Sorry, I let Presto title this post and he got a little carried away.
it happens a lot
This past weekend was another fairly quiet one at home, something that is rare enough for me to always be appreciative of it when it happens. It was a loooong stressful work at week and I really needed a minute to breathe. So on Friday morning I hopped on over to the local Dover store for their “tent sale”… I use quotation marks because there was no actual tent involved, they just had tables full of boxes out in front of the store.
not as fun as a tent, but I’m still down for a good bargain hunt
I’m ever hopeful that I’ll find some kind of fantastic deal at that sale, but once again I left empty handed. That’s not to say that there weren’t good deals to be had, if you were lucky. They had a few Kastel shirts for $11, a pair of what looked to be returned Lister clippers for $100, a returned Neue Schule D-ring for $100, etc. Nothing I had to have though. And the regular “sale” items were laughable – like things were still more expensive on sale than they are at Riding Warehouse regularly. So, nah. $0 spent.
By Friday afternoon after work I was completely braindead from the week, so I tossed Henry’s sidepull on and we went out to jump. Because you know what cures a long work week?
This.
As usual, he was awesome.
Saturday was a conditioning day, and it was 85 degrees, so Henry got a nice thorough hosing after we were done. Which is good, because he was pee-crusted. I am thankful every single day that he’s a plain bay.
Spoiler alert: he went out, pawed up a fresh patch of dirt, and rolled in it.
I was going to do something with Presto but he is still really ridiculously hairy, and it was so hot/humid, I ended up just hosing him off (how to make the baby horse angry in one easy step) and practicing his groundtying/standing at the mounting block. He knows now that the mounting block is always where he gets to stand and rest, so he was happy to put it in park and take a nap while I stomped up and down it and jumped around.
It’s possible that I did jumping jacks behind him while he napped
The real highlight of the weekend was on Sunday (well, after The SO forced me to go bed/mattress/bedding shopping, a thing that will take years of therapy to recover from. I haaaaaate shopping for non-horse stuff. Just order something online please, I’ll learn to like it.) when Bobby brought Cannavaro – now known in the barn as Gryffin – over to play! It was his first off property hack, so we just went on a walk through the fields and he was a superstar. Super brave and quiet, I still love him. The horse, not Bobby. Bobby was spooky and tense. Bobby needs some groundwork. His horse is super cool though.
All four dinguses (dingi? what’s the plural?)
The most exciting part was Gryffin meeting the boys. Presto loved him, because Presto loves everyone. I think he just assumes any horse he meets is his new bestest friend. Or in Presto terms: BESSSSSESST FREEENNNNN. Gryffin seemed unimpressed by the baby horse, just as everyone else always is when they meet him.
Presto was so hopeful that someone would finally like him. He’s got no chill.
The truly weird part was that Henry seemed to like Gryff quite a bit. Normally Henry is the sniff-sniff-squeal-bite-kick type, but he just kept sniffing Gryffin over and over for the longest time. It was a little creepy. We think it’s because Gryff kinda looks like Henry, and Henry is nothing if not a egotistical narcissist.
HE’S BEAUTIFUL
Gryff was foot perfect in a new place, and I’m really excited to see how he develops over the next year or so. I just love him.
It was a fun, relatively relaxed weekend with friends, both horse and human. Can’t beat that! And I hope it was enough to recharge me for a while, because starting this weekend the schedule gets crazy again. Dare I say that spring has officially arrived in Texas? I’m so ready.
It’s everyone’s favorite time of year again – foaling season! And of course, as has become tradition around here by now, that means it’s time for our annual Willow Tree Warmbloods Baby Bets contest. Baby horses plus free stuff, it doesn’t get any better than that.
First off, the prize package. This year it’s bigger and more awesome than ever! The winner of this year’s Baby Bets contest will receive:
a bag of Michelle’s new favorite thing (that she first physically shoved me out of the way to obtain and now continuously orders online): a big ass bag of lucky charms marshmallows.
Money, swag, and treats for you and your pony!
No added sugar in the Flix, ALL added sugar in the marshmallows
Again this year there are only two expected foals, and from two very different ends of the spectrum. Lissa, a Grand Prix jumper mare, is in foal to GP jumper stallion Catoki, and sportpony mare Stormie is in foal to German Riding Pony stallion Nuno!
We’ll do the rules just like last year. Basically all you have to do is exercise those psychic powers and comment here with your guesses for the following, for each foal:
Foaling Date
Foaling Time (doesn’t have to be to the minute accurate, just to the hour is fine – ie 2AM. If it happens in the 2AM hour, you get the points.)
