I’m pretty sure we’ve discussed dealbreakers before, at least in the capacity of buying a horse, but what about the things that would prevent you from even swinging a leg over in the first place?

I’m not a particularly timid rider, so most things don’t bother me. I don’t mind a hot horse, or one that might be inclined to buck or play or spook. Young and green is fine, and while I’d prefer to not have to ride one that requires a ton of leg (let me tell you what I’m not good at – slow horses), I don’t mind it every once in a while. My dealbreakers are mainly of the I-don’t-want-a-horse-to-crash-down-on-top-of-me variety.

For me there’s only one thing “on the flat” that will make me not even want to climb aboard: rearing. Been there, done that, got the bruises and the near death experience to prove it. If it rears, I’m not going near it. Period.

If we’re talking about jumping, I have one more dealbreaker: I will not jump a horse that has a consistent tendency to hang it’s knees and jump over it’s shoulder. See above about the whole not wanting to ride a horse that is going to crash down on top of me thing. Rotational falls are scary, I’m not interested in stacking the odds in favor of one happening by riding a horse that hangs it’s knees. I think I’d be cantering down to every fence just holding my breath, so… no thanks. Hard pass. I make enough mistakes, I don’t need to be extra worried about the potential ramifications of my bad decision-making. While it’s true that just about any horse can get to a solid fence badly enough to have a rotational in exactly the right circumstances, I sure as heck am not interested in stacking the odds in my favor by picking a horse that jumps with hanging knees.

What about y’all – any dealbreakers that make you not even want to ride a particular kind of horse?

Who requests a gymnastics torture lesson on their birthday? My dumb ass. And when Trainer nonchalantly says “you should come up the night before for a dressage lesson and just stay over”, who answers “hell yeah, birthday weekend Horse Camp!”? Yep, you guessed it. Newsflash, I’m not any smarter at 34 than I was at 33.

I have literally zero media from Friday. Nary a picture, not even a shot of Henry in the crossties. But FINALLY Henry decided to show up for a lesson as pretty much the same horse I have at home, which made this lesson much more productive than last weekend’s. Plus I didn’t almost die of heat stroke, so… there’s that.

Mostly we worked on lengthenings and our counter canter loops again, and got several “YES YES YES!!!” and “THERE!”s from Trainer’s general direction, which I’ll happily take. They’re rare. At one point we apparently even got some toe flick. Who knew Henny was capable? We got good feedback (will I ever stop sitting to the outside at canter? probably not.) and homework, so it was FINALLY a productive dressage lesson. Thanks for deciding to show up, Henny.

Even with a 7pm lesson I sweated so much that it looked like I’d jumped in a pool, and by the time I’d showered and scarfed down some food, I promptly passed the hell out. I don’t even think I made it to 10pm. Wild parties these days.

As soon as I got to the barn the next morning I went to check on Henry in his turnout and found this:

Pacing, sweating Henry staring at the mare next door like a total creeper. I pulled him out to hose him off and he immediately started screaming and spinning. Oh good… those two precarious brain cells totally fell out in the paddock overnight when he apparently professed his undying devotion to the mare. Super.

Trainer pulled up to find him in the crossties screaming and pawing, and me standing there giving him whatfor. When I explained what was going on she smiled evilly and said “Grab a rope halter and tie him to The Tree of Knowledge for a while!”. And that’s how Henry legit ended up spending an hour and a half tied to a tree like a rogue 2yo while I jump crewed for the first lesson.

He screamed, he pawed, he kicked out at the air, he bit the rope, and he tried to dig a hole to China, but by the time I went to get him to tack him up, he had gotten most of the temper tantrum out of his system. The Tree of Knowledge wins again.

The lesson itself was just what we needed, working on getting Henry powering to and jumping from the base, and trying to get me to stop chucking my body at him. That will probably forever be a work in progress, chucking my body is my fave.

Mostly though he was just extremely offended at having to TROT into the gymnastic. He warmed up like he thought he was HH Azur strutting into the Olympic stadium… he was so excited to finally be jumping after 3 dressage lessons in a row and very little jumping all summer period. Then he was horrified at having to trot into the line via poles and a crossrail, like he was some kind of green baby. DON’T WE KNOW WHO HE IS???

