HEY FREENS. Quinlee got something very exciting that she wants to show you.

Did you see it? HOW BOUT NOW?

I mean… it’s pretty hard to miss that halter. Which means it suits Quinlee perfectly, because she’s nothing if not very extra. Turquoise padding? Check. Patent? Check. BLING? CHECK!!! I think she loves it, there was a whole lot of celebrating when she got it.

She even tried her very best to show it off to all the other horses. She made a few laps around the perimeter so everyone in the neighboring fields could see. They were… not as impressed as she was hoping.

She even tried some Grade A high quality strutting, but still… no one was as enthusiastic about her new halter as she was.

So, well… she gave up on trying to impress those boring old basic horses. Hopefully her internet fans will appreciate the beauty of her latest acquisition a little bit more than they did.

Happy Foal Friday everyone!

If I thought Noodle was being good the week before last, he did a real “hold my beer” last week and was… even better?

In the last lesson we worked a lot on getting his hind end under him and getting him to unlock his neck and lumbar, especially in the canter. He gave it a good ol college try, and ya know… about half of the canter was pretty decent. It was as if he went home and used his day off to think about it though, because I got on him for the next ride and it was just… there. Instead of 50% of it being good, 90% of it was good. And throughout the week every ride we got a little more and a little more. He wasn’t bracing against my hand, or trying to root me out of the tack, or flopping onto his shoulder, or swinging his butt around to avoid using it. He just… cantered, like a broke and civilized animal. Well alright then, kiddo.

Steph and I had planned for him to have a training ride next, because I feel like it always helps a lot if whoever is giving me lessons has actually sat on the horse. They can feel what I feel, and play around with some things to help me figure stuff out. So on Saturday I hauled him over and Steph rode him.

Which, poor dude, it started raining like the second she got on, and got increasingly more torrential as she went. I thought Presto might have a bit of a meltdown but to his credit he didn’t, he stayed on task and they had a quick but productive ride. Steph immediately remarked that he already was going better than he had last week (I can execute homework, that’s one of my few talents). She played around with a few things to see what was most effective for him and was definitely able to feel even more than she had seen. Plus she really liked him, which of course it’s always nice when a professional thinks your horse has a lot of potential.

The next day I took him back over for a lesson, because I wanted to take advantage of the training ride still being very fresh in both Steph and Presto’s minds. And aside from the fact that he thought the poodles were going to kill him

He was yet again really good. We were there at midday so it was a bit hot and he’d been ridden 5 days in a row so with those two things combined he was definitely feeling a little tired. Still though, he showed up and he tried for me, and we were able to build even more on everything from the week before. His trot is definitely getting looser, he’s starting to step under more with his hind end, and his canter is like night and day… he can (and will) actually carry himself again.

He is a lot of work, don’t get me wrong. Timing is so crucial, he requires a lot of core strength, and even just changing something by a millimeter can make a massive difference in how he goes. I have to be a little quicker with my aids and not be hesitant to keep asking for a bit more and a bit more… he’ll step things up if you ask, but he’s not going to just volunteer it, and he’s got plenty more quality to give if we keep developing it the right way.

To be honest this lesson was probably the first time I’ve felt actually competent on this horse. He’s a whole new world from what I’m used to, and just a lot more in every way. We’ve still got a really long way to go and plenty of room for improvement for sure, but I love riding him because he challenges me to step it up and be better. He’s re-ignited some of the excitement in me about things. I find myself really looking forward to our lessons, and whatever else may be next. After a few years of not really being particularly “on fire” to go to a horse show, I’m eyeballing the schedule again with actual interest.

This week we’re going to start jump lessons… we’ll see how that goes. I want to have Steph jump him first to get her thoughts, and then we can go from there. Now that he’s feeling stronger though and we’re starting to get the canter wrangled, that’s definitely the next step. I’ve been hopping him over cavaletti and very small fences at home for a while now and he’s definitely gotten better about waiting, listening, and keeping his shape to the base, so… I think he’s ready to delve back into the jumping for real again now that we’ve got help.

He’s also starting to fill out a bit over his topline, finally. He looks more and more like a real horse every day! Well, aside from the fact that he’s always got hay in his forelock and a raging case of side eye… he’s still Presto, after all.

I have to admit, I’m starting to feel a little bad for my Texas friends. They seem to be on a bit of a hair trigger lately, probably because they’ve been sizzling on a triple-digit frying pan for like 2 months now and is basically never rains so everything is apocalyptic and the ground is gross and there’s no grass and their brains are just quite literally fried and the price of hay is insane. I’m over here like “here comes more rain, the grass is getting out of control, oh noooo” (please read with heavy sarcasm).

