Okay and maybe Friday and today count, too. It’s been a very testosterone-filled last few days in general.

It all started on Friday, with barnsitting. The herd includes the trakehner stallion Kovington, aka Toni. He is big, black, beautiful, and super weird, so of course I love him.

But I also spent a ridiculous amount of time and got up stupid early to watch stallions. Usandro’s owner had alerted us to the fact that he would be at the Saint-Lô stallion show in Normandy on Saturday and Sunday, so of course I went to digging. I found out that clipmyhorse.tv was live streaming the event, and I located a program and order of go on the facility’s website. Watching Usandro was going to be a highlight, of course, but there were several other stallions in attendance that I wanted to see. And since France is 7 hours ahead of us, this required setting my alarm for 4am on Saturday. When does interest cross the line into obsession? Probably there.

But I got see Usandro and a couple others in the stallion parade, then got up and ate breakfast and did some chores before logging back in on my computer to catch a few solo presentations of some of the others that I was interested in. Like the Heraldik xx son Herald (he’s related to Presto!). I am clearly biased toward anything with high % TB, especially a Heraldik, because I loved him.

And there was also Luigi, who we met at Tal Milstein’s stable in Belgium. He is ridiculously nice, definitely a horse to watch for the future.

After another break to muck stalls I was back inside on the computer, just in time to catch the LEGENDARY Diamant de Semilly. He looks pretty good for 27.

And then there was Diarado, who was REALLY REALLY pumped to be there. I swear, some of these older stallions that are retired from competition and at the beginning of breeding season… they were horse kites. Diarado accidentally dropped his handler though, which I admit I spent most of the day watching the video and chuckling about. Gotta give the guy credit, he had a very quick and athletic recovery (although he mostly stuck to walking Diarado after this… probably wise). Maybe a lunge line instead of just reins attached to the super excited stallion next time, eh?

Usandro’s owner also posted a few pictures of him meeting his maternal grandsire, Welcome Sympatico, that really made me wish I was there. Add Saint-Lô to my bucket list of horsey events that I want to attend at some point. February in Normandy seems fine by me.

On Sunday I set my phone to 4am again (I repeat – is this a sign that I’ve totally lost my mind?) so that I could catch Usandro’s actual solo presentation.

And then a couple horses later was MIGHTY MAGIC!!! I was really excited to see him “live” since of course I’ve only seen promotional videos and competition videos of him before. He was a bit tense but still impeccably behaved. I was quite disappointed that Clipmyhorse had his pedigree information wrong though (he is clearly NOT an Ampere x Jazz, come on guys) and the English commentator guy spent the entire presentation talking about bloodlines that aren’t his.

Clearly he didn’t have an information sheet on Mighty Magic either, because he never mentioned any of his accomplishments (um hello, 7yo eventing world champion, French national FEI Children’s dressage champion, sire of eventers up to 3* level???). I have to assume that they had it right at the stallion show itself, or it would have been quickly corrected, but the Clipmyhorse feed never realized their mistake, so MM got totally gypped on that end.

I loved him just as much as I always have, though. Which I guess is probably a good thing, since I have a foal by him now. I really need to make a point to see him in person the next time we’re in France.

After another break to do chores I was glued to the live feed for the rest of the morning (again) and got to see all kinds of “big ones”, like Plot Blue, Malito de Reve, Big Star, Canturo, Monte Bellini, Qlassic Bois Margot, Upsilon, Cristallo, etc etc.

For a breeding nerd like me, it was captivating. I wrap up barnsitting today, so one more afternoon with goofy Toni.  Granted, I’m a little tired from lack of appropriate sleep, but hey… my alarm not going off until 5 this morning was kind of nice.

Worth it!

It’s been doing nothing but RAIN here all week, thus I have not actually sat on my horse since Monday, thus I now cannot think of anything but sitting on my horse. When I went to bed last night it was storming. When I woke up this morning it was storming. Currently the radar looks like this:

So I have no idea when I’ll actually ride again, I’m bored out of my mind (to the point where I’ve been CRAFTING, wtf), and I’ve had nothing to do all week but ponder. Like for real, I spent 15 minutes this morning wondering why it’s called a “pat” of butter before I finally googled it. What else do I have to do that was more important than learning the origin of that term? Nothing. Literally freaking nothing.

Anyway… one of the things I was thinking about was ride time. As in how long you spend actually riding your horse. As an eventer this can be a very “well it depends” subject for me, because, well… it greatly depends on what we’re doing. Conditioning rides can easily be an hour plus, but dressage rides could be as short as 25 minutes. Charles de Kunffy (and thus my dressage trainer, who is a CdK protégé) believes pretty strongly in the fact that anything more than 30-45 minutes is not good for the horse mentally. CdK has said “What you can’t accomplish in a 30 minute ride is for tomorrow.”.

