mentally ready to stop (ok there, Dash for Cash, calm down). It’s been MONTHS since he’s really gotten to let out some speed and he greatly needed it. 

On Sunday the jump field was drier so we went out and strung a couple courses together. Me trying to remember the right pace was a little struggle bus (the things I so quickly forget…), but Henry was really good. It makes me happy that he still clearly enjoys the jumping days a lot. He’s always strutting like a peacock when he’s done, like he’s really impressed with himself.

I’ve finally got a decent enough collection of jumps to make a real course. Well, I really need a couple more sets of standards so I can throw in some more oxers, and I’d like to make a couple flower boxes and brush rails and a skinny chevron, but it’s a good start. It’s a totally workable space where we can do everything we need. I do have to get a little creative with dodging the trees/branches but I love having them there. It’s nice to have a shady end and they look so pretty. Although I did fail at dodging one yesterday, just nipping the bottom edge of a branch, and suffered a shirt casualty.

In a way it feels like there’s not really a lot to report with Henry here on the blog these days. Nothing newsworthy is happening. We’re just kind of doing what we do. We’re “old friends” by this point in our relationship, and aside from being sassy and pretending to spook at everything (which luckily I find entertaining), he’s a steady and reliable guy. Well.. unless you haven’t seen Henry eat an Oatmeal Cream Pie yet… that is definitely newsworthy.

It’s really nice to have one like this though when you’ve also got a 3yo where literally EVERYTHING is newsworthy. Henry might not get talked about as much here right now, but make no mistake, he is still the glue holding everything together and he’s still doing his Henry thing. A little fatter, a little shaggier, but super happy none-the-less.

Well, so close to four. Finally got 3 of the 4 babies all in one shot!

Ellie was with her dam at the vet that day – Sadie was a little colicky but don’t worry she was fine with some drugs and fluids. It did cause Ellie to miss out on their first official group photo, though. Maybe next time.

There are still a few new pics of Ellie though. And she did get to meet Ollie at least, they did a little bit of log-sniffing together. It’s a favorite activity with the babies.

But mostly she hung out with mum.

Or practiced her canter-halt-canter transitions.

I also don’t have a ton of Remi pictures, sorry Team Remi. It’s just that when it comes to getting cute baby pictures he’s a little less rambunctious than some of the others (ahem OLLIE) so it makes for fewer paparazzi opportunities. He’s like the Brad Pitt of the group, always just standing there being beautiful.

Which… he must be rubbing off a little bit on Oakley because look who decided to pose for some glamour shots of her own this week.

Ok maybe her slightly utilitarian quarantine haircut isn’t the prettiest but she either doesn’t know or doesn’t care. Girl is rockin’ those legwarmers like they’re the latest fashion and she DGAF if anyone else doesn’t like them.

In between all the standing around looking beautiful, there were still plenty of shenanigans. Mostly from everyone’s favorite little spitfire grulla pony. His favorite hobbies include climbing the round bale and jumping over puddles. Bold as brass, this one.

Ollie also got to meet Oakley and Remi, and decided that maybe he likes Oakley best (she’s definitely Miss Popular, gotta give her that).

I think Ollie mostly likes her best because she’s more willing to engage in shenanigans with him. They also both really enjoy trotting, and are better at it than their Big Baby Horse friends who have so much leg that it’s still easier for them to either walk or canter.

They’re also both BIG fans of galloping in circles as fast as they can for no apparent reason at all.

Although Oakley seems to have put herself in charge of critiquing Ollie’s form.

I am determined that at some point we’ll get all 4 of them in one frame, but for now you’ll have to settle for all 4 of them in one post. Next week I’m thinking about doing a GIF-edition Foal Friday, full of GIF’s from videos of them running around and playing – thoughts on that? Also working on a “Where Are They Now?” post for all the past WTW foals, as has been requested! If you have any other ideas or stuff you want to see just let me know and we’ll work on it… these posts are as fun for us as they are for everyone else, I think.

Happy Foal Friday, everyone!

… is that they don’t live forever.

We adopted Quinn (the corgi) in 2015. At the time he officially brought our menagerie up to 3 dogs, all 8 years old or older. The rescue we got him from wasn’t 100% sure on his age, their vet said around 7, but our vet thought closer to 9. So… we just went with 8.

We specifically sought out an older dog from the rescue, knowing that they are harder for them to place. Indeed the rescue hadn’t even bothered listing Quinn, because he was both older and deaf and came to them with a horrid skin condition (he had been surrendered by his owner to the local shelter, so no one really had any information about him. They didn’t even tell the shelter his freakin’ name, only that he was aggressive towards their kids.). When we applied and specifically asked for a senior dog, he was offered to us.

He’s definitely a total weirdo that was NOT socialized properly, but we love him all the same. He’s been a good dog overall, and he especially excelled in his very part time gig as a mobile tack shop greeter.

