Sometimes I have to kind of chuckle at the complete 180 my life has done in the past year. It used to be that every day was the same, my schedule from one week to the next was largely just a repeat of the week before, and routine was the name of the game. Now… good luck having a clue keeping up with wtf is going on from one day to the next. Which isn’t a complaint, to be clear. I have been a long-time devotee to routine, but I’m finding that having several different things going on kind of helps to always keep everything fresh. Last week I worked a bit for the tack shop, a bit for Eventing Nation, a bit for Ride iQ, and a bit for BRC. I also found myself sat on 3 very different horses doing very different things.

On Wednesday we popped over to do a couple jumper rounds at Fredericks Equestrian. Ocala is starting to come full swing into season where basically every week there are a couple jumper shows and probably at least one fix-a-test as well as a horse trial to choose from. It doesn’t suck. This past week there were jumper rounds at Fredericks on Tuesday and Wednesday and then another venue also had jumper rounds and then there was a recognized HT happening (in addition to the h/j shows at WEC and HITS and the dressage show at WEC). This week I’ve already seen 3 different fix-a-tests and two different jumper rounds shows, something literally every single day of the week to choose from and it’s all cheap. Plus there’s a recognized HT this weekend and a schooling HT next Wednesday. As someone who came from an area where this kind of stuff is few and far between, it’s still continuing to amaze me just how much opportunity there is to ride and train and improve here. It’s like drinking from a firehose filled with rainbows.

Anyway, last week was jumper rounds, and the plan was to do one or two 1m rounds with Presto. We got there, warmed up, and jumped around the 1m, which was uneventful and looked quite small. I expressed that thought to Steph when I came out and she was like “why don’t you just wait til the next height and do a Prelim round?”. Me, in the moment “Okay!”. Me, 10 minutes later “Wait…”.

But I was committed at that point, so we sat there through the rest of the Training height and then the jump crew went in and put everything up. And I swear to god it went from looking teeny to looking giant. If I hadn’t watched them measuring everything I’d have thought they were fucking with me. They also put lots more fillers in, including the liverpool trays. It went from hehehehecute to BUFF. I was watching them put the oxers up and looked at Steph and went “Well now it looks MASSIVE” and she looked at the jumps and went “Meh, this is how big you jump at home.”. FINE. YOU’RE NOT WRONG. OK. THIS IS FINE THEN.

We went back in and jumped around the 1.10m, and Presto, bless his little heart to the moon and back, did not even blink. I made a few creative decisions (ok bad, they were bad) but he was just like “weird choice mom but ok” and did what I asked. He’s still not really even having to try much at this height and he is delightfully unbothered and unfazed even when I’m wrong. All the cookies for the child who is a complete dingaling 98% of the time but manages to be a total fantastic dude when it counts.

On Friday I hopped on Henry, since the person who’s been riding him was out of town for the weekend. I mostly just did whatever the hell he wanted to do, because he’s the king. I scratched his belly for an absurdly long time, and then got on and took him for a hack. I just gave him a loopy rein and let him choose his own adventure. We hacked down to the longhorns down the street, cantered down the shoulder for a ways, and then wandered a full lap of the farm. It’s always good to be back on Henry.

He might get to go to a show next week, too! I gotta get my Henry’s Mom deluxe #1 fan outfit prepped and ready to go. His birthday is also only a few weeks away, and he’s 16 this year. Definitely have to throw him a good Sweet Sixteen.

Also Nunez’s little teeny girth (y’all its like the length of my forearm) arrived on Friday, so I hopped on him for the first time on Saturday. I had ridden Presto right before so uh… yeah… going from 17.1 to 14h is just as weird as I expected. But what I didn’t really anticipate is that Nunez is actually not particularly wide in the rib cage, so I didn’t feel like I was sitting on some sort of low-riding sofa. I found him pretty comfortable actually, and it was easy to get my leg on him.