Our dressage lessons are 45 minute blocks, with several walk breaks thrown in. I always get on and walk for 10 minutes before we start, so I end up being on for about an hour or a little under, with only about half of that being actual work. I try to stick to the same thing in my dressage rides at home, and sometimes if Henry is being particularly good I won’t even school him for that long. If he gives me good work right from the beginning, I try to reward that and not continue to hound him for moremoremore. I have no desire to ruin his naturally good work ethic or fry his brain (which, let’s admit, is delicate enough already). Sometimes if I need to log more saddle time, like if I’ve missed a conditioning ride for whatever reason or if the work session itself ended up being short, I’ll just throw a hack on to the end of the ride. More saddle time, but no mental pressure.

For jump sessions it’s pretty much the same. We warm up, sometimes with a long 15-20 minute trot if I’m trying to add some conditioning, and then jump a few courses. Sometimes we just do pole work, or canter a couple of low fences to work on rhythm/my eye/position. My jumping rides are generally pretty short too though, pretty much never more than 30-45 minutes.

The only exception to that general time frame, for me, is conditioning rides. Those tend to be long and low trots, or trot sets, with canter sets thrown in. There’s lots of walking before and after, and sometimes I just do a long 30 minute trot framed by 15 minutes of marching walk before and after. It depends on the temperature, the ground, what we’ve got coming up, and what else we’ve been doing. It’s a pretty rare occasion though when I am on him for more than an hour to hour and fifteen minutes. Those being things like group lessons, trail rides, XC schooling, etc. They tend to be either low pressure or have a ton of walking time, though… it’s not just a big block of work.

And of course, Henry is a mature horse, in regular work, and he’s an eventer. If he was a young horse or had a different job, the ride structure would look different. I’m excited for my Seaver girth sleeve to get here though so I can start tracking all this stuff (and heart rate!) via an app instead of just in my head.

So I’m curious, fellow equestrians – how long do you typically ride for and why?

Last week May as Well Event (who has the cutest little squish of a mare, btw) did a 30 Facts About Me post that I thought was a really great idea. We know a lot about each other’s horse-related lives, especially in the present or not-so-distant past, but what about that non-horse stuff, or things that happened a long time ago? I think it’s interesting to learn more about each other, so I’m adopting her good idea and bloghopping it! I hope other bloggers participate too.

1. I am a super picky eater. It’s not that I want to be, it’s just that a lot of things make me want to barf. I have texture issues more than taste issues… onions and coconut and lettuce have the most sickening crunch, mayo and mustard are just slime, and please don’t get me started on sushi. Vomit.

2. In my life I have moved a total of 18 times. I’ve lived in North Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, and Maryland. Someday I want to end up in either NoVa or the Aiken area.

3. I’m super into tiny homes and probably could totally live in an RV too. I like the idea of minimalism and flexibility, plus not being tied down to one place.

4. I have 4 tattoos, three of which are literary in some way. I have the last two lines of my favorite poem Invictus on my arm, a quote from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader on my collarbone, a quarter sleeve with Hogwarts plus a mishmash of some original cover artwork from the Chronicles of Narnia, and then a random horse on my hip. Even though I’m not religious, the Narnia books are my all time favorite.

5. Along those same lines, my favorite fictional character is Reepicheep. He’s just a mouse, but he’s pure courage and honor and adventure and I love him.

6. One of my first jobs was as a receptionist at a hair salon. For anyone who knows me, this should be extra hilarious. All the stylists called me “the pit bull that guards the front desk”.

7. I’m not really that into TV/movies. I do like documentaries and the occasional very interesting TV show (ok, exception: Parks and Rec. The only sitcom I’ve ever loved.), but generally of the Netflix variety where you can watch it all at once. Commercials are stupid and so is waiting. If not for the SO I would probably not even have a TV anymore, I prefer to read.

8. My most awkward and uncomfortable side gig ever was when I picked up a few sports modeling gigs. One was for a stock photo company that sold the pictures to whoever the heck wanted them, and somehow different pictures ended up in 3 magazines (Competitor, Austin Fit, and some other cycling one I forget the name of). I hate having my picture taken so for real it was SO AWKWARD OMG. I basically spent a lot of time running or cycling back and forth in front of the same spot, or drinking water, or some other stupid thing, while a semi-creepy dude took a thousand pictures and everyone else stared.

9. Despite a lifetime involved in a lot of different sports, I’ve only managed to crack a few ribs, a tailbone, and a toe, and break an elbow. Really not bad, all things considered! Knock on wood.

10. I have very little interest in shopping for, talking about, or participating in things that are not horse or riding related (ok, maybe literature-related is alright). I’ve given up trying to be well-rounded. I tried, I swear.

11. In school I took 2 years of French (of which I remember very little), 3 years of American Sign Language (I can still sign at least 3 Green Day songs, a Foo Fighter song, and a Garth Brooks song, if that’s worth anything?), and have been working on German over the past year.

12. My first CD ever was the Lion King soundtrack. I still know every word. No I’m not kidding, EVERY WORD. I’ve also seen The Lion King the movie at least 10 times and The Lion King the play once (I’m down to go again, just not in Vegas because Vegas sucks). Generally not a fan of Disney movies, but that’s the exception. Probably because there are no people in it.

13. As a kid I swam competitively and did a ton of swim meets. I still really like to swim, I find it to be super relaxing. Just don’t have much time for it anymore.

14. Kind of along those same lines, when I was a kid I wanted to be a marine biologist when I grew up. I was really in love with dolphins and orcas.

15. Six years ago when I started doing triathlons I was surprised to find that I was actually kind of naturally talented at it, mostly because I have never felt like a “natural” at anything. I won several triathlons and ended up “on the podium” (top 3) all but twice. Money-wise and time-wise I ultimately had to choose between riding and tri’s, but if I had the resources I would have totally kept going. Riding is so much more difficult for me, comparatively, but it’s where my heart is.

16. My favorite subjects in school were creative writing (it was an elective for us and I took it as many times as they would let me), journalism, and history.

17. I’ve always fantasized about living overseas and would love to make that happen someday, even if it’s just for 6 months. I think it would be really cool to immerse myself in another culture.

18. When I’m too old/broken to jump anymore, I will get a buckskin, palomino, or roan reiner.

19. Most of my family is from, and still lives in, Arkansas. I lived there for 7 years and I gotta say, I think it’s the most underrated state there is. The northern half is especially beautiful. If it had a better horse scene I could live there in a heartbeat.

20. My mom was very crafty, especially when it came to sewing. She made sure that I learned how to sew (by hand and by machine), quilt, and cross stitch really well as a kid. I distinctly remember spending one summer handstitching a Pink Panther wall hanging. It was not, and still is not, my favorite activity, but I’m glad that I know how.

21. I was in Girl Scouts forever and I loved it. The camping part especially. I was very much a tomboy and really liked learning all that stuff. Still kind of am and still kind of do.

22. I’m borderline obsessed with Maya Angelou and have read everything of hers that I’ve been able to get my hands on. Also listened to her audiobooks that she herself narrated. There was just something about her and her life that is so captivating to me.

23. I have fallen off a horse on my birthday THREE TIMES. Considering that I don’t fall off very much, and I’ve only ridden on probably a little more than half of my birthdays, this is an impressive statistic.

24. I can’t remember what I had for dinner last night but throw a warmblood stallion’s name at me and I can probably give you a full dissertation of him and his entire pedigree. This is why I don’t have room for other things in my brain.

25. I hate wine AND I hate beer AND I hate coffee. But, like… water and juice are good. Maybe a cider or a cocktail on rare occasion.

26. I don’t really believe in the “institution” of marriage anymore, or organized religion. But I believe very strongly in an individual’s right to believe (or not) whatever they choose and marry (or not) whomever they choose, and I’m open to lots of different kinds of spirituality.

27. I keep a fairly small group of close friends, and most of them I’ve known for at least a decade. It takes me a while to warm up to most people and feel comfortable with them, but once I do I’m pretty fiercely loyal and if you mess with my friends I will absolutely cut you.

28. The first horse I ever rode was named Cinnamon, at a friend’s birthday party in the late 80’s.

29. My two favorite types of food are Mexican and Indian. Basically if there’s spicy chicken and rice, preferably with some kind of cheese, I’m down.

30. I feel like it’s really important to me to be brave with my life. To do things that might intimidate or scare me, but to always still have the courage to do them, if I want to. And to stay true to who I am even if it means going against what is “normal”. I feel like life should be an adventure of my own design. I think my biggest fear is getting to the end of my life and realizing that I lived it doing things that someone else (be it society in general or any one person) wanted or told me I should want, instead of what I actually wanted for myself.

 

When I was at Pine Hill on Sunday I finally picked up Henny’s 2017 year end award ribbon from Trainer. She grabbed it for me at the banquet last month, because, well… if you’ve ever met me then you know that I’m not exactly the banquet type. I’ve been to enough of them by now to know this about myself. I rarely drink, I don’t really like large gatherings of people, and I don’t like having lots of eyes on me. So, yeah, banquets aren’t exactly my bag.

We finished 4th for the year in Training Senior for GHCTA. On one hand I’m really proud of my horse and it was fun to put the ribbon on his bridle at the barn and snap a quick picture. Training was nothing but a wild dream a couple years ago, so to do it and not die is pretty awesome to me. I’ll take the recognition in a tangible form and be grateful for that. We only did a few shows, so how we scraped up a ribbon is a mystery to me. I’m not really super into ribbons though, so I did struggle a bit with what to do with it. Ultimately it ended up on the ribbon wall in the guest bedroom, with some of Henry’s other eventing ribbons (the ones that I have not lost along the way, because yeah that’s a thing I do sometimes).

