As I type this it’s 6am and I’m sitting in our Peterborough Airbnb apartment (sorry… flat) looking at the massive pile of stuff that the three of us bought at the trade fair yesterday. We spiraled. It was glorious.

That first travel day was a whirlwind, just getting here. I don’t sleep on planes and we had an overnight flight, so instead I watched 4 movies. Luckily I found a second wind when we landed, and we successfully navigated our way to the airport train, then through our changeover to the tube at Victoria Station at rush hour (omg), and we actually made it to King’s Cross without getting lost. That’s a small miracle.

We had some time to kill while waiting for Bobby, who’s flight was a few hours behind us. We explored King’s Cross and St Pancras and wandered around the surrounding area a bit.

Once Bobby arrived we walked down to platform 9 3/4 into the absolute bedlam of the Harry Potter shop. It was smaller than I expected, and SO PACKED, but it was fun to see anyway. I grabbed a souvenir for Hillary and a little something for myself, because I’m definitely a nerd. Did NOT wait in the queue to get a picture with the cart in the wall though, because that was just crazy. I was already pretty peopled-out for one day.

After that we boarded our next train, to Peterborough. We managed to make it there just fine too (I find trains to be very confusing but after this trip I might be cured), and make the half mile walk to our Airbnb without getting lost. What are the odds of making the whole journey without getting lost at all? I was shocked.

The walls are also glittery. It is a sight to behold.

We hit up the grocery store, found a good pub to grab some dinner at, and then we all passed the eff out by 9pm. That was a long ass day.

The next morning we were on the 8:42 train to Stamford, then made the walk to Burghley, arriving at the trade fair by 9:30. I can’t even explain how many vendors there are and how far it all stretches. Seriously it’s twice as big as Kentucky, with a wide variety of vendors from home goods to casual clothes to saddles to jumps to footing to feed to regular tack shops. So. Many. Tack Shops. Also SO MUCH FOOD.

We had planned on the whole first day being for shopping and course walking, and I’m glad we did that because it took us about 6 hours to make it through all the vendors. And we actually didn’t go into that many of them, mostly just the tack shops.

I did see so many pompom helmet covers that I wanted to buy about two dozen of them. Just about every tack shop has them, and there are two vendors dedicated solely to custom helmet covers. I was geeking out. Sadly i don’t need anymore covers so instead I hit up my barnmates to see if anyone wanted me to bring one back, which turned into a really fun personal shopping experience.

After we finished shopping we started walking the course, which led us to a whole new section of shopping that we had missed. That one sucked me in real bad. So then we had to course walk carrying like 50lbs of shopping bags, since we were nowhere near a shoppers drop and they close at 5 anyway. But whatever, we walked it with all of our shit. Not the whole course, but most of it, to plot out which jumps we want to see most on Saturday. These jumps are big and gnarly AF. Like… Jesus. No thanks, hard pass. Burghley is a whole ‘nother level.

We also managed to fit in a bit of dressage during our breaks, catching some of warmup and a few tests – Will Coleman, Sarah Bullimore, Ben Hobday, Ariel Grald, Katie Preston, and Doug Payne. It’s really cool how close you can get to everything, and you can literally be standing in line for ice cream and watching dressage at the same time. It’s a lot more accessible than Kentucky.

The only kind of disappointment so far is the lack of Burghley swag. They have some, a collection from Joules, but there’s not much variety and it’s all expensive. The only thing I really liked was a jacket that was $200. So… no. No swag for me.

Instead I’ll just pretend that my new shipping halter, gloves, hunt bridle, ice boots, and toiletries bag are my official Burghley souvenirs.

Today is the Young Horse Championships and stallion parade, so we’re catching an earlier train and preparing for a day in the bleachers. Which I’m not too upset about considering we walked a good 15+ miles yesterday and my backpack rubbed a hole in my armpit. Tough life here at Burghley y’all.

That long holiday weekend really worked in my favor. I wrapped up barnsitting on Saturday night, got a day to play with my ponies and relax, then a day to play with my ponies and run errands/pack, and this afternoon we head out for Europe. Whew. Time flies.

