When we last left off with our intrepid baby hero, he was hell bent on removing his new fly boots.

The first day he removed one twice, and then overnight he removed three out of four, tossing one over his stall door for good measure. I wish I could have seen him removing the hind one, that must have been a spectacle. There is no elegance to his removal tactic. It’s not like he finds the velcro’s little tabs and pulls on those. No, he just grabs as much fabric in his mouth as he can and then YANKS and YANKS and YANKS until it finally comes free. These poor boots. I have to give them a lot of credit, considering how forcefully they’ve been violated by his teeth, they still don’t have any holes or tears.

The next day I put all 4 boots back on, put a little chew spray on them, and turned him out. Here’s where I should mention that I have 3 different chew sprays/goops on this property and Presto is not deterred by any of them. I think he refers to them as “seasoning”. Like he will stand there and lick it off because he’s a weirdo. I dunno why I even bothered putting some on the boots.

Anyway, I was convinced that if we could just get over the novelty of having toys on his legs, he would eventually leave them alone. All I had to do was outlast him.

An hour later I looked out and he was missing one already. Dammit. Out I trudged, and found it in the back of the pasture.

I put it back on, went back inside, did some more work, and looked out again a little while later.

Another one was missing. Dammit Presto.

Ok, fine. That’s how you wanna play this? Let’s go. Game on.

That’s right bitches, I duct taped them. A strip around the top and a strip around the bottom. He looks like he’s ready to go work on a construction crew.

Naturally the first thing he did was rip the tape off. I ended up having to go several times around with the tape so it was nice and stuck to itself, and harder to rip through. That finally seemed to do the trick.

That worked to keep them in place for the rest of the day, and I left them on in his stall overnight to see what would happen. The next morning:

SUCCESS. HAHAHAHA I WIN.

A strip of duct tape was missing from one, but they were still on.  And they stayed on all day yesterday, no further problems. I still caught him yanking on them a few times, but he wasn’t successful in getting them off. I wouldn’t say that I’ve won the war yet, but I’ve definitely won the battle and made some major advancements.

Presto also got ride #3 yesterday. I wanted to see if there were any changes with his mouth fussiness since he’s been lunged a couple times in his sliding side reins. I lunged him for a couple minutes in them first, then took them off and climbed aboard in the closed in courtyard. We walked, we trotted, we made circles (ok ovals), we did some transitions… it was maybe 10 minutes total. He was much much better in the mouth, no fighting or head flinging. It’s amazing how much better the steering works when you aren’t having a mini-tantrum.

This was our first ride totally off the lunge, and with no handler on the ground. He was super, really quiet and well-behaved.

Henry watched all of this unfold and you could basically hear him saying “Good, go torture that one, I’m retired.”. No you turd, you aren’t retired. But he did pull a shoe on Tuesday, and I’m not sure when it’ll get put back on. He’s been wearing his glitter boot (boy that thing has gotten a ton of use already) so he’s ok to go out but the one I had was a little bit big to ride in… I bought it sized to fit over a wrapped/packed foot.

I wanted to order Presto more oil anyway so I went to Corro, grabbed another glitter boot (because how could you ever own a regular boot after you’ve owned a glitter boot?) in a smaller size, and some treats to put me over the free shipping threshold.

Given all that’s going on in the world right now I truly had no expectations for when it would ship or arrive, but it shipped same day (Tuesday) and arrived here yesterday. Three cheers for Corro, I’m impressed.

I should be able to ride Henry just fine in the new boot. Or… I could if it would stop raining buckets. Sigh.

Hope everyone else is making it through the week ok! Happy Friday…

Times are a wee bit… unstable right now. Schools and restaurants and bars are closed, events are cancelled, traveling is a real bad idea, and social distancing has become the trend of the year.

As an introvert homebody who has literally read hundreds of dystopian novels over the past few years alone, I feel (for once in my life) well-qualified for the current situation. I am lucky enough to still be living out at the farm, so I have plenty of solo outside space and the horses are right there in the backyard. I’m stocked up on feed, hay, shavings, and supplies. Go ahead and lock me in, I could stay here for months.