Gender
Color
Face Markings
Leg Markings (again doesn’t have to be specific – “one sock”, “none”, “four socks”, etc will work)
So your submission should look something like this:
Lissa: 4/2 3AM bay filly with a stripe and two socks
Stormie: 5/21 8PM black colt with a blaze and 3 socks
But filled in with your actual guesses, of course. 😉 Everything you guess correctly will earn points. 10 points each for foaling date and time, and then 5 points each for gender, color, face markings, and leg markings… each foal can potentially net you up to 40 points. So even if you get a few things wrong, there are still ways to rack up some serious points. If there are any ties, I’ll put them all in a hat and get Michelle to pick a winner.
who’s ready for BABIES?
Submit your entries via a comment here on this post or you can message them to me on the blog’s facebook page. Just make sure you leave a link or an email address so I can contact you if you win! Easy peasy.
The “Due dates” I’ve listed below are based on the average 340 days gestation, but keep in mind that normal gestation can be anywhere from 320ish to 360ish. I’ve included pictures of both combinations and whatever info is important so you can make your best guesses.
LISSA x CATOKI
Lasilissa
Catoki
Lissa is a bay mare, and we know she carries a red gene since her first foal was chestnut. Catoki is also bay, but he too has sired chestnut offspring therefore has a red gene. That gives us roughly 75% chance for bay or black, 25% chance for chestnut. Lissa has 3 small socks and Catoki has a big star/snip and 3 socks. Her “due date” is 4/6.
Lissa in actionCatoki in action
STORMIE x NUNO
Stormie
Nuno
This one is a lot more challenging, color wise. Stormie is gray but appeared to have been born grulla, and has maybe a face marking. Nuno is black with a blaze and a sock. If our guesses at their color genetics are correct, that gives us 25% chance of grulla, 25% chance of black, 25% chance of grulla that turns gray, and 25% chance of black that turns gray. Since we may or may not know for a while if the foal will turn gray, I’ll just take a base color here for a guess. So black or grulla, we think – but you don’t have to take my word for it. “Due date” is 5/25, and this is Stormie’s first foal.
Stormie in actionNuno in action
I’ll leave entries open through 3/18, that gives you a week to get your guesses in! The contest winner will be revealed after the last foal is born. Obviously I have no idea exactly when that’ll be, hopefully by the end of May, so you’ll just have to stay tuned.
Ah yes, the age old struggle of Henry and bitting. It’s been difficult from the very beginning, back in the days when he completely ducked behind all contact and I ended up taking the bit of the equation completely for 6 months. Since I added the bit back in, we’ve gone through several. Some were just because he’s matured and developed over the years, and his ability to handle and go into contact has improved. We’ve gone from a copper loose ring to a nathe to an eggbutt french link to a baucher to Myler to a happy mouth to a KK – different mouthpieces, different metals, different rings, and different thicknesses. Some he hated, some he liked well enough… I’ve never found one where I really loved how he felt in it. I really felt like that was the horse, though, not the bit.
Pretty standard for pre-Neue Schule Henry: chomping, not really straight, moving a bit flat and blocked in his neck and back
The Neue Schule bits have been on the scene for a while now, and I’ve heard really good things about them. There’s no getting around it: they’re expensive. Especially for someone like me, who has a horse that is very high drama and dislikes most things. His history with bitting tells me that he either tolerates it, or he wants me to stick it where the sun don’t shine and take it with me to hell. That’s Henry. He was also going “fine enough” in his KK that he’s been wearing for a few years now. I mean, sure, sometimes he still liked to drop the contact and come behind the bit, or bounce up off it, but I had no problem accepting that those were symptoms of training issues or my own riding. He’s never been a big fan of real contact and connection, and dressage isn’t my strong suit.
And then I had a day where I really was feeling meh about how he was going in the KK, and started wondering if it might be time to move on again. Maybe a different metal, or a thinner KK? Back to the Nathe? I wasn’t sure. By sheer luck, I also noticed that Riding Warehouse had started carrying some of the Neue Schule bits. There are a lot of things I can resist, but an experiment with an item that I’ve heard so many good things about isn’t one of them.
Maybe I’m dating myself, but I will never see him as anything but Dawson. Also let’s all agree that Pacey was way better.
The first question was: which one?
