You know how on Facebook if you interact with a certain page a lot they’ll be like “You’re a TOP FAN, here’s your badge!”?

I dunno about y’all, but for me personally when Facebook tries to tell me I’m a “top fan” of a certain page it really means either “top person who really just doesn’t know when to shut up” (look, I got real frustrated on COTH’s page during all that SafeSport/GM nonsense) or “top mega creeper stalker” (whaaaaaat? meeeeee? noooooo…). Facebook ain’t playing when it calls me out with that Top Fan badge.

OK YOU CAUGHT ME I’m a real creeper about certain pages. Particularly the above farm who stands a stallion that I really love that of course is only available for breeding in Ireland. I have talked about him a little bit on here before because he’s the sire of my favorite 5* horse Tullabeg Flamenco, among others. As the kids would say, I’m a major stan.

And see, since this stallion isn’t available outside of Ireland, it’s possible that I may have developed a wee little fantasy about someday trying to buy a filly by him to import/ride/breed. (note: by wee little fantasy I mean major obsession because I don’t really do much of anything “wee little” let’s be honest, it’s all or nothing)

Therefore, naturally, I stalk the farm’s page like it’s my damn job. Particularly during foaling season. I like all the foal pictures, I comment sometimes, heck I’ll even friend request Irish people who breed to him (note: y’all shouldn’t accept my friend request, I’m a lunatic. but also please accept my friend request so I can stalk at a more in depth level.). It’s a compulsion and I can’t stop. Ok I don’t want to stop.

Like… is this the true motivation behind the Ireland trip I wanted to take this year? YES. OK? YES IT IS. I wanted to see Tullabeg Fusion and some of his foals in person. But then ‘rona ruined that idea so I just turned into an even more epic online stalker instead. If there is a Tullabeg Fusion filly listed for sale publicly in Ireland, I guarantee I have seen her (note: I’m probably also stalking the owner and/or farm on facebook. please don’t tell anyone). It’s also possible that one day I got really side tracked because one sale website also listed Irish farms for sale and I was like “Ooooh yeah, this seems like a reasonable possibility”. (note: moving to Ireland is not reasonable) (subnote: it did not stop me from casually perusing real estate for an hour)

It’s also possible that I may have roped Michelle into being an accomplice to this scheme. I mean… a filly with top Irish bloodlines? Makes total sense for a breeder. (note: I can rationalize anything) (subnote: this is why it’s dangerous to be my friend) I mean, think about it… the filly could even stay in Ireland until she was 3, get bred to another stallion that’s only available in Ireland, of which there are many, and then be imported. It’s cheap to raise them there. Or ya know, if you import under the age of 2 it’s not that terribly expensive. (note: see above note about how I can rationalize anything)

Clearly it has to be a buckskin or palomino though, because this is my wee little fantasy and I said so. Preferably buckskin. We’ve talked about my secret obsession with this color before, don’t clutch your pearls. And if I can get it in a super sporty package… no judging.

So ya know, it’s possible that every time the farm posts a new buckskin foal I come screeching in out of nowhere like “hI iZ  tHiS oNe A fIlLy AnD iF sO iS sHe FoR sAlE???”

I’m creepy, I know. But geez Facebook, why you gotta call me out? I feel attacked.

(note: did that stop me from accepting the Top Fan badge and displaying it proudly? no it did not. fly that freak flag high.)

Apparently the universe is just pushing me for funsies, because once I absolutely lost my mind with frustration Monday/Tuesday (and yelled at a Swede. sorry? no I’m not), everything finally started to move.

PSoS has given up on UPS resolving the shipping mistake, so today they sent me a whole new package. It makes me sad to think of the original sitting abandoned in a warehouse in Kansas City (what do they do with all the stuff that ends up there, anyway?) but I’m pleased to finally have some resolution. Hopefully. Maybe. If UPS tries to send me another bill it won’t be pretty. PSoS has been really apologetic about how this whole thing went down. Every UPS rep I’ve talked to in all this, which would be 6 including the Swedish one, has been 0% helpful. Absolutely the damn worst. The Swedish one tried to tell me that they delivered the package to me on Monday – I responded and said no they didn’t, they delivered it to “UPS OVERGOODS” in Kansas City, you can see that right there on the tracking page – and I haven’t heard a peep from him since. Useless. Just as useless as all the US-based UPS reps that just shrugged and said I should talk to the sender.

The Pivo package also finally showed some movement and made it into Texas as of yesterday. Maybe I’ll get it within the next couple days? I’m feeling more hopeful anyway, especially seeing it heading in the correct direction that would indicate that the second tracking number they gave me is actually the right one. It would be nice to have it in time for Presto’s weekly ride.

And my Smartpak order shipped! it’s as if everyone’s ears were burning yesterday now that my blood pressure finally went through the roof. Thank goodness I have horses to “talk me down off the ledge” so to speak, because omg I was irritated.