We’ve had him for 5 years now, so he’s somewhere between 12 and 14. We’ve never really had any problems with him (aside from nasty teeth and the fact that trying to bathe him or clip his nails is akin to wrestling a grizzly bear) until he started to show some loss of mobility and feeling in a hind foot last year. For corgis especially that’s a biiiiiiiiiiig warning bell. And unfortunately the warning bell turned out to be right – he has DM.

Being a pembroke corgi of likely questionable breeding/origin, this isn’t such a surprise. It’s pretty common within the breed, and something I knew could happen. It is a progressive eventually fatal disease, so in the past few months I’ve made it my job to find out as much as I can and connect with others who have experience dealing with it.

The good and bad thing about it being so common with corgis is that there is a lot of support out there to be had. Facebook groups, websites, books… you name it. I bought a book, joined a couple facebook groups, and started looking at what we could do to help him out. He’s lost most of the mobility of both hind limbs now, so he can’t really walk unassisted, he mostly just scoots. We started looking at wheelchairs, but $500+ is a lot to plunk down for something that will get relatively short-term use IF he will even adapt to it and use it at all. Through a facebook group I found CorgiAid, a 501c that helps fund rescues, but also runs a wheelchair rental program. We applied, sent his measurements, paid the deposit and shipping, and now have a cart coming for him. If it works and he uses it, we’ll look at buying one for him.

Through a facebook group I was also able to procure an EZ lift harness, which should help make the short outside bathroom trips easier. Right now we just have to hold his hind legs kinda wheelbarrow style and toodle around the yard with him. I’m excited to get the harness and see how it works.

He still has some motion and feeling in the hind limbs, just not enough to move them on his own in a coordinated effort. Most importantly, though, he’s still very happy and bright. As long as that’s the case we’ll continue exploring ways to help keep him that way. We’re trying to keep him as mobile as “usual” for as long as we can. The good news is that while DM is totally devastating, it isn’t painful. Still, we won’t let him get to the point where he’s completely paralyzed and unable to move on his own.

Thanks to the book and online resources I think I have a pretty good idea of what to expect going forward and how to deal with it, which makes me feel slightly better. It makes me sad to know that the writing is on the wall, so to speak, for Quinn, and now it’s really just a matter of time. We lost Delia, one of the other seniors, a year ago yesterday, and neither of us is really quite ready for that again. Knowing there’s nothing we can do to change it, we’re just trying not to dwell on it.

For now Quinn is really enjoying getting to spend more time on the couch, having me sneak him extra treats, and sleeping in that california king that we really bought mostly so he would have ample bed space. ❤

So I was scrolling mindlessly through facebook yesterday afternoon, as one does, when this article caught my eye:

Link to it here, in case you also need your mind blown today.

See, I have a bump on the roof of my mouth. And until yesterday I had NO IDEA that most people don’t. NO IDEA. NONE. I THOUGHT THIS WAS HOW ALL HUMAN MOUTHS WERE SHAPED. Being the natural skeptic that I am, I starting asking friends. Surely everyone has this mouth bump right?

WRONG. Out of the first 8 people I asked, no one else had a mouth bump. They just have these big ol’ empty bat cave mouths, apparently. Finally I asked my dad and he too has a mouth bump. He is the standard by which I judge all other humans, therefore I concluded that our mouth bumps are normal and all you smooth-mouthed people are weird. What do y’all do with all that extra space? You hiding something in there? A weapon? A snack for later? Pills to help you cope?

Being a Weird Horse Girl, it only took a matter of minutes for me to make the leap over into wondering if horses have this or not (apparently not – the closest thing for them would be a low palate I suppose) and then thinking to myself “boy I would NOT like a ported tongue relief bit at all, would I?”.

But… it really does make you think about just how differently mouths can be shaped and why finding a comfortable bit for your horse is so important. I fell soooo deep into a rabbit hole about horse mouth anatomy. I know that Henry doesn’t have a low palate (I’ve spent a lot of time staring at the inside of his mouth thanks to his weird teeth and the vet bills they bring) but he does have a fat tongue… we’ve already been down this road with all of his mouth weirdness and bit-searching in the past. But I’ve not gotten a super good look inside of Presto’s mouth yet. When we pulled his wolf teeth I was more preoccupied with what was coming OUT of his mouth. I feel like we’re pretty programmed to be focused on teeth but maybe not so much on the shape and characteristics of the mouth itself. Not gonna lie, I’m gonna be creepin’ on the dentist for every horse I come across from now on. I must see more horse mouths, it’s fascinating.

I’m still a little shook about finding out that there is a whole other species of Bat Cave Mouthed humans out there, though. Some intense googling did reveal a study that loosely linked the mouth bump to higher bone density, but otherwise all I learned is that mouths are inexplicably freakin’ weird in all animals.

Do you have a bump-mouth or a bat cave?