Neue Schule has so many options, the indecision was crippling. I posted in a dressage group asking for opinions, and eventually found my way to a rep. She helped me narrow it down to two, and then I completely opted out of making hard decisions and made my trainer pick. Yes I’m that kind of person.
We (she) settled on the Tranz Angled Lozenge Eggbutt, which was described by Neue Schule as “offers stability within the mouth, making it a good choice for horses with inconsistent contact, short, tense necked horses, and horses that need directional control.“. Inconsistent contact and tense necked horse… that definitely sounded familiar. Their website goes on to say “When a contact is taken, the Tranz Angled Lozenge rolls down onto the centre of the tongue, the ‘sweet spot’, enhancing feel and responsiveness thus a higher level of communication through the rein is achieved. The arms are slightly curved and of an oval profile. This oval design takes up less room between the tongue and upper palate, whilst offering a similar weight bearing surface from the pony’s perspective as thicker, circular mouthpieces.“. I know that Henry has a larger than average tongue and lower than average palate, so again… this sounded pretty spot on for him.
In all of my reading I found that Neue Schule really spent a long time researching and developing these bits. There is a lot of engineering here, and a lot of attention to minute detail, all the way from the exact shape of the bit, to the exact angle of the lozenge, to the exact makeup of the metal. Seeing all the science and engineering that went into them kind of made the price point make more sense. This isn’t your crappy run of the mill $25 loose ring. They spent a lot of time and money developing these.
“The unique Salox Gold metal possesses the highest thermal conductivity of any metal used in horse bits, this means that the bit will warm to mouth temperature quickly and become ‘neutral’ to the horse meaning that they are less likely to inwardly fixate on the presence of the bit and communication will not be compromised.”
Admittedly though, at the end of the day all the science in the world can be as impressive as it wants, but what really matters is – what does the horse think?
I will start by saying that Henry hates change. He always has. Any new piece of equipment tends to get a reaction somewhere between angry and irritated. He is the Princess and the Pea to an extreme. Knowing this about him, I planned for the first ride in the Neue Schule to just be a walk hack, ponying Presto with us. No contact or anything, I just wanted him to carry the bit and get used to a new feel in his mouth. As expected, he chomped and chomped and chomped the entire time, trying to figure it out. Standard behavior for Henry on day 1 of a bit change.
Day 1!
The next day I put him back in it, and went out to do trot sets. On trot set days we work mostly in stretchy trot, just going forward and straight, adding in some hill repeats. I didn’t ask him to do anything but go forward and relax his topline, so he could work up into some contact but not really make it too “formal”.
The third day was when I knew I’d be able to tell whether or not it was going to work. By the third repetition he’s always over the fact that Something Changed, and we’ve either moved into acceptance or rejection. So for day 3 we went out and did a light dressage ride, and I suddenly had a horse that was quiet and much steadier in the contact. He didn’t chomp at all (chomping is his go-to maneuver and always has been, I don’t think we’ve ever gone a whole ride in any bit with no chomping), and he felt steadier in my hands than he ever has. The next day, same thing, but even better. The following day, same thing, but even better. I described it to Trainer the best way I could, saying that he felt more “mature” in the connection. Steadier, moving up TO the bit, and no chomping. I finally felt like I had something solid to ride him up to.
Only two weeks have passed between the first photo in this post and this one. The difference? A bit change.
In truth, this bit fits the shape of his mouth so much better than the KK, and better than anything else I’ve used on him. It sits so nicely, not too thick, not too thin, and matches the contours of his mouth perfectly. I can see why he finds it so much more comfortable. I think I had fallen into the “bit fitting” trap of looking only at the size and thickness of the bit, rather than really examining the whole shape. Bits are kind of like saddles in that way – it has to fit the whole way across. Until I saw how well the Neue Schule sat in his mouth, I didn’t really realize how all of the others hadn’t.
The real test was our dressage lesson last weekend, where Trainer would be seeing him in the new bit for the first time. Even though he started out tight and tense in the environment, she immediately exclaimed that he looked so much steadier and happier in the contact than he had before. She kept saying that he really looked like a “proper horse”. I asked her afterward to write down her impressions so that I could include it here, and this is what she had to say:
The difference in his hind leg is unbelievable! The connection can finally come from back to front with a soft, elastic connection to the bit. Before, he would hit the bit and try to hide from it, and that tendency has totally disappeared. He finally trusts the contact, which results in a true connection, which results in a horse that can work properly forward from his hind end.
