Despite how alarmingly crazy I am right now, I’ve managed to restrain myself from texting the rehab place 24/7 for updates. They sent me a picture last Monday of him in the aquatred, saying that he was doing great, was very sweet, and had walked right into the water with no problem. Henny’s not dumb, he’s all about the spa vacation.

Every day he went in the aquatred, going for a little longer each time. Then they turned on a few jets to add some resistance. Then on Friday they turned on ALL the jets. Now Henny realizes that his spa vacation is perhaps more of a workout program and would like to lodge an official complaint. Aquatred is hard.

On Saturday I made the trek out to see him. Despite having a mouthful of alfalfa he immediately did the “COOKIE PLEASE” face that he learned from Halo. Guess he’s got me pegged, because of course I came with pockets full of peppermints.

I groomed him, although he was already pretty clean. Daily grooming is included in his spa stay, naturally. His tail was tangle-free and freshly conditioned, and he had nary a fly on him or anything in his feet. He’s certainly not getting neglected in my absence.

I took him out to the back of the facility to walk and graze, and you could tell he’s been a bit cooped up. He’s not on turnout – he just gets to go on the walker once or twice a day (as long as he stays quiet) and then his aquatred. Henry kept his wits about him but he really just wanted to powerwalk all over the place and stare off into the distance. You know… thoroughbred things.

Once he settled and started eating some grass I got to step back and really get a good look at him. I swear his booty has already grown, and I think the “all you can eat” hay plus twice daily alfalfa is working out great… he’s been able to eat way less grain without losing a stitch of his condition.

After about an hour he seemed to get bored of me and started screaming for his new BFF Ricky Bobby, so I stuck him back in his stall, stuffed him full of cookies, and left him to his mound of hay. After seeing how he’s settled in and how well he’s doing and what good care they’re giving him, I feel a lot better than I did last week when I dropped him off.

Maybe 3 more weeks of this won’t be so bad?

That’s a lie, it’s all bad. I’m bored and aimless with no Henny to ride and play with. Time is going by so slowly that I’m pretty sure it’s going backwards. But I have some really awesome friends who have offered me rides, and I’m slowly working my way through them. Starting with Violet of course, who’s owner is quite brave to let me ride her even after I confessed to the world that I wanted to steal her.

Some awesome blogger friends also sent me a great little “please don’t go any crazier than you already are” package… some coloring books, a kindle gift card, and a cookbook. Just coloring cuss words is fairly therapeutic.

The cookbook was timely, because I had even started cooking a few things. Mainly cookies, because cookies make me temporarily happier. That seemed like a lot of mess for so little reward, though. I mean, I can just go to the store and buy some Oreos for $3, no mess required. The cookbook has some fancy ideas (and all vegetarian!) that I might try to tackle this weekend, though… probably way better than whatever random crap I googled in a moment of desperation. Hopefully I don’t burn the house down.

One afternoon I also went to an actual human store and bought actual human non-riding clothes. But I only got two shirts (that were on deep discount) because who wants to spend money on non-riding clothes? What’s the point? That was a boring 15 minutes. I don’t know how people get all excited about shopping when the store literally has nothing horse related in it.

Having nowhere to be in the afternoons does free me up for a different type of riding, though. My bike has been seeing a lot more activity, which is good, because see above about cookies.

I also went and did a really dumb thing and agreed to run a half marathon in January. I’ve been running again for the past couple months now (like 5k three times a week) so I figured why not… I don’t exactly have a lot else to do for the next couple months, and then the weather will be crap for riding, so I should have plenty of time on my hands.

So basically, yes, I’ve completely lost my mind. It only took a matter of days.

But I ran this particular half marathon a few years ago and it wasn’t that bad (I think my quads were literally broken for about a week, but they bounced back eventually). The majority of it is slightly downhill so it barely even counts. Right?

Man I need my horse back, stat. Things are quickly spiraling out of control.