It makes me wonder – is this how everyone else in the world has been living this entire time? You mean to tell me it’s not god awful 9 months out of the year in other places? I mean sure it’s hot here during the day and yes I sweat profusely every morning when I ride, but I also sit outside at the end of the day and enjoy the 75 degree evenings. And the grass… there’s so much of it. It’s blowing my mind a little bit. I keep seeing everyone back in Texas posting their pics of dust bowl pastures and not being able to ride because it’s so damn unrelentingly hot and I feel… the opposite of whatever missing something is. Plenty of people love it there but I didn’t really realize just how much it was not for me until I left. I’m happier here for sure.

We’re out here having our best Florida summer. On days when it gets above 90 I bring them all inside under fans for the afternoon, and they come inside when it storms, but otherwise they’re outside a lot. Presto is looking a little bit sunbleached but he’s also filling out a lot and seems content with his life, so… he can be a little buckskin. That’s fine. He had a training ride and another lesson this weekend, but I actually got a lot of media from that so we’ll do it in a separate post. Otherwise we’ve just been chugging along working on things “brick by brick” style at home, and doing lots of hacking.

Aside from riding and taking care of the beasts, I’ve also been busy getting other stuff done too. We’ve officially got a washrack now, which is pretty exciting considering I’ve just been hosing my horses off on the driveway and neither Presto or Gemma is particularly great about standing still (that is a massive understatement in Presto’s case). I’m delighted to be able to crosstie his ass and hose him off with fewer dramatics. Hopefully now I will get less soaked in the process. We managed to do the washrack for next to nothing, since we already had base from another project and I reused the mats that were previously under a hay storage area. They’re older mats that are a little beat up and none of them are quite the same size, but they certainly do the job. Also, shoutout to the MVP item of the week that made it possible for that to be a one-person job.

I also had to run a bunch of errands on Friday so I tacked on some fun things at the end, making the trip into town to Aldi (god I love Aldi) and stopping to pick up a repaired halter (thanks Gemma) and my new custom sparkly whip from Tack Shack. It’s got real unicorn vibes and I love it, although now all I can think about is how I could build so many others with all kinds of fun options and I’m concerned that this could be a gateway drug situation. Someone help.

I’ve also been working as fast as I can in my spare time (lol) to crank out these July custom pedigree reports for Breed.Ride.Compete. They’re a lot of work but I’m having fun with them (gosh do I fall down some rabbit holes due to my own curiosity sometimes though) and really like getting feedback from people about them. With every one we finish I feel like the process gets nailed down a little bit more. I love helping people learn more about their horses and their ancestry, so I find it to be really rewarding. The next phase to roll out for BRC will be the breeding consultations, so I’ve also been thinking about how I want to structure that, the cost, etc. Hopefully that’ll be ready to go soon.

Otherwise things are just kind of slowly moving along, as they do. The SO sold our house in Austin (it was on the market for two whole days) – they closed last week and he’s supposed to be moving down later this week. Things might get a bit more hectic for a little while after that.

Until then, if anyone needs me, I’ll be out here scratching baby horse bums.

I think it’s safe to say that we have well-established the fact that Quinlee is cute, right? Like… she’s a little Glamour Shot machine, with all her posing and her gorgeous face and all that oozing charisma.

But, that said, she’s still a foal. And foals do some very strange things sometimes, especially when they’re still figuring out how to coordinate all those legs.

Not to mention the growth spurts, where your butt ends up in a different stratosphere than the rest of your body. Hard times, being a baby horse.

Turns out that even Quinlee, who is one of the most photogenic foals that has ever starred in the Foal Friday series, isn’t immune to the awkward shots. And this week… well… it was an awkward one.

Gotta admit though, even with all of her awkwards, she’s still a pretty qute little quesadilla. Hopefully next week she’s back to her usual photogenic self!

I will admit that in the days after I ordered my Arion, I was wondering if I was massively crazy. First and foremost because any saddle purchase is always a big one, and for me this was by far the biggest one I’ve ever made. It was my very first brand spankin new saddle. And while I had a good feeling about the company and the rep, the fact remained that Arion is newer compared to the stalwarts we’re all used to (Devoucoux, CWD, Voltaire, County, etc) and I rode in one for a grand total of like 15 minutes before I took the plunge. I was sweating maaaaaybe a little bit.