He’s a smart pony, and definitely feels athletic. He’s quite green still but willing, and tried hard to figure out what I was asking. I think he’ll be really fun to bring along. Definitely a super mover too, he covers a lot of ground for a little guy. I also didn’t look as big on him as I feared I would. All good marks for his first ride here, and he hacked around the farm afterward like a champ.

This week I’ll be riding Presto and Nunez, and Rocking Horse is this weekend for Presto so we’ve got a few things on our plate (jump lesson and fix-a-test) this week ahead of that. Busy busy times! But in the best way.

Anyone who has been keeping an eye on my Insta stories may have noticed a particularly adorable new addition.

This adorable little nugget is none other than Nunez WTW, from the foal class of 2019. He just moved to Florida from Texas, where he was in training for part of last year. He’s started under saddle w/t/c and has jumped a few things here and there. Now he’s come to Florida for me to work with and figure out what he wants to be, so that he can be sold into the appropriate home. Hunter pony? Dressage pony? Event pony? I dunno… we’ll all find out together.

For those who don’t remember, he’s by the imported GRP stallion Nuno, out of sportpony mare Stormie. I sticked him this week and he’s a bit over 14h right now, so I think he’ll definitely stay pony size, but should be a good-size large. I did have to order him a girth though, because, uh… my smallest one for my monoflap is a 22. It’ll sorta kinda hold the saddle on but definitely isn’t small enough to be safe to ride him in. His new one should be here on Friday, and then I’ll get on him. This week I’ve been bringing him into the barn to groom him, and I’ve lunged him a few times to start working on voice commands. He’s got basics well-established, but now it’s time to start refining and focusing things a bit.

The most challenging (and hilarious) part will be the fact that I’ll be going back and forth from 17.1h to 14h.

I predict that I will probably come off the pony at least once. Not due to any fault of his, but I mean… I’m used to having 75′ of neck in front of me. Better sit up I guess.

Either way it should be amusing for all of us. Welcome to Florida, Nunez!

Yes hi hello, I’m still alive. The first two weeks of the year were completely insane between working the 9-5 retail gig and everything else I have on my plate. Luckily I was smart enough to only commit myself to two weeks of that, because my brain needs a break. Granted, it’s not going to get one, I still have a lot to do, but at least I have more time now in which to do it.

How about some updates?

First and foremost; Gemma. Everybody’s been asking about Gemma. She’s been enjoying getting very fat and extra sassy ahead of breeding season. She had her official 6th birthday last week (January 11th) and got her front shoes pulled, so she’s completely barefoot now. I expected her to be a lot more footsore than she is, honestly. She was walking a little gingerly for a few days, but that’s about it so far.

Yesterday she got moved out to one of the mare pastures. I wasn’t sure if she’d like being in a herd environment and less coddled since she really likes her attention and her private snacks. Luckily she’s pretty low drama so the integration was easy, and she’s already made some friends. When she sees me she comes up to the fence for cookies and face rubs but seems calm and content, so… so far so good.

As for the Noodle Doodle, he’s still chugging along. I took him last week for a jump lesson, trying out a new bit. I feel like the beval is just not quite enough sometimes, so we tried a 2-ring with 2 reins but he thought that was too much. We ended up taking off the bottom rein entirely but still I preferred how he felt in the beval. Back to the drawing board on that one. He’s been pretty good though (well ok, he did lose his brain for like 2 days when some of the seasonal boarders moved in and he couldn’t comprehend the fact that there were now horses in places they hadn’t been before) and we’re headed to Fredericks Equestrian tomorrow for a jumper class or two. Somehow Rocking Horse is only like a week and a half away now. Time flies. Send help.

As for Henry, he remains the Greatest Animal That Ever Lived. We have someone staying here on the farm in her camper for a few months, and she just sold her horse. I offered up Henry for her to ride, which is really a win-win… he needs to be ridden more than I have time for, and she needed a fun and reliable mount. She’s been riding him for a few weeks now and naturally loves him (because who wouldn’t). This past weekend she took him out XC schooling for the first time and I was basically the proudest horse mom in all of Ocala.

