I’ve tried a few different supplements with Henry throughout our 2 years together. When I first bought him and was bringing him back into work after having sat in the pasture for a year, I put him on DMG and MSM, since he had a lot of muscle soreness in the beginning. Eventually I tapered him off that and he remained supplement free until the magnesium experiment. Eventually I let him run out of that too, and since I didn’t notice an obvious difference, I never ordered more. Henry gets really good food, good hay, and pasture, so I don’t feel the need to give him extra stuff that he doesn’t really need. I’d rather not insert money into the horse’s mouth so that he can literally shit it out, at least not any more than I already am.

But I did just order him a new supplement, which he started last week. Anyone who has read this blog for any period of time knows that Henry has a hard time breathing in really hot/humid weather. We’ve run a million tests and he’s been looked at by 2 vets… the most we’ve found is scar tissue in his lungs that can inhibit his ability to take in enough air when he’s truly taxed. One vet thought it might be worthwhile to try putting him on Tri-Hist, thinking part of his problem might be allergy-related, but since that stuff is notorious for causing anhidrosis (and the one thing that keeps Henry from dying in the summer is the fact that he’s an excellent sweater) I’m terrified to get anywhere near it. If he stopped sweating we’d be in major trouble.

So after a lot of internet scouring and research to find something that might work similarly, I opted to try Lung EQ from Uckele. It came down to: had to be show legal, had to have a lot of good reviews, had to be fairly affordable. There’s really not much to it: spirulina (blue-green algae), vitamin C, MSM, Flaxseed, and jiaogulan. Will it help? No idea. The allergens thing is really just as guess as to what might be exacerbating his problem, since we never could find a really clear-cut answer.

Uckele recommends starting the supplement about a month before the horse typically starts experiencing symptoms, so I started it a week ago. Usually Henry starts getting bad in May. So far he hasn’t had any issues, but it’s only been around 80 degrees with 40-50% humidity… not that hot yet, compared to what’s coming, so not that taxing on his respiratory system. Even after our long conditioning ride on Tuesday he was cooled out and back to a normal respiratory rate by the time we had walked back to the barn.

So as reluctant as I am to hop back into the supplement game, I figured it’s worth a try. I’m always hopeful that something will work, because I do have to be really careful about what we do in the summer. It’s really the whole reason we’re going to spend 2 weeks in the high desert, where the average high temp in July is 75 and there’s really low humidity. I didn’t think any of the other 3 Days would work for him.

I will say, he really hated the supplement the first time he had it. He would take a bite, toss his head around, glare at me, paw at his bucket, etc. By the next day he had come to accept his fate, though, and now eats it just fine. I’m trying to help you Henny, I promise!

One of the best things about 2015 with Henry was the fact that we were able to maintain good momentum throughout the year. I’m a firm believer in the idea of Just Doing It. You see this in h/j land a lot when they’re bringing along a young horse or trying to give a rider experience – they show often, washing and rinsing and repeating ad nauseaum, until everything becomes old hat, often tweaking things and/or learning as they go along.

In 2015 Henry was new to eventing, and I’d been out of it for so long that my meager previous experience didn’t really even count anymore. So we did as many recognized events as I could afford, the idea being to give Henry more miles and to make it all feel familiar to me again at the recognized level. We made mistakes, we learned, we adapted, and we grew. The horse I had at the end of the season was quite different from the one I had at the beginning. I felt a whole lot more confident too.

This year things are a little bit different. First of all my mindset has changed. We aren’t sticking our toe in the water to see how eventing works out – we’re all in. This is what we’re meant to be doing, we’re going to do it, and we’re going to do it like we mean it. Of course, most of my recognized show budget is being funneled toward spending two weeks in Arizona in the summer, so I’m not able to hit every recognized event in the Area this spring. But – I also have a trailer now. Just because I can’t hit a bunch of events doesn’t mean we can’t still rack up experience in other ways. I want to keep the momentum, so I’m filling up our time with as much constructive stuff as I can. What’s considered “constructive”? Just about anything that could possibly help make us better, really.

For instance – already this year we’ve done 4 shows, 3 XC schoolings, and a lot of traveling to lessons. If it seems like we’re constantly on the road and doing something, it’s because we are. We’re logging a lot of miles, literally and figuratively (for real, I’ve put 5300 miles on my truck in 3 months), but I think it’s really good for both of us. Not only is Henry learning how to be a better and more relaxed show horse, I’m learning how to be a calmer and more focused rider in any circumstance. Most of the shows we’re doing aren’t about showing; not for us. They’re about keeping our momentum and building on what we’ve already started, brick by brick. I’m hungry for it, I want to be better, and I’m willing to put in the time and effort to keep us moving forward.