A lot of factors drew me to pick Arion. The price (a bit lower than comparable brands), how the saddle felt to ride in, the turnaround time (they quoted only 5 weeks compared to 14-18 from others), etc. I liked the rep I spoke to in Kentucky, and I thought it was a bit serendipitous that the Florida rep is actually a good friend of one of my good friends. I tend to have a deep-seated mistrust of a lot of saddle reps at this point due to various experiences over the years, so having someone that I liked and felt like I could trust was a big selling point as well. I decided to go with my gut, placed my order with Arion, and proceeded to wait.

Luckily I didn’t have to wait long. Only 4 weeks later, this beautiful hunk of buffalo showed up at the farm. Four weeks from order submission to arrival from France is pretty damn impressive for a custom saddle. Full disclosure, I did have some initial disappointment because I ordered it with blue on the cantle and obviously there is no blue. They did offer to make it right though, either with a new saddle or with an accessory of my choice. The rest of the saddle was perfect, so in the end I decided the blue wasn’t a dealbreaker and I opted to get a girth instead of a whole new saddle. Slightly sad it doesn’t have the blue on it, but… meh. I needed a new girth, so it’s fine. I did appreciate that they were immediately responsive, apologetic, and willing to fix it.

As for the important part – it felt great from the very first ride. The buffalo is GRIPPY (I hemmed and hawed about that upgrade but am 900% glad I did it), the balance is impeccable, and I feel very secure in it. Henry’s saddle is a Devoucoux Chiberta, and I had been riding in Hillary’s Voltaire Lexington, and in my opinion the Arion rides kind of in between both of those.

In the Devoucoux I felt secure, but also like I was always struggling a bit to keep my leg from getting too far out in front of me. In the Voltaire I liked it a lot for flatting because I felt very balanced, but when jumping I felt like it pitched me a little forward and made me want to pinch with my knee sometimes. I have neither of these issues in the Arion. I just am where I need to be, and there’s no struggling. I can move where I need to, but it wants to help me stay where I’m supposed to be. I honestly like it even more now that I’ve done more things in it. I hack in it, flat in it, jump in it, go XC in it, and from horse to horse the overall balance and ride remains really good. So far I have no complaints about that at all, I think it’s an exceptional saddle, particularly for cross country. Hillary made the mistake of riding in my saddle “just to see”, not expecting to like it as much as her Voltaire, but turns out that was a big whoops because now she wants an Arion too. It has that effect on people.

I opted for the pro panel since I needed it to fit two young horses that are still growing and changing. Luckily Presto and Gemma are similar in shape so I can get by with one saddle for both of them at the moment, and the pro panel is a pretty good fit. I did opt for the shoulder relief option in the panel and could tell an immediate difference with Gemma. As they both grow and develop I may end up having to re-panel it later, but for now it’s working out well. Happy backs and free shoulders.

Luca has already checked in with me twice to make sure I’m happy and everything is going well, and to ask for my feedback on the saddle. So far I’ve had nothing but good things to tell him. I do appreciate that their reps don’t just take your money and disappear. He even came by last week when he was in town to check up on us in person and make sure me and the horses are happy with the saddle. I get the feeling like if I did have a problem, they’d do whatever they could to fix it… which is important, because it’s certainly not the feeling I get (or the experience I’ve had) from other brands. Everyone I’ve talked to and dealt with has been great, and from what I have seen they seem dedicated to good customer service and happy riders.

A little bit about Arion in general, for those who haven’t seen much of this brand yet and have been asking me…

They’re a French-made saddle company, relatively new to the scene but have been around for enough years to have started making an impact. They have a lot of h/j riders in particular, and really started pushing more into the US eventing and dressage markets in the last year or so. What I think is of particular interest about this brand is that in addition to their full custom line, they also have a more affordable semi-custom line called the Atlas. Those are similar design, also made from buffalo, but start at only $3500. Super attractive price point for a French-made buffalo saddle (fun fact, Emily Hamel rides in the Atlas line), and could be a good option for a lot of people.

Arion has got all your standard options – close contact, xc, and dressage models, sizing and specs out the wahoo, customization, etc. I will also be 100% honest and say that on the most extremely superficial level, the fact that all their brand’s stuff is navy makes me very happy. I cannot even tell you how much I hate the green and yellow of Devoucoux or the the bright red of CWD or the brown and turquoise of Voltaire. Vomit. But my navy Arion saddle cover and saddle pad and shirt? I’m in.

I also know the Texas rep, so if anyone in Texas or Florida wants their info, drop me a message. So far I’m very pleased with my decision and my saddle! I’ll check back in after more time goes by, but at this point I have to say that if you’re looking for a new saddle, Arion is definitely a brand worth checking out.