Presto’s foot is doing as well as can be expected. The vet had to block the foot to cut off the big flap of split hoof and clean out the wound/try to save the horn-growing tissue. He thinks it should heal fine eventually, although whether or not he’s permanently effected his ability to grow a good heel on that side, we’ll have to wait and see. It’s been bandaged since it happened, and will probably stay bandaged for a while. He’s quite sound in the bandage though, and he still gets to be on his regular turnout schedule, so thank goodness for that. The vet is 50/50 on whether or not Presto will be good to go by FEH championships, it’s just too early to tell. I retrieved the entry from the mailbox since it miraculously hadn’t been picked up yet. There aren’t any refunds after closing date but they accept late entries with a fee, so I figured I’d rather potentially pay an extra $30 than lose $290. I’m hoping he’ll be ok to go since he looks so good right now physically, but… we’ll see how his foot is doing in a couple weeks. As usual, Presto has been a fantastic and easy patient throughout all of the doctoring. *muttering something under my breath about having lots of effing practice*

I also got to fit in some rides on Henry, which were much needed. I am SO ready for it to quit being so damn hot, this triple digit shit is getting ridiculous. Not that sad to be flying out of here considering the next 6 days are all supposed to be over 100 degrees. This is a never-ending summer. Hot, dry, disgusting, and totally miserable. Get your shit together by the time I get back, Texas. I’d even happily take low 90’s at this point.

The boys also got spa days this weekend, with a fungus bath/scrub for Henry (his skin is looking better, thank goodness) and haircuts for both. They look like proper beasts again.

These two weirdos. I wish I could squish them in a carry-on and bring them with me. I am willing to admit that I’m perhaps creepily over-attached. I miss them after just a couple days, much less 10. TEN. I’ve already debated what to bring them each back as souvenirs.

In between packing, laundry, phone calls to the bank and my cell carrier, and jotting down every phone number/address/reservation/confirmation code just in case (I had a real “omg I am my father” moment as I was flipping through the print out of my 5 page detailed itinerary), I caught some AEC action. I did find myself pining for last year’s live stream where it showed every level’s XC, but I was glad they did at least show the BN showjumping. The upper levels are cool to watch and all, but I want to see the lower levels too. It’s so much fun to see them have so much fun. Nobody ever looks that excited at the upper levels.

I would also like to point out that at least 2 of the Champions wore pompoms. Scientific evidence of Pom Power, y’all. They’re making a comeback, mark my words.

Our flight leaves at 4 this afternoon, and we’ll be in London by 7am their time tomorrow. I will update as I can, time/adventures/WiFi permitting. I’ll try to post a lot to my Insta stories, at the very least. How ironic is it that this showed up in my facebook memories today?

Still 100% accurate. Lord help Burghley, Bobby and I (and Michelle) are coming!

Today I have to run some last minute errands before we leave for Europe tomorrow, and of course since I wake up obscenely early even when I don’t have to, it left me with lots of time to kill before any businesses opened. Naturally I fell face first into Instagram, especially since Spoga Horse is going on right now over in Germany. What is Spoga Horse? THE big international trade fair for equestrian products. Someday I will get to go, but I do also love stalking Spoga on social media. You get to see all kinds of crazy things, and new things, and see brands I maybe haven’t heard of before. My favorite part are the runway shows where the models dance to terrible european club music while wearing equestrian fashions. That mostly happens at the spring Spoga, where the focus is on fashion and clothing, and it is a spectacle to behold. None of those videos have been posted yet for the fall Spoga, but there have definitely been some interesting things floating through the feed nonetheless.

Crazy boots

 

Bling for days

 

And all kinds of other bold helmets

 

Buttonless jackets and holey shirts (I’m waiting for someone to market this as being more aerodynamic)

 

Bits and stirrups

 

And of course… horse goggles.

 

See anything you like? Anyone else following the #spogahorse and #spogahorse2019 hashtags? I like it a lot more than I probably should.

I think that facebook’s memories feature is both the best and worst thing on social media. Sometimes it brings up fun stuff that I forgot about, or hadn’t thought about in a while, and then other times it brings up things that aren’t so fondly remembered, or reminds me of good times with people/friends/animals that are no longer with us. I don’t often linger long on the memories page, but today’s definitely stopped me in my tracks a bit with all the different events that happened on this day over the years.

Last year on this day Presto’s little half brother Manny was sold to his new owner, someone that I know. It’s been fun still getting to see pictures of him as he grows and develops, and see how he compares to Presto. In that they really compare very little, they’re so different. Each of them is a lot like their sire.

As I’m gearing up for our next big horsey Europe trip next week (I’m on my last half day of work before we leave!) it’s fun to see pics of our last big horsey Europe trip two years ago.

That one was a whirlwind trip, with Bundeschampionate and lots of stallion viewing, and this trip is shaping up to be even MORE of a whirlwind, if that’s even possible. I’m so excited. I can’t decide if I’m more excited for Burghley or more excited for farm tours and stallions. What a hardship.