I’ve been working from home since Tuesday, which I’m also totally ok with. On one hand, I find myself actually working more, since I don’t have 1.5hrs of driving tacked onto my day. On the other hand, I… don’t have to drive 1.5hrs per day, or spend $75 a week plus tolls getting to and from work. Or like… brush my hair. Or put real pants on. Or see people. Our Skype meetings are blessedly voice-only. I could even sleep in til 6 if I wanted (not that it’s possible for me to sleep that late, but I COULD).

While I could stay locked away for a good long while without complaints, I feel for those of you who are unable to see your horses, or have restricted access. Let’s hope that they can get a handle on this quickly so you don’t have to go too long without horse time. And to those of you on the front lines – thank you. Y’all are the real m-f’ing heroes.

As for me, as you can see I’m mostly living for the memes right now. Even when the world goes to hell in a handbasket, the memers really deliver some levity and I am here for it.

Since things are all looking a little tumultuous and uncertain and maybe even a bit scary right now, I was hoping we could bring a little bit of positivity to the day (jesus, what day is it anyway…) by talking about something good that’s going on in our lives, or even just a positive story that we’ve seen. It’s a crappy shituation but maybe we can try to make the best of it. Hit me up in the comments! It can even be “haven’t run out of candy yet” or “haven’t had to put a bra on for 3 days”. Tell me something good!

Well, Presto hates me.

He got a couple of presents for his birthday – Lauffer reins and a set of Shoofly Leggins. Well ok, I ordered the Lauffer reins (or Phillip reins or sliding side reins or whatever you want to call them) during Black Friday but I hadn’t actually used them or even taken them down to the barn yet until his birthday. And the Leggins just coincidentally happened to arrive at the right time. But whatever, we’ll call them birthday presents.

The fly boots are mostly Henry’s doing. The flies have been ridiculously persistent here the past couple weeks, to the point where I have gone through a gallon of fly spray in that time trying to keep everyone covered. And the flies really don’t even seem that deterred for more than 5 minutes. And they’re biting. Poor Henry the delicate flower couldn’t stand it, he was constantly stomping despite being covered in so much fly spray you could smell him from 10′ away. Presto was stomping too, although didn’t seem nearly as annoyed in general. Still though, if I was gonna buy fly boots for one, might as well by fly boots for both, right?

As soon as I put them on Presto he started glaring at me, and walked off high-stepping. Once he was walking normally I turned him back out and he immediately started pulling at them. Yeah, that’s kind of what I figured might happen. Why do you think he got BRIGHT ASS ORANGE instead of pretty blue ones like Henry? So I can find them in the field when he removes them.

I was hoping that if I left them on overnight in his stall he would finally just settle and accept his fate but HAHAHAHAHAHA. This is what I found when I came out to feed.

He had managed to remove 3 of the 4 boots, hiding two of them under the pile of hay scraps (she’ll never find them here!) and tossing one over his stall door out into the aisle. It seemed very deliberate, like executing a prisoner and leaving the body on display to serve as a warning. I put them all back on while he ate his breakfast, but I have a feeling we’ll be playing this game for a while. He is M-A-D at me. Clearly I’m ruining his life.

Henry at least seems appreciative, he stopped stomping almost immediately.

Presto also wore his new reins for the first time.

Set quite loose, as you can see. Not changing his natural head carriage at all, just putting a bit of a “feel” on each rein. Since he’s still a little fussy about the bit I wanted him to just be able to think about it and figure it out on his own with a very light steady contact mimicking what he would feel from a rider. He wasn’t thrilled but he understood it pretty quickly and stopped fussing, so hopefully a few short and easy sessions will get him more comfortable with all that before I swing a leg over for another ride.

So… yeah. He’s annoyed with me right now. Clearly I’m the worst mother and I’m trying to ruin his life with my horrible gifts. #firstworldhorseproblems

Well guys, this corona thing really spiraled quickly didn’t it? Things look a lot different today than they did a week ago, or even just 4 days ago. USEF, USEA, and FEI have cancelled shows for now, and everything is coming to a screeching halt. Whether or not any of us contracts the virus, this is definitely going to affect all of us in some way.