You never have to guess how Henry feels about something, his emotions are quite clear. We got a couple good efforts by the end though, and again took home some things to work on, so mission accomplished for the weekend.

Plus on the way home I stopped at a new gas station on my route and discovered that not only does it have a Which Wich in it, it also has FROYO with a ton of topping options. Happy effin’ birthday to ME!!! That’s my new official refueling spot from now on.

Last week I had a couple different people ask for updates on things I’d reviewed a while ago, so I thought I’d do a “quick n dirty” review update on how some of my favorite things are standing the test of time.

Majyk Equipe boots

I sing ME’s praises a lot, but it’s because I really do love them. Not only are the boots great, the people behind the company are great too. My very first pair of Majyk Equipe XC boots – that I got in 2014 and have used almost daily since – have finally just now had the binding shred on one of the fronts. Considering how much my horse interferes, this is kind of miraculous. He’s a boot killer extraordinaire. I have many pairs of ME boots in my collection these days, and have continued to be extremely happy with all of them. They’re dedicated to using the best technology and materials, and always striving to improve, and it really shows.

Lorenzini stirrups

When I originally reviewed these my one and only real complaint was about durability, since I’d already had some chipping of the surface paint.  Luckily, aside from a couple of very tiny dings, the chipping has not really progressed, and is pretty much limited to the area that sits underneath the stirrup leather (as you can see in the above pic). I do still really love these things otherwise – they’re super pretty and I like the grippiness of the footbed and the weight of the iron. I know some other people that have tried them and had some knee pain, which I’ve never had a problem with myself, but as with any expensive stirrup I’d suggest attempting to trial a pair before you drop a ton of money.

 

Kentucky Bridleworks halter

I loved this thing when I got it and love it even more now that it’s super soft and broken in. Henry tried to murder it when he was solidly in his “the hose is a snake” phase, but luckily he only broke off part of the crown (BAD HORSE) so it’s still usable. This leather on this thing is RUGGED, the hardware is solid, and it’s only gotten better with age.

 

Ovation Aqua X breeches

These are my favorite all-around breeches. They’ve been so great this summer, nice and lightweight but still super flattering and comfortable. I wear them more than any of my other breeches and the fabric still looks fantastic. The only sign of wear is the silicone at the knees has started to wear at the edges, which is something that does happen with silicone. I can’t wait for the hunter green ones to come out this fall… slowly I will fill my closet with these things. 110% worth the extremely reasonable price.

 

Kastel Sunshirts

This was one of the very first reviews I ever did, more than 3 years ago, and I’m still using the same shirts I was wearing back then. I’ve added many more Kastels to my collection in that time, and well as sunshirts from various other brands. The Kastels are still my favorite by far, and these days it’s pretty easy to find them on sale. A good sunshirt is an absolute necessity when you’re in the south, and there’s really no reason to not own at least 10 of these things.

 

Boy O Boy Bridleworks

I never did a formal review on my Boy O Boy products, I did a Small Business Spotlight on the company, but I really feel like I have to circle back around and sing their praises a bit more. I absolutely LOVE my custom belt and the matching polo finish browband, they’re just so impeccably made and look fantastic. BoB stuff might seem a bit on the pricey side, but you’re paying for something that is handmade and done to the absolute highest standards, so to me it’s worth it. These are the kinds of items you keep for a very long time.

 

Lund Saddlery tack

I’ve reviewed a lot of pieces of Lund tack over the past year, and I’m happy to report that all of it is holding up really well. I’ve absolutely abused this tack and it still looks fantastic. They’ve worked hard to iron out some of the original challenges with ordering and shipping, and it’s been fun to see this company grow, expand, and progress since their debut. They continue to keep coming out with really solid additions to their line, which you’ll continue to see more of here.

I try to always give plenty of advance notice to the barn owner and barn staff whenever Henry is going to be gone for lessons or horse shows. Ya know, so nobody panics when he’s not in his paddock or stall. I sat down the other day to text them his August schedule and realized… Henry is gonna be away from home for like 2 straight weeks. Big time traveler, this guy.

His whirlwind Texas tour starts on the 19th, when we head up north for a Ride-a-Test/$5 Show Jump Rounds day, and then stay overnight so we can XC school the next morning. From there we head straight south for 6 days of barnsitting, and then from there I go straight to Trainer’s to drop him off for a week.

