Ok, I’m not creative enough at the moment to write an ACTUAL proper lyrical ode for Quinnie, but she really deserves one.

First she spent most of the winter being Henry’s emotional support animal extraordinaire. She’s the only horse he’s truly gotten along with in years, and the first horse I’ve ever seen him genuinely LIKE. Usually his opinion on other horses lies somewhere between outright disdain and casual indifference.

When the rest of the horses came back from Florida, the living/turnout situations shifted a little bit and Quinnie went to live out in the front pasture again with the two babies. I was a little worried that Henry might get his soul crushed, but they share a fenceline and I have caught them over there still grooming each other over the fence, so… they seem ok with the arrangement.

Now her title has shifted from Emotional Support Animal to Head Nun at the Reform School. The cool thing about Quinnie is that she’s just so damn smart. She’s older, she’s been around the block several times, she knows what she’s supposed to do, when, and how. She likes law and order on her farm, and she insists that those in her care adhere to the rules as well. So not only is she a good girl, she makes the other horses be good too. Which, as you can imagine, is especially important with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum(b).

Quinnie has no tolerance for bullshit and poor behavior. Presto and JB are like the two kids on skateboards outside of a punk concert sporting fauxhawks from Supercuts and Anarchy t-shirts. Put them both together without any “adult supervision” and it’s just mass chaos and destruction and naughty ideas. It’s not a matter of if they’ll find trouble, it’s a matter of when and how much.

Within a week she had provided structure at feeding time. Each of them has their own private space in the shed where they can walk it and eat, but you know what that’s like with JB and Presto alone? Annoying. SUPER ANNOYING. They don’t go where they’re supposed to and they definitely don’t STAY where they’re supposed to. They had to be wrangled and supervised.

Under Quinnie’s rule they now all walk up, file into their appropriate spaces, and wait for their food. They stay in their own space and eat their own food until meal time is over, at which point they file back out. There is no stupidity and there is no carnage.

Well, except for the carnage she doles out herself when someone gets out of line. Presto is wearing his list of transgressions.

Before you feel too sorry for him, they’re all his own fault. He loves to push the limits and doesn’t know when to quit. Quinnie gives many warnings before she actually doles out any punishment, but Presto just doesn’t know how to take a hint. Sometimes he chooses to learn the hard way.

Having her back in the fray has really changed the dynamic in the babies in a much more mature direction. I mean, don’t get me wrong, there’s still yeehaw gallop laps and games of bitey face and she can’t be EVERYWHERE at once, but the shift is undeniable. When it’s just JB and Presto, Presto is the top dog, and that’s just never good. Now he’s solidly, undeniably, unequivocally occupying the second place position, which is a few lightyears below Quinnie’s #1 spot, right where he belongs.

Thank you Quinnie. Clearly you are the glue that keeps my two idiots’ brains together, just in very different roles. You deserve a raise, a bonus, and a paid vacation. And this is why I give her cookies every time I go out to her pasture… at this point I’m forever in her debt.

Finding time to ride two horses during the week right now just isn’t happening, so pretty much all of my Presto time is relegated to the weekend. Which is fine, he doesn’t need to do much anyway besides eat and fill out. And good news, so far his cheaper stop-gap corner feeder solution has been working just fine. It’s high enough to where he can’t get his feet in it (yet), and it’s bolted down really well so he hasn’t been able to tear it off the wall (yet). I mean, I don’t trust him long term, because… Presto. But it’s working for now and he’s actually getting all of his food, so we’ll call it a success.

Since I spent a lot of time on Saturday setting up my new jump course, I saved Presto’s ride for Sunday. I did get him out very quickly to try my two new bits on him just on the lunge line to see what his reaction was. For those who don’t remember, he’s shown some classic signs of disliking tongue pressure (chomping, trying to get his tongue over the bit, etc) so I wanted to see if a tongue-relief bit made him happier. He didn’t seem to care for the Bomber right off the bat, but the Trust looked more promising, so I put that one on his bridle for the next day.

On Sunday I got him out, tacked him up, and got on in the arena for his official ride #12. We walked around there for a few minutes and he seemed pretty settled in his mouth. I was feeling encouraged. We walked out to the grass arena and walked over some poles, and practiced steering, I let him look at the new jumps – he wasn’t impressed. During this time he chomped on the bit a little, and leaned on it it a little, but he seemed to want to go down to it, which I thought was an encouraging sign.

And then we trotted, and it kind of all went downhill from there. The more we did, the fussier he got about any kind of remote hint of contact, even steering. By the time we cantered he completely flipped me the bird and just about planted his poll into my nose. Message received. He made it abundantly clear that this was not the bit for him and it wasn’t going to get any better, so I went back to walk, ended on a good note with some wee baby leg yields, and aborted the mission. Although he was a little chompy and fussy in the Myler, he was nowhere near THAT. So, baby horse has spoken. Back to the Myler (the loose ring comfort snaffle) we go. That’s been his favorite so far.

Even though the bit situation was relatively tragic, there was still some positive. He walked and trotted over the poles out in the field like they were no big deal. His trot rhythm continues to improve. He was brave among all the new stuff out there, which is more than I can say for Henry who had snorted and spooked his way around the field earlier. And to Presto’s credit, even as he got more wound up he never quit going forward or actively tried to plant me into the ground. I appreciate that, because he definitely could if he tried.

It’s almost time for their 6-month vaccinations so I will have the vet check his mouth again just to make sure nothing has changed since the last check. Given the variety of bits we’ve tried and how he has reacted to bitting for… well… his entire life… I think he’s a naturally sensitive, fussy-mouthed horse that just doesn’t quite get it yet. Still, I want to be totally sure there’s nothing in there that needs attention. At this age his mouth is still changing a lot, and changing fast. I want to be sure he is as comfortable as possible.

I’m going to try to make time on one weekday per week to lunge him for a few minutes in the balancing reins, just to let him continue to figure this out on his own a little bit. They’ve been really helpful to him so far, and now that I’ve answered the “is tongue pressure bothering him?” question (nope) I can go back to that with more confidence and consistency. We’ve got all the time in the world, so if he needs to figure it out on his own and at his own pace, we can totally do that. He’s good at telling me what he needs, so I just need to listen.

I’m still trying to figure out exactly when his first trail ride experience will be, haven’t firmed up the plan yet, but SOON. I’m itching to get out with him and see what he thinks of the big wide world. He’s still really fun, even when sometimes he isn’t.

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!