Over the weekend I have to admit that I was very disappointed to see the people on social media who wanted to keep horse showing in the coming weeks despite all this, and the organizers who wanted to keep offering schooling shows because riders asked for them. I’m not sure why some of us seem to feel exempt from what all the experts are recommending, and what our societal obligation demands. The time to buckle down is now, and there is nothing special about us that exempts us from that.

Look, I get it. Being sidelined sucks. All horse people know what that feels like. For some people this is going to be dreamcrushing (especially if the Olympics gets cancelled). For organizers it could end up being a huge financial hit that some may struggle to recover from. For professionals who make most of their living selling horses or on coaching fees, this is going to hurt for sure. For vendors like mobile tack shops and photographers, this is a massive blow to the bottom line and could put them out of business. I understand all of that. But the fact of the matter is, there is no choice anymore. The global pandemic has happened. The horse show industry continuing to go against the recommendation of the CDC (no gatherings over 50 people for the next 8 weeks) or the current US administration (no gatherings over 10 people) is asinine and senseless, and, quite honestly, reeks of privilege. Please, let’s not be part of the problem. This is a global pandemic that will kill thousands, if not millions. Be a good human and do your part.

If the “human life” aspect isn’t enough to sway you, also consider that the sooner we get this under control, the sooner we can start going back to normal life, the sooner the economy can recover, and the fewer businesses will have to shutter. Isolating ourselves as much as possible right now is in everyone’s best interest, including horse people’s. Please follow USEF’s recommendation and stop holding shows and clinics and workshops. Riders, please for the love of god stop attending these things. I know it absolutely sucks to have to come to a screeching halt just as you were coming into peak season, but we have to. If you don’t opt to do it on your own, soon the government will force you. Don’t be part of the problem. Just stop. We are not entitled to keep traveling to horse shows and holding events when people’s lives are at stake. Think horse shows don’t have the same risk for transmission? I ask you to please read this. You will not die from a lack of horse showing, I promise. But people could die because you were too obstinate to fulfill your societal obligation. This is so much bigger than us right now. Let’s all just hunker down for and while and we’ll get through this together.

So – since this is happening whether we like it or not, the next thing to ask ourselves as horse people is “what do we do now?”.

If you have a business that will be or already has been affected by this – a mobile tack shop, a photographer, a sales horse program, an event facility, a small business, etc – please leave a link to your business in the comments so that we can try to help.

If you’re a rider that is no longer able to show for the forseeable future and you’re in a stable enough place financially to afford it, please consider patronizing these business. Order yourself a little something from a vendor, visit your favorite show photographer’s website and buy a photo or two from a past event. If you know organizers that are cancelling shows, send them an email and ask if you can pre-pay for a few XC schooling fees.  If you entered a show that cancelled and you can afford to forfeit your entry towards their lost costs, consider donating it. If your trainer’s business is taking a hit, inquire about pre-paying for a chunk of lessons or signing your horse up for training rides. Getting some cash in their hands now could make a world of difference. Check on your hourly-wage and service industry friends who are likely to be affected by this and see if they need anything for themselves or their horses. If we have the means, let’s do what we can to help take care of our own.

If you’re a horse industry professional that is suddenly much less busy than usual, this could also be an opportunity. Is there something you’ve always wanted to learn more about that you’ve never had time for in the past? Course design, breeding, officiating, etc? Maybe now is the opportunity to start looking into and learning about those things and expanding the professional portfolio. If you now find yourself in a tough spot financially, consider offering facetime lessons, or video lessons, or online horsemanship classes. If you need ideas for how to do any of those things, please contact me and I’d be glad to help however I can. This could also be a great opportunity to update websites and social media (or learn about sharpening up those social media marketing skills) so that when things do settle down, your business is in a prime place to take off again. Put together really good videos of all those sale horses, catch up on your bookkeeping, and please don’t forget to take care of your staff as best you can.