The real goal this year: make it all feel like old hat to both of us. I want to trot up centerline with the confidence of Buck Davidson. I want to be able to make good decisions in the heat of the moment. I want to have all the right instincts. I want to be a competitor, not a participant. I want to roll into a horse show feeling like “Hey y’all, HENNY in da house, roll out the red carpet!”. Ok, that one might be a little far-fetched…

But the more we do, the more we learn, and the more we learn, the better we get. So this is the year of Yes. The year of Let’s Do It. As long as we’re both still willing and able, we’ll keep moving.

I probably should apologize to the hunter/jumper community for how nonchalant I was about going to this show. I decided to do it the day before entries were due, I signed up for just two classes on one of the days, and did absolutely zero prep. Well ok, I did wipe the dirt off my breastplate and brush my horse’s tail, if that counts.

The show was at a venue that is literally 15 minutes from my barn, and the jumper classes were the last of the day on Saturday. So like any not-all-that-dedicated-to-this person, I texted a friend around noon and asked how things were running. After a few more episodes of Parks and Rec on Netflix I peeled the corgi off my lap, peeled myself off the couch, found a clean pair of breeches and a sunshirt, and drove to the barn. Side note: I only own one pair of tan breeches now, yet THREE pairs of whites. And I really would have rather worn the whites than the tan, if not for the whole white-is-way-overdressed-for-a-schooling-h/j-show thing. Damn, I think I’ve been fully assimilated into eventerdom.

After tossing all my stuff (only one set of tack and boots? awesome.) in my truck and Henry in my trailer, we were off. I got to the show, went and picked up my number, and stopped by the ring to check out the courses. I was using this show as a bit of a test for us. The idea was to show up, go into the 3’3″, not feel intimidated by the height, and have a rideable horse. No warm-up class of lower fences to ease into it, no hanging out at the venue ahead of time to get acclimated, just straight into the 3’3″. I think Henry is pretty used to not having those luxuries anymore since we’ve been eventing, but sometimes I tend to ride like an idiot and make bad decisions. This whole thing was really more for my sake than Henry’s, let’s be honest.

I thought he might be a little spooky at the first few fences, but no. Henny’s starting to qualify for Pro status. We had one rail in the first class (totally my fault) but none in the second class. He was rideable, he was steady, and while my riding wasn’t perfect, nothing about the day seemed like a struggle and the jumps didn’t look big to me. That’s exactly what I was hoping for. There was even some satin, although I didn’t pick it up. Sorry abandoned satin, I wanted to go home. Also, thank you to whoever the kind stranger was from SOF that videoed my first round for me! Having no entourage for such things is the downside to showing alone.

It was a good confidence booster for both of us and a fun way to test ourselves a bit. While I still hate the crap out of the hurry-up-and-wait thing at the h/j shows, there’s a lot of value in being able to get some laid-back, casual miles without spending much money or driving too far. Maybe we’ll come visit you again in May, Jumperland.

I only live about 10 minutes from a Dover. This would be a lot cooler if I actually liked Dover. I pretty much only step foot in there if I need something essential and last minute – typically fly spray – since it’s on my way to the barn. Their Tent Sale in particular drives me nuts… taking $1-2 off about 5% of your inventory isn’t really worth putting up a tent and sending out a crapton of flyers, IMO. But I had a $20 gift certificate and figured, if nothing else, I could stock up on fly spray. But my fly spray wasn’t one of the things on sale, so instead I got this:

Yep, a real “big girl” grooming tote. It was actually one of the few items on legit sale – $13 instead of the $24 on the price tag. I figured it was time to buy my beloved Leistner brushes a residence upgrade from the little bucket they were living in before. So I got that, and a few of those annoying $1-2 off items like liniment and bucket hooks that I needed to re-stock anyway. And I paid for the majority of it with my gift certificate, plus I got to make fun of Bobby the whole time, so I suppose it’s okay. Mostly I just found myself irritated with their version of a Tent Sale all over again. Why, Dover? Why? What a boring “sale haul”.

But I did totally jump all over the 20% off Back on Track sale at Riding Warehouse on Friday too, so that made me way happier. Riding Warehouse for the win.

The most exciting part of the “tent sale” is what happened after:

Yes that’s a doughnut with mashed potatoes, fried chicken, and cream corn on top. Duh. I met friend/fellow blogger Karen and our friend Stacy for happy hour at this place where everything involves a doughnut. Therefore everything is awesome.

Like that ^. That’s a doughnut covered with chocolate glaze, topped with a bunch of brownies, chocolate sauce, and chocolate chips.

My digestive system is still recovering and I’m pretty sure I’m diabetic now, but it was totally worth it.