Between the annoying UPS people and some work BS I had steam rolling out of my ears yesterday as I headed to the barn. It was really humid and already getting hot/gross even at 9:30… Henry was contently grazing but already starting to sweat. Humidity is his kryptonite. I figured with my mood and him already pre-melting, we would just keep it light and fun. We went out to the back pasture where we have our little gallop path/hills for just a light w/t/c.

Well that’s what I intended anyway. For a horse that can’t really get any oxygen when it’s humid, someone was real full of himself.

I used a hair tie to secure my phone to a tree (while cursing Pivo the entire time) and had originally just planned to get a couple passes of us trotting and cantering past it. Cuz, ya know… need something for the ‘gram. But as soon as we’d made one lap of the track at a trot and I turned around to trot the other way, Henry decided he was done trotting. Jig, yes. Canter in place, yes. Walk, yes. Gallop, yes. Those were my options apparently. Trotting iz stoopid. So we galloped a lap each way, with him dolphining most of the second lap (he likes to give himself a warmup lap or two before he starts yeehawing, it’s his thing).

As usual, I was cackling at him the whole way. He knows how to be just ridiculous enough to make me laugh. Cheeky little shit. But he 110% fixed my mood, that’s for sure. All of my ire was magically gone by the time I rode back up the barn and dismounted. What do people without horses even DO with their emotions?

Also Presto was the last horse I’d ridden, and when I slid off Henry I did that thing where I misjudged how close the ground was. Henry’s withers are really the only thing giving him any height, his back itself is probably a hand lower than Presto’s. I guess my body forgot, because WHAM feet into the ground. That was still kind of entertaining because hey… that means I’m getting used to riding Presto.

By the time I got back to my computer I was in a much better mood than when I had left, that’s for sure. Thanks dolphin boy.

I’m starting to think that there’s something about me that makes packages want to avoid me like the plague. I’m kind of getting offended.

I seem to be a magnet for shipping problems lately. First it was the PSoS/Horselet situation where they shipped the package as “freight on delivery” and thus I got a bill for $263 dollars before they would deliver my package. Lol. No. It’s been a month since this all started and there’s still no resolution. It took a while to get an original response to their mistake and for them to get a handle on just how many packages were affected (lots) but on May 26 they sent an email saying they were taking care of it and all packages would be delivered within 1-4 days with no charges due.

But, like… I’m pretty patient. I know with covid and all this other stuff going on across the world, things can be delayed. I waited two weeks before I emailed again. The response was a little huffy “you can see it’s still on hold, so we’re taking care of it”. Bro, I’m not the one that said 1-4 business days two weeks ago. But ok, if it’s still on hold then fine… I’ll give you more time. In the meantime I got a bill in the mail from UPS and two harassing phone calls from them trying to get me to pay. I explained the situation, and UPS seemed totally uninterested in anything I had to say.

And then I check it again and see that the package has been rerouted to… Kansas? To UPS’s lost/damaged/unclaimed packages location. I lost it. Turns out there is an end to my patience and we found it. I messaged the Horselet and they spent 3 paragraphs apologizing but providing no actual assistance before lamely giving me the email of their UPS rep, which made me lose it even more. This isn’t MY problem to fix, y’all did it, y’all fix it. Don’t push me off on your UPS rep. When I emailed my PSoS contact she copied said UPS rep directly on her response to me, which was slightly better but still real irritating. The UPS rep responded within a few hours saying “Ok it’s done, I fixed everything, the package will be delivered to you by Wednesday”. Which… 1) it was that easy? If so why has it taken a month?? 2) I can’t tell if this is true or not because the original tracking number stopped working yesterday when the package got delivered to Kansas. 3) I don’t believe him. At all.

But ok, I’m still a (slightly) reasonable person. I asked for the new tracking number, since the old one is marked as Delivered to Kansas City. I’m waiting for a response. I have a UPS account so I know when there are packages en route to me and right now nothing shows up. I’m trying very hard to tamp down my rage but I’m losing that battle. I don’t NEED what’s in the package immediately, it’s not time sensitive, I understand that shit happens and people are busy and blah blah blah. But… don’t lie to me. THAT is enraging. I don’t know if it’s UPS’s fault or PSoS’s, but I’m over it.

On top of that, there’s been major weirdness with my Pivo package. I ordered on May 22, a Friday afternoon, and got ship notification on May 26, the following Tuesday. All good. That tracking number showed slow but steady progress across China, all the way up the customs/export stage on May 30 when it stopped. Then on June 1 I get a “shipping update” from Pivo with a different tracking number. Huh? So I watch that tracking number for a few days and see it making it’s way across China too. Meanwhile, the original tracking number stalled out and had no new updates.