I am still kind of blown away by the difference. I was hoping he would like the bit, but I didn’t really expect to have any major changes. In my wildest dreams I was thinking maybe he’d be 20% steadier in the contact, but instead I’ve got a horse who is 100% happier than he was, and some issues that we’ve struggled with for years have been massively improved in a matter of weeks. Now I feel bad for taking so long to figure this out for him.
If you’ve been eyeing a Neue Schule, I really can’t say enough good things about my experience. Are they pricey? Yes. Would I have spent the money several times over to make my horse this much happier? Without a doubt. Bits are just as important as saddles, IMO, and you can’t deny all of the time and engineering that has gone into producing the Neue Schule line. You also can’t argue with Princess Henry.
I do always have Riding Warehouse coupons, so if you’re looking to save a few bucks on an order just drop me a line and I’ll send you one. I know every dollar counts! And in this case, those dollars are exceptionally well spent.
I think the best thing about having Presto added into the mix with Henry and me has been the amount levity he brings into everything he does. Henry is a real derp, and quite a cheeky little turd all on his own, of course, but when you just have one horse and you have a lot of riding and competition goals with said horse, sometimes things start feeling a little too… serious.
well, you know… sort of.
I’m definitely serious about all of this, don’t get me wrong. But I also have to be careful not to ever get too bogged down in the day to day drudgery, both for my sake and for Henry’s. He’s got a fantastic work ethic, almost too much “try” to be honest, and it would be really easy to burn him out if he couldn’t have time to just be a dork and have some no-pressure fun in our rides and interactions.
it’s like cirque du soleil around here
I am much the same in that I can get so hyper-focused that I forget to take a step back and just let it all go sometimes. I’ve gotten a lot better about this as my relationship with Henry has progressed over the years, because his mental health can be a bit delicate, and I’ve really had to learn how to balance everything for him.
really into poo-sniffing in his down time
Adding Presto into the mix has changed the dynamic a bit, and only for the better. This kid is something else. He is weird, he is goofy, he is cheeky, and he is obsessed with being as cool as Henry.
One of them always plays harder than the other, and it’s definitely not the 2yo…
They can’t live together, of course, because Henry is a grade A asshole of a pasturemate. He lives alone, and he likes it that way. But I do occasionally turn them out together for short stints so they can play (under supervision) because Henry, as much as he would like to deny it, freaking loves that kid. Well truthfully I think he just likes having something to chase and make rude faces at, and Presto is perfect for that because he would never dream of protesting Henry’s authority. Henry sure does love a power trip.
DIS IS MINE
Sometimes Henry even fancies himself a Horse Trainer and tries out his roundpenning skills on the baby.
And Presto, bless his sweet little doofus heart, is almost just too pure and innocent for this world. He’s got a “WOW, WHAT IS THAT AMAZING THING?” and “OK SURE THAT SOUNDS FUN” approach to life that you can’t help but love. He’s a little bit like a 15.3h golden retriever.
Dis muh sandy noze, gimme boop.Oh dat itchyWhut dis? I smash! *smashsmashsmash*
I mean… how could you not be entertained? Everything that horse does, he does with joy.
And probably a healthy dose of naughty.
But mostly joy. He thinks everything is great fun.
I try to pony him at least once a week, rides where Henry pretends to be put out by the intrusion, but secretly loves because he gets to pin his ears at the dumb baby horse whenever Presto pulls any shenanigans. Henry relishes his role as the fun police. We go on long marching walks, usually with Henry in his sidepull, and sometimes with me bareback, and we just go explore and have fun. I look at Presto and I’m reminded that it’s not about today, it’s about the big picture, the long game. These long ponying walks that were originally meant for Presto’s benefit have really come to be of great benefit to all three of us.
I spend a lot of time dreaming of what this horse might be someday
Having Presto around has been so refreshing, and he’s a constant reminder to not get too bogged down in the day to day minutiae. Hitting a snag in Henry’s training? Oh well. Let’s take a couple days to back off, remove the pressure, go do something fun and goofy, and try again when we’re both in a better headspace. That approach pretty much always works for us.
Presto has brought a whole lot of levity and perspective into what can sometimes feel like a slog. It’s a treat to have him here, and it makes me so happy to watch him and Henry interact. I hope that I can always do my part to retain that adorably lovable golden retriever personality.