Facility owners who need to keep their doors open at least a little bit for as long as possible, consider something similar to Flying Cross. This option may not be feasible for many or available for long, but it’s an idea.

For those that aren’t going to feel as much financial pain, maybe this is a good opportunity to reconnect with our horses again. To let the day to day bustle and the pressure fall away and remember why it is we do all of this in the first place. Do some ground work, go ride bareback (alone or in very small groups please), or just enjoy time with your horse. Or hey, maybe you’re feeling a little burned out from the horses and want to spend a little time with your family instead so you can come back refreshed and refocused. Do it guilt-free.

If you’re one of the unlucky people that is already on lockdown from the barn and unable to see your horse – I’m sorry, that really sucks. I can only hope that other people will isolate themselves as much as possible to help control the spread of this virus so that you can be reunited with your horses sooner rather than later.

The news of Kentucky being cancelled yesterday, while not surprising, is definitely a huge disappointment to a lot of people. Did you know that the organizer of the K3D is a non profit? If you can afford to donate your ticket refund to them, please consider it. They have said they will also be allowing people to roll over this year’s tickets for next year as well, so maybe we can help make 2021 their best year ever.

If we look for opportunities and ways to help, there are so many, even when it might feel like things are crumbling. This is a hard time, emotionally and economically, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Most of us alive today have never lived through a moment in history like this, and it can seem surreal or impossible. Please though, let’s take this very seriously as a community. I challenge you: be a helper. Let’s look for what we can do to help. Maybe it’s as small and easy as just staying home as much as possible. Maybe it’s in the form of financial support. Who knows what it may look like for you, but all of us can do it even in a small way.

Have more ideas for ways to help or know of things we can be doing? Please drop it in a comment! Stay safe out their friends, we’ll get through this.

GUESS WHO’S OFFICIALLY A THREE YEAR OLD TODAY?

I’m not sure a Presto birthday will ever go by without me getting a little emotional about it. This day could so easily have been one of tragedy instead of triumph, and even 3 years later it still feels raw. It’s so easy to look at him and feel immense gratitude, especially on “milestone” days like this. He had to tolerate a very long, slightly blubbery hug from me this morning while he ate his breakfast. He’s used to my insanity by now I think.

So how did Presto spend his pre-birthday weekend?

Ya know, doing Presto things. Like yoga.

And playing bitey face with Henry. Which… he’s starting to have a real height advantage on Henry for that game. It’s hard to bite a giraffe in the face.

He also got his second ride on Saturday. Hillary came out again to be my ground person, and Presto was out back having a hardcore play session when I went to get him. He was real mad that I interrupted. REAL MAD. Life is hard when you’re 3.

Since he was having toddler tantrums we did a lot of groundwork before I got on, and he lunged for a little while at the walk, trot, and canter until he removed the stick from his butt. I did lots of transitions to get his brain engaged, and finally he settled into the inevitability of his life. I mounted up, and we basically repeated the same things as the first ride. We started off on the lunge line, did some walk and trot, and then did some walking on our own. I added more turns and transitions this time, and the steering was a little better.

Despite the fact that he’s done a good bit of ground driving, he seems naturally more responsive to seat and leg than he is to rein aids. He’s still just a little fussy about the bit at this point, which we’ll revisit more on the lunge line. So we worked on the idea of whoaing from the seat, and moving away from the leg, and just thinking “forward”. So far I think he’s very much going to be a thoroughbred type of ride, which… thank god. That’s what I was hoping for. I much prefer a sensitive horse that has it’s own motor.

Even though he was a bit put off about having to leave his play time to come “work”, it was a good learning day for him. He sort of pouted his way through everything, but he acquiesced. It’s all part of him figuring out what his job is and developing his work ethic while the lessons are still short and simple and easy. I’m thinking of the rides more as opportunities for feedback, to see what we can still be working on from the ground in between.

We’ll see what we get done this week, if we can dodge the rain. For today, he’ll be getting some special birthday treats and probably a few more blubbery mom hugs. Poor Presto.