When someone says “latest equestrian fashion”, Europe is probably the first thing that springs to mind. And to give them credit, that’s undoubtedly where most of the best stuff comes from. Some of the weirdest, too, for sure, but they still seem to be the masters. I have noticed a few interesting new brands popping up over the past couple years though – out of Australia, of all places.

Valentine Equine was probably the first to hit my radar. They love lace and so do I, so it’s probably no surprise that I’ve followed them. Some of their stuff is a bit “out there” but some of it is pretty cute… just like pretty much every other brand I know. They seem to always be trying to innovate and come up with unique things (and they do custom anything), which makes them fun to watch evolve. They also have a 20% off code for the next few days – SPRING20 – and super reasonable international shipping.

Another higher end brand that I came across recently is Mrs. Tutton. They describe themselves as making shirts meant to be worn “stable to street” and have one show shirt in particular that I’m pretty in love with (because if you put leather piping on something, I want it. Period. Make it navy and it’s all over.). There are a few other casual things that I’d totally wear, too, since we seem to have the same taste in colors.

On the more affordable side of the spectrum is Black Horse, which has a full line of riding clothes plus some casual wear and accessories. Their stuff follows a lot of what’s pretty popular right now – contrasting trim, bling, silicone grip breeches, etc.  Most of it is in the $50-140 price range, when converted to USD. Even the coats are under $200.

Emcee Apparel falls in the middle of the road, price wise, and they’re definitely not afraid of bold color or a pattern. They mostly have shirts, with a smattering of other pieces as well, ranging from super tame to super bold. They even have some VERY BRIGHT show shirts that may or may not blind the judge, if that’s a tactic you’re interested in. I love it.

These are just a handful of the Australian apparel brands that I’ve seen on the market lately… maybe we should keep a keen eye on those Aussies?

As I mentioned yesterday, Saturday was a rough day for me. It seems excessively silly to me to say even that, because nothing actually happened, but I did a whole lot of introspection on the drive to and from the rehab place.

I am not an emotional person. I’m not touchy-feely, hugs make me super uncomfortable, and talking about feelings is pretty much a no-go, ever. I also don’t tend to fall in love with horses. Since I was 18 I’ve pretty much gone from one horse to the next, buying with the intent to sell. I’ve been quite fond of some of my horses, but I’ve never gotten super attached. Even Sadie has been for sale. Henry was purchased specifically for resale. I had a decent offer on him at one point, and I had a number in my head that I would have sold him for that wasn’t far from said offer. Luckily it didn’t pan out.

I’ve always had an “everything is for sale for the right price” mentality, and I kind of always keep a number in my head for every horse… the amount of money it would take for me to sell them. For some of them it was pretty low, for others it was slightly inflated. Henry’s number started out pretty reasonable, and over the past year it’s gotten so inflated that it’s several times what he’s actually worth – far beyond what anyone would ever pay for him. That wasn’t something I did consciously… I didn’t really realize it until now, but the totally unrealistic dollar amount I put on him in my head is definitely a reflection of where my heart is at.

Somehow all of these realizations hit me all at once, and I found myself sitting at the end of the driveway at the rehab place after dropping Henry off, bawling my eyes out. I knew that I’d gotten attached to him, I knew that I was immensely proud of him, and I knew that he was definitely my favorite horse that I’ve ever had, but until all of this happened I didn’t really realize how deep that went.

Until I started throwing my leg over other horses, I didn’t realize just how much I love riding Henry. Until I had to drive away and leave him at the rehab place, I didn’t realize how much I love having that goofy face neighing at me every day. Somewhere along the way, I really fell in love with this horse.

And so I cried pretty much the whole way home, and on and off all afternoon. Why? I don’t really know. It’s pretty ridiculous in the grand scheme of things. 1) It’s a fairly minor injury 2) Henry is close enough, and my schedule is such that I’ll be able to go see him once or twice a week 3) He’s only there for a month. This isn’t a huge deal at all, much worse things can happen. But man… what a reality check this is turning out to be. I am obviously way more attached to him than I thought I was, and I guess I know that now.

Crap. Guess that whole resale thing isn’t really gonna work out, is it…