Pretty excited to be able to take him barnsitting with me… a couple of the horses are spending the summer in Colorado (lucky them) so that makes space available for him to come along with me. There’s a fancy. legit dressage arena on the property, so we’ll spend the week torturing ourselves in a real, bonafide dressage ring. Normally we don’t see those unless we’re at lessons or shows. Which probably explains a lot about my test geometry.

And then of course he’s going to “camp” at Trainer’s while I’m in Europe. He’s gonna head over there a couple days before I leave so that I have time to get all my shit together for my trip, and then she’s going to drop him off on her way through my town, a few days before I get home. Lord only knows what they’ll do together, but hopefully he’s not too mad by the time she’s done.

So now I’m figuring out what all I need to take with me in order for him to have everything he needs to be away from home for 2 weeks, and exactly how I should transport it all since I don’t have a dressing room in my trailer. He basically needs…. everything, I guess?? We’re about to be gypsies!

Someone asked me about foal conformation a while ago but I completely forgot until my post last week about inspections. So, for a fun Wednesday exercise, I’m going to put myself and Presto out there and give my complete and honest opinion (as unbiased as possible anyway) of what I think of him so far (not on an emotional level, cuz y’all already know where I stand on that one), as an event prospect. Plus, hey, I think it’s good to strive to see both the good and the not-so-good in our horses, it’s what helps us learn. Fair warning, your opinion may vary. I’m not a judge. I have no actual qualifications or credentials. I’ve just seen a lot of babies grow up and am really fascinated by this stuff. This is only my very humble opinion, from seeing him on a regular basis as he’s grown and developed so far. 

The old adage with horses is “3 days, 3 months, 3 years”… the idea being that those ages are the ones that give you the best idea of what the horse will look like when it’s mature. For me personally that’s been true most of the time, but not always. Some are beautiful from day 1 and never have a bad day, others are pretty awkward for a really long time. Just kind of depends on the horse. Their bodies can do some seriously freaking weird shit along the way, just like human teenagers. So we’re gonna look at what we’ve got so far with Presto, and in 4 or 5 years hopefully we’ll find out if I was right. Just to have some kind of structure, let’s use the FEH judging sheet as our guideline.

Type

Type is a fun one. It’s the thing that more than one judge (including Marilyn Payne) has said is THE most important thing when judging an event horse in hand, yet it’s also the thing that you’ll find the least information (and definitely least specific information) about. So what exactly is an “event horse” type? Could be anything really, I’m sure we can all spit out examples on opposite ends of the spectrum, from draft cross Covert Rights to diminutive pony cross Teddy O’Conner. But, for the sake of averages, let’s throw out the outliers and exceptions and look for what we see the most often at the upper levels. That’s generally a horse that is leggy, not too compact in length, has good length of neck, and isn’t too heavy. A horse that has an elegant, “sporty” appearance, that looks athletic and like it will be able to really cover the ground. Not so light as to be fragile, but not so heavy as to pound the ground or be unable to gallop efficiently.

To me this is Presto’s strongest area that I’ve seen from him so far. IMO he really looks like a baby event horse (honestly he looks a ton like his sire Mighty Magic to me), with a more rangey, elegant type and a nice length of leg. As far as the “shows the appearance of refining blood” part of the judging criteria – he’s 74% and I think he looks it.

Conformation

This one is really a lot harder to judge with a foal, but I’ll give you my impressions of what I’ve observed so far with him over time. The FEH criteria have two separate sections under conformation, one for frame and one for legs/feet. Frame is looking for the general skeletal conformation of the horse, proportions, natural strength of topline, etc. Legs and feet… should be obvious. Straight legs, clean joints, good bone, feet of appropriate size, correct angles, etc.

For “frame”, I think Presto has some strengths and some weaknesses. I like his head (although that has no actual importance IMO), and I think his neck is of good length. His shoulder is probably another one of his best qualities. I think topline is fine, at least so far, but he could have a better/stronger loin connection. He might end up being a touch long – hard to say for sure yet. I think saddle position will be good, but again I think it’s too early to really say. If you draw a triangle connecting his point of hip, point of buttock, and point of stifle, you get a pretty equilateral triangle – typical of an event horse. His point of stifle is below sheath level, indicating good stride length and possibly better jumping ability. It could be a bit lower. His LS gap and point of hip alignment are correct.