Four years ago was Henry’s second Novice, at Corona del Sol, which he finished on his dressage score for 4th. This was just after my mom had passed away, so I wore lots of purple (her favorite color) in her memory.

While I did not adopt purple as a permanent part of my colors (it’s too much for my navy-loving heart) I do still usually have SOMETHING purple on or with me somewhere. This particular show was the first one where I drove home wishing I could call my mom and tell her how it went – something that I’ve experienced after every single show since. Those are the times when I miss her the most.

Back then Novice still looked really big and hard, I remember quaking in my boots about a down bank on this course that I was pretty sure I was gonna die at. I was so proud of Henry when he jumped right down with no hesitation. If only I knew then just how proud of him I would still continue to be, like I can barely fit anymore pride in my heart without it bursting. That horse. How lucky I’ve been.

On a sadder note, that venue, Corona del Sol, doesn’t exist anymore… another Area V venue that’s been lost in the past few years. Sigh.

Ten years ago I bought my first set of body clippers and taught myself how to clip by using Sadie (who was then just a 2yo, like her son Presto is now) as a guinea pig.

That was the beginning of something I turned into a bit of a business, my first real money-making side gig. Side gigs are still my jam, even if it does take a lot of bribery to get me to body clip other people’s horses anymore. I still do it sometimes, but I don’t advertise it or seek it out. I’ve had enough horse hair in my eyeballs to last a lifetime, so you really gotta make it worth my while or I have to like you a lot.

It was a great gig though, and paid for many many many a vet bill and horse show. Lots of reminiscing for a Friday morning.

I’m still trying to decide how to handle the blog while I’m traveling. On past trips I’ve always kept blogging as I can from the road, but I know the formatting gets all kinds of wonky and the posting time is a bit unreliable. Plus I’m often deliriously tired and have no idea wtf I’m even saying… which… might be more entertaining, I don’t know. So – would y’all rather I wait and do recaps when I get back and hope I remember everything that happened, or would you rather get the less organized but up-to-date daily (or every other day) posts while we’re there?

I don’t know what is up with my horses lately, but they seem to be taking turns racking up vet bills. I don’t know who told them it’s a competition, or how exactly a “winner” is decided, but I know it wasn’t and isn’t me.

In the past few months alone I’ve got bills for hock injections (Henry), a tooth float (Henry), two health certificates (Henry and Presto), vaccines (Presto), an allergic reaction (Henry), some kind of light respiratory funk (Presto), a hematoma turned cellulitis (Presto), and now – Presto tried to rip his damn foot off.

I don’t even know how the hell he did it. He was fine yesterday morning at breakfast, and he was out all day by himself in a paddock with hot tape and wood fencing. And it’s a HIND FOOT. It almost looks like he got it stuck in something, but hell if I could find anywhere that might have been possible. Horses. They can try to kill themselves even when given no tools by which to do it.

I texted pics to the vet and he advised that I bring him back home so he could cut the flap of hoof off and address the heel wound. It will need tending and bandaging, and of course it hurts a lot. So I loaded Presto and Henry up and took them both home to the vet’s house last night. I give up. Presto also did this the same day I put his FEH Championships entry in the mail. I do not appreciate his sense of humor.

I don’t even want to know how much I’ve spent in the past few months. All of you people who keep track of your yearly horse spending, I don’t know how (or why) you do it. I refuse to even try to add it up, because everyone knows you can’t put a price on love. LOLZ. But really though, it’s because you can definitely put a price on insanity and I know for a fact I’m hitting that figure. No need to calculate what we already know to be true.

I had finally just been feeling like I’d conquered the last round of problems too. It’s been so hot and Henry’s been having such a hard time in the afternoons that he was getting hosed off several times of day to help keep him cool. Which caused him to get rain rot. And then he randomly got hives for a few days. He’s missing a lot of hair on his butt right now. Presto’s hematoma (or as I like to call it – 3rd butt cheek) got a bit of cellulitis, which we’ve been massaging and draining and hosing and medicating. That’s right – one horse has a lumpy ass, one horse has a bald ass. Finally in the last couple days they’ve both started looking a lot better. I was even optimistic that Presto might not have a lumpy butt anymore by Championships. I should have known trouble was afoot (no pun intended).

Shit, I just remembered that we still have to remove Henry’s cracked back molar next week and take Presto’s wolf teeth out at some point soon.

On the bright side, at least Riding Warehouse’s Labor Day sale starts today so I can stock up on all my med supplies and more Coat Defense powder at a discount? #positivity #cryingontheinside #ilovehorses #sendhelp