I wore the shirt I have that’s just covered in his XC face (because lets be honest, that’s even better than a foam finger) and recorded everything and said “he is the cutest, I love him” like 752 times.

She said it was the most fun XC school she’s ever had. Nothing pleases me more than seeing the love of my life helping other riders find their inner badass, especially when they’ve had struggles with previous horses. He did so much for me, and watching him give that feeling to other people is just the biggest Proud Mom moment ever. Add another lifetime member to his fan club. Henry is still the king.

Man, this has really snuck up on me this year. Can you believe that it’s already almost foaling season?!

As has become tradition around here by now, that means it’s time for our annual Willow Tree Warmbloods Baby Bets contest! Last year we had only one foal due, so we just did a smaller contest in the Patreon group. This year though, we’ve got a full line up, so we’re bringing it back out to the public.

First thing’s first: the prize (aside from extreme bragging rights, amazement at your psychic powers, and a virtual fist bump). The winner of this year’s Baby Bets contest will receive a Willow Tree Warmbloods swag bag, including a shirt, decal, cup, towel, and some other fun surprises. 😉

We’ll do the rules the same as we have before. 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 for each mare (there are 6 this year):

Mare Name: 4/2 3AM bay filly with a stripe and two 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.

Submit your entries via a comment here on this post or you can message them to me on my social media. 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 parents and whatever info is important so you can make your best guesses!

Sea Lion x Kilpatrick Grace

Embryo Transfer (Carried by recipient mare Glo)

Due 2/17

One of our most anticipated foals ever! This will be Grace‘s first foal, carried by a recipient mare. The sire is the full Thoroughbred stallion Sea Lion, who competed to the Advanced level in eventing with an amateur. Sea Lion is plain bay (and throws a lot of fairly plain bay) and Grace has 3 socks and a stripe.

Utrillo x Lasilissa

Embryo Transfer (Carried by recipient mare Champ)

Due 3/16

This will be a full sibling to Percy, definitely bred to jump with two Grand Prix parents! Lissa’s color panel is AA/Ee (homozygous agouti, carries the red gene… so she can throw bay or chestnut). Utrillo obviously is gray and we think he was born bay. Since gray is at play here and isn’t always immediately obvious at birth, I’m looking for guesses about the base color only. Chestnut, bay, black, etc.

Lingo van de Watermolen OR DSP Araldik x Vonhra xx

Due 4/18

We don’t know yet who the sire is for this one, because we used partial doses from both stallions to make up a full dose… it’ll be a fun surprise on so many levels for all of us. This will also be Vee’s first foal! We do know that she has a red gene, since her dam was chestnut. Vee is fairly plain bay and so are both potential baby daddies. Lingo is still quite young, his oldest foals were born in 2021 and he’s currently jumping at the 1.30m level. Araldik is a full sibling to Ingrid Klimke’s superstar 4* mare Asha P and he’s jumped to 1.40m.

Future Hepsilon x A Firm Question xx

Due 4/24

I’m really excited about this one because I love this young UK stallion by the famous eventing stallion Upsilon, and of course I love Peyton. Future Hepsilon is gray (born bay) and also carries a red gene, and Peyton is a pretty plain bay although if you remember her first foal Remi was by a plain bay stallion and came out a very flashy chestnut. Her second foal by a plain bay stallion came out fairly plain bay. Peyton has a hidden white-markings gene at play that shows up sometimes and since she’s had a chestnut foal already she obviously also carries a red gene. Since gray is on option here also and isn’t always immediately obvious at birth, I’m looking for guesses about the base color only. Chestnut, bay, black, etc.

Philanderer x Daisy

Due 4/25

The color possibilities with this one are a little more fun – Daisy is a grulla with a color panel of aa/Ee D/D. Philanderer is black, but I’m unsure of his red status. If he carries red then there’s a chance of red dun, but otherwise it’s grulla. They’re both pretty plain as far as markings go. Philanderer has evented through the 4* level in Europe.