So I email Pivo to ask them which one was the right tracking number. Either the original shipment was seriously stuck, or they didn’t actually ship anything for over a week after my order date. The customer service person I talked to seemed equally confused, but finally said ok the original tracking number was the right one. Great! Except… that one now showed no updates whatsoever. Not even the ones that had been there originally showing it moving across China. Now it just said “no order information found”.

Emailed Pivo again and this time they said no, the second tracking number was the right one. Sigh. Ok. That one does show that the package is at least in New Jersey (it’s been sitting there since Friday), at it’s latest update. I guess we’ll… go with that? Meanwhile people who ordered their Pivos after I did have already had them for a week. Just like people who ordered from Thehorselet after I did have had no issues getting their stuff. I’m cursed.

It also doesn’t help that I finally caved to a Smartpak clearance item (I try to avoid ordering from them because I’ve had a lot of problems in the past) a week ago and that still hasn’t shipped yet. Things are behind, I get it, but I’m not having any problems with Corro, Riding Warehouse, or even Dover. It’s a sad day when Dover beats you.

Did I mention the bitless bridle I ordered in March is still on indefinite backorder?

Cursed, I tell you.

And speaking of all this covid/everything running behind stuff… Austin is not looking so good.

In the few weeks since everything re-opened, cases have started to sky rocket. Our mayor officially extended the “work from home” order through at least mid-August, which I’m hoping my company follows. I’ve been watching these numbers go up and thinking about how bringing people back into the office in July just seems like not a great idea. They also officially moved the city into Stage 4 risk.

It’s extra frustrating, because I constantly see people out and about with no mask. Drive past the water park or the outlet mall and it’s packed (with very few masks in sight). It’s as if people took precautions for the first week or two, decided they didn’t like that, and everyone just went back to normal. And our local government can’t do anything but make “recommendations” because of the state’s order. This just kind of has SHITSHOW written all over it.

I’ve still been avoiding anything except the barn and my bimonthly grocery store run, aside from Presto’s trail ride which required zero interaction with anyone but Hillary (who is also self-quarantined). There’s nothing out there I particularly need or want and I really don’t want to be part of the problem. The SO still has to go in to work, since it’s kind of impossible to be a work from home mechanic, but their work stations are quite separated and everyone has their own tools and they’re wiping all the car’s surfaces down, so his job seems quite low risk compared to many. I’m hoping my work will update us this week on whether or not their return to work plan is going to change, given these new updates from the mayor.

How are things in everyone else’s world?

Have I ever mentioned that Presto has way too much in common with the “Mayhem” character in the Allstate commercials?

I’m pretty sure he used up all of his Good Boy during the trail ride the weekend before, because last week the Mayhem was turned up particularly high. Like when he got into the feed room and ate all the cookies, destroyed all the feed pans, and tossed a bunch of shit all over the place.

Or like when the farrier came and he was all NAH I DON’T DO DIS and broke one of the crossties (may I remind you that he’s been getting his feet done every 5 weeks for like… ever? and has never done anything like that). If you need something destroyed, he’s your man.

Let’s hope he got all of that out of his system last week because “angsty teen” is not a cute look on a big baby horse. For real his show name should have totally been Mayhem Like Me.

While he’s been an absolute turd for regular life, he’s been pretty good when it comes to his (very part time, very entry level) job. Ever since the complete and utter rejection of his fancy bits a couple weeks ago, I re-routed to a new plan to try to see if we could fix some of his mouth fussiness. I was pretty certain by then that it wasn’t physical discomfort, but more of a “NO I DON’T LIKE IT” thing. So he’s back in the Myler and I’m lunging him twice a week in the balancing reins. He’d worn them a few times before, VERY loosely, but not really “worked” in them and not consistently. I made them a little bit more snug (still loose, but snug enough to where he couldn’t ignore what they were telling him) and used them in more regimented lunge sessions. And from working him those few times on the lunge line, I thought I was starting to see improvements. Moments where he wasn’t bracing or fighting or fussing, and they were getting more frequent.

Of course, it’s not consistent yet by any means. The good moments are sandwiched in between moments like this:

Still… the good moments in between the resistance and the avoidance have gotten longer and more frequent with every session and there haven’t been any real tantrums. I keep it short, maybe 10 minutes, and mostly just encourage him to keep the forward energy. We do some transitions (somewhere in the past couple months he’s gotten really solid with the word “canter”… since he didn’t canter on the lunge line much when he was younger, he hadn’t learned that one yet) between the gaits, but mostly I’m just trying to let him figure it out with himself by stripping it down to it’s most simple form. There’s no rider, just him. The reins are still loose enough to where there isn’t a lot of pressure (ie I’m not forcing his head down), just enough to be a persistent ask. He can figure it out the answer on his own.