I think Hillary and I have some of the best conversations in the truck driving to/from lessons and shows. A lot of the random stuff that lives in my head gets to come out, and she often brings up other things and additional related points that I maybe hadn’t thought of. If you’re a nerd like me (us?), it’s fun.
almost as fun as doing dressage in shitty weather
One of the subjects we hit recently started as a discussion on dedication and morphed into talent vs commitment, which morphed again into what it means to be teachable. I had recently listened to a podcast with Stephen Bradley that touched on the subject, so I had already been through a lot of it in my head over the preceding days. (What, you don’t find yourself standing in the shower staring off into space while thinking about a random tangent related to riding theory or horsemanship?)
We started out talking about the subject of dedication, and how a lot of folks tend to be as dedicated as the people around them, for better or for worse. We as humans are like that in a lot of ways, as far as taking on the characteristics of the people we surround ourselves with. It’s why I’ve gotten so careful with my “inner circle” as I’ve gotten older. Hillary gave me what is probably one of the biggest compliments I’ve ever had, saying that she definitely agrees with that, because she thinks I am one of the most dedicated people she’s ever met, and being around me makes her want to buckle down too. I am keeping that compliment tucked away in my psyche for the next bad day when I need a pick me up, so thank you Hillary for that. She’s not wrong – out of all the things I lack, and there are many, dedication is not one of them. I was raised having to working hard for whatever I want, and I still do, so I don’t really know any other way. I’m an “all in” kind of person, if I’m interested in what I’m doing (of course the down side to that being: if I’m not interested in what I’m doing, I’m 0% “in”… sorry to literally everything else that’s not horses).
I’ve thought about this a lot in the past couple years, and I told her that I’m pretty sure I am the way I am because I’ve never been a particularly talented rider or been able to afford fancy or well-trained horses. I’ve always had to show up every day and do the work, and try to make the most of whatever I was lucky enough to be sitting on. I think a lot of us know what that’s like. If we aren’t 110% committed, we won’t make much progress. If I was a little more naturally talented, or if I had a horse that came to me as a “finished product”, would I have the same drive? If my parents had paid for my lessons and shows and bought me a super nice horse when I was kid, would I have the same drive? I don’t know. Probably not, honestly. Stephen Bradley talked about this too, saying that he never thought he was really that talented, but he wanted to learn and he wanted to be better, so he was insanely dedicated and did the best he could with the horses he had. With, um… significantly better results than myself, of course.
From there it morphed into what it means to be teachable, and I have to give Hillary a return compliment here because she is a good example of what teachable means to me. I’ve never heard her argue, she asks questions when necessary, she tries, and she’s respectful. She wants to learn. She’s got grit. She shows up with a “help make me better” attitude and is willing to listen to what anyone has to say. IMO, you can’t stop teachable people from getting better. If you show up every day wanting to learn, you will learn. If you’re open to doing things differently, you will learn. If you dig in when things get hard and embrace the process, you will learn. If you aren’t ruled by ego or pride, you will learn. As we were talking about it I realized that to me, being teachable is head and shoulders the most important quality when it comes to growth and success.
Well okay, maybe equally as important as dedication. But then again, maybe they go hand in hand. We both agreed that talent would be somewhere near the back of the pack.
I always think back to my days of teaching lessons at the barn’s summer camp… without fail I always had a handful of kids who were just as bad at the end of camp as they were at the beginning, and then another handful of kids who were little future champions. It had nothing to do with how talented they were on day 1, and everything to do with the attitude they brought to the plate every day. Guess which ones were fun to teach? Guess which ones I felt more invested in?
I don’t care if I’m the best rider at the show, or if I’m sitting on the best horse. Those are frivolous things, qualities that can come and go at any time and are beyond my control. Instead I want people to look at me and see that I’m dedicated, that I show up every day and work hard, and that I really want to learn. Having this conversation was a great reminder of that, and helped me get a firmer view of exactly what is most important to me. Those are the things I can control, and those are the things I want to strive for every day, which is exactly why I’m “putting pen to paper” now.
This isn’t the part where the work happens, so it’s not the right criteria by which to measure.
It goes along well with a lot of what I got from the book Chop Wood Carry Water, which includes an exercise where you develop a “scorecard” for yourself, to define what you consider to be a truly successful life vs letting society tell you what success means. You’re supposed to write down what characteristics you truly admire, and the ones you want to be known for, and then narrow it down to your top four. I’d been thinking about this in the back of my mind for a while but wasn’t able to really firm it up until after this conversation. Then it came easy. But I’ll get into the details of my scorecard and how I plan to use it more in the next Mental Game post.
What do you think on the subject of talent vs dedication vs being trainable? How important are these things to you? And, maybe more interesting, what would the top four things on your scorecard be?
breedrideevent.com 