Usandro Tilia Derlenn x Chanel Z

Due 4/28

Yup that’s right, there’s a hony superstar en route! Chanel is obviously chestnut but Usandro is homozygous, meaning that the foal will have to be either bay or black. Usandro is plain, Chanel has a stripe and a couple socks. Usandro is the #1 pony jumper stallion in France, and Chanel competed to 1.40m. She had two foals in Europe before being imported to the US – her offspring have competed to 1.50m and 1.45m, and she also has a granddaughter that has so far competed to 1.35m. This one will JUMP.

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I’ll leave entries open through 1/24, so that gives you 2 weeks to get your guesses in! The contest winner will be announced after the last foal is born. Obviously I have no idea exactly when that’ll be, hopefully by early May.

This week/weekend I’m working at WEC, but I wanted to be able to get a lesson in with Presto before that started. The winter season is very quickly approaching (closing date is next week for our first one!) and I thought it might be a good idea to go XC school a few questions that he maybe hadn’t seen yet. In particular, there’s a Weldon’s Wall at Training at a couple venues, and I am not the biggest fan of those, and Presto had never seen one.

Our favorite close venue happens to have a Weldon’s Wall on their Training course, which was tres convenient, and Steph had time on Tuesday to meet us, so we headed over there.

Aside from the Weldon’s wall I also wanted to school a drop into water, since we haven’t done that question very much either. Presto is bold, but he IS still green, and we’re still a relatively new partnership, so I’m definitely interested in doing the things that put deposits in the trust bank. It’s never the best feeling to get to a show and be like “hmm well we’ve never done anything quite like that before”. At least not for me.

So we started with a few simple warmup fences, then went over to the trakeners. He’s jumped the Novice one before and the Training one isn’t much bigger, so he didn’t even blink at that. He was far more interested in the horse at the top of the hill in the distance that was having some primo shenanigans.

What I have noticed about him now that we have a few XC runs under our belt is that there are 3 very distinct Presto modes while on course. For the first few jumps he’s almost a bit overly bold… super pumped to be there, not as responsive to my half-halts. After that he levels out and goes into cruising mode and is quite lovely and focused. That lasts for most of the course. And then by the last few he’s like “perhaps I have regrets about my earlier Fuckery” and can be a little slower off my leg. Three different horses that require three different rides within about 5 minutes.

Schooling is a bit of the same. In the beginning he’s like YEEEEEHAW and then levels out, which is helpful because we can at least practice the best way to ride/handle each of the modes.

After the trakehners we went over to the Weldon’s, which he gave less than zero shits about. I don’t think he even registered that the ditch existed.

Since that was super uneventful we went to the water next, jumping down the smaller bank (which was on the T course), then doing the whole T line (down bank into water, skinnyish ramp a couple strides out of the water), then the Prelim drop. The T line was no problem, but he did seem to quite enjoy launching himself into the water. Steph was very convinced that if we repeatedly just walked or quietly trotted off the drop, he would eventually jump down it normally.

Which would be sound logic, if Presto was normal. I’m not sure if y’all knew this, but Presto is NOT normal.

If this had been a cannonball competition, he’d have won hands down. You could practically hear his glee every time he leaped out into the water like he belonged at Sea World. His enthusiasm never once wavered, no matter how many times we went down it or how quietly he approached. He was having a grand time. My knees and spine were having a less fun time. Also, I was soaked. I got a face full of water on multiple occasions, like I went to the water park. I guess I did.

I mean, the good news is, he has no hesitation about dropping into water. You just… might not enjoy the style in which he does it. The joys of a young, exuberant horse.

After that we finished up by stringing together the coffin, a corner, and the big open MIM oxer, all of which he popped through easy peasy. He was a super good boy and it left me feeling a lot more confident about whatever we might see on the Training courses this season. Time to send in the first show entry of 2023!