Yesterday was the first time putting it to the test under saddle to see if it’s helping. I mean, we had gone on that trail ride last weekend but that was just a loopy rein walk, no contact or “work”. But yesterday I tacked him up and went to the ring to see how/if things were sinking in and translating.

My Pivo hasn’t arrived yet so I don’t have any media, but the ride was actually better than I would have thought. It’s still very rudimentary and inconsistent when you’re talking about actual correct acceptance of the bit, but there’s no more fighting the contact. Not once did he object. Several times both at the walk and the trot we were even able to string together several consecutive steps that were totally proper. And of course, since he’s not actively fighting the contact, other things are better too. Like steering. We made some legit serpentines and half circles, and his leg yield capability is kind of impressive. He is ridiculously in tune with my seat too, considering how freaking green he really is. I can feel the nice horse that’s lurking in there.

Considering it’s only been 4 sessions with the balancing reins I’m pleased with the progress. I really think he just needed a little bit of a lightbulb moment to get him over the hump so he could start to figure out the bit. I’m not asking him to go like a dressage horse yet, by any means, but he does need to at least have an understanding and acceptance of light consistent contact.

I’m not ready to say he’s “there” yet, but I do think we’re definitely on the right track. For sure there has been improvement in the past couple weeks, so we’ll continue down this path and see how it continues to develop. It would probably come along more quickly if I rode him more often or did more ring work versus trail riding or hacking, but… I’m not willing to do that. He’s just a baby and I still want most of his time to be his own. He’s got important baby horse business, ya know?

I’m happy with little tiny bits of progress. He’s already exceeded my expectations for where he’d be by ride… 14?, so no point in getting greedy.

I’m currently planning another trail ride day for him so we can spend more time out and about exploring. I got his hoof boots last week, so he’s officially ready for his next adventure!

Alright here we go! This might be the most requested Foal Friday edition yet, with updates on the past WTW babies and a little bit of information on what they’re up to these days.

The 2017 crop was pretty familiar to most of you, since they were Presto’s playmates. His original BFF was Liam, the big chestnut colt by Emerald out of Lissa.

Liam was sold as a foal to a Grand Prix jumper rider and left for his new home shortly after weaning. The good news is he stayed in Texas, so not too far away, and the owner has kept in touch with a few updates now and then. Liam is still a big beautiful colt, looking even more like his sire as he grows up. He was started under saddle this past winter.

After Liam left the farm, Presto’s new BFF was the other 2017 foal Murphy. Being a QH Murphy technically was not part of the sporthorse program but… I say he still counts as a WTW foal. He was Daisy’s first foal, a little red dun that held is own with the warmblood boys just fine.

Murphy is now owned by a lady in Texas who loves him dearly and he too has been started under saddle. He has a great brain, big personality, and looks like he will have lots of speed for the western events.

I think everyone remembers Manny from 2018, by Diarado out of Sadie. Mostly because of that whole incident where he was mistaken for a filly at first (which Michelle will probably never live down). He was a gorgeous chunky boy right from beginning, with tons of personality.

Manny was sold to a Texas hunter rider (shout out – she also owns Two Socks Designs) and will hopefully be her next hunter. So far he’s done a lot of groundwork and is learning how to be a good citizen. He’ll be started under saddle next year.

Manny’s foal friend that year was Mari, also by Diarado but out of Laken.

She is still on the farm, just growing and learning how to be a horse, and is currently for sale to a show home. She may do some YHS freejumping shows this year if any of it works out.

2019 brought us two polar opposites: a sportpony and a jumper with two GP parents. First up was Nalah, by Catoki out of Lissa.

Michelle finally got her filly, and Nalah is being retained for the WTW breeding program. The hope is that she will be able to have a sport career too, amidst her breeding duties, but she is not for sale.

The other 2019 was Nunez, the spunky sportpony that quickly became a fan favorite due to his antics.

He managed to cut his face and was pulled off the market for a while last year. Luckily he healed up just fine with time and now he’s off getting some rudimentary baby horse training. Since he’s a pony and could likely find himself as a kid’s horse at some point, he’s getting some early exposure to kids.

Of course, we also have lost two babies along the way, because horses don’t come without their fair share of heartbreak. Merlin, Sadie’s first foal from 2016, passed away from colic a couple years ago. It was particularly crushing because he had such a fantastic home with an amateur rider and was growing into a really promising young horse.

And Rory, from the 2017 crop, passed away as a foal due to an extreme reaction to an antibiotic.

We’re all sad that we didn’t get to see what they could have become. The breeding business is extra tough sometimes. 😦

And of course from this 2020 crop, you guys know that Remi and Ellie have already been sold, both to an Advanced event rider in Tennessee. Very happy to see 2 of them going to the same place. Oakley and Ollie are still available as of right now.

We’ve almost wrapped up the breeding season, and as soon as we do I’ll have a full list of pregnancy announcements. We’re already looking forward to the WTW class of 2021!