Part of my apathy towards ribbons has to do with the fact that I figured out a long time ago that progress can’t be measured by satin. Sometimes you luck into a ribbon you really don’t deserve, and other times you go home empty handed when you should be wearing a Rolex and carrying a trophy. That’s just the way of the sport. Ribbons are fun to stick on the halter and take a quick picture of, but beyond that they just don’t tend to hold much meaning to me personally.

I also struggle a little bit, ethically, with the idea of year end awards. They are straight up point accumulations, and most of the time the people who show the most are the ones at the top. I have a hard time getting excited about a system that ultimately ends up rewarding those who show their horses into the ground rather than those who pick and choose a schedule that is in the best interest of the horse.

I’ve been there, I’ve done that, I’ve gotten the big fancy year end ribbons and prizes and gone to just about every show of the year, back in my h/j days. I felt like I didn’t always make the best choices during those years, and I vowed not to do it again. I’d much rather get to the end of the year and feel like I did right by the horse and myself, rather than feeling driven by points. And hey, if I do that and we manage to squeak out a year end ribbon, then that’s just gravy I guess. Points are not something that I ever want to have on my radar, though. I don’t want my decisions to be influenced or driven by that.

If year-end prizes were calculated off of some kind of average, I’d be more into it. Like the dressage awards with their highest average percentages and stuff like that. I have no idea how it would work, and I’m not really interested enough in it to figure it out, but that method is certainly more appealing to me as an eventer. I feel like we have to be extra aware of how much we show our horses.

Henny sure did look cute in his white ribbon though, and I had a momentary swell of pride in the fact that I was looking at a year end ribbon that said Training on it and it was on MY horse. I suppose that’s the real purpose of them, whether I really believe in the system or not.

How do y’all feel about year end awards? Do you plan your whole season with those in mind, or are they just coincidentals?

Guess what I did yesterday???

Yep, Presto is an official, card-carrying, USEA-registered horse. So legit now, man.

Really I was going to wait to decide whether or not to go ahead and get his Future Event Horse registration until later on in the year, if at all. I didn’t want to take him to FEH unless he decided to stop looking like a donkey at some point (which I am not holding my breath for, btw, since his mother looked like that for LITERALLY YEARS). But then USEA released the FEH schedule, and, well… there isn’t a lot for our area. There are two March classes held in conjunction with USEA recognized events, which, like… show me a yearling that is show-ready in March. Unless you want to body clip it and keep it in a stall and feed it like a show hog, none of which holds much appeal to me. Presto has an early birthday compared to most but even he would be just BARELY a year old for those shows. Most yearlings don’t start looking acceptable til late summer/early fall. Early in the yearling year is generally REALLY unattractive.

But our latest FEH class (not counting Championships) in this area is in June. Soooo… hmmph. If I held out until he decided to be slightly less hideous, his yearling FEH opportunities would be gone. Now I’m kinda just like well screw it, if he’s hideous and acts like a demon donkey, then so be it. He’s not for sale so if he doesn’t score well then whatever. Mostly I just want him to get out in the show atmosphere and start learning how to behave in the ring. And of course I want to support the USEA programs at the same time, so FEH it is. Since I don’t want to/literally cannot show him in March, nor do I want to drive 6 hours to Oklahoma, our only other two options are May and June.

They’re both at the same venue near Houston, and honestly they might work out for the best anyway. They are held in conjunction with an unrecognized derby, not a recognized event, so there are WAY fewer people and the atmosphere is much less grand. They’d be good little shows to let him get his feet wet without blowing his mind completely, and if he’s really hideous or terrible then at least we didn’t embarrass ourselves in front of everyone in Area 5.

Therefore I decided to go ahead and do his FEH registration with USEA (thank you USEA for making this level of registration only $25). At least now it’s done for the year and I don’t have to remember it later, and it also means that he’s officially in their system, which is kind of fun.

Of course, if he’s gonna be ready for FEH by the end of May, I need him home in April. He’s got to start learning about the triangle and standing up properly for confo, and get less feral about trotting in hand. So we’ll see if I can actually make this happen, but I’m definitely going to try.

I also took a screenshot of the USEA membership form page as I was filling it out because I thought it was too funny. No wonder people new to the warmblood world find the whole thing to be extremely confusing.

By a Holsteiner stallion and out of a Zweibrucker mare, but he’s registered Belgian. Yet by blood he’s mostly TB with some Hanoverian and Holsteiner thrown in. And actually he’s Belgian Sporthorse (sBs) not Belgian Warmblood (BWP) but USEA didn’t have that option in their dropdown.  It’s always fun to try to explain to people how any of this warmblood stuff works (clearly it is mass chaos).