On to the legs! This one is also really hard with foals, especially if they haven’t sprouted outward in the chest yet, because many will look like they toe out at this stage. Presto’s left front is beautiful, but the right front has a bit of an outward deviation below the knee (pretty similar to Henry’s, ironically). It has improved tremendously in the past couple months since he’s gotten healthier, and I think it will continue to improve, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that deviation never goes away completely. I think it’s quite minor, though, so while I’d have to mark him down for it, it doesn’t bother me a lot at this point.

As far as his “pillar of support”, following the groove of his foreleg draw an imaginary straight line vertically. At the top it emerges well in front of the withers (indicating he won’t be inclined to be heavy on the forehand) and at the bottom it falls just behind his heel. It should fall either through the heel or slightly behind the heel to avoid being overly prone to soft tissue injuries.

I think the hind legs are good, if perhaps a touch straight, but he’s still in such a narrow phase that it’s hard to get an idea of how anything back there will end up. Overall right this second he looks really long in the pastern, but I’m going to call that a growth thing, since this is the first time he’s looked like that so far in his life.

Movement

FEH only judges the walk and the trot, so I’m going to stray from their scoresheet a little here and include canter and gallop. For w/t/c they’re really looking for something very close to a dressage horse – good elasticity, freedom of shoulder, uphill, active hind leg, etc. For gallop they want something very groundcovering and efficient and light across the ground. It’s extraordinarily difficult to find those two things existing in the same animal, but hey we’re talking gold standards here.

To be honest I’ve had a really hard time judging Presto’s gaits so far. He is the type of foal that either stands still or gallops, with very little in between. I’ve hardly seen any trot, and most of it was just a few petering steps as he’s coming back down from canter to walk. I think he’s got some suspension there, but I’ve seen pretty much nothing else. If I had to judge his walk and trot based on what I’ve seen so far, he wouldn’t have super high scores. Maybe someday he’ll actually show me those gaits.

I’ve seen a lot of canter and gallop, though! His gallop is pretty good, although if I’m being picky it could cover a bit more ground. Kid is freaking fast, though, and he just skips across the pasture, light as a feather and nicely balanced. The canter has varied all the way from “I swear I didn’t breed a hunter” to “omg WOW”, depending on when I happen to see it. I think when he’s butt high it gets more downhill and flat, and right now he’s definitely butt high.

Either way, he is probably not going to win the dressage by merit of his gaits alone, unless he’s hiding something he just hasn’t shown me yet. His mother is a big elastic mover, so I’m hoping that this continues to develop in him.

General Impression

Let’s throw out the “behavior” part of the score sheet criteria, since it doesn’t really apply to this particular scenario. Aside from that we’re basically just looking at overall development, and “does it look like something that can be an upper level event horse”?

Development wise, I’d say he’s fairly close to average for his age. The fact that he’s basically caught up to Liam, height-wise, despite all of his troubles is kind of miraculous. He’s still got a ways to go in the width and substance department though. Some days he looks quite filled out and lovely, other days he looks like a puny weed.

As far as potential, I kinda look at him and think more like 2* horse than 4*, but a) that’s what I want to see, b) I’m strongly of the opinion that a lot of what makes the difference between a real superstar horse vs a nice mid-level one are things we can’t see… heart, desire, courage. And of course scope, which I have absolutely no way to measure right now. Those are all big question marks and will be for a long time. I did not set out to create a 4* horse, so that’s not what I personally am looking for. Regardless of level, I do look at him and see event horse.

So there you have it, my attempt to be as fair and objective about my own foal as I can possibly be. All I really know for sure is that I’m excited to see what he turns into.

Edited to add sources of conformation assessment information, by request! Highly recommend purchasing Judy Wardrope’s ebook, which can be found here: http://www.jwequine.com/books-by-judy-wardrope/equine-conformation-for-olympic-disciplines/ 

Or check out some of her free online articles (with very brief basic overviews of conformation for each sport) here: http://www.